Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2001 07:23:28 -0600
From: reason@free-market.net ("Jeff Taylor")
Subject: Reason-Express: REx6, v4
To: ReasonExpress@free-market.net (Reason Express List Member)
Welcome to Reason Express, the weekly e-newsletter from Reason magazine.
Reason Express is written by Washington-based journalist Jeff A. Taylor and
draws on the ideas and resources of the Reason editorial staff. For more
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REASON Express
February 6, 2001
Vol. 4 No. 6
1) The Clintons' Gift That Keeps on Giving
2) Executive Action, Amateur Explanation
3) Big Guns Discover Voice-Over Internet
4) Congress Wants to Clean Your Hard Drive
5) Quick Hits
- - Gift Tax - -
When an experienced pair of grifters like the Clintons offer to pay for
something chances are there is catch. And so it is with $190,000 worth of loot
they were suddenly willing to go halfsies on. Turns out a big part of haul was
never given to the Clintons.
Some couches and other furnishings were given, donors now say, to the National
Park Service in 1993 as part of the permanent White House collection. The
gifts were part of a $396,000 redecoration of the executive mansion and not
meant for the Clintons personally.
By taking the stuff with them the Clintons have converted government property
to personal use. And that is the polite way of saying it.
The whole area of converting something into something else isn't some esoteric
issue. It is a basic component of tax law that everyday trips up poor
unconnected schlubs, or even semi-connect ones like NBA referees. A whole
posse of the whistle-blowers were hauled into court for converting first-class
plane tickets given to them by the NBA into coach class tix and some
unreported cash.
But the Clintons have long thumbed their noses at such strictures. Central to
the entire Whitewater episode--indeed the Clintons' cozy relationship with a
host of Arkansas bankers in the '80s--was the tax consequences of their
actions. It is what had poor Vince Foster pulling his hair out as he went over
their tax returns. Any payments made on behalf of the Clintons by their
Whitewater partner Jim McDougal could be construed as loan forgiveness, a tax
able event as far as IRS gnomes are concerned.
On the face of it, it looks like the Clintons owe tax on about $30,000 worth
of White House stuff they converted to their own use. If Uncle Sam ever wants
to see a penny of that, better just start garnishing Hillary's paycheck.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26094-2001Feb4.html
- - Pardon Me - -
President Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich keeps getting more
interesting too. It is well known that Rich's lawyer had been Clinton's White
House counsel a few years earlier.
Perhaps less well-known is the fact that attorney Jack Quinn wrote the
language of the executive order supposedly banning high Clinton administration
officials from lobbying the government for five years after they leave office.
Executive Order 12834 of Jan. 20, 1993, the "Ethics Commitments by Executive
Branch Employees" does include an exception for "communicating or appearing
with regard to a judicial proceeding or a criminal or civil law enforcement
inquiry, investigation or proceeding." That is what Quinn says he was doing in
his work for Rich.
But during all his high-powered lawyering, Quinn must've misplaced his copy of
the Constitution. The presidential pardon is fundamentally an executive, not a
judicial, activity.
Alexander Hamilton was plain enough in arguing for the executive pardoning
power by observing "the sense of responsibility is always strongest in
proportion as it is undivided." At least Hamilton didn't live to see Bill
Clinton.
The other big difference between an executive act and one in courtroom is that
the latter occurs in the light of day, not by the stroke of a pen in the dead
of night.
Quinn could've taken the route of public advocate in a courtroom for his
client. Instead he opted to trade on access and connections. It worked, and of
that fact at least, he shouldn't be ashamed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26480-2001Feb4.html
- - Packet Picking - -
It has taken awhile, but the engine of the demise of current phone system is
revving up. Both AT&T and WorldCom have started voice-over-Internet services,
bundling them with other data services with the intention of selling the
package to businesses.
Business customers are the first place one would expect voice-over-IP (VoIP)
services to show up, but they shouldn't be the last. As a rule, the Net-based
packet-switched system is much more efficient than the old circuit-switched
system.
However, the entire U.S. regulatory and pricing system is built around a
circuit-switched model. Length of call, distance traveled, and such are
circuit-switched concepts. So too are the access fees long distance providers
pay to local networks, fees which have had the effect of artificially raising
the price of long distance service while keeping local service cheaper.
What happens when long distance providers by-pass the local systems and route
voice traffic thru the Internet will be interesting. AT&T predicts it will
still take years for even the majority of new installing to use the IP model.
From there is matter of achieving critical mass that makes VoIP the standard
rather than the exception.
Regulators and legislators in Washington need to embrace the notion that the
days of current subsidy and fee corrupted telecom system is not long for the
Earth and work to ease its passage into history.
http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2681792,00.html
James K. Glassman reflects on the Telecom Act five years on at
http://reason.com/tcs/020501.html
- - Cookie Monster - -
Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) is the first behind a bill to make the federal
government the default manager of computer cookie bins. His legislation would
require each Web site to get permission from surfers before installing a
cookie or any other click-tracking identifier on a computer.
Thing is, a host of free and nearly-free pieces of software do what Edwards
says only the feds can do. And not just bleeding edge, techie only software,
but mainstream third and fourth generation stuff that most computer users can
figure out in minutes.
Further, the Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act requires businesses
that gather data to let users know what information has been assembled and
provide a way to correct errors. That'll be helpful for all the folks worried
if their IP address was incorrectly logged or whether they went from
amihot.com to monster.com or vice versa while at work.
Better still, the drive to comply with federal standards for cookie handling
and reporting could just make it impossible for alternative browsers like
Opera to function on mainstream sites. If making things only work with
Internet Explorer satisfy the feds, why do more?
Of course the real problem with such legislation--indeed with much privacy
hand wringing--is the notion that something called privacy exists in
cyberspace, or in real life. Clearly, in the real world no one demands utter
anonymity. That check-out person at the grocery knows why that Kaopectate is
in your buggy. Sometimes it is just too much trouble to hide everything about
yourself.
Still, the Net can meet the needs of hypersensitive. Secret remailers,
encryption, and anonymous surfing are available for those who feel they need
it. New government rules won't create any more privacy, just confusion.
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/01/31/010131hnedwards.xml?p=br&s=4
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2679980,00.html
Some free privacy utilities for PC systems:
OptOut scans systems for installed spyware http://grc.com/optout.htm
CookieWall automatically scans for and deletes unwanted cookies
http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/cookie.htm
WebWasher manages pop-up windows, page redirects, and scrubs away unwanted ads
http://www.webwasher.com/
QUICK HITS
- - Quote of the Week - -
"I wouldn't waste the 25 cents to buy the cartridge that would propel the
bullet," G. Gordon Liddy responding to a courtroom question on whether he
wanted to kill Nixon White House lawyer John Dean. Liddy was sued for
defamation by a woman who claimed his account of the real reason for the
Watergate break-ins--that Dean wanted to retrieve photos of his future wife
from a locked desk drawer--defamed her. The judge declared a mistrial in the
case.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4516-2001Jan30.html
- - Smoking Gun - -
Alfred Muller, mayor of Friendship Heights for the last 25 years and recent
proponent of banning all smoking on all public property in his DC-area hamlet,
pleaded not guilty to charges that he molested a 14-year-old boy in a restroom
at the National Cathedral. "He admits being on the scene and that an incident
occurred in the restroom, but he states that the circumstances were
different," an affidavit prepared by Muller's lawyer said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16265-2001Feb1.html
- - Band Banned - -
The Iowa marching band can no longer sing along with the polka tune "In Heaven
There Is No Beer." A parent of a student complained that the lyrics, "In
heaven, there is no beer. That's why we drink it here. And when we're gone
from here, all our friends will be drinkin' all the beer," promotes excessive
drinking.
http://www.charlotte.com/observer/sports/wirespor/pub/beer.htm
REASON NEWS
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