New Monuments/Old Attitudes

[dallison]

Well Carl, thankfully the country is still led by President Clinton rather
than the Wall Street Journal, at least for a few more days.

As for public input, President Clinton, with his executive orders and,
especially his declaration of new and expanded national monuments, leaves
office with a higher approval rating with the entire public (WSJ obviously
excepted) than any president since approval and disapproval ratings
started being recorded. The public evidently likes his actions more than
you and the WSJ.

As for President Clinton's approach to strikers, it may not have been
perfect but it beats the heck out of the approach of President Regan which
was simply firing all of the air traffic controllers when they went on
strike.

And, "Congressional Debate":  Would that be like the non-existent
congressional debate over the American Fisheries Act where Senator Stevens
carved up the North Pacific groundfish fisheries and gave them away to his
friends and associates after a series of closed door meetings with his
industry friends. Or maybe like the non-existent congressional debate
(unless you count planning among Senators Stevens Murkowski and dear
departed Senator Gorton) over the rider which over-rode the scientific
Biological Opinon and Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives on Steller Sea
Lions. Oh, but wait, that debate and public input was virtually non-existent
too and congress never saw the riders till Senator Stevens delivered it to
them in the final appropriations bill.

Or maybe, just maybe, it irritates some people when a person in authority
acts to protect the public trust rather than to benefit the private
interests of his friends. Public resources belong to all of the public.
Executive orders are frequently, as clearly stated in the recent
announcements, issued to protect the public resources of all of the people
of the United States against the few who would exploit them or, as with one
Native American sacred site, destroy them, with no -or minimal return to the
public. President Clinton did the right thing and the Wall Street Journal be
damned.

Dave Allison
Allison Associates,
Washington, DC
  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-cmpan at ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-cmpan at ucdavis.edu]On Behalf Of
Carl B.Lind
  Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 1:41 PM
  To: Jim.Mccallum at noaa.gov; Roger B Griffis
  Cc: CMPAN; Coral list; Coral Reefs Egroup; noaampa all; ashley simons
  Subject: Re: New Monuments


  "...Seeking to leave his mark on environmental protection, President
Clinton created seven new national monuments Wednesday..."
  ------------------------------

  Well, this may be well and good, but it appears a bit dictatorial.
Whatever happened to public input and congressional debate?

  Today's Wall Street Journal has it about right:  "Under the separation of
powers, Congress is the law-making branch.  Yet that has not stopped Mr.
Clinton from 'enacting' everything from his 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy
for the military to his American heritage rivers initiative.  Indeed, he has
the distinction of being the only peacetime president to have had an
executive order voided by a court -- his striker replacement gambit.
Clinton aide Paul Begala captured the President's attitude perfectly:
'Stroke of the pen.  Law of the land.  Kind of cool'."

  The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

  CL

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