CEI Today: Gov't transparency, Cybersecurity Act, and ethanol mandates

TRANSPARENCY IN REGULATION - RYAN YOUNG & WAYNE CREWS

Washington Times: Season for relief from big government, More transparency would help curb untracked spending

The good news is that this year’s budget deficit will be half a trillion less than last year’s. The bad news is that it still will top $1 trillion.

The worse news is that politicians, those clever creatures, are constantly looking for ways to keep enacting expensive new regulations and dispensing goodies without adding to the budget or the deficit. It’s a way to curry favor with voters, who tend to like freebies but dislike paying the costs. One such trick is the unfunded mandate, and it needs to be reined in.  > Read the full commentary

>Interview the authors

 

CYBERSECURITY ACT - RYAN RADIA & BARIN SZOKA Openmarket.org:  Revised Cybersecurity Act Makes Meaningful Progress On Privacy A new version of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 was introduced last night (PDF), and a vote on the Senate floor reportedly may occur as early as next week. Although we’re still digesting the 211-page bill, its revised information sharing title stands out for its meaningful safeguards regarding what cybersecurity information may be shared by providers and its limits on how government may use shared information. Such prudence is of utmost importance in any bill that gives private entities blanket immunity from civil and criminal laws, including the common law, for activities such as cybersecurity information sharing.  > Read the full commentary on Openmarket.org > Inteview Ryan Radia

ETHANOL MANDATES - MARLO LEWIS Globalwarming.org: When Drought Strikes, Should U.S. Policy Endanger Hungry People? The question answers itself. Of course not. But that is the effect of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), more commonly known as the ethanol mandate. Under the RFS (Energy Independence and Security Act, p. 31), refiners must sell specified amounts of biofuel each year. The “volumetric targets” increase from 4.0 billion gallons in 2006 to 36 billion gallons in 2022. The amount of corn ethanol qualifying as “renewable” maxes out at 15 billion gallons in 2015. Already, ethanol production consumes about 40% of the annual U.S. corn crop.  > Read the full commentary on Globalwarming.org >Interview Marlo Lewis

Also featuring... Pension Fund Activism Threatens Workers’ Retirement Security — And Taxpayers To Fix The PBGC, Free Its Premiums Cut Down On Unfunded Mandates, Part II CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation Scaremongering ABC Reporter Brian Ross Blames Innocent Man For Colorado Shootings, Leading To Death Threats Against Him San Diego Mayor Questioned Over Pension Improvement Initiative Cut Down On Unfunded Mandates, Part I CEI Podcast For July 19, 2012: Congress Takes On High-Skilled Immigration Reform Congress will soon vote on a package of reforms for holders of the H-1B visa for high-skilled immigrants. Policy Analyst David Bier unpacks the proposed reforms, and explains why allowing more high-skilled immigration would help spark economic growth, especially in the technology sector.

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org.  Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.