Power shift : President Bush should clamp down on the Bureau of Land Managers

America's Network, May 1, 2001 by Art Brothers

Last October, I mentioned that if George W. Bush was elected president, telcos who require federal land rights of way could expect to see moderation of the hard line now experienced with the Bureau of Land Managers (BLM). BLM has made our lives miserable for too long. Why, you say? Because Utah voters concurrently re-elected Jim Hansen (R-Utah) to the US Congress for enough years that seniority makes him the chairman of the House Resources Committee. He, thus, controls which bills get to the House floor. He also has a great deal to say about the way resources (read: money) are allocated and who might get top jobs within the Park Service and BLM.

Other representatives who might want something go along with committee chairs. If they don't, favors simply don't materialize. It's the way the system works. The elimination of such plum jobs as chairmen of committees gives pause to thoughts of term limits by those with tenure in Congress.

So on the one hand, term limits do enable opportunity for more prospective legislators. On the other hand, only long-standing representatives have the opportunity to correct ills forced on we, the people, by entrenched bureaucrats who make rules, are not subject to term limits and are hard to fire.

Thus, it seems reasonable that if we have term limits in Congress, we force equal term limits on many layers of administrators of agencies who make the rules they blame on prior congressional actions.

From my mountain in the far West, four months after the Bush administration moved in, I'm starting to see a mandate to allow BLM managers to make decisions without fear of being sued. Maybe they might even get separate listings in BOC phone books.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES

SWA is a unique airline. Herb Keller did the legal work for its Texas debut 30 years ago. He will retire as CEO this year. With delivery of new, long-range Boeing 737s, the company has near-transcontinental legs. I like the ability to go non-stop from Salt Lake City to Baltimore. SWA has a frequent flyer program called Rapid Rewards. Fly any eight legs and get a one-way ticket anywhere they fly. These tickets are good for one year. They can't be sold, but can be given away. No names are attached. eBay normally lists around a dozen drink coupons good on SWA flights, including a 'free' Rapid Rewards ticket. The going price appears to be about $165. That's $330 round trip. Don't tell anyone.

THE FBI AND THE INTERNET

At a recent session with the FBI, the main question was, "When you hack a server, do you get a court order first?" The answer: "Yes, we do." The implication was that they can, and do, hack into systems and read mail about a targeted individual. Discussion then got into judicial approval in hacking foreign-based servers, as the State Departments does with regularity. Again, if one of the parties is a US citizen, a US court order is required. The discussion then got sort of fuzzy as probable cause came into the discussion.

Those who wish to maintain privacy must purchase an encryption program such as PGP. Communications between two computers, where both have the program, are secure.

GOOD GUY AWARD...

...to Branch Cox, former owner of Central Utah Telephone Co. He was coming out of a building in Fairview, Utah, and observed a small boy being choked by a car window. He was trying to climb out and his sister closed it -- and it jammed. Mom opened the door, which cut off the kid's breathing due to the weight of his body hanging from the neck. Panic. Screaming. Confusion. Branch realized that the only solution was to break the window. He grabbed a steel chain binder from his truck.

He hauled back and swung with all his might. The glass shattered. He was then able to break away enough of the window to free the child. CPR. Branch's instant conclusion as to the problem and solution with zero hesitation saved a life.

When not putting the world to rights, Art Brothers operates Beehive Telephone Co. (Wendover, Utah). Send comments to anrespond@americasnetwork.com.