CEI Today: IRS abuse of power, immigrants & poverty, and EPA nominee misleading Congress

Monday, May 13, 2013
In the News Today

IRS ABUSE OF POWER - SAM KAZMAN Openmarket.org: Excuses, Excuses The IRS today acknowledged that it had wrongfully targeted Tea Party groups for heightened scrutiny. In trying to explain the agency’s mistake, IRS spokeswoman Lois Lerner reportedly stated “I’m not good at math” – an excuse that now seems to be going viral. Given the smashing success of this phrase, we wonder whether the IRS will now use a few variations of it in the new Obamacare lawsuit that it’s facing. This lawsuit challenges the legality of the IRS’ unauthorized extension of the employer mandate to states that have refused to set up their own health insurance exchanges. The plaintiffs contend that Congress limited the employer mandate to participating states, and that the IRS has no power to rewrite the law.  > Read more > See also: IRS Apologizes for Targeting Conservative Groups > Interview Sam Kazman IMMIGRATION - DAVID BIER Openmarket.org: Heritage Immigration Report Implies 70% of Americans “Increase Poverty” The Heritage Foundation’s new report on the fiscal costs of legalization for unauthorized immigrants concluded that it will cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion. Yesterday, I listed some reasons why I think this number is much too high, and on Wednesday, explained why I thought John Locke would say, “Keep immigration. Reform welfare.” Today, I want to look at the broader economic implications of the Heritage study. Heritage was certainly not wrong to draw attention to the fiscal impact of immigration reform, but before it jumped to the conclusion that it will increase poverty and that conservatives should oppose it, it should have looked at the economic evidence, and gave earnest consideration to the implications of its report. America would not be better off without 70 percent of its workforce—we’d be much, much poorer.  > Read more > Interview David Bier OBAMA EPA NOMINEE - MARLO LEWIS Globalwarming.org: Gina McCarthy’s Responses to Sen. Vitter’s Questions Part I: Bait-and-Fuel-Switch Gina McCarthy — President Obama’s pick to succeed Lisa Jackson as EPA Administrator — is often described as a “straight shooter” and “honest broker.” McCarthy has a history of misleading Congress about the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulatory agenda. Specifically, McCarthy and the Air Office over which she presides gave Congress and the electric power sector false assurances that the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations would not require utilities planning to build new coal-fired power plants to “fuel switch” to natural gas. McCarthy also denied under oath that greenhouse gas motor vehicle standards are “related to” fuel economy standards, even though anyone with her expertise must know that the former implicitly and substantially regulate fuel economy. > Read more > Interview Marlo Lewis More in the news... How the ‘Marketplace Fairness Act’ could tax your 401(k) Correcting Misconceptions about Autonomous Vehicles: Reason Magazine Edition Coalition Urges Reform of Sugar Program CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation CEI ANNUAL DINNER & GALA FEATURING THE HONORABLE RAND PAUL JUNE 20, 2013 cei.org/ceidinner 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.

TUESDAY, MAY 14 Fixing America's Crumbling Infrastructure: How Competitive Bidding Offers a Way Out The problems besetting the nation’s roads, bridges, tunnels, underground water pipes, and wastewater systems pose a direct threat to the health and safety of all Americans. Tuesday, May 14, 2013 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm 1539 Longworth HOB Washington, DC >> RSVP to the event here. I, Pencil Movie Screening The Union League Club Chicago, Illinois May 21, 2013, 6 - 7:30 PM APPLY TODAY! Warren T. Brookes Journalism Fellowship CEI offers a one-year fellowship for journalists seeking to improve their knowledge of the principles of free markets and limited government.  cei.org/warrenbrookes Contact: chall@cei.org INTERVIEW A CEI EXPERT CEI Experts by Issue Advancing Capitalism Constitutional and Legal Issues Energy and Environment Finance and Entrepreneurship Health and Safety Labor Nanny State Regulatory Reform Tech and Telecom Trade and International Transportation

ALG's Daily Grind - Obamacare Mandate To Cut Worker Hours, Leaving The Poor Worse Off

Nov. 15, 2012

Obamacare Mandate To Cut Worker Hours, Leaving The Poor Worse Off

Employer mandate will not only hurt job growth among small businesses, it is already resulting in fewer hours and less income for workers at larger companies.

Video: ALG Is Urging Governors Not To Implement ObamaCare Exchange

America's Governors are set to make a decision on whether to implement an ObamaCare exchange. ObamaCareWatcher.org's John Vinci explains what Americans for Limited Government thinks they should do.

New York Misses Out on Natural Gas Revolution as Junk Science Carries the Day

The Marcellus Shale cuts across New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia and could potentially to help transform the world's energy portfolio. But this will require public policy decisions that rooted in sound science not unsubstantiated alarmism.

Roff: GOP Senators Need to Radicalize

Does Harry Reid want to restrict Republican use of the filibuster in the Senate?

ALG's Daily Grind - Who does welfare hurt most?

Oct. 22, 2012

Who does welfare hurt most?

When you have a government that wants its people dependent upon it and can enforce laws and regulations to make that happen American citizens turn into little more than feudal serfs.

Video: Foreign Policy Debate Preview

Will Obama or Romney take up Paul Krugman's call to fend off an alien invasion?

New Hampshire Voter ID and Voter Roll Clean-Up Could Prove Decisive on Election Day

NH Secretary of State William Gardner has purged the voter rolls of 163,221 dead and ineligible voters in August, and in June, Republican-controlled Legislature overrode the veto of Democratic Gov. John Lynch to pass a new voter ID law.

Debt limit shocker: Geithner had no plan to avoid default

Senators Sessions and Hatch in letter to Geithner: "Our understanding is that neither the administration nor the Treasury had any formal contingency plan for dealing with the consequences of the U.S. government defaulting on its obligations.  That is, there was no 'plan B.' "

Heritage - The High Cost of Freedom

Americans recently celebrated the 225^th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of the land. The Founding Fathers thought national defense was so important that they mentioned it in the first line of our Founding document as one of the primary reasons for forming a federal government. Sadly, the Obama administration just released a budget proposal that severely cuts defense spending and makes it the lowest budget priority. The proposal includes $129 million in cuts to U.S. embassy security, construction, and maintenance at a time when many diplomatic missions are under attack.

 The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Richer, Too

Loud liberal voices rant that if the wealthy have more money it must be because they took it from the poor working-class citizen. Heritage expert Rea Hederman teamed up with Heritage constitutional scholar David Azerrad to refute that myth and defend the American Dream. The report finds that income inequality isn’t the most important measure of economic success. When wealthy people create more wealth, they actually help the poor by expanding the economic pie so every person’s piece is larger.  Read the report to learn about the real threats facing the country.

Survey of Hostility Toward Faith 

The free exercise clause of the Constitution protects religious freedom. The Family Research Council and Liberty Institute recently surveyed the legal landscape and discovered an increasing hostility to religion. The resulting product is The Survey of Hostility Toward Religion in America. Heritage augments this study with a Thomas Messner blog post chronicling attacks on the religious freedoms of everybody from the Boy Scouts to Chick-Fil-A to wedding photographers.

Marriage Is the Antidote for Poverty

New Heritage research shows that stable, married families are the best way to reduce child poverty. “Children in married families are 82 percent less likely to be poor than are children of single parents,” finds the report. Read the short introductory paper or view the slideshow of statistics to learn more about America’s number one weapon against poverty.

Conservatives Take Back the Environmental Issue

The modern environmental movement presents people with a false choice: Are you for or against the environment? To correct that narrow view Heritage assembled a team of legal, environmental, and policy experts to write a book of environmental policy recommendations based on eight principles rooted in individual liberty, property rights, and free markets known as The American Conservation Ethic. Once you download and read the complete document you’ll never look at environmental issues the same way again. Policy must be driven by the underlying truth that people are the most important natural resource.

Comprehensive Guide to the Constitution Is Accessible Online

The Heritage Guide to the Constitution was previously available only as a hardcover book, but now the content is available online for free. The site provides a clause by clause explanation of the supreme law of the land. Also, Hillsdale College recently placed its textbook, The Constitution: A Reader online for free.

Summer Edition of The Insider Magazine

The latest edition of The Insider is now in circulation and available for download at InsiderOnline.com. The cover story is “Invitation to Fraud: How Neglecting Election Integrity Threatens American Democracy,” by John Fund and Hans von Spakovsky.

Events (Visit InsiderOnline for a complete calendar)

Oct. 3           Conservative Political Action Conference - Colorado     Denver, CO

Oct. 7           Pulpit Freedom Sunday                                                 

Oct. 12         Atlas Shrugged Part II Premiers in Theaters

RNC - Obama Can’t Change The State Unemployment Crisis

In case you missed these New Hampshire specific facts from the RNC research memo today, things have only gotten worse in the Granite State since President Obama took office. Granite Staters want a real recovery—not four more years of President Obama’s same failed policies.

Jobs: Since Obama Took Office, New Hampshire Has Lost 14,000 Jobs And The Unemployment Rate Has Increased From 5.2 Percent To 5.7 Percent. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 9/23/12)

• In August, New Hampshire's Unemployment Rate Increased From 5.4 Percent To 5.7 Percent As The State Lost 600 Jobs. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 9/23/12)

Unemployment: New Hampshire Has 41,867 Unemployed Seeking Work. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Accessed 9/23/12)

• There Are As Many Unemployed People In All Of New Hampshire As There Are People In Concord, NH . (U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 9/23/12)

Median Household Income: Under Obama, The Median Household Income In New Hampshire Has Declined From $66,583 To $62,647. (U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 9/21/12)

Food Stamps: Since Obama Took Office, The Number Of People In New Hampshire Receiving Food Stamps Has Increased By 60 Percent. ("Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program: Number Of Persons Participating ," Food Research And Action Center, Accessed 8/10/12; "Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program: Number Of Persons Participating," USDA Food And Nutrition Service , Accessed 8/30/12)

Poverty: Under Obama, 15,557 New Hampshire Residents Have Fallen Into Poverty. ("Poverty: 2007 And 2008," U.S. Census Bureau, 10/11; "Poverty: 2010 And 2011," U.S. Census Bureau, 9/12)