CEI Today: Cybersecurity, Gang of 8 immigration bill, and wind energy subsidies

VOTE ON CYBERSECURITY BILL - RYAN RADIA

 
CISPA Is the Wrong Approach to Cybersecurity

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2013 (CISPA). Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia opposes the bill because it would nullify existing contracts and eliminate the rule of law in certain areas.

> Read about CISPA

> Listen to the podcast

> Interview Ryan Radia


 

IMMIGRATION "GANG OF 8" PROPOSAL Openmarket.org: Four Of The Worst Arguments Against The Immigration Bill Since the Gang of 8 released their proposal, the desperation from those who want to see this bill die — and any hope of immigration reform die with it — can be heard throughout DC. Its opponents are spreading everything from the inaccurate to the absurd about the bill and its probable consequences. > Read more > Interview David Bier

WIND ENERGY SUBSIDIES - MARLO LEWIS Globalwarming.org: Can Wind ‘Compete’ without Subsidy? The EU’s biggest joke of a climate policy—by far—has been the Emissions Trading Scheme, a cap-and-trade. It’s actually failed twice. During its first phase, the over allocation of carbon rationing coupons led to windfall profits for utilities, but no actual emissions reductions, as the carbon price plummeted. This week, during its phase three, the Emissions Trading Scheme collapsed again, and this time, it appears to be down for good.  > Read more > Interview Marlo Lewis

More in the news... The Train Wreck That Is Obamacare Unions do their business on taxpayers' dime Labor Nominee Perez Used Private Email for Gov Business Internet Analogies: Remember When the Internet Was the Information Superhighway?

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.

ALG's Daily Grind - House Democrats repeat Sandy sequester lie

March 21, 2013

House Democrats repeat Sandy sequester lie

Connecticut Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro claims sequester-exempted Sandy spending was sequestered, cites general agency cuts unrelated to Sandy as proof.

Bubbles Bursting In Mid-Air

With student debt now exceeding total credit card debt, college and the accompanying debt may be the next bubble waiting its turn to burst.

Hiding the slaughter

Since the early 1980s, with exposed blade tips spinning in open space at speeds up to 200 mph the wind industry has known there is no way its propeller-style turbines could ever be safe for raptors. It was impossible.

Stossel: Unions are still bad for education

"Kids are assigned to schools, and a bureaucracy decides who goes where and who learns what. Over time, its tentacles expand and strangle attempts to reform. Since they have no fear of losing their jobs to competitors, [education] monopoly bureaucrats can resist innovation for decades."

CEI Today: Regulatory report card, wind power baloney, and Italy's insane employment laws

REGULATORY REPORT CARD - RYAN YOUNG

EPA Lacks Transparency, Is Far Costlier Than Other Agencies

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations now cost Americans an estimated $353 billion per year—almost twice the regulatory costs of any other federal agency and greater than Denmark’s entire national GDP.

These regulatory statistics and more were revealed today in the Regulatory Report Card issued by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The purpose of the report card is to assess the EPA’s regulatory activity and its impact on the U.S. economy.  > View the full commentary at CEI.org

> Interview Ryan Young

WIND POWER & EXTREME WEATHER - MARLO LEWIS National Journal: PTC: Zero Climate Protection Of all the lame arguments used to sell Americans on the proposition that wind power, an industry propped up by Soviet-style production quota in 29 states and numerous other policy privileges, deserves another renewal of the 20-year old production tax credit (PTC), the lamest is the claim that the PTC helps protect us from extreme weather. PTC advocates talk as if Hurricane Sandy and the Midwest drought were obvious consequences of anthropogenic global warming, and that subsidizing wind energy is a cost-effective way to mitigate climate change. They are wrong on both counts.  > View the full commentary at Nationaljournal.com > Interview Marlo Lewis

ITALY'S INSANE EMPLOYMENT LAWS - MATTHEW MELCHIORRE EU Observer: Italian politics: 1970s stuck on repeat Change is anathema to Italian politics, as a broken political culture left over from the Cold War continues to frame debate and hold down the economy.  First, there is Italy's employment law.  Article 18 of the statute of workers forbids firing an employee for performance reasons. Only cases of negligence can be grounds for dismissal. The terminated worker can take his employer to court to either become reinstated or receive up to 14 months in severance payments - all the while keeping his employer on the hook for lost wages during the trial. > View more on this story at EUObserver.com > Interview Matthew Melchiorre

More in the news... Appeals Court Overturns Dismissal Of Challenge To Obamacare Contraception Mandate By Religious Colleges Expert On Gun Regulation Says “Assault Weapons” Bans Are Useless

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.

CEI Today: Bank bailout vote fail, wind tax subsidy, and Obama's college bailout

BANK BAILOUT FAILS IN SENATE - JOHN BERLAU

TAG Bank Bailout Fails in Senate, Taxpayers Win

On behalf of taxpayers and future generations burdened by the nation's debt, the Competitive Enterprise Institute rejoices at today's Senate defeat of the Transaction Account Guarantee on a procedural budget rule.

"Though TAG went down due to legitimate concerns about the shutting down of constructive amendments and violations of budget rules, this subsidy providing an unlimited safety net to millionaires and billionaires deserved to be defeated because of its own fiscal recklessness," said John Berlau, CEI's Senior Fellow for Finance and Access to Capital.

 > Read more on the Senate vote at CEI.org

> Interview John Berlau

WIND TAX SUBSIDY - MYRON EBELL CEI and Coalition Partners Urge Congress to Let the Wind Tax Subsidy Expire Congress is now considering an extension of the Wind Production Tax Credit. “The wind production tax credit is the worst kind of crony capitalism,” said Myron Ebell. “It uses billions of taxpayer dollars to encourage states to pass renewable energy requirements, which in turn causes electric rates to go up for consumers in those States. “Wind industry leaders have said repeatedly over many years wind power is on the verge of being competitive, or indeed is already competitive with, conventional sources of electric generation. If that is so, then the only reason to keep subsidizing wind is to pay off the crony capitalists who crowd the halls of Congressional office buildings.” “Congress should not vote to extend the Wind Production Tax Credit, which is set to expire at the end of this year.  That will save billions of taxpayer dollars and help prevent electric rates for consumers from going up and up.” > Interview Myron Ebell

OBAMA'S COLLEGE BAILOUT - HANS BADER Openmarket.org: Obama’s Low-Quality College Bailout Will Fuel Skyrocketing Tuition We wrote earlier about perverse federal financial aid policies that encourage colleges to jack up tuition. Recently, the Obama administration came up with something even worse. It announced a new financial aid policy that will effectively bail out low-quality, high-tuition colleges and especially law schools at taxpayer expense, and encourage colleges and professional schools to increase tuition even more. These changes are the product of a revised income-based federal student loan repayment program that will go into effect starting Dec. 21.  > View the full commentary at Openmarket.org > Interview Hans Bader

More in the news... CEI Podcast For December 12, 2012: Ending The Beer Monopoly Right-To-Work Laws Aren’t Perfect, But They’re Better Than The Likely Alternative

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.

CEI and Coalition Partners Urge Congress to Let the Wind Tax Subsidy Expire

Tax Dollars Raise Electric Rates and Reward Crony Capitalists

Washington, D.C. – Dec. 12, 2012 – Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, will join leaders and experts from nine other free market and conservative activist groups at a Thursday morning press conference to explain why Congress should not extend the Wind Production Tax Credit.

The press conference is set for Dec. 13 at 11 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Building.  Besides Ebell, it will feature remarks by Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, Larry Hart of the American Conservative Union, Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union, Christine Harbin from Americans for Prosperity and Patrick Hedger from Freedom Works. 

These experts will discuss the bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee to extend and expand the wind subsidy and why this corporate welfare represents an enormous waste of tax dollars at a time of fiscal crisis.

“The wind production tax credit is the worst kind of crony capitalism,” said Ebell. “It uses billions of taxpayer dollars to encourage states to pass renewable energy requirements, which in turn causes electric rates to go up for consumers in those States.

“Wind industry leaders have said repeatedly over many years wind power is on the verge of being competitive, or indeed is already competitive with, conventional sources of electric generation. If that is so, then the only reason to keep subsidizing wind is to pay off the crony capitalists who crowd the halls of Congressional office buildings.”

“Congress should not vote to extend the Wind Production Tax Credit, which is set to expire at the end of this year.  That will save billions of taxpayer dollars and help prevent electric rates for consumers from going up and up.”

 

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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.