Clinton wants them to manage your retirement assets

[Ripley] Berryhill’s is one of thousands of American Indian claims against the federal government for mismanaging over the last century assets held in trust by the government that conceivably could result in compensatory payments reaching into the tens of billions of dollars…

[Bureau of Indian Affairs] officials admit that many records covering the 55 million acres of land it manages in trust—as well as those for the 350,000 landowners, 100,000 active leases and 2 million individual owner interests—have been lost over the last century in a maze of antiquated record‐​keeping. Despite periodic proddings from tribal leaders, federal courts and Congress, government accountants and outside analysts have been unable to reconcile the records, or in many cases even ascertain if royalty checks were issued or cashed…

“They are totally wrong when they say this [reconciling trusts] won’t affect the lifestyles of poor people,” [plaintiff Eloise] Cobell said. “I’m seeing people die poor every day when they actually have a hell of a lot more money that should be in their accounts.”

—Washington Post, June 2, 1999

Reverse the American Revolution, bring back the ancien régime

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton… defended the role of government yesterday and urged expanded government action worldwide to give everyone a chance to succeed in the high‐​tech age.

In her hourlong remarks at the Sorbonne university [in Paris],… Mrs. Clinton said, “There are those, particularly in my country, who insist on assaulting government, who claim that if we would only abolish or severely weaken it, then everyone’s freedom and prosperity would blossom.”

That is “a very mistaken notion,” said Mrs. Clinton… “We need strong and efficient governments, not oppressive or weak ones, that are able to empower citizens, to help them take responsibilities for their families and their communities,” she said.

—Washington Times, June 18, 1999

Friends of federalism

There is overwhelming support to provide victims’ rights around the country. In fact, 32 states now provide some version of rights. The problem is that they are all different.

—Sen. Jon Kyl in the Washington Post, July 22, 1999

Isn’t capitalism wonderful?

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—Advertisement in The Nation, June 14, 1999

So he’s pro‐​war, pro‐​censorship of political speech, and pro‐​destruction of the rule of law, but he is against ethanol subsidies

Sen. John McCain (R‑Ariz.) said that what sets him apart from others in the Republican presidential field is his “commitment to reform.”…

McCain… suggested he would label [George W.] Bush a defender of the status quo by raising the issue of Bush’s support for federal subsidies for ethanol.

—Washington Post, July 22, 1999

Clinton not as authoritarian as Johnson, Califano charges

Measured against LBJ’s demands for national registration of all guns and licensing of all gun owners, the [Clinton] administration’s proposals and the “strong” bill that passed the Senate seem more like hitting an elephant with a fly swatter than taking on the NRA… In 1966 [Lyndon Johnson] became the first president to send Congress a message devoted to crime and law enforcement. Until that time gun control had been considered a matter of state responsibility.

—Joseph A. Califano Jr. in the Washington Post, June 28, 1999

But all our other promises remain operative at this time

Five years after he defeated former House speaker Thomas S. Foley (D‑Wash.) with a promise that he would serve only three terms, Rep. George R. Nethercutt (R‑Wash.) has declared that he has changed his mind and will run for a fourth term.…

In addition to Nethercutt, Reps. Scott McInnis (R‑Colo.) and Martin T. Meehan (D‑Mass.) have declared that they are abandoning self‐​imposed term limits.

—Washington Post, June 15, 1999

This article originally appeared in the September/​October 1999 edition of Cato Policy Report.