Opinion-Editorial Page Section - Page C5
July 5, 1996 Editorial
CLINTON'S COMEDY 'LAUGH-IN' NOT APPRECIATED BY AMERICANS!
by Editors of The Daily Republican NewspaperRelated Story:
WASHINGTON DESK - In the wake of charges of breach of confidentiality and security lapses, the Clintons are now moving to turn-over confidential background investigation files to a private for-profit company. Meanwhile, the Clintons claim they have installed a $500,000 secret super computer in the White House keeping track of lots of data on as many as 200,000 American citizens without their knowledge or permission.The Privacy Act of 1974 [United States Code, Sec. 352] makes it a federal crime to obtain confidential FBI files and to disclose the identity of confidential FBI informants contained in such files. The Clintons apparently feel that with privatizing the whole matter they will be able to escape responsibility for mismanaging confidential background investigation files at the White House Personnel Security Office.
The papers and effects of at least 700 Americans have been unreasonably searched by the Clinton administration's invasion of their confidential FBI files. The Clintons surely know some American history. If this assumption is correct why haven't the Clintons taken John Adams to heart. They should have. He was talking about a future with people like the Clintons in it. He said in 1772 that "the only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man alive with power to endanger the public liberty." The American people rhave a long memory.
The current Clinton appointed FBI director claims the FBI was "victimized" by the White House. Yet, this Clinton appointee is the one responsible for turning over the confidential personnel file of one of his own agents to the White House for their dark purposes.
Under this latest revelation it has been learned that transfer and control of the White House Personnel files will take effect at the end of this week. The American taxpayers are stunned by the cavalier attitude taken by the Clinton White House in transferring about 40 percent of security and other background checks on government employees and job applicants to a non-government profit-seeking company.
The Clinton's are putting a new face on the FBI files fiasco by calling the transfer of the White House files just part of Clinton's commitment to "down-size" the government. Yet, they cannot turn away from their egregious violation of a fundamental American ethic, enshrined in our Constitution and embedded in the moral compass of the American people. The American people are holding the Clintons' feet to the fire!"
The Clintons' move to "downsize" the White House by privatizing services to a for-profit private vendor at taxpayers expense has all the earmarks of a comic Gilbert & Sullivan light opera. It is another irresponsible action in a long line of the Clintons' incompetence in the White House. This latest fiasco will leave many government agencies relying on an untested private company with no previous experience who will not have full access to law enforcement records. When an apology from the Clintons is in order, this is, instead, a hateful slap in the face of the American people.
The Clintons' friends, without concern for the privacy interest in confidential background files, are telling the Clintons to keep up 'business as usual'. Yet, Clinton critics say, transferring the confidential files to the start-up private company could place sensitive records about government employees and job applicants in the hands of a business venture, raising even more concerns about the privacy of personal information.
This at a time when the White House itself has been reckless, negligent, and criminal in its handling of confidential background files. The Clinton administration has been besieged in the last several weeks with questions about how it came to have FBI files on prominent members of Congress, the FBI itself, news agencies, and American taxpayers.
"Even within the federal government we've seen an abuse of sensitive files, as the current FBI case illustrates," said Paul Simon(D) who raised objections to the Clintons' private company switch. "Turn it over to private investigators and the invitation to abuse is going to be very real. We're going to see privacy problems, security problems, and sloppy work."
With the encouragement of th Clintons' supporters they have decided to disregard cautious warnings from leaders of the Democrat Party, from the FBI, and from the GAO, and from Republican congress members. Simon and Congressman Thomas M. Davis III (R) have introduced a bipartisan bill to delay Clinton's change-over for two years to provide more time to study its short and long-run counter-productive and security implications. Yet, the word on the Hill is that the bipartisan bill has almost no chance of passing before Clinton's executive order takes effect.
Clinton wants the investigation office's functions transferred to the private company. The private company has never performed any work for anyone and has never submitted a bid for the contract. Yet, by the Clinton order the private company will be granted a contract to do all the background checks for the Office of personnel Management for three years. After that it will have to compete for the business with other private services. In the meantime, it is expected to solicit contracts from state and local governments and private companies in an effort to expand.
President Clinton's decision to use the executive order grew out of Clinton's budget crisis and personal troubles when he attempted to eliminate hundreds of thousands of federal jobs by executive order. And in response to questions as to the Clinton White House and its aides misuse of confidential FBI background files on Republican leaders and others. Officials at the personnel agency said there would be adequate safeguards to assure there is no future abuse of confidential information by the Clinton White House. The FBI's files, for example, Clinton says will be available only to government officials overseeing investigations by the private company, bur not to the company itself. After the FBI file fiasco the Clintons are presently caught in, what reasonable person would believe the Clintons' forecast as to how secure things will someday be. The proposed Clintons' private security company is open an admission by the Clintons that senior White House aides and legal counsel cannot be trusted to maintain confidentiality and secrecy of background files entrusted to them!
A study sponsored by Clinton's Office of Personnel Management concluded that the privatization, over just the next five years, might save $20 million to $25 million. Yet, the General Accounting Office reviewed Clinton's study and said that "any new business faces many uncertainties that can affect profitability."
The General Accounting Office also questioned procedures and policies for access to criminal records. Simon said that when the GAO contacted 12 states in March to ask about access by the new venture, six of the states said they would not or could not give data to private contractors. In spite of these red-flags Clinton staff said they were confident that they could retain access to law enforcement records by having requests funneled through some of the federal government personnel who will oversee the relationship with the privatized company.
The times reported that key people of the new company said they were uncomfortable with their work becoming part of a for-profit business, never having worked for anyone other than the government.
Another wrinkle that Clinton failed to appreciate has just been brought to light. Any government employee will make a lot more money under the private company because most, if not all, will have enough years of service to collect a federal pension while 'double dipping' by retirieng from the goverrnment job and continued fill-time work at full salary for theClintons' new private company!
The Clintons' goals, policies, and directives have weakened and are systematically destroying the entire national security function of the United States Government. Sources report that the Clintons take pride in building what they call the "Big Brother" super computer which contains FBI reports of political activities of 200,000 American citizens.
The American people clearly recognize the Clintons are at the center of an unrelenting class warfare attack against middle-income Americans and the the American Dream. The Clintons' judgment is impaired and their values seem bitter, envious of wealth that their ethics are for sale to the lowest bidder!
The Clintons are arrogant people who ruined the State of Arkansas leading to the felony conviction of its Governor Tucker(D) and disgrace of the State House. While the Clintons ran Arkansas from that same State House they did their best to obtain whatever wealth they could lay hands upon. The Clintons have been searching for wealth through government influence and the emoluments of public office in Arkansas and in Washington. In the process of the Clintons' search for public wealth they managed to break a noble trust, first with the people of Arkansas, and now with the American people.
Meanwhile, the Clintons are spreading false information around the world. For example, one of Clinton's widely known odd fixations was telling American voters about memories of Arkansas "bigotry" in the 1950's racist church burning that never happened there.
Now, there they go again! Yes, the Clintons are back harping on the fabrication that American black churches are being burned by a conspiracy of southern racists. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday broadcast a radio message in which the she depicted the American government as a'messy business' that, never-the-less champions poor black people who have suffered from white church-burner bigotry.
The first lady actually said the measure of America's dedication to democracy was " ... how it resists the forces of darkness and intolerance ...'' in the rash of black church burnings in the southern United States where " ... our citizens have not met these acts of evil with silence or indifference. In nearly every instance, men and women of goodwill - and all faiths - have banded together to repair buildings and rebuild spirits in theaftermath of these anti-democratic hate crimes.''
Ironically, Clinton chose as the location for her speech, the building that once housed the Communist Parliament in the capital of the former Czechoslovakia.
In spite of the certainty in her voice when the first lady hurled accusations at American democracy, the Clintons are well aware of the truth and cannot identify any American church burnings as anti-democratic hate crimes! There is no hard evidence of a sudden wave of racially motivated arsons against black churches in the South. The Clintons are playing the race card again!
The highly publicized AP review of six years of federal, state and local data found that while the number of arsons are up, they are at both black and white churches and are without any "anti-democratic links to racism." Fire Insurance company officials say this year's fire toll is within the range of what they would normally expect over the past decades. In other words, there is nothing going on with church burnings that is newsworthy!
There is no evidence that most of the 73 black church fires recorded since 1995 can be blamed on a conspiracy or a general climate of racial hatred, at all. The Clintons' race rhetoric is an insult to the entire nation, the world, and it is another Clinton back-hand slap in the face of the American taxpayer!
Meanwhile, the people of America are of a civil mood to change presidents and first ladys right soon! The people, yes! The Clintons no!
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