Foreign Policy
Not satisfied with John Bolton annoying the United Nations and Ms. Rice annoying Europe, our State Department thought is was a good idea to have David Wilkins, US Ambassador to Canada, get involved in the Canadian election campaign.
US-Canadian relations are a bit strained over the unilateral imposition of tariffs on Canadian lumber. The matter has been investigated by the various arbitration panels and the US keeps getting told to stop it and pay the escrowed tariffs to the Canadians, but the US refuses.
Prime Minister Paul Martin [Liberal] has been trying to improve relations with the US, but the Canadian lumber industry is looking for resolution. Stephen Harper [Conservative], Martin’s main challenger, thinks that Canada should be tougher in its dealings with the US than Martin is.
If Ambassador Wilkins would like to convince politicians in Canada to stop bashing the US during the campaign, he might suggest that the US government comply with its trade agreements.
December 15, 2005 Comments Off on Foreign Policy
RIP William Proxmire 1915-2005
Bill Proxmire took over Joe McCarthy’s Senate seat after McCarthy’s death and the change was startling. He was a liberal Democrat, ask anyone, which meant he never accepted campaign contributions from anyone and he pushed for a balanced Federal budget.
Some people felt he was a cheapskate because he refused to accept contributions, probably didn’t spend $1000 on his six campaigns for the Senate [that’s a total for all six combined], opposed Congressional pay raises, and handed out Golden Fleece Awards to people he felt were wasting tax dollars.
I objected to some of his targets because they were for basic research that later resulted in significant advances, but most of what he highlighted were pork barrel projects that helped politicians get re-elected.
Wikipedia has a basic biography and CNN has a short obituary.
The country could use a few more Proxmire’s to clean up the mess the Shrubbery has created.
December 15, 2005 Comments Off on RIP William Proxmire 1915-2005
