- There is a blizzard going on in Washington, D.C., but
it differs from the kind of winter snowfall that is expected at this time
of year. The flurries that typically lend a sense of enchantment to the
season have been replaced by an avalanche of legal blather, which has
muscled
its way into the Federal Register. Unprecedented in United States history,
the onslaught of executive branch activity has added as many as 30,000
pages of government regulation to the books.
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- It should not really surprise us. We have seen this
pillage
of power many times before with this administration. The latest perversion
of authority is consistent with prior executive orders and proclamations
that have created law, confiscated property, distorted military policy
and otherwise severely undermined the doctrine of separation of powers,
as explicitly mandated by the United States Constitution. Failure to halt
the usurpation has only served to embolden the perpetrator.
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- Now President Clinton is consulting with Department of
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit about whether to sign a presidential
proclamation
to declare the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a national monument. If
executed according to plan, the proclamation will once again involve use
of the 1906 Antiquities Act and will substantially augment the millions
of acres across the western United States that have already been set aside
by Clinton.
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- With one renegade signature, oil drilling in the area,
which was discussed during the presidential campaign as a viable option,
would be prohibited. In addition, the rest of the world, and the oil
producing
exporters in particular, would receive an irresolute message that the
United
States has chosen to continue a policy of energy dependence.
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- It appears that other executive agencies want to indulge
in the regulation manufacturing business as well. The Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) is designing so-called ergonomic
regulations.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is supplementing its already
voluminous collection of irrational and arbitrary rules. The United States
Forest Service is trying to fashion 60 million acres of wilderness by
barring
roads in vast areas of government land. Other bureaucrats are devising
ways to disallow government contracts with businesses that have had labor,
health or environmental complaints filed against them.
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- So why is the administration trying to set a record for
the biggest blitz ever of executive orders and regulations? It may be due
to an incessant search for a more edifying legacy than the one that
persists.
However, the recent debate about whether or not an economic downturn has
already begun may be more revealing of the true motivation.
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- Will the effect of adding 30,000 pages of regulations
targeted toward entrepreneurial activities in the private sector be to
sabotage an already weakened economy, one that is poised to be inherited
by the new incoming administration? Perhaps. An increase in red tape and
regulation often correlates with a decrease in business
productivity.
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- Good financial times were always the stuff of bragging
rights and high job approval ratings. In no way does President Clinton
want to share responsibility for any economic lull, dip, slump, droop or
slide. Coupled with this reluctance is the possibility that many Democrats
would rejoice if an economic downswing could be pinned squarely on a
Bush/Cheney
administration.
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- There are steps that must be taken by our new president
if he is to thwart this potentiality. The action does not require
bipartisanship.
Nor does it require cooperation from Congress. What it does require is
political will, a healthy dose of determination and the appropriate
personnel
to accomplish the task.
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- Regulations must be unilaterally trimmed back to levels
below where they were when Clinton took office. The collection of illegal
executive orders that have been placed by Bill Clinton and his predecessors
in the Federal Register must be revoked. And this last batch of regulations
that was created by federal agencies gone wild must be removed.
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- It is hoped that when George W. Bush assumes office,
he will see this farewell executive and regulatory discharge for what it
truly is - a threat to America's economic, political and social well
being.
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- For Dr. Hirsen's Bio http://www.newsmax.com/bios/
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