Daily update for 03/31/09
Members of the House Education and Labor Committee ponder the role of “green jobs” in our future economic recovery.
The Office of Management and Budget accepts public comments on how to revamp the federal regulatory process.
The White House forces General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner out as part of the government’s bailout plan.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Issues in the News
1. ENVIRONMENT
Members of the House Education and Labor Committee ponder the role of “green jobs” in our future economic recovery.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Energy Policy Myron Ebell on why Americans shouldn’t hold their breath:
“While the Congress and Administration talk about rebuilding the economy with green jobs and green energy, giving billions of dollars of taxpayer money to special interests to subsidize uncompetitive energy sources is going to hurt rather than help the economy. The federal government can create green jobs only by destroying many more real jobs in the productive economy.”
2. GOVERNMENT
The Office of Management and Budget accepts public comments on how to revamp the federal regulatory process.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on why the government needs to deregulate to stimulate:
“Unfortunately, deregulatory stimulus will inevitably chafe against federal agencies’ incentives to admit when rules are poorly targeted or their benefits do not justify the costs. No matter how costly or inconvenient, a nationwide 15-mile-per-hour speed limit and mandatory 15-foot bumpers would save lives. A net benefit could be claimed. Undisciplined agency regulating isn’t affordable anymore…Elected representatives should be required to approve significant agency rules before they become binding. Accountability demands it: We can no longer tolerate Congress passing so many laws that it cannot even read them all!”
3. BUSINESS
The White House forces General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner out as part of the government’s bailout plan.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs John Berlau on Treasury officials should have let GM enter bankruptcy:
“The lesson from AIG is that replacing a CEO is no panacea. There is no love lost for the poor management of Rick Wagoner. He is the one who went to the government, hat in hand – and when the government is paying the piper, it can call the tune. But replacing him won’t solve GM’s long-term problems of too many brands and too large a workforce. And it is increasingly clear that the bailout itself is an impediment to effective restructuring. The prospect of an ever-increasing supply of tax dollars is leading parties with auto industry contracts – unions, bondholders, dealers and others – to play a game of chicken. No one wants to renegotiate a contract when they think the government will come in with more money to cover the losses. And the Obama administration, as with AIG, does not have the power of a bankruptcy court to discharge debt.”
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