Workplacechoice.org: Florida’s Unwrapped Gift to Taxpayers
People who don’t do their jobs are usually held accountable, right? Not if you work for Miami-Dade County.
Robert Akras, a Miami-Dade County property surveyor who makes $86,238 a year has been missing in action from work. This did not sit well with newly elected Property Appraiser Carlos Lopez-Cantera, who has tried to fire Akras for not showing up for work, but was advised against doing so by Miami-Dade County Attorney Robert Cuevas.
This is the result of a practice known as union release time, whereby members of public employee unions can go on leave to do union business—on the taxpayer’s dime. This taxpayer-funded union subsidy is agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreements between the union and county government. > Read more
National Journal: Wind’s Future: Not As Bright As DOE Report Suggests
This week’s question cites a recent DOE report, which boasts that wind energy was the No. 1 source of new electric generation capacity in 2012. No industry can truly be said to have a bright future if it’s growth depends on regulatory coercion and taxpayer subsidy. Gas generation is growing faster than wind generation because it is more valuable.
A new study says global warming could cause a 50% increase in violent conflict by 2050. CEI’s Myron Ebell explains to Fox’s Clayton Morris and Linda Marsa of Discover Magazine that it’s just “junk social science.” > View the debate
CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. For more information about CEI, please visit our website, cei.org, and blogs, Globalwarming.org and OpenMarket.org. Follow CEI on Twitter! Twitter.com/ceidotorg.
100 People to Watch This Fall
Christopher Horner, CEI Senior Fellow
Horner, an attorney, conservative analyst and activist and political bomb-thrower, has drawn attention for recent lawsuits seeking more transparency from the EPA. > Read more
If you grow sweet cherries and/or Irish potatoes in certain parts of Washington State, the Agricultural Marketing Service is lowering the assessment rate it charges on your crop.
