Time

TO OUR READERS 4

LETTERS 8

CHRONICLES 19

MILESTONES 29

COVER: The Gingrich Who Stole Christmas 30

The incoming Speaker of the House sets off a race to cut

programs for the poor. But most Americans don't agree with

harsh cutbacks.

Who Is Entitled? A bipartisan commission says welfare for the

well-off should be on the table too

THE ADMINISTRATION: Frantic Shuffle to the Middle 41

Clinton's reincarnation as a centrist is well under way

THE POLITICAL INTEREST: Newt's Believe It or Not 43

Gingrich sounds great, but he's loose with the facts

SOCIETY: Armed and Cantankerous 48

Politician-hating citizens are forming militias

DIPLOMACY: Dangers of a Cold Peace 50

Relations between the U.S. and Russia are turning sour

SOUTH AFRICA: Quiet Revolution 52

With government help, people change the way things were

BUSINESS: So Rich and So Broke 55

Orange County files the largest municipal bankruptcy petition

TECHNOLOGY: Trip Hawkins on the Ropes 58

It's make-or-break time in the video-game industry

LAW: Was Heidi Heave-Hoed? 59

Fleiss's stiff sentence has outraged even some of her jurors

CRIME: Grief and Questions in Union 60

A battered town steels itself for the Susan Smith trial

ENVIRONMENT: Damming the Yangtze 62

China launches its contested Three Gorges hydropower project

HEALTH: Backlash Against Campus Drinking 66

A study documents the damaging effects of secondhand booze

THE ARTS & MEDIA

Books: There is no frigate like a book, and this year's holiday

gift selection will take readers lands away 68

Opera: La Belle et la Bete is Philip Glass at his best 72

Cinema: Little Women is the year's unlikeliest triumph 74

Demi Moore victimizes Michael Douglas in Disclosure 75

Altman's fashion farrago: Ready to Wear, unfit to be seen 75

Music: Pearl Jam's expert mix of power and melody 76

TLC stands for pure funky fun 77

Theater: Physics, espionage and love drive Hapgood 78

Television: Woody Allen makes a funny return 78

Show Business: A "new" Beatles album, 30 years old 81

PEOPLE 83

ESSAY 84

TIME (ISSN 0040-781X) is published weekly except for two issues combined into one at year-end for $61.88 per year by Time Inc. Principal Office: Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y., 10020-1393. Reginald K. Brack Jr., Chairman, CEO; Don Logan, President; Joseph A. Ripp, Treasurer; Harry M. Johnston, Secretary. Second-class postage paid at New York, New York, and at additional mailing offices. (c) 1994 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. TIME and the Red Border Design are protected through trademark registration in the United States and in the foreign countries where TIME magazine circulates. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TIME, P.O. Box 30601, Tampa, Florida 33630-0601. For subscription queries, call Customer Service at 1-800-843-TIME (8463).