08-03-2002

INSIDE WASHINGTON: Inside Washington for August 3, 2002

Powell, at FCC, Meet Pitt, at SEC


Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is
being hit by some consumer activists as a deregulatory zealot whose
approach puts folks at the mercy of telecom monopolies. They contend that
Powell's laissez-faire philosophy could land him in the same hot water
that Harvey Pitt, the embattled chairman of the Securities and Exchange
Commission, is in. "Powell's approach is eliminating the checks and
balances and allowing unregulated monopolies to dominate," said Gene
Kimmelman, director of the Consumers Union in Washington. "That seems
to be the opposite direction that the Harvey Pitts of the world have been
forced to go." Despite Powell's recent assertion that he might
reconsider his decision to eliminate the FCC's accounting division, Brian
Moir, who represents business consumers, was skeptical. "He gutted
the FCC's accounting machinery despite almost unanimous support for
tougher rules from state regulators." Kimmelman's ominous prediction:
"At some point, that market structure, without public oversight, is a
crisis waiting to happen."


Made in America, Except When Made in Japan


Japanese automobile exports to the United States are expected to hit an
11-year high of 1.88 million units, if trends in the first half of 2002
continue through the year. But except for some United Auto Workers
members, no one seems to be noticing. The opening of Japanese car-making
facilities in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and elsewhere in the early 1990s
were expected to permanently curtail U.S. imports of Toyotas, Nissans, and
Hondas, and to defuse the U.S. political backlash that soured U.S.-Japan
trade relations in the late 1980s. Now the combination of the weak yen and
continued strong U.S. consumer demand, much of it for Japanese-built SUVs,
threatens to raise the issue once more. Whether it will have any political
legs is another question, however. There are tens of thousands of voters
who now work for Japanese automakers in the United States, and they'll
oppose lawmakers getting tough with their employers.


We're All for Clean Skies, and Clean Getaways


In February, President Bush gave a high-profile environmental speech
announcing his "Clean Skies" program, which proposed using
market-based incentives to cut air pollution. The proposal also called for
eliminating several key provisions of the Clean Air Act. Bush's plan
received such a scathing review from environmental activists and their
allies in Congress that negotiations about what would go in the bill
dragged on for months. Finally, late on a Friday night just before the
House adjourned for summer recess, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, quietly
introduced the administration's bill, then promptly left town. On July 29,
Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., filed the Senate version, and his aides told
reporters that if they wanted details, they should call the White House.
Hill staffers, noting the less-than-ringing endorsements and the limited
time left in this session, are describing the once-ballyhooed proposal as
"dead on arrival."


It's a Crying Shame! (But We Can Use This)


The Senate's collapse this week on legislation that would provide
prescription drug coverage for seniors left behind a fresh residue of
cynicism among even the most-hardened Capitol insiders. In their
desperation to pass something, anything, Democrats abandoned long-held
principles that Medicare should provide universal coverage; this departure
left bad feelings among some longtime advocates for seniors. Republican
leaders, on the other hand, did little to seek a compromise, some insiders
suggested, because they wanted to be able to crow in the fall elections
that only the GOP-controlled House passed a bill that covered seniors,
never mind the gaps in it. Campaign consultants on both sides, meanwhile,
are already preparing their blame-game ads. And, alas, grandma will
continue to pay for her meds.




National Journal