Online Gambling, Orcs on Wall Street and the Chimera of Green Jobs

1. LEGAL

Congress continuesto discuss a plan that would legalize online gambling in all fifty states.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Policy analyst Michelle Minton on the rolethe government should take in regulating activities like onlinegambling.

“The issues isn’t about money. It is about whether or not it’s government’srole to criminalize an activity adults willingly choose to participate in andthe answer is a resounding: No.”

2. POLITICS

The government is onthe prowl for corporations they can shake down for increased spending andrevenue.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President forStrategy Iain Murray discussesthe disconnect between Washington and Wall Street through a Lordof the Rings analogy.

“The orcs who are despoiling the free enterprise system draw power from theOne Ring, the might concentrated in Washington DC and which corrupts even themost noble souls (to be charitable to the President).  In order to stopthe orcs, we shouldn’t just change the Ringbearer(s) every few years, we needto destroy the Ring itself.” 

3. ENERGY

The oilspill in the Gulf of Mexico has afforded President Obama an opportunity tocampaign for green jobs.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Counsel Hans Bader on how the push for green jobs is both irrelevantand unhelpful.

“Obama used the oil spill to push for more so-called ‘green jobs’ programs, deceptivelyboasting that “over the last year and a half,” the government has subsidizedthe so-called ‘clean energy industry.’  This was a reference to theFebruary 2009 stimulus package, which contained so-called ‘green jobs’ funding,79 percent of which went to foreign firms, replacing American jobs with foreigngreen jobs.”