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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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1993-04-08
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THE WEEK, Page 16NATIONWho's in a Hurry? Not Bill Clinton . . . Yet
The President-elect drops some hints on policy but takes time
with names
He showed a confident familiarity with the nuances of policy,
spoke (in a refreshing change from recent presidential
practice) in complete grammatical sentences, and by his own
testimony is "having a wonderful time" preparing to take over
the government. One thing Bill Clinton is not, though, is in a
hurry. At his first press conference as President-elect, Clinton
made clear that he will take his time staffing his
Administration and setting policy. Aides released four dozen
names of people appointed to the transition. But Clinton said
he would "spend a lot more time" pondering Cabinet appointments,
and not make any until he had decided possible changes in
"mission" for the departments.
The President-elect, in fact, seemed eager to guard his
Administration in advance against any charge that it represents
special interests. Some skeptics had already questioned Vernon
Jordan's position as chairman of the transition, noting that
Jordan is a director of cigarette-making RJR Nabisco, and
wondering if he would help pick public health officials. Clinton
answered firmly that he, not Jordan, would make those
selections. On Friday the Clinton team announced unprecedentedly
tough ethical standards for people working on the transition,
and the President-elect is expected to follow this week with
stricter rules yet for prospective Administration officials:
they probably will be barred from lobbying their old departments
for five years after leaving government service, perhaps from
ever becoming lobbyists for foreign governments. That might keep
out of the Administration some prominent Democrats who would
want to return more speedily to what have become their primary,
and lucrative, careers as lawyer-lobbyists.
On policy, the President-elect pledged to steer a middle
course between all-out deficit reduction and gangbusters
stimulation of the economy. His goal is "to bring this deficit
down . . . gradually and within a framework which permits us to
substantially increase investment" (good luck). On legislative
strategy, Clinton said he would emulate, of all people, Ronald
Reagan and pack "a whole lot of changes into omnibus bills . .
. the fewer votes [in Congress] you have, the better off you
are." The President-elect summoned congressional leaders to a
Sunday huddle in Little Rock, and was then to leave the Arkansas
capital for a quick trip to Washington, where he will confer
with President Bush and members of Congress. The transition this
week, said Clinton, will accelerate to "a fairly breathless
pace."