November 16, 2000

Clinton Charms Vietnam, Disarms Isolationism
Will Access to Information Rise From PRI's Ashes?
Bans on Cell Phone Use While Driving Spread

Clinton Charms Vietnam, Disarms Isolationism

President Clinton was due to start a historic visit to communist Vietnam today, a quarter century after a war he opposed devastated the country and divided America, according to Reuters.

But even before the president arrived, the Clinton charm was working its magic on the Vietnamese people. Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton, who arrived in Hanoi before her husband, drew crowds of screaming onlookers when she went shopping within hours of landing in the capital.

President Clinton is expected to announce a modest increase in U.S. aid but U.S. officials say his ability to do more is hamstrung by the fact he is a lame-duck president. Clinton said many Americans and Vietnamese "still bear the wounds of war," and that the way to heal them is with a strengthened relationship to benefit both nations. He said the trade agreement signed early this year is a way to do that, and will be one of his topics in talks with Vietnamese officials.

The Cato Handbook for Congress also calls on lawmakers to recognize that the relative openness of American markets is an important source of our economic vitality and that remaining trade barriers are a drag on growth and prosperity. It recommends that Congress move the focus of U.S. trade policy away from "reciprocity" and "level playing fields" toward commitment here and abroad to free-trade principles.

Will Access to Information Rise From PRI's Ashes?

The Washington Post reports today that Mexico has one of the world's worst records on public access to information, ranking ahead of only Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Libya and China, according to a study of freedom of information by the prestigious Iberoamericana University in Mexico City.

But with July's electoral defeat of the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, many here are pushing for a new era of openness. Students, women's rights advocates, environmentalists and others are seeking to end the government practice of hiding basic public information as though it were the secret Coca-Cola formula. Last week, a group of lawyers, academics, journalists and other citizens met to discuss, among other steps, how to draft a law similar to the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Vicente Fox's election ushered in a semblance of real democracy in Mexico, ending over 70 year of continual rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Recently, Cato hosted "Mexico in a New Era of Openness: What to Expect from Vicente Fox," a discussion of the changes that are in store for Mexico and the policies it will have to follow to sustain growth. The forum, featuring Director of the Project on Global Economic Liberty Ian Vasquez along with Fox advisers and government representatives can be viewed on the Cato Web site.

Bans on Cell Phone Use While Driving Spread

The Boston suburb of Brookline has passed an ordinance that bans talking on cell phones while driving. It is believed to be the first such law in the state, according to the Associated Press.

Violators could face fines as high as $50 for a first offense and $100 for a second offense. The law, which provides exceptions for hands-free phones, still has to be certified by the town clerk and reviewed by the state attorney general.

The Brookline Town Meeting, a representative body of 250 residents, voted in favor of the measure Tuesday. Local governments in other states, including New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have also banned hand-held cell phones this year. Brooklyn, Ohio, enacted the country's first such law last March.

In the Regulation magazine article, "Should You Be Allowed To Use Your Cell Phone While Driving?" regulatory scholars Robert W. Rahn, Paul C. Tetlock, and Jason K. Burnett show that the present danger posed by cell phone use while driving does not warrant intervention by government.

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