This partial transcript of The Beltway Boys, October 20, 2001 was provided by the Federal Document Clearing House. Click here to order the complete transcript.
FRED BARNES, CO-HOST:
Here's our "Tip Sheet" for next week's action, and I think I may have a stumper or two for Mort. We'll see. Mort's -- OK, let's try.
(CROSSTALK)
BARNES: ... not likely. Item number one, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres will be meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington.
MORT KONDRACKE, CO-HOST: Well, what Powell's going to do is plead for restraint on the part of the Israelis, but Peres -- and Peres would be glad to go along with that, but the real boss of Israel, of course, is Ariel Sharon, and back in Israel, he is determined that to have Yasser Arafat turn over to him the PFLP terrorists...
BARNES: Yes.
KONDRACKE: ... who killed the tourism minister.
BARNES: Right.
KONDRACKE: And has said that he's going to blast away at the, at the...
BARNES: Yes.
KONDRACKE: ... Palestinian Authority till he does.
BARNES: Right.
KONDRACKE: I don't think Peres is going to be able -- Powell's going to have to talk to, to Sharon, Sharon himself.
BARNES: Yes, well, look...
(CROSSTALK)
BARNES: ... Peres, though, is a changed man, you know. He used to be the guy who thought that Arafat was the answer to peace in the Middle East, and I think he knows better now, the scales have fallen from his eyes.
Item two, President Bush, meanwhile, plans a meeting with Bahrain's crown prince Al-Khalifa next Thursday.
KONDRACKE: Well, Bahrain is the one Gulf or Arab country that is 100 percent behind the, the U.S. effort. And as a matter of fact, the, the, the crown prince has even offered to send troops to, to help, help us fight.
Now, what we need to do is to set up a school in Bahrain and funnel through it all the fat royal families of the, of the other people in the, in the region, and have them...
KONDRACKE: Right.
KONDRACKE: ... and have them adopt whatever, whatever is in the air in Bahrain.
BARNES: Yes, I have the impression you're thinking Saudi Arabia.
KONDRACKE: I am.
BARNES: Now, Mort, you've been to Bahrain. Did you meet the crown prince?
KONDRACKE: He didn't come out to meet me, no.
BARNES: All right. Item three, the House and Senate finally work out a deal on an anti-terrorism bill. Look for a big signing ceremony next week.
KONDRACKE: Well, president and Attorney General Ashcroft got most of what they wanted...
BARNES: Right.
KONDRACKE: ... the, the right to roving wiretaps and Internet surveillance and tracking immigrants and stuff like that. But what, what they had to give up was that there's a sunset provision on this...
BARNES: Yes.
KONDRACKE: ... it -- the bill wears out in two years...
BARNES: Right, right.
KONDRACKE: ... let's hope the terrorism war is over in two years. I don't think so.
BARNES: And Mort, so far, you're doing very well.
Item four, the House will also take up the $100 billion economic stimulus package, now, the package you hate.
KONDRACKE: The package you love.
BARNES: Yes.
KONDRACKE: It's, it's, it's heavy on tax breaks for rich people and corporations, and it would use up the surplus that we'd like to use for other things in the -- in the long distance future. The fact is that the president will not go along with it when it gets to conference. It's going to be adjusted, thank heavens.
BARNES: Mort, have you noticed that the economy's in the ditch?
KONDRACKE: I did, yes.
BARNES: It needs some stimulus money.
KONDRACKE: Put money in the hands of people who will spend it.
BARNES: ... Mort, you're sticking with that old Keynesian stuff.
KONDRACKE: I ...
BARNES: I thought maybe I'd cured you of that. I haven't. OK.
Item five, check your mail. The postmaster general will be sending postcards to everyone outlining how to handle suspicious envelopes or packages.
KONDRACKE: A waste of money, another waste of money on the part of the post office. I mean, I'm sure that the television networks will be glad to put on a public service ad showing people what to do about, about dangerous-looking mail.
BARNES: Mort, you got a funny-looking letter with a lot of stamps and a, and a funny address on it, no return address. What did you all do at "Roll Call"?
KONDRACKE: Well, we, we turned it over to the police and the FBI, and it took hours and hours, and they evacuated the building...
BARNES: And what was in...
(CROSSTALK)
KONDRACKE: ... and it was -- somebody's suggestion for a cure for cancer and Parkinson's disease and other things.
BARNES: All right.
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