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Editorials
Tuesday, August 8, 2000Legislators should
end session quicklyThe issue: The state Legislature has begun a special session to deal with two problems of its own making.
THE Legislature has begun a special session to correct two problems. The members appear to have reached full agreement on both issues in advance and are ready to enact solutions. This advance preparation was essential to avoid the possibility of the session being extended indefinitely because of an impasse. Special sessions should be called only when emergency action is required and should be kept as short as possible.
In both of the current cases the Legislature is addressing the need to correct its own mistakes. One was a constitutional amendment that tried to cope with problems caused by reapportionment but created another one. It awarded some incumbent senators four-year terms if re-elected while their challengers, if elected, would get only two-year terms.
This is clearly inequitable and probably violates the U.S. Constitution by treating some voters and candidates differently from others. Although no one defended the constitutional provision after civic groups called attention to it, there was initial reluctance by legislative leaders to call a special session to correct the provision.
Governor Cayetano expressed the view that the problem could wait for the 2001 regular session, which at first seemed reasonable. However, two legal scholars raised the prospect that the provision of unequal terms could violate the U.S. Constitution. The threat of a lawsuit if the Legislature did not act quickly made the option of delay impractical.
The other problem involved the new medical information privacy law that has great uncertainty and confusion for insurance and hospital administrators and persons in related activities.
The law seems to require patients' approval for release of a wide variety of medical information, leaving administrators concerned that they might be inadvertently in violation and feeling that they had to suspend certain procedures until they obtained clarification. Obviously there is a need for re-examination of the law's provisions and perhaps a tightening of requirements to make them manageable.
During the special session, the legislators intend to respond to appeals from the health-care industry by postponing the effective date of the law. The intention is that during the 2001 session the lawmakers will clarify the privacy provisions before the measure goes into effect.
This is preferable to attempting to revise the law during the current special session, which could be time-consuming. However, letting the law go into effect would have provided experience that could have been useful to the legislators when they addressed the issue next year.
Lieberman could help
Gore with moderates
AL Gore has chosen as his running mate a centrist Democratic senator known for his independence and integrity but most of all for his indignation about President Clinton's personal conduct.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman's strong criticism of Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky affair -- while the vice president was defending Clinton -- may help Gore distance himself from the White House scandals. Beyond that, Lieberman has much to help Gore's presidential candidacy.
Lieberman's reputation as a pillar of morality reached national proportions in 1998 when he called Clinton's behavior "immoral" in a speech on the Senate floor. "It has, I fear, compromised his moral authority," Lieberman said. However, he later voted for Clinton's acquittal.
Neither Lieberman nor Richard Cheney, Republican nominee George W. Bush's running mate, provide electoral windfalls; Lieberman is from Connecticut, Cheney from Wyoming. However, both possess the qualifications to become effective presidents if their running mate dies or is incapacitated.
Lieberman could be a greater attraction to moderate, independent voters because he is perceived as being more conservative than Gore, while Cheney is regarded as being to the right of Bush.
Lieberman has voted for abortion rights, gun control and tax hikes but has taken more conservative stances on defense spending and welfare reform. Unlike Gore, he supports school vouchers and partly privatizing Social Security.
Gore's choice is seen as a bold move because Lieberman is the first Jew to be named to a national ticket. His deep religious convictions could make him attractive to religiously observant voters. This may offset the effects of anti-Semitism, estimated in a 1998 poll to affect 12 percent of Americans.
By choosing someone of Lieberman's experience and character, Gore may have eliminated the possibility that running mates will be a significant issue in the presidential campaign. Voters are likely to devote their attention in the race to those running for president, not vice president.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
