1. POLITICS

Republican House Leader John Boehner (R-OH) calls for an end
to federal support for leftist
activist group ACORN.

CEI Expert Available
to Comment: Editorial Director Ivan
Osorio on accusations that ACORN employees have committed voter fraud:                                                                           

“In November 2006, a federal grand jury in Kansas City indicted four ACORN employees for
‘knowingly and willingly’ submitting false information to election authorities.
The four allegedly submitted 15,000 fraudulent voter registration
forms—including ones with fake names, signatures or addresses. The charge has
maximum penalties of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. ACORN
workers have been convicted of election-related offenses in Wisconsin
and Colorado, and investigations have been
launched in Ohio, Pennsylvania
and Tennessee.”

2. LEGAL

President Bush signs into law new amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

CEI Expert Available to Comment:
Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on the ever-expanding definition of "disability" under federal law:

“…a prominent lawyer has concluded that being male is a
disability, too, reports the National Law
Journal. If sleep disorders and sex problems can be used as criteria for
filing disability claims, as courts have held, ‘being male’ could also be a
legally recognized disability. So claims Louis Solomon, a partner and co-head
of the Global Litigation Department at Proskauer Rose, who believes ‘maleness’
is on its way to becoming a new category for disability claims. Men, he argues,
have a greater susceptibility to certain diseases, a shorter life expectancy
and a testosterone level that predisposes them to more aggressive behavior —
all factors that could be classified as a disability.”

3. ENVIRONMENT

The World Wildlife Fund offers potential donors a luxury
25-day “private
jet expedition” around the world for $64,950.

CEI Expert Available
to Comment: Adjunct Analyst Steven
Milloy on the WWF’s five-star hypocrisy:

“Using the carbon footprint calculator on the WWF’s own web site, the 36,800-mile
trip in a Boeing 757 jet will burn about 100,000 gallons of jet fuel to produce
roughly 1,231 tons of CO2 in 25 days — that’s the equivalent of putting about
1,560 SUVs on the road during those three-plus weeks and that doesn’t even
include emissions related to local air, ground and water transport and other
amenities. The WWF laments on its web site that the average American produces
19.6 tons of CO2 annually, which is nearly five times the world average of 3.9
tons per person. But during the WWF’s posh excursion, travelers will produce 14
tons of CO2 per person. That’s 71 percent of the average American carbon
footprint and 360 percent of the average global footprint in a mere
three-and-one-half weeks.”

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