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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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101689
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10168900.050
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1990-09-19
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NATION, Page 37American NotesHUSTLESMr. Smith Inner Circle
If Republican big shots like James Watt can collect $400,000
for a few phone calls to HUD, why shouldn't a member of the
Republican Senatorial Inner Circle get a few thousand for lobbying
top officials face to face? That may have been the reasoning of
Larry R. Smith, a Harrisburg, Ill., free-lance writer who received
an invitation from George Bush to join the circle and submitted a
$1,000 membership fee.
In a follow-up letter from retired Senator Howard Baker, Smith
was promised a chance to "talk one on one with some of the most
important people in government" at Washington briefings last week.
Smith cited the letters when he offered to use his influence
on behalf of at least four corporations, for fees ranging from
$1,000 to $4,000. He did not mention that fully 50,000 people had
been asked to join the circle in a fund-raising gimmick. After the
Washington Post reported Smith's caper, the National Republican
Senatorial Committee canceled his circle membership and returned
his $1,000. This Mr. Smith did not go to Washington.