CEI Daily Update

Issues in the News<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />

1. BUSINESS

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) proposes freezing mortgage rates to address instability in the market for “subprime” loans.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Scholar Doug Bandow on the implications of altering borrowers’ loan conditions after the fact:

“Foreclosures are expensive to borrower and lender alike, which is why many companies work hard to keep owners in their homes, especially in a down housing market. But truly ‘incalculable’ is the cost to the rule of law of arbitrarily changing the legal terms of millions of mortgages and absolving homeowners of responsibility for the loans which they avidly sought.”

2. ENVIRONMENT

“Global warming” is cited by Yahoo as one of the top Internet seach terms for 2007.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman on the re-launch of GlobalWarming.org:

“We expect the new website will be an excellent resource for researchers and reporters. The material is also presented in a way that non-experts can feel comfortable with. Anyone with an interest in climate change can find material relevant to their needs.”

3. CONGRESS

Members of Congress confront an unusually crowded legislative schedule leading up to the holiday recess.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on the possibilities for free market reform in the current Congress:

“Speaker Pelosi has suggested revising some of the more burdensome aspects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; we hope to work with her and others on this issue. We hope to share with the [current] Congress our ideas on how to jump-start the stalled economic liberalization process—hampered by botched, partial deregulations in electricity, telecommunications, airlines, and other network industries. We also hope to work with the Congress on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reform, to speed the process of bringing new life-saving drugs to market.”

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

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To contact a CEI expert for comment or interviews, please call the CEI communications department at 202-331-2273 or email to [email protected].