I did not raise any aspect of partisan politics with regard to U.S.
metrication. Partisanism is poison to the goal, and I have no need to discuss
anything else about the Reagan era. I only stated the facts of the times. The
USMB was impotent and rudderless, Mr. Reagan did not support outright repeal
of the MCA (which would have crippled the goal beyond recognition today), he
did support voluntary conversion to metric as stated in his letter to USMB
Chairman Polk, and did sign into law the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act
of 1988, which made metric the Nation's preferred measurement system. The
latter goes far beyond the effect of any presidential order, since it is the
Congress, not the President, who has the power to fix the standard of weights
and measures for the United States (U.S. Consitution, Article I, Section 8).
The old line that Reagan was the killer of U.S. metrication is a myth.
Paul Trusten, R.Ph. , Vice President
U.S. Metric Association, Inc.
www.metric.org
trus...@grandecom.net
+1(432)528-8824
----- Original Message -----
From: a-bruie...@lycos.com
To: U.S. Metric Association
Sent: 06 February, 2011 22:00
Subject: [USMA:49792] Re: Ronald Reagan--NOT an enemy of U.S. metrication
Please stop right there, do you even recognize the dates? 1981 his first year
in office, 1988 his last year in office. Oh yea, he showed lots of of support?!
Where was the Executive Orders anytime of his 8 years in office? All he did was
give rich tax cuts will building a deficit.
On Feb 6, 2011, Paul Trusten <trus...@grandecom.net> wrote:
On this 100th anniversary of the birth of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan,
I had the opportunity to answer a comment sent to USMA that repeated what I
call the U.S. metricationist's dogma that President Reagan "stopped" or
"derailed" metrication in America because he ended funding for the U.S. Metric
Board.
The commenter wrote:
I wonder how many people remember that it was President Reagan who took us
> off a metric progress road. Our country is now in a very uncompetitive
> position because of this wrong-headed decision. I doubt that this legacy
> will be highlighted in the 100th birthday tribute. We are reaping what
> was sown in 1982.
I replied:
You may be surprised to learn that, contrary to the dogma that has been
widely circulated among American metrication supporters, Mr. Reagan did
much
to keep America on a metrication path.
In 1982, U.S. metrication was not doing well at all . The goal had very few
champions in government or business and did not enjoy the necessary
widespread support from the U.S. public. The U.S. Metric Board (USMB),
established by the Metric Coversion Act of 1975 (MCA) merely to "coordinate
the increasing use of the metric system in the U.S." and to do that without
any compulsory powers, was itself divided in its commitment to the goal
(see
http://www.metric.org/laws/usmb.html#disbanding ). It even reported to
Congress in 1981 that it lacked a mandate to continue its work. In his
search for ways to reduce federal spending, President Reagan identified the
USMB as a government body that was moribund, and eliminated its funding,
for
which he has been vilified by metrication supporters. But at this same
time,
he rejected a proposal by former U.S. Representative Eldon Rudd (R-AZ) to
repeal the MCA. He later strengthened the MCA in 1988 by signing into law
legislation that declared the metric system to be the Nation's preferred
system of measurement for trade and commerce
(http://www.metric.org/laws/metric-conv.html).
Paul Trusten, R.Ph. , Vice President
U.S. Metric Association, Inc.
www.metric.org
trus...@grandecom.net
+1(432)528-8824
