CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. CONGRESS
Senators consider arguments for listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Energy & Global Warming Policy Myron Ebell on the real agenda behind the polar bear listing:
Director of Energy & Global Warming Policy on the behind the polar bear listing:
“The campaign for designating polar bears as officially threatened or endangered is not really about protecting wildlife. The larger goal is to compel regulatory controls on energy use that global warming alarmists have been unable to persuade Congress to enact.”
2. TECHNOLOGY
The Federal Communications Commission investigates Comcast’s policy on online file-sharing site Bittorrent.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Technology Policy Analyst Cord Blomquist on how Comcast is managing their traffic:
Technology Policy Analyst on how Comcast is :
“Though Bittorrent is a hotbed for swapping pirated media, it’s beginning to be used for legitimate commercial purposes. But that doesn’t mean every Internet Service Provider should be required to give customers all-you-can-eat Bittorrent access. Besides, Comcast’s user contract expressly bans file sharing. Why should Congress force companies to let customers break voluntary agreements? Upgrades are desperately needed to expand broadband pipelines, and Comcast is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to do just that. Until the overhaul is completed, curbing some transfers helps relieve congestion so customers can browse the Web smoothly.”
3. ECONOMICS
Democrats in the Senate propose their own economic stimulus legislation, in opposition to President Bush’s plan.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on the cost of all this stimulation:
Special Projects Counsel on the cost of :
“The ‘stimulus’ plan devised by House leaders and the White House at a price tag of nearly $150 billion is now being rejected as too small by Senate Finance Committee head Max Baucus. His plan would give out much more welfare benefits, and provide tax ‘rebates’ to millions more people who don’t even pay taxes, than the House plan proposed. (I described yesterday how other Senators are busy proposing all sorts of welfare for inclusion in the stimulus plan, and how millions of dollars from the plan may end up financing left-wing special-interest groups).”
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