Dollars & Sense?
TheWashington Post leads with the restoration of civilian rule
in Ecuador, following Friday's bloodless coup led by a three-man junta.
Yesterday Ecuador's vice president, Gustavo Noboa, was sworn in as president
under intense pressure from the US and other foreign countries. The New York Times fronts the Ecuador
story but leads with an exclusive report on the frenzy to adopt health-care
legislation. The Times reports that state lawmakers are bearing the
brunt of reform: states adopted 1,400 health-care bills last year, and another
16,000 proposals have been introduced for 2000. The Los Angeles
Times scoops the other papers with a proposed $20-billion deal between Time
Warner and Britain's EMI Group and fronts the Ecuadorean crisis below the
fold.
The WP lead highlights the role the US played in convincing Ecuador
to reinstate its elected government: the US strong-armed the opposition by
threatening to cut foreign aid and discourage investment in the economically
devastated country. President Jamil Mahuad was toppled three days ago when
Indian protestors, supported by military officers, stormed the congressional
building. At issue? Mahuad's economic policies, specifically a plan to replace
Ecuador's currency with the US dollar in an effort to slow inflation and
restore confidence in the economy. Critics of the plan claim it would hurt the
poorest people, including a large majority of the country's 4 million Indians.
The NYT provides extra details about Ecuador's economic crisis,
including the facts that Mahuad froze the life savings of thousands of
Ecuadorians last March and that the country defaulted on half of its $13
billion foreign debt in September. The LAT , for its part, offers the
most information about the new president, Gustavo Noboa, a former rector and
law-school dean who has pledged to open a dialogue with the disgruntled
protestors. But the WP reports that the Indian leaders are no happier
with Noboa than they were with President Mahuad.
According to the LAT , the deal between Time Warner and EMI, expected
to be announced in London on Monday, will create the second largest music
conglomerate in the world. Critics will bemoan the decrease in number of
competitors in the market (which could undercut the diversity of music
produced), but the paper suggests that such criticism might be offset by the
acceleration of online access to music. Once Warner's merger with America
Online is complete, the deal with EMI is expected to revolutionize the way many
people buy music. Rather than shop in record stores, customers will eventually
download entire albums directly from the Internet.
The WP off leads and the NYT fronts a report from Iowa, where
George W. Bush and Al Gore are expected to clean up in tomorrow's caucuses.
According to the WP , the anticipated outcome, which is understood to be
a foregone conclusion, economic prosperity, and ideological similarities
between parties has led to voter apathy. The NYT reports that the
"spirited contests" between candidates isn't enough to spark much enthusiasm
for the old-fashioned exercise in democracy: though presidential hopefuls have
stumped tirelessly throughout the state (save John McCain, who is skipping Iowa
to concentrate on next week's primary in New Hampshire), only one-ninth of
registered voters are expected to turn out Monday night to stand up and
nominate their candidates. The LAT off lead, an exhaustive analysis of a
recent LAT poll, jumps ahead to New Hampshire, where the poll has found
Gore commanding a sizable lead over Bill Bradley, and Bush and McCain locked in
a dead heat.
The NYT off leads with the federal investigation into Osama
bin Laden's terrorism network. Prosecutors claim that bin Laden, implicated in
the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa, has recruited American
accomplices and used international companies -- including a Kenyan charity --
as fronts for terrorist activities. Surprisingly, letters found by prosecutors
use codes a child could crack -- bin Laden is referred to as "Mr. Sam" and
"O'Sam" and the FBI is called the "Food and Beverage Industry." The NYT
points out that it's not clear whether the US has any direct evidence that bin
Laden ordered the embassy attacks, though there is evidence, apparently, that
bin Laden is connected to violence in Ethiopia.
The WP fronts and the
NYT stuffs the continuing saga of Elian Gonzalez, whose two grandmothers
met with Attorney General Janet Reno yesterday to lobby for the return of their
grandson to Cuba. The WP reports that Elian's grandmothers found Reno
friendly but unable to reassure them that Elian would be going home anytime
soon. Late yesterday the Justice Department released a statement saying that
the grandmothers had made "a very compassionate and heartfelt plea" to be
reunited with Elian but that the matter is now (read "tied up") in federal
court.
Like father like son : Inside the NYT George W. is compared
to his "famously tongue-tied father." Friday night, when comparing the foreign
policy paradigm of yesteryear, when the number one enemy of the US was the
Soviet Union, to foreign policy threats today, he said: "When I was coming up .
. . it was a dangerous world and we knew exactly who they were. It was us
versus them, and it was clear who them was. Today, we're not so sure who they
are, but we know they're there." Let that be a comfort to them. Or us. Or you.
