Tuesday, May 13, 2003 | 8:43 a.m.
DO IT to me one more time ...
The incomparable Lionel Richie made that song famous but those words, well, Nevadans have learned to live by them ever since we provided the electoral margin of victory for President George W. Bush.
The tradition in American politics has been that a victorious president usually rewards those whose support helped him win. Not that he would go out of his way to help one state over another -- gosh, I don't think that's ever been done -- but, at least, the president has not sought out ways to harm those who have been so helpful.
Until President Bush took office that is.
We all know the stake he has driven through our heart by naming Yucca Mountain as the place where the nation's high-level nuclear waste will be buried -- well ahead of any science determining that the site just a few miles from downtown Las Vegas was safe and contrary to his promise when he asked for our votes -- but it seems he may not be through with us yet.
This time his administration may be after sponge titanium. What's that, you ask? Good question. The answer is that sponge titanium is produced in only one place in the United States, only one place in the Western Hemisphere, not a bit in Europe and, except for Kazakhstan and Russia, maybe nowhere else at all.
So where is this place from whence the entire United States production of this critical metal comes? Where is this place that supports 350 jobs and countless hundreds of family members? Where is this place which has been an integral part of its community for close to 60 years?
Why, Henderson, of course.
Before I go any further, let me be clear. I have been and still am a proponent of the entire industrial complex in Henderson picking itself up and moving to a part of this valley or the next that will allow the million and a half people who live here a chance to breathe cleaner air and drink cleaner water without fear of what those plants will continue to contribute to our ecological ruin.
But even I am compassionate enough to accept a plan to move those workers, those plants and those families away from the population centers in a way that doesn't disrupt their economic lives or the vital nature of the work they are doing.
That same compassion is lost on the folks in Washington. Instead, there is a move afoot designed to grant certain trade concessions to Russia that will allow them to be the only provider to the world of this defense-critical metal while driving Timet out of business and its people out of work.
Right now there is a general tariff on all goods that trade on the world market. Titanium imported into the United States is imposed a 15 percent tariff, which keeps Timet in business and provides this country with a source for titanium should we need it in a hurry.
The Bush administration talked the free trade game during the election but immediately imposed taxes on some imports in order to protect certain industries -- like steel and lumber. So one would expect them to do the same thing for Timet, right? So far, wrong!
When Russia made a similar move during the Clinton administration, Harry Reid and Richard Bryan went to bat for Timet and convinced President Clinton to reject Russia's request for special concessions. He sided with Nevada.
This time, though, it appears that the United States is trying to repay Kazakhstan for its help in Afghanistan, even if it means hurting Henderson workers. And if Kazakhstan gets the tariff removed so does Russia. You remember Russia, that's the country that didn't support President Bush on Iraq. (Now's about the time when I would really like to say "I told you so," but I am too much of a gentleman for that kind of behavior).
So here's the whole picture. To repay Kazakhstan, the Bush administration appears ready to turn its back on Nevada. By doing so, President Bush will give aid and comfort to the Russian titanium industry, causing the loss of the last remaining vestige of titanium indpendence in the United States and helping a country that refused to help us in Iraq.
And, by doing all this, the company that profits most is Specialty Metals, which is -- drum roll please -- a Belgian country. You remember Belgium. It also turned its back on the United States when we needed the help on the Iraq vote. And Belgium went much further. It threatened to indict Gen. Tommy Franks -- he's our guy -- for war crimes.
None of this is a surprise. That's how politics works in the big, bad world out there. What is a surprise, though, is that President Bush would even contemplate giving aid, comfort and money to Russia and Belgium at the expense of American jobs and Nevada business.
Hey, Mr. President, do it to us one more time. How's that for a theme song?
archive
