Health Care in the Senate, Hacking Climate Research and a Union Power Grab
The Senate advances Democrat-sponsored health care legislation in a party-line vote.
Hacked emails from a leading climate change research center reveal questionable practices and methods.
Unions in Michigan team up to pull thousands of independent day care workers into a new dues-paying arrangement.
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.
1. HEALTH
The Senate advances Democrat-sponsored health care legislation in a party-line vote.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Attorney Hans Bader on what the medical experts are saying about the bill:
“The Dean of Harvard Medical School recently gave Obama’s healthcare plan a ‘failing grade,’ saying it will harm America’s health and finances, and hamper medical innovations needed to save patients’ lives…Other experts agree. The health-care ‘reform’ bill backed by President Obama would reduce senior care, increase medical costs, and could jeopardize access to care for millions, report health care experts at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.”
2. ENVIRONMENT
Hacked emails from a leading climate change research center reveal questionable practices and methods.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Global Warming Policy Myron Ebell on the substance of the documents:
“The posting of private data files from the Climatic Research Unit in England reveals the sleazy, unseemly side of a number of the leading scientific proponents of global warming alarmism, including CRU Director Phil Jones, Michael Mann, Ben Santer, and Kevin Trenberth. It is clear that some of the ‘world’s leading climate scientists,’ as they are always described, are more dedicated to promoting the alarmist political agenda than in scientific research. Some of the e-mails that I have read are blatant displays of personal pettiness, unethical conniving, and twisting the science to support their political position.”
3. LABOR
Unions in Michigan team up to pull thousands of independent day care workers into a new dues-paying arrangement.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Editorial Director Ivan Osorio on how the practice is spreading:
“Home care providers are government employees? Defining them as such is a novel strategy some unions are pursuing — with help from union-friendly politicians — in order to organize independent businesses who cater to clients who receive any sort of state subsidy… This tactic is not new. As the Mackinac Center’s Patrick Wright notes, the Michigan effort follows the same pattern as the model established in California, Oregon, and Washington state for unionizing home care workers who look after disabled and elderly residents.”
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.