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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (1168)	1/9/2001 1:46:57 PM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93284

It is a tragedy when a person begins with an ideology and then is handed the power to throw away years of common sense regulation just to satisfy the preconcived idea. This is nearly the definition of hubris. TP

To: Mephisto who wrote (1168)	1/13/2001 9:38:19 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 93284

Norton Billed Alaska for Her Help By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Gale Norton billed the Alaska Legislature $270 an hour last year to help overturn a fishing policy of the Interior Department that she's been chosen to run. Billing records also show she charged the state for help she gave a private group in the case. Alaska Democrats are questioning why Norton would ask Alaska's taxpayers to pay for her to assist the MOUNTAIN STAES Legal Foundation, a group she once worked for that has SUED THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT REPEATEDLY. `I would be concerned about us spending Alaska money to help another organization outside the state put their views forward,'' Democratic state Rep. Al Kookesh said Thursday. Republican lawmakers and a Norton spokeswoman said the billings were proper because the group was supporting the Legislature's position in the same case. Bill records obtained by The Associated Press show Norton was paid more than $60,000 last year by Alaska lawmakers to help write a friend-of-the-court brief in a federal lawsuit OPPOSING INTERIOR DEPARTMENT OVERSIGHT OF FISHING IN ALASKA.. The work is part of the legal and lobbying activities she performed after ending her tenure as Colorado attorney general in 1999. The work is underreview by senators for possible conflicts of interest. Norton was named last month as Bush's choice to head the Interior Department, which manages the nation's vast natural resources from national parks to offshore oil deposits. The billing records state Norton charged Alaska at least 18 times to help the legal foundation file its brief in the case. The records charge for such items as eight hours for ``revisions to MOUNTAIN STATES Legal Foundation brief'' and 1.2 hours to ``review and comment on final draft of MOUNTAIN STATES Legal Foundation amicus'' and make a phone call. Norton's spokeswoman, Jeanie Mamo, said Norton charged Alaska for helping the foundation because she had enlisted the group's help on the state's behalf. `She worked with them on the amicus brief on behalf of the state,'' Mamo said Thursday. Norton's ties to the Mountain States Legal Foundation are often cited by environmentalists who oppose her nomination. She was a foundation lawyer from 1979 until 1983, hired by James Watt, an Interior secretary under president REAGAN WHO WAS ANATHEMA TO ENVIRONMENTALISTS The foundation has SUED THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT repeatedly in recent years, seeking to overturn restrictions on mining, grazing and off-road vehicle use on federal land. The fishing case is the SECOND major environmental controversy in Alaska to involve Norton. While a top Interior Department lawyer during the Reagan administration, Norton advocated drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - a position Bush supports but environmentalists oppose. In the fishing case, Alaska is challenging a ruling that said the Interior Department has the right to regulate subsistence fishing in most Alaska waters. The state argues that such federal regulations infringe on the state's right to regulate fishing in its territory. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals - heard arguments in September but has not ruled. GOP legislative leaders decided to make their arguments to the appeals court because they didn't trust Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, to represent lawmakers' point of view fully, Porter said. But Democrats cried foul when the GOP leaders waited until October, after Norton and Lenzini had finished their work, to get formal approval for the state contract. Alaska House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz called the move ``an abuse of legislative discretion.'' - On the Net: Alaska Legislature: legis.state.ak.us