The President and Mrs. Clinton toured South America, which will not soon forget nor easily forgive. In Brazil, the First Gringos told President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to change the time set for a state dinner at his palace. “Who decides about what time I have dinner in my palace?” he fumed. “That’s me.” The Clintons remarked that Brazil’s judicial system was “inefficient” (causing Chief Justice Celso de Mello to decline an invitation to dinner with Mr. Clinton in protest), and that the country was marred by “endemic corruption” (prompting the leader of Brazil’s lower house, Inocencio Oliveira, to sputter, “I hate Americans”). The Clintons kept spreading their sunshine, observing that Rio de Janeiro was “one of the most dangerous cities in the world” (Washington, D.C., isn’t?), that Brasilia, the capital, was “dry and sterile” and “soulless,” and that commuters in Sao Paulo made love in their cars during traffic jams, probably without even having any Astroturf in the back seat. On leaving, the Clintons made some remarks in Spanish, no doubt forgetting that Brazilians speak Portuguese.
Congressional Republicans should grow up and stop whining about President Clinton’s efforts to use the line-item veto. For decades the GOP campaigned in favor of restoring the presidential budget-impoundment authority that was terminated after Watergate. Well, the line-item veto passed in 1995, and in recent weeks Mr. Clinton cut a measly $144 million from a $248-billion defense-appropriation bill and $287 million from a $9.2-billion military-construction bill. But hear the GOP howl! House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston described the President’s use of the vetoes as “a raw exercise of power.” Deficit hawk Sen. Pete Domenici moans, “We will have a real war going.” Sen. Robert F. Bennett whimpers, “We had no warning.” Only Sen. John McCain has urged the President on, submitting his own $27-million list of terminations. Remember when the GOP pledged to eliminate the Departments of HUD, Energy, and Commerce? You’ve come a long way, baby.
Comments