COVER
Down on the Downtrodden (Cover Stories)
Newt Gingrich sets off a race to cut government spending for the poor, but he may be misreading America's mood
Reining in the Rich (Cover Stories)
The costliest welfare load isn't for the poor, it's for the well-to-do
NATION
Dark Matter (Chronicles)
Dispatches: Getting Home for Christmas (Chronicles)
Getting Home for Christmas
Getting Out the Wrecking Ball (The Administration)
Clinton struggles to beat the G.O.P. at its own game. Now, if someone will notice . . .
Health Report: Dec. 19, 1994 (Chronicles)
Inside Little Rock: Turning Up the Flame Under Whitewater (Chronicles)
Turning Up the Flame Under Whitewater
One Man's Meeting ... (Chronicles)
The Big One That Did Not Get Away of the Week (Chronicles)
The Week December 4-10 (Chronicles)
These You Can Get on Dec. 24. (Chronicles)
Vox Pop: Dec. 19, 1994 (Chronicles)
Winners & Losers: Dec. 19, 1994 (Chronicles)
WORLD
Making Their Own Miracles (South Africa)
Though the government moves slowly to erase the ravages of apartheid, a quiet revolution is under way
Next, a Cold Peace? (Diplomacy)
Relations between the U.S. and Russia are rapidly turning sour
SCIENCE
Taming the River Wild (Environment)
The world's largest dam is under way in China, but it won't solve the country's giant energy problems
HEALTH & MEDICINE
Higher Education: Crocked on Campus (Health)
A backlash against college drinking grows as a new study documents the damaging effects on all students
SOCIETY
It Did Happen Here (Crime)
Amid new revelations about Susan Smith, a town mourns her sons and braces for the trial
Patriot Games
Irate, gun-toting white men are forming militias. Are they dangerous, or just citizens defending their rights?
TECHNOLOGY
Playing for Keeps
The fate of 3DO -- and the course of the video-game industry -- could be decided in the next few weeks
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
The Political Interest: Newt's Believe It or Not (The Political Interest)
Newt's Believe It or Not
Magazine Contents Page (Contents)
December 19, 1994 -- Vol. 144 No. 25
Time Magazine Masthead (Masthead)
Vol. 144, No. 25 Dec. 19, 1994
BUSINESS
The California Wipeout
Orange County files for bankruptcy after losing big on high-risk investments
LAW
A High Price to Pay
Heidi Fleiss's stiff three-year sentence has feminists, sympathizers and even some of her jurors in a furor
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
SHOW BUSINESS: Becoming the Beatles (Arts & Media / SHOW BUSINESS)
A new two-CD set of live British radio performances displays pop's premier group growing from imitators to assured artists
THEATER: Every Atom Is a Cathedral (Arts & Media / THEATER)
Physics, espionage and love drive Tom Stoppard's Hapgood
BOOKS: Imagine: a Cow in a Gown! (Arts & Media / BOOKS)
Plus bad-attitude gargoyles, secret messages and other delights in a Christmas choice of books for kids
TELEVISION: Pre-Bananas (Arts & Media / TELEVISION)
Woody's back -- the funny one
CINEMA: Revered in Film and Feminism (Arts & Media / CINEMA)
MUSIC: Scathing Guitars, Pretty Tunes (Arts & Media / MUSIC)
On Vitalogy, Pearl Jam, America's dominant rock group, once again delivers an impressive mix of power and melody
CINEMA: Sex! Controversy! Box Office! (Arts & Media / CINEMA)
Basic Attraction? No. Fatal Instinct? No. It's Disclosure, in which Michael Douglas again plays the victim of one hot broad
BOOKS: Speaking Volumes (Arts & Media / BOOKS)
A selection of holiday gift books that celebrate beauties, beasts, bric-a-brac, bygone eras and modern buckaroos
CINEMA: Stiletto Heel (Arts & Media / CINEMA)
Robert Altman sends a hate letter to the fashion industry
CINEMA: Transcendental Meditation (Arts & Media / CINEMA)
Winona Ryder stars in Little Women, an entrancing version of a classic that, despite its gentility, speaks right to our time
MUSIC: Triple Jump (Arts & Media / MUSIC)
TLC Follows Up Its Platinum Debut with a Fine, Slinky Cd
OPERA: Wagner Meets Cocteau (Arts & Media / OPERA)
Philip Glass's La Belle et la Bete audaciously combines film and music to create a beautiful, superbly integrated work