1. IMMIGRATION

Legislators are working on an immigration reform plan that
includes a biometric
identification card for all American workers.

CEI Expert Available
to Comment: Policy Analyst Alex
Nowrasteh on why a national id program is a
terrible idea.

“A national ID hurts
American workers while pretending to help them. First, every worker would have
to ask permission from the federal government to get a job. American workers
shouldn’t have to beg or plead to anybody to get permission to work. Being
employed should be a private agreement between an employer and employee.
Period. The government should get out of the way.”

2. PROPERTY RIGHTS

The mayor of Detroit plans to employ
the takings clause in an effort to clean up and downsize the city.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Policy Analyst Marc
Scribner on why we need to pass reforms to curb the power of eminent
domain.

“Put simply: government
has an incentive to abuse redevelopment processes and is incapable of knowing
key economic variables necessary to promote long-term growth. In addition to
the actual land grab, cities often bungle the public financing mechanisms
to such a great degree that they often end up far worse than they started from
a fiscal perspective.”

3. ENVIRONMENT

EPA Administrator Lisa
Jackson claims that enactment of Sen. Lisa Murkowsi’s recent legislation
would result in a “patchwork quilt” of state-level fuel regulations.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on why the so-called regulatory “patchwork quilt” should be blamed on the EPA, not Senator Murkowski.

“Ms. Jackson neglects to
mention that the patchwork threat exists only because she, reversing Bush EPA
Administrator Stephen Johnson’s decision, granted California a waiver to implement its own GHG/fuel
economy program. Had Jackson
reaffirmed Johnson’s denial, there would be no danger of a patchwork, hence
no ostensible need for the joint EPA/NHTSA rulemaking to avert it.”