The soon-to-be-departing Newt Gingrich leaves many legacies for the next Republican Congress to build on. But one of them is a minor scandal. Sometime last year, Gingrich pulled money out of the Pentagon budget to set up yet another interminable, congressionally mandated study of U.S. national security policy. (Do you remember the last congressionally mandated study, the National Defense Panel's report of last year? Don't worry, no one else does either.) The price tag for this new study: $ 14 million. Let us repeat: $ 14 million for a national security study.
The lucky recipient of that $ 14 million was Gen. Charles G. Boyd, one of Newt's pals and advisers. Now, Boyd, a decorated veteran and prisoner of war in Vietnam, is not the problem. The problem is that this eye-poppingly expensive study has already been hijacked by the Clinton administration. Top Clinton appointees at the Pentagon have insisted on vetting and approving the study group's analysts and participants. THE SCRAPBOOK has heard that the board will include the likes of Gary Hart and Andrew Young. This is an easy one for the next Republican Congress: Cut it! Spend the $ 14 million on spare parts for some of the Pentagon's crashing helicopters.