White House Science Czar, Catfish Imports and Gingrich’s “Real” Stimulus
Critics question the controversial beliefs of White House science adviser John Holdren.
U.S. catfish producers try to block inexpensive fish imports from Vietnam.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich releases his plan for a “real” economic stimulus bill.
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1. SCIENCE
Critics question the controversial beliefs of White House science adviser John Holdren.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman on his record:
“John Holdren’s 40-year record of outlandish scientific assertions, consistently wrong predictions, and dangerous public policy choices makes him unfit to serve as White House Science Adviser. The Senate should not [have confirmed] his nomination.”
2. TRADE
U.S. catfish producers try to block inexpensive fish imports from Vietnam.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Gregory Conko on the precedent for such trade disagreements:
“This is reminiscent of a similar dispute between the European Union and South American fishing industry that arose earlier this decade. In an effort to protect the European fishing industry, the EU adopted a rule that forbade Pacific Ocean-caught Sardinops sagax from being labeled as ‘sardines’ despite their taxanomic similarity to Mediterranean-caught Sardinops walbaum. In 2002, the World Trade Organization found that this violated the EU’s GATT obligations and ruled in favor of the complainant, Peru. It’s worth noting that the US sided with Peru and the other South American countries in that dispute, but is now doing exactly what it condemned the EU for doing just a decade ago.”
3. POLITICS
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich releases his plan for a “real” economic stimulus bill.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on why a free market stimulus strategy needs to go further:
“When I first read [Gingrich’s] piece today I didn’t think he had any government spending cuts or reductions in scope of government at all, then noticed some welcome liberalization of offshore drilling, and some privatization. But apart from that, the Strategy outline doesn’t seem to contain much apart from rolling back some of the spending insults of the past 10 months to pay for tax cuts. Those make some sense; but along with no overarching vision of limited government–that is, the bounds of what Washington can and should do in our lives in our modern economy–there’s no ‘deregulatory stimulus.’”
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