The Administration of William Jefferson Clinton
A record of of incompetence in government.
CONCERN FOR CHILDREN? Clinton refuses to agree to a treaty outlawing anti-personnel mines. Avoided by soldiers, these mines stay on the ground long after the end of hostilities, crippling farmers and children.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE? Neglecting the government's hard-won breakup of the telephone industry, Clinton's Justice Department agreed to the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX, sparing consumers the possibility of competition and lower prices.
SPEEDY JUSTICE? Clinton has neglected his responsibility to appoint federal judges, leaving the courts with a worsening backlog. He places the blame on a failure of Senators to make recommendations. This is a specious claim. Constitutionally, the responsibility is the president's to forward the names. He's passing the buck for abrogating his job.
HONESTY? Clinton apparently lied to the people about his philandering. Although he could have admitted mistakes, claimed privacy, or even changed the subject, he chose to proclaim innocence about his bent. This leads one to wonder what else he may have lied about.
FREE SPEECH? Clinton supporters at the 1992 Democratic convention prevented participation by Jerry Brown (now of We the People) and Robert Casey, both of whom had been elected governor of major states.
MERIT IN HIRING? The Clinton administration demanded that appointees prove they had supported his campaign early in the nomination process. This unrealistic demand excluded from consideration thousands of competent people, loyal to country and party, who either supported other candidates (such as the late Paul Tsongas or L. Douglas Wilder) or declined to take sides so early.
PROMPT DECISION-MAKING? After taking office in 1993, Clinton left many key agencies in the hands of inept Bush administration holdovers for months for his failure to nominate replacements. (The Washington Monthly attributed the plane crash that took the life of South Dakota Governor George S. Mickelson to the lack of regulation caused by one of these vacancies.)
NATIONAL SECURITY? Clinton exposed gay military personnel to blackmail and arbitrary harassment with the unworkable "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
CONSTITUENT SERVICE? Clinton cut the White House staff so drastically that they could not properly handle the flow of communication by mail from the American people. If people complain to the administration, Clinton never hears. If people ask about how to get things done, they don't get answers.
LOYALTY? Instead of supporting his designees, he abandoned them. In the worst case, brilliant legal scholar Lani Guinier, who opposed racial quotas, was labeled a "quota queen" and then denied any opportunity to set the record straight. In September, 1997, Clinton said of (Republican) William Weld, "I believe when a president nominates someone for a job, that person's entitled to a hearing before the Foreign Relations Committee." Yet he denied Guinier her hearing. This policy of abandonment has damaged morale within government and scared away from federal service prominent Americans who cannot afford to have their reputations ruined.
ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY The Social Security Administration chose a trustee to administer the finances of several mentally incompetent people in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Under insufficient supervision, the trustee embezzled several hundred thousand dollars, bankrupting the people so they could no longer pay for nursing home care. The SSA claims it has no responsibility to reimburse the money that was lost because of its negligence.
COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH CARE? After a promise to reform health care and seven years to work on it, all Clinton has produced is one peculiar proposal that couldn't get through Congress. The program would have required employers to cover health insurance costs, discouraging hiring of disabled people and placing an unfair burden on moonlighters.
A REEFER IN EVERY POT? Marijuana overdose has never killed anyone, making it one of the safest drugs in use. Recognizing this, several states decriminalized marijuana in the 1970's. Aside from its popularity as a recreational drug, marijuana is a cheap, effective treatment for preventing blindness from glaucoma and relieving the pain of AIDS. Alternative medications for these conditions have adverse side effects and are weak and expensive. After voters in two states endorsed permitting marijuana to be prescribed, Attorney General Janet Reno threatened to punish not only physicians who prescribe the drug, but also those who recommend it. It appears that a doctor who prescribes marijuana will be stripped of the right to prescribe marijuana. Instead of giving patients the help they need, health practitioners will have to say, "I recommend that you don't take the drug that will do you the most good." The Justice Department claimed voters in California and Arizona were sending children a "mixed message", despite the clear message the rest of us heard. They have gone so far as to endorse the policy of the AMA, the doctor's union that fought Clinton's health care policy. Since Clinton has admitted smoking marijuana himself, his hypocritical stance is aptly called the "'Do as I say, not as I do' policy" by comedian Jay Leno. The widespread use of marijuana by people who were and remain healthy reveals federal law enforcement to be misdirected. The public tolerance of marijuana promises that government resources dedicated to banning it will be completely wasted. For that matter, the War on Drugs is a lost cause.
RECOGNIZING A HERO? After a security guard Richard Jewell reported a suspiscious package at the Atlanta Olympics that later turned out to be a bomb, an FBI employee unprofessionally leaked to the press that the Jewell was under investigation. Instead of apologizing and emphasizing the importance of thorough investigation to rule out suspects, they left Jewell in unemployable limbo for nearly three months. The next person who sees a crime in progress may think twice about reporting it.
LAW ENFORCEMENT? Mark Whitacre reported criminal activity to the FBI. He cooperated with investigators by taping discussion of an international price-fixing conspiracy at Archer Daniels Midland Co. The evidence helped secure a record criminal antitrust fine of $100 million from ADM. Did the government protect Whitacre? Did it reward him with part of the fine? No. It indicted him.
CIVIL JUSTICE? Lawyers in the Justice Department have claimed that David Koresh bears sole responsibility for the deaths of Branch Davidians in Wacko (according to a 14 July 2000 report by Jean Jadhon of WDBJ-TV News). How can a government release from blame hundreds of people who did little or nothing to help children escape from a fire? Consider how dangerous it is for a government to endorse the concept that many people who abandon their will to one charismatic figure can escape responsibility for the consequences.
PUTTING THE PUBLIC FIRST? When there were some security problems at the White House, Clinton allowed a block of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the building to be closed, indefinitely detouring the heavy traffic on that street several blocks away. The additional margin of safety this provided can be only a fraction of what would have been gained by moving the president's office to a location outside the city of Washington.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION? The Clinton administration has done nothing to control the cost of directory assistance calls, which used to be free from pay phones. Phone companies not only charge us to use their equipment, they also charge us for the information necessary to use their equipment.
AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION? The Bureau of Census refuses to provide its 1990 block maps for inspection, referring the public to the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress claims to have sent them to the National Archives in College Park. The National Archives lacks sets of maps for a number of areas, including the largest county in Texas. None of these agencies is willing to take responsibility to comply with legitimate public requests for information. Who are they supposed to be working for?
ACCURACY OF INFORMATION? Stewartsville, Chamblissburg, and Montvale are growing suburbs located respectively 9, 12, and 16 miles east of downtown Roanoke. Federal statistics include them in the metropolitan area of Lynchburg, at least 32 miles away. Because of this misassignment, an economic downturn, such as unemployment, in the three suburbs is likely to result in assistance to Lynchburg, too far away to help.
COATTAILS? Clinton lost both houses of Congress to the opposition in 1994. Then he couldn't get either of them back. Meanwhile, he never has and never will win the endorsement of a majority of the nation's voters. This is an indication that he has done too little to address widespread discontent with government.
DIVERSITY? Clinton's appointments for Secretary of Defense have continued the consistent domination of the armed forces by white males.
CONCLUSION: Although the imcumbent's heart is in the right place, he follows another organ. Lately, it has veered to the right. If we wanted a Republican, we would have voted that way.
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