Thus Governor Cayetano has the authority to dispute the Council on Revenues' recent lowering of its forecast for the next fiscal biennium, which could mean a $275 million budget shortfall. The governor also has rejected a Senate proposal for an 8 percent annual reduction in state spending to deal with the shortfall, saying his departments had already "cut themselves to the bone" and the Senate is overreacting.
Economic forecasting is an inexact science and there is room for differences of opinion even among supposed experts. Seiji Naya, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, and himself a respected economist, has come up with a projection that the governor says is less alarming than the council's.
Cayetano contends that the council did not take into account his proposal for an accelerated $1 billion capital improvement program to provide work for the depressed construction industry and stimulate the economy. Moreover, tax collections for the past eight months are running 2 percent above a year ago, which is better than the council's forecast of 1.2 percent growth.
It would serve no purpose to take sides in a controversy that had better be left to the experts. However, it may be useful to point out that the council's projections are not sacrosanct and that the governor is not obligated to accept them. Of course, if he accepts a higher projection and it turns out to be wrong, he may have difficulty defending his decision to the voters.
Lake has a distinguished record of public service in foreign-policy posts, most recently as national security adviser. He could have been the director the CIA needed to lift it out of the malaise created by the Aldrich Ames scandal and other problems.
Although Lake was upset by the harassment to which he had been subjected -- including the wholly unwarranted demand for circulation of his FBI file -- it appears that he could have been confirmed by the committee had he stayed the course.
But he decided he had had enough of the games the Republicans were playing with his nomination over four months and quit. President Clinton, who has experienced confirmation problems with several of his nominees, wanted him to stay and fight but he refused.
His decision tarnishes the Senate Republicans because the Intelligence Committee has traditionally avoided partisan politics in considering such nominations. The president's next nominee may fare better than Lake, but the wounds created by this case will be slow to heal.
Virtually every family in Albania lost its life savings in schemes that promised extraordinary dividends before collapsing. Angry protests against a government that offered no compensation for the losses prompted Berisha to call two weeks ago for martial law, restrictions on public gatherings and censorship. It was too late. The public already had raided armories and was better equipped than the military.
In a desperate move to restore order, Berisha appointed Socialist opposition leader Bashkim Fino as prime minister. He agreed to a coalition government and internationally supervised elections in June, but the violence has continued. Thousands of Albanians have fled across the Adriatic Sea to Italy, and thousands more are poised to follow. But Italy will turn them back, as it did with another Albanian exodus in 1991.
Alarmed by the refugees, the European Union stands ready to help and has sent representatives to Albania to examine the situation, but there are no easy solutions. Somalia-styled military intervention by the West at this point would only aggravate the situation and humanitarian aid probably would be wasted in the prevailing anarchy.
Any international action to restore order at this point would be seen by Albanians as being aimed at propping up the Berisha presidency. Only if Berisha relinquishes his office will outside assistance be accepted, with the prospect of an end to the chaos.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
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A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor