"Congress is instructing us": Part II

McKie Campbell, the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game Commissioner, didn't like what I said about him just having the job of defending a fraud on the fishermen and communities of Alaska. So I checked around about my statement that Congress is not in the least "instructing" him to privatize more fisheries. He is perfectly willing to abide his boss, Gov. Murkowski, in helping huge political donors on his own. Here's one response I got back.

"Hi John, happy 4th

Like I've said, McKie needs to learn how to read. Maybe you should send back his quote with the words "to determine whether rationalization is needed" in RED
Ask him if WHETHER means whether or NOT. How does he get DO IT from words like Examine and Whether?
Ask him for a copy of the Economic Analysis they were supposed to get to Congress "in a timely manner" (after all, it has only been nearly 6 years)
Ask him if Congress was supposed to then make a decision on whether or not to instruct NOAA to do the Rationalizations IF IF IF needed at all, IF IF IF economic analysis was done and indicated a need. Who was supposed to make the DECISION whether to do Ratz?
In short, it sounds like Congres did NOT order Ratz, but just analysis of potential Ratz schemes, and wanted some real Economic Data/Analysis to go on, with options. Where is it? Why did they proceed first on Crab Ratz instead of present a complete analysis to the Congress about all programs?
Did they follow the Regulatory Flexibility Act and interview many concerned/affected/to be affected businesses? (NO)
McKie is just being a butthead.
I'll leave it to you to take him on, just using the plain English of the Congressional Record of Dec. 15, 2000 (page HR12276) as it will be fun.
Ciao,"

Antics by one Congressman (riders, motions, etc.) certainly don't constitute the pointed direction of Congress, even though they might have allowed it or couldn't stop it. These minute details bore the pants off a Congressman from Iowa anyway. Everyone just goes along with him, especially when he has a 'request for information' written up as law of the land. Then it's taken out of context and hailed as a mandate to do something and the public is none the wiser. I just say thank God this web site has given voice to a lot of people that never would have been heard otherwise. (Don't forget that great link in AlaskaReport.com to the Kodiak radio station.)

Now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is using the same strategy that Commissioner Campbell is using. NOAA held a meeting June 26 in Kodiak to say there will be a private rockfish fishery, as long as they sell to designated, favored processing plants. (This doesn't even sound good on paper.) And that it will all start in early 2007. This isn't about jigging up a few red snappers, it's about giving favor to political allies to the tune of billions of pounds of Pacific ocean perch that have been reserved for such a give-away. The stock has built back up, finally, after the Japanese sent a huge fleet of factory trawlers over to wipe them out in the early '70s.

Another person I consulted on this said this is the same strategy the Murkowski administration uses when it quotes the United Fishermen of Alaska. Industry insiders know the UFA doesn't represent anyone except a few rich people, but they SAY they represent 23,000 fishermen. So with UFA fudging their numbers by a factor of one thousand, the administration can explain to the public that his fisheries policies are sound and based on the will of the fishermen. The governor gets his jet and trips to fishing resorts and the UFA leaders and some members get the competition whittled down.

95 % of the Kodiak folks opposed "rationalization." But you aren't required to read the Gettysburg Address to get a job in this kind of state and federal administration, or even believe in government "of the people, for the people and by the people." Why would Congress micro-manage all eight Regional Fishery Management Councils, down to the plan one part of one Region, and one particular species complex? They don't have the time by a long shot.

This morning I attended a great tribute to veterans, with children giving roses to men, some who had parachuted into Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Just about everyone will have to fight continually for their freedom. My last source for this piece implied how free I am, per Janice Joplin's definition of "nothing left to lose." The rest of the speech was about David and Goliath. Remember how it was the overconfident one who got his butt kicked. Part of the speech was about how this nation is wounded. "Congress is instructing us" is another one of those wounds, but you have to fight for the healing.