CEI Daily Update

Issues in the News

1. ECONOMICS

Taxpayers advocates highlight the amount of public money doled out to the owners of professional sports franchises.   

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Scholar Doug Bandow on the questionable priorities of taxpayer-financed stadiums:

“Government finances are suffering, spending on the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Iraq war continues to escalate while Social Security and Medicare continue to head over the financial cliff. Yet states and localities continue to throw money at the owners of sports franchises. The poor billionaire sports moguls–whatever would they do if they couldn’t force taxpayers to give them land and build them stadiums?”

2. SAFETY

Congress considers changing the negotiating rules for unionized firefighters.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on how the legislation could impact volunteer firefighters:

“Volunteer fire departments would be endangered by a union-backed bill that has overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives and now is pending in the Senate. It would force local governments to collectively bargain with police and fire unions, allowing them to demand bans on volunteer firefighters. It could also cost taxpayers a bundle in higher property taxes. While the Administration has not said that it supports the bill, the bill could conceivably become law even over a presidential veto, since it passed the House by a 314-to-97 vote, which is more than the two-thirds vote needed to override a presidential veto.”

3. TRADE

The United States negotiates a bilateral free trade agreement with South Korea.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Research Associate Gabriel Sahlgren on why trade negotiations should be kept separate from labor and environmental regulations:

“Economic growth and increased productivity give countries an opportunity to improve their labor and environmental standards. South Korea has been a democracy for more than two decades. It is up to South Koreans to decide what kind of labor and environmental provisions to adopt, not the U.S.”

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

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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