CEI DAILY - Annie Leonard, Poker Games, and the Ethanol Tax Credit

Annie Leonard

Annie Leonard, creator of the popular anti-capitalist video "The Story of Stuff," is receiving funding from the EPA.

Communications Coordinator Lee Doren explains why people should be concerned that Leonard's new pro-recycling television show is being funded by taxpayer dollars.

"I’ve heard some people ask me why we shouldn’t teach kids to recycle. The answer is because we are not running out of landfill space, we are not running out of resources and recycling is not always the right thing to do. Just read the Eight Great Myths of Recycling to understand why tax dollars should not be used to indoctrinate kids to fear their juice boxes.  Kids should be able to enjoy their childhoods without being bombarded with Malthusian propaganda."

Poker Games In South Carolina, five men are still dealing with the legal ramifications of getting caught playing Texas Hold'em in a private residence once a week.  Policy Analyst Michelle Minton argues that the a recent statement by an Assistant State Attorney General seems to foreclose the possibility of arrests for private poker games; yet the power is still in the hands of law enforcement. "While the statement seems promising for the right to play poker, leaving the definition vague and for cops to determine on the seem leaves the legality of individual behavior within his or her own home that much more opaque. It does, however, get to the heart of the issue under debate with this case. When does one’s private residence become 'public' because of the activities they choose to engage in within the privacy of their own home?"

Ethanol Tax Credit

Statutory authority for the domestic ethanol tax credit and imported ethanol tariff will expire at the end of this year.

Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis argues that Congress should let it expire.

"For economic, humanitarian, and environmental reasons, Congress should sit back and let the grim policy reaper sweep these special-interest giveaways into history’s dustbin, as I explain this week on National Journal’s Energy Blog. Tomorrow, at the National Press Club, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will discuss the Obama Administration’s “strategy” to grow the biofuel industry. I’ve seen no inside info on what Vilsack will say. However, the corn ethanol lobby is pushing for “reforms” that would not only reauthorize the tariff and tax credit but also mandate the production and sale of ethanol-fueled vehicles and provide new subsidies to build a gigantic ethanol pipeline network and install 200,000 ethanol fuel pumps at service stations."



CEI Blasts Anti-Mobility TIGER II Grants

DOT Should Focus on Congestion, Not "Livability"

 

Washington, D.C., October 20, 2010 – The Department of Transportation today revealed its list of 73 Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II grant recipients. While much of the $600 million goes to standard surface transportation infrastructure development and enhancement, projects that harm American mobility also received a significant portion of the funding.

Analysts at the Competitive Enterprise Institute blasted these allocations, arguing that they fail to address fundamental problems with the current transportation system and in fact make them worse.

“Advocates of so-called Smart Growth should be overjoyed,” stated Marc Scribner, Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst in CEI’s Center for Economic Freedom. “But those concerned with tackling the real issues facing America’s surface transportation system—namely congestion—should be outraged. Not only do these “livability” projects fail to address congestion, they will make it significantly worse.”

Scribner points to data from the Census Bureau’s recently released 2009 American Community Survey that show transit commuting rates declining and single-occupancy auto commuting rates increasing during the economic downturn. “Pedestrian and transit-user access is certainly important. However, outside of a few dense coastal cities, these modes of commuting represent a small percentage of overall transportation system use,” he said.

Peoria, Illinois, received funding to narrow streets. New Haven, Connecticut, was granted $16 million to convert a portion of a limited-access highway to an urban boulevard. And more than 10 percent of total funding went to two proposed streetcar systems in Atlanta and Salt Lake City. “All of these projects seek to make driving more difficult or divert resources to wasteful transit projects. The only real effect they will have is increasing the time drivers spend in traffic. They not only negatively impact drivers and goods delivery, but the environment as well by increasing congestion and thus auto emissions,” noted Scribner.

“At a time when states and municipalities are looking for more investment bang for the buck, dolling out federal grants to these anti-mobility transportation projects is beyond irresponsible.”



CEI Daily - The Scientific-Technological Elite, Foreign Funding, and Joe Miller's Immigration Gaffe

Scientific-Technological Elite

In his farewell address, Eisenhower warned that partnerships between government agencies and university researchers could lead to public policy becoming "the captive of a scientific-technological elite."

Adjunct Scholar Fran Smith says that the growth of corporate-university-government "clean energy" organizations may fulfill Eisenhower's prophesy.

"The stringent emissions reductions policy in Europe has caused domestic emissions to be replaced by emissions from foreign imports. If your goal is a global emissions reductions, then by this measure their policy has failed — while raising the price of energy and encouraging manufacturers to relocate abroad."

Foreign Funding After Obama claimed that the Chamber of Commerce was funding political campaigns with foreign money, the press was quick (and correct) to point out that many left-wing organizations enjoy the benefits of foreign funding. Senior Counsel Hans Bader explains why Obama's criticism of the Chamber was a political mistake. "Not only was this claim this untrue, but stoking nativism may backfire on Obama politically, since liberal interest groups that back Obama, like unions, receive large amounts of foreign money, and Obama himself has used regulations and subsidies to ship American jobs overseas."

Joe Miller's Immigration Gaffe

GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller told a town hall audience, “The first thing that has to be done is secure the border. . .  East Germany was very, very able to reduce the flow.  Now, obviously, other things were involved.  We have the capacity to, as a great nation, secure the border.  If East Germany could, we could.”

Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young slams Miller for using East Germany as an example of a successful border security.

"Miller forgets that East Germany’s 858 miles of fence weren’t meant to keep people out. That fence was meant to keep people in. Against their will. On pain of death. [...] If Miller wins his election, there is a lot he can do to reduce illegal immigration. Building an American version of the Berlin Wall is not one of them. As Alex Nowrasteh and I wrote, 'The immigration black market only exists is because the government has made the legal market as cumbersome as it can.' Miller should make legal immigration less cumbersome. "



CEI Daily - Outsourced Emissions, Internet Gambling, and TIGER II

Outsourced Emissions

The U.K. is on track to meet its emissions targets--partly because emissions from imports have increased.

Research Associate Brian McGraw explains that the U.K. is essentially outsourcing their emissions.

"The stringent emissions reductions policy in Europe has caused domestic emissions to be replaced by emissions from foreign imports. If your goal is a global emissions reductions, then by this measure their policy has failed — while raising the price of energy and encouraging manufacturers to relocate abroad."

Internet Gambling With Republicans poised to take the house, even Rep. Barney Frank's seat may be in jeopardy. Policy Analyst Michelle Minton says that even if Frank's internet gambling decriminalization bill isn't passed in a lame duck session, decriminalization may have a chance in a Republican-controlled House. "And while legalization of Internet gambling may still have a shot in a Republican-controlled House and Senate, I doubt that the version we would see would be any more free market than Barney Frank’s current bill. Most likely, it will look something like decriminalized alcohol sales after prohibition with the government retaining a death-grip on the neck of the industry for as long as it can."

TIGER II

The recipients of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II grants will be announced tomorrow.

Policy Analyst Marc Scribner points out that many of the grants will fund "livability" projects which actually harm mobility.

"So far, we know that New Haven, Connecticut, has secured $16 million to convert an urban portion of a limited-access highway to a boulevard; Peoria, Illinois, is receiving $10 million to narrow a street in its Warehouse District; and Atlanta is getting $47 million for its proposed streetcar system. [...] As the Census Bureau’s recently released 2009 American Community Survey reveals, transit’s share as a mode of commuter transportation fell during our current recession (excluding a handful of large, dense cities on the coasts). [...]As Americans everywhere are forced to make due with less, perhaps the Obama administration should consider spending tax dollars on transportation programs that actually benefit the vast majority of Americans."



CEI Daily - Bill Shock, Daycare Unions, and Food Crusaders

Bill Shock

The FCC proposed new rules last week which would force wireless providers to alert customers who are about to go over their usage plans.

Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia says the FCC should focus on how their own policies are costing consumers, rather than on how private companies' pricing schemes are costing consumers.

"Hypocritically, even as the FCC tries to reign in bill shock, its own policies are harming consumers far more than any wireless industry practices. The FCC has again and again put off spectrum auctions that would enable mobile providers to offer better services at lower prices. As a result, consumers are suffering to the tune of billions of dollars each year."

Daycare Unions The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is filing a motion for reconsideration in their lawsuit against the forced unionization of Michigan daycare workers. Labor Policy Counsel Vincent Vernuccio explains that Michigan is claiming that independent home daycare workers belong to a government union and is therefore docking workers for "union dues." "Michigan receives federal subsidies to pay for daycare for children in low-income families. The state uses the subsidy to pay the daycare providers for supplying services to these children. Because Michigan is not a right to work state, the providers have no choice but to pay the dues, which the state automatically deducts from their subsidy checks. Instead of the subsidy going to low-income families, they are now lining the pockets of union officials."

Food Crusaders

More and more politicians are calling for regulations and taxes on unhealthy food.

Senior Counsel Hans Bader argues the FDA is running circles around itself by going after both fatty foods and salty foods.

"Ironically, if salt levels are curbed, people will compensate by eating fattier food. There seems to be a trade-off between salt and fat. Low-fat foods sometimes contain added salt to make them palatable to dieters.[..] If the high sodium levels of such low-fat foods are forced down by FDA regulations, people may react by returning to consumption of the fattier foods, resulting in rising obesity levels. The government’s anti-salt crusade may thus result in its anti-fat crusade backfiring."