PAB ira magaziner profile

From: Sascha Ignjatovic (sascha@isoc.vienna.org)
Date: Fri Jan 23 1998 - 17:27:40 PST


just little more infos about mr.magaziner i found at
sascha

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/970616/16ira.htm
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Though Magaziner, 49, has experienced success in the business world and
helped to reform welfare and health care in his home state of Rhode
Island, his record as a policy maker is marred by setbacks. In the early
1980s, as the United States fretted
about the growing competitiveness of Japanese industry,
Magaziner--then a management consultant--led a group of policy makers in
shaping an industrial policy program to revitalize Rhode Island's flagging
economy. In the end, however,Rhode Islanders couldn't abide a gigantic
job incubator run by the two factions they mistrusted most in the
scandal-ridden state: elite business leaders and politicians.
                 
On June 12, 1984, voters rejected Magaziner's 1,000-page
set of proposals by a 4-to-1 margin in a statewide referendum.

Then there was health care. Another grand plan, another
public humiliation. There are two prevailing versions of the
Clinton/Magaziner health care story. Detractors
say it was a ham-fisted, overly complex, and costly
attempt to socialize medicine.
                 
Defenders insist the plan was misrepresented and that the
White House's secrecy in drafting the proposal tainted public sentiment.
Whatever the case, the administration
failed to rally support for the plan, which was shelved.

Lasting impact. Throughout it all, Magaziner suffered an
endless slew of personal attacks. He was labeled a heavy-handed,
big-government dictator. "In politics, a lot
of people take on things they know they can win. I like
to take on bigger challenge that I know will have lasting impact," says
Magaziner."When you do that,sometimes you get slaughtered."

Magaziner's Internet policies represent the exact
opposite of everything for which Magaziner has been criticized--or, in his
view,caricatured--in the past. The drafting phase wasn't shrouded in
secrecy (a draft in progress has been available on
the Web for public comment for nearly six months). The
proposal is light on legislative prescriptions. In drafting the policy,
Magaziner also forged a consensus among 18 government agencies and dozens
of global organizations.

The true test of the policy will come as the United
States persuades other countries to adopt the new ground rules. If that
happens, Magaziner may finally have redeemed himself--though he might
disagree. Says Magaziner: "I have nothing to be redeemed for."



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