CEI Daily Update

Issues in the News

1. CONGRESS

Lawmakers prepare to vote on a major new farm bill.  

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Scholar Fran Smith on the rationale behind farm subsidies:

Defenders of agricultural subsidies claim the program ensures a stable food supply and keeps farmers out of poverty, but the fact is the vast majority of American farmers do well without government aid.

2. ENVIRONMENT   

This week marks the tenth anniversary of a landmark vote in the Senate against alarmist global warming policies.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Global Warming Policy Myron Ebell on the importance of the ‘Byrd-Hagel’ resolution:

 What has happened since Byrd-Hagel has confirmed the Senate’s foresight and prudence. The EU is proving that it is possible to incur high costs to cut emissions without actually cutting them. Since <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Kyoto was negotiated in 1997, emissions have actually been rising faster in percentage terms in the EU than in the U.S.

3. CONSUMER

The House considers major new reforms to the insurance industry.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer on the possibility of new national rules for insurance companies:

We have a badly broken insurance regime in the United States.  I’m not one who normally would endorse a proposal to create a new federal bureaucracy but, if it liberates markets from the tyranny of state regulation, I’ll support it.

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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