President-elect Mr George W. Bush has promised a quick review and a possible rollback of some of the most ambitious initiatives of President Clinton's last days in office, the New York Timessaid today.
In an interview at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Mr Bush said that chief among the steps he would review were regulations putting nearly 60 million acres (24.3 million hectares) of the nation's forests off-limits to development.
"I understand the Western mentality and I want the Western mentality represented in this administration", Bush told the paper. Reporters for the Timesspent nearly three hours with the president-elect on Friday, and a package of their articles was posted on its Web site yesterday.
"We've got lawyers looking at every single issue, every single opportunity to reverse actions taken by Clinton in the waning weeks of his presidency", Mr Bush was quoted as saying.
The former Texas governor, who is to be sworn in as the nation's 43rd president next Saturday, also said he was considering a new, tougher approach toward Russia that would limit aid for its conversion to a market economy. Such a move would end an eight-year effort by Mr Clinton to use US direct financial aid to Russia to coax the country toward reform.
Mr Bush suggested he would try to stop the money, except for that used to dismantle nuclear weapons, until Russian President Mr Vladimir Putin cleaned up corruption and enacted economic and legal reforms.
"It just seems like to me that we don't want to be lending money and/or encourage the lending of money into a system in which the intention of the capital is never fulfilled", he told the newspaper.
In what would be another sharp reversal of Clinton administration policy, Mr Bush signaled that he was inclined to use an executive order to stop the flow of American money to any international organizations that provided abortions in foreign countries.
"Organizations that promote abortions are organizations I don't want to support with taxpayers' dollars", he was quoted as saying.
In each of the areas mentioned, particularly forest policy, he acknowledged that he would face resistance, and in some he foresaw legal restraints. He was also reported to be:
- Hoping to keep his Inaugural Address at the US Capitol to just 12 minutes, based on the message that we can be a unified America. But he said the theme was not related to his slim victory in the Electoral College and his loss in the popular vote to his Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore.
- Planning to quickly introduce his plan to cut taxes by an estimated 1.6 trillion over 10 years as a single bill, perhaps modifying it to deepen benefits in the next few years to stimulate a slowing economy. Asked if he was willing to negotiate the size of the cuts, Bush shot back: "The answer is no. I think it's the right number".
- Having second thoughts about having commented so enthusiastically about the Federal Reserve's half-point reduction in short-term interest rates early this month. "I kind of read the feedback and tended to agree with it, frankly", he told the paper and suggested that he might not publicly evaluate future Fed actions.
Reuters