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Cato Daily Dispatch for December 23, 2004

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National Forest Guidelines Streamlined
Judge Upholds Measure Requiring Citizenship to Receive Benefits
Departure of Fannie Mae Executives Could Lead to Privatization

National Forest Guidelines Streamlined

"The Bush administration issued broad new rules Wednesday overhauling the guidelines for managing the nation's 155 national forests and making it easier for regional forest managers to decide whether to allow logging, drilling or off-road vehicles," reports the New York Times.

"The long-awaited rules relax longstanding provisions on environmental reviews and the protection of wildlife on 191 million acres of national forest and grasslands. They also cut back on requirements for public participation in forest planning decisions."

In "How and Why to Privatize Federal Lands," Terry L. Anderson, Vernon L. Smith, and Emily Simmons write: "Public land management does not always deliver what the citizens expect either for the treasury or for the environment. The federal government actually loses money in the course of managing federal land assets estimated to be worth billions... The information available strongly suggests that the federal government has been a less than competent ecological manager."

Judge Upholds Measure Requiring Citizenship to Receive Benefits

"A federal judge Wednesday cleared the way for enforcement of a new Arizona measure requiring people to show proof of citizenship in order to receive certain benefits such as welfare," the Chicago Tribune reports.

"The recently approved voter initiative was opposed by many immigrant groups because of growing fear among Hispanics that they or their family members could face deportation if they run afoul of the law."

In "Willing Workers: Fixing the Problem of Illegal Mexican Migration to the United States," Dan Griswold, associate director of the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies, writes: "Contrary to common objections, evidence does not suggest that a properly designed system of legal Mexican migration will unleash a flood of new immigrants to the United States, hurt low-skilled Americans, burden taxpayers, create an unassimilated underclass, encourage lawbreaking, or compromise border security."

Departure of Fannie Mae Executives Could Lead to Privatization

"The ouster of Franklin D. Raines as chairman and chief executive of Fannie Mae, the mortgage finance giant, might provide an opening for long-time critics to impose regulatory restrictions or even push the government-sponsored company toward full privatization, analysts said," the New York Times reports.

"Senator Richard K. Shelby, the Alabama Republican who is chairman of the banking committee, said on Wednesday that Raines's departure would almost certainly give Congress renewed impetus to crack down on Fannie Mae, the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages."

In "Beyond Regulation," Peter J. Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute writes that "stricter regulation of Fannie and Freddie is likely to be no solution at all, leaving the American taxpayer and the economy generally in the same position of jeopardy as exists today... Unfortunately, there is only one way to protect the economy and taxpayers from the dangers posed by Fannie and Freddie, and that is to privatize both of them."

Jonathan Block, editor, jblock@cato.org