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Text File | 1988-12-31 | 3.7 KB | 83 lines

                                                                                GRAPEVINE, Page 17


By JANICE CASTRO

    Better Keep Him in the Tent

    The Democratic National Committee has agreed to give Jesse
Jackson a whopping $1.5 million budget to register voters in the
final weeks of the race. Some Clinton campaign officials are
fuming about it, but more seasoned Jackson watchers on the
campaign see it another way. They argue that Clinton has
established much by coming this far without bending his knee to
the reverend. Since Clinton has a big lead and plenty of money,
it is better to pay now, financing radio ads and travel for
Jackson, than to wonder if he will start some divisive -- and
expensive -- sulking in the homestretch.

    Friends at the White House

    Why in the world did President Bush choose to hold his
December 1989 summit with Mikhail Gorbachev on board heaving
ships off the wintry coast of Malta? After the world's most
powerful duo endured the so-called seasick summit, the President
tweaked his younger brother WILLIAM ("Bucky") BUSH for
suggesting the stormy site. It turns out that Bucky, an
international investment consultant, had business ties to firms
that could have profited from the choice of a tiny nation trying
to boost its tourism. He was, for example, a consultant for
CIGA, an Italian hotel firm that was mulling construction of a
new resort in Malta at the time. He was also involved in a
French firm that was planning to sell restaurant equipment in
Malta. Asked about the connections last week, William Bush
referred the inquiry to the White House, which responded simply
that Bucky "did not stand to benefit in any way from the holding
of the summit in Malta."

    All Aboard the Gravy Train

    If there's one thing lobbyists hate, it's being on the
wrong side once the votes are counted, so they're eager to write
checks in the closing weeks of the campaign. In a plea
accompanied by return-paid Federal Express envelopes two weeks
ago, chief G.O.P. fund raiser Bob Mosbacher implored friends of
the Administration to help raise $9 million fast, noting with
horror that "for the first time in history, the Democrats have
been beating us." Sure enough, Clinton-Gore bumper stickers are
becoming a badge of wealth. Best measure coming up: the
competition to contribute as much as $250,000 for the chance to
spend Columbus Day weekend in Little Rock, being briefed by
Clinton staff members.

    If Not for the Honor . . .

    Women at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are miffed now that a
congressional subcommittee has published a revealing report on
WHITE HOUSE SALARIES. Seems that as of 1991, the period covered
by the report, several men were earning substantially more than
women with the same job titles. Gary Foster, for example, then
a deputy press secretary, earned $85,000, 42% more than deputy
press secretary Alixe Glen ($60,000); Steve Hart, then a deputy
assistant to the President ($115,300), earned 65% more than Judy
Smith ($70,000), who had the same title. Sighed one of the
well-paid men: "It's not gonna look so good that the guys are
making so much more. But I'll bet there's a similar gap on
Capitol Hill."

    FOR THE RECORD

    In every culture, some atrocities linger generation after
generation, needing closure. Nearly 400 years after the fact,
Japan is preparing to return 20,000 noses that its army
amputated from Korean soldiers and civilians. The noses, as well
as the heads of Korean generals, were taken as spoils of war
during an invasion in 1597. Protected until now in a special
memorial, they will probably be buried in the Cholla province
of South Korea. That region suffered the worst of the
long-remembered brutalities.