Washington in brief

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 7, 2001

Gore-Clinton talk 'tense,' 'cathartic'

They were two political partners who had barely spoken for a year, but a few days after Al Gore conceded the 2000 presidential election he and Bill Clinton were finally talking face to face.

For more than an hour, in what the Washington Post described as uncommonly blunt language, Gore forcefully told Clinton that his sex scandal and low personal approval ratings were a major impediment to his presidential campaign. Clinton, the Post reported, was initially taken aback but responded with equal force that it was Gore's failure to run on the administration's record that hobbled his ambitions.

Only Clinton and Gore were present for the showdown session, which never appeared even on internal schedules distributed to White House staff. But according to the Post, people close to both have described its tone in similar language. One adviser to Clinton described it as tense, while a Gore aide called it cathartic. One Democrat who has worked closely with both men called the session very blunt.

Jake Siewert, a spokesman for Clinton, and Kiki McLean, a spokeswoman for Gore, both said their bosses would not comment on a private conversation.

Patients' bill unveiled

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers on Tuesday pre-empted President Bush and unveiled a so-called patients' bill of rights plan that gives health insurance beneficiaries the right to sue their HMOs.

Bush said he would lay out his plan next week, but made it clear that his would contain tighter restrictions on lawsuits. "We can't have a patients' bill of rights that encourages and invites all kinds of lawsuits," he said.

Tuesday's tussle signaled that, after a three-year stalemate, this issue will be fought this year not over whether litigation should be allowed, but to what extent.

The congressional coalition was led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Postal increase likely

Just a month after higher stamp prices took effect, the U.S. Postal Service is considering another rate boost that could result in higher prices early next year.

The post office reportedly is facing losses of up to $2-billion this year despite the price increase that took effect Jan. 7, which included raising a first-class stamp a penny to 34 cents.

The complex process of increasing postal rates can take nearly a year.

Also

VOTER.COM FOLDS: Voter.com, a political Web site that broke all previous records for one-day traffic, shut down this week after running out of cash.

Executive editor Carl Bernstein said a planned merger and funding from a new investor fell through at the last minute. The staff of 45, down from 100 at its peak, is being let go.

HSIA SENTENCED: Maria Hsia, a former Los Angeles political fundraiser implicated in a notorious 1996 Buddhist temple campaign event, was spared any time in prison Tuesday. Instead, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ordered Hsia, 50, to spend three months in home confinement in Los Angeles, serve three years on probation and pay a $5,000 fine.

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