Atlantic Hurricanes, Healthcare Costs and Cash for Clunkers
Weather researchers predict a quieter Atlantic hurricane season than previously expected.
Politicians debate strategies for containing the costs of healthcare.
The White House refuses to release data on the “cash for clunkers” car rebate program.
Listen to LibertyWeek, the entertaining and insightful CEI podcast.
1. ENVIRONMENT
Weather researchers predict a quieter Atlantic hurricane season than previously expected.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis on the best protection against hurricanes:
“…the best hurricane protection strategy for developing countries is economic growth. In 1955, a Category 5 hurricane called Janet slammed into Chetumal, on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, killing 600 people. On August 21, 2007, another Category 5, Hurricane Dean, hit the same spot and killed no one. It may be the first time in history when a Category 5 hit a populated area and everyone survived. What changed between 1955 and 2007? Not the weather. The big difference, as climatologist Pat Michaels observes, is that Mexico today is much wealthier than it was in the 1950s. Storm warning information is now widely available, there are better roads for evacuation, and emergency response programs are better funded.”
2. POLITICS
Politicians debate strategies for containing the costs of healthcare.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Attorney Hans Bader on the expanding price tag for government entitlement program:
“When the government creates a new entitlement to health-care, it costs far more than predicted. That’s the depressing truth told by former Congressman Tim Penny (D-MN) and former Senator Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN), casting doubt on whether the trillion-dollar price tag of Obama’s health-care plan even begins to capture its colossal, budget-exploding cost…Medicare offers a cautionary tale, since it costs more than ten times what its sponsors predicted, and far more than they ever imagined, ‘an astounding increase of 85.5 times over the 40-year period.’”
3. BUSINESS
The White House refuses to release data on the “cash for clunkers” car rebate program.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Editorial Director Ivan Osorio on how the program is working out:
“…the Cash for Clunkers program is a costly boondoggle that will yield little net benefit. The car buying site Edmunds.com compared car sales under Cash for Clunkers with typical car sales over a similar period as that of the program’s existence, and found a net increase of only 50,000 cars — at a cost of $20,000 each. But it may get worse yet. With so many car buyers taking advantage of what many perceive as “free” government cash, the Cash for Clunkers program is nearly out of money. Naturally, politicians who supported the program take this as a sign of success, and therefore now want more money for the program. They’re likely to get it.”
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.