Clinton

Politics is a Country Club: Mubarak/Clinton Edition

by Kathryn Ciano on February 11, 2011 · 2 comments

in International, Politics as Usual

Hillary Clinton, March 10, 2009: “I really consider [Egyptian] President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the United States.”

If that seems shocking, consider it a bitter reminder that a great deal of politics exists precisely to protect social order already in place. Consider how entrenchment operates, and how difficult it is to change direction, especially procedural direction.

Consider the fact that President Mubarak revealed in yesterday’s speech that he intends to stay in office until September — ostensibly as a “figurehead” to ensure that everything “goes smoothly” when the government changes hands.

Consider the fact that when Honduran President Zelaya dug in his heels and refused to leave the Honduran office when his term expired under that country’s constitution, and when his countrymen ousted him per the terms of the Constitution under which they had elected him, much of the world, including American President Obama, jumped to call it a “coup.”

Consider how unwilling much of America is to end Social Security even when we know the numbers don’t add up. The system is entrenched and that’s what we know.

What makes a government work is people’s faith that it will work. If people believe their government to be untrustworthy they will seek extralegal remedies and self-help. Faith in government keeps the system ticking even when the government misbehaves.

The Clintons and the Mubaraks are friends. What these two families share in common overshadows their differences enough that they are friends.

Politics is a country club. The purpose of an energetic public — and particularly of a strong fourth estate — is to keep the country club as small and as responsive as possible.

2010 Federal Register is Third-Largest Ever

by Ryan Young on December 30, 2010

in Deregulate to Stimulate, Economy, Regulation

Today is the last working day of 2010 which means the last edition of the 2010 Federal Register came out this morning. The final unadjusted page count is 82,589 pages. That’s the third-highest ever.

Page counts are typically highest in years when power changes hands. This year was no exception. The two other highest unadjusted page counts occurred when Carter handed off to Reagan, and when Clinton handed off to Bush. The Bush-Obama hand-off featured the largest-ever adjusted page count, 79,435.

This time, the spike happened with only the House changing parties. The next few years will tell us a lot. 2010′s high page count may have been a combination of this year’s ambitious legislation plus a midnight rush to get the White House’s regulatory wish list in place before the other team can block it.

Or, as in the past, it could be that we have reached a new, permanent plateau of frenzied federal activity.

I’m hoping for the former. But the Republicans in Congress are no friends of limited government, so one never knows. They will reliably oppose anything the other team comes up with. But as the Bush years showed, they’ll also vote for the exact same policies so long as it’s their team that’s proposing them. This is not a recipe for fiscal or regulatory health.