The Best Pol in Town
If there was any doubt about who is the most influential official in Washington, this past week settled it. No, it is not President Clinton or Speaker of the House New) Gingrich or Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. The honor has to go to the unelected chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greepspan.</br></br>' Clinton, Gingrich and Lott, standing together for once, were barely able to turn back amendments that would have derailed their fragile budget resolution, prevailing by shaky two-vote margins in both the House and Senate. But they were unable to pass a final version of the budget before the Memorial Day break. Greenspan, acting with the custom,- ry concurrence of his central bank colleagues, decided in one afternoon to let the economy go on growing, rathe:- than applying the brakes with ano'her boost in interest rates.</br></br>Main Street and Wall Street cheered GreenspanÛªs move. The country mostly ignored the budget machinations, while noting with contempt that partisan finger-pointing prevented Washington from agreeing even on "emergency aidÛ for Midwest flood victims.</br></br>Looking more broadly at the positions of the four men only confirms the power that Greenspan has come to exert in the system.</br></br>At the start of this year, Lott looked to be the new force in Washington. He showed his legislative skills in the final months of the 1996 session, after Majority Leader Bob Dole turned over the office to Lott and left for the presidential campaign trail. LottÛªs hand was strengthened by the voters in November, when Republicans added two seats to their Senate majority.