Safe Bottled Water, a Second Stimulus and Keeping Government out of Insurance
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) questions the safety of the U.S. bottled water industry.
Officials consider putting together a second stimulus package to follow the $787 billion in spending authorized in February.
ProtectingAmerica.org releases a study calling for more government involvement in insurance markets.
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1. CONGRESS
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) questions the safety of the U.S. bottled water industry.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Risk and Environmental Policy Angela Logomasini on bottled water’s real safety record:
“Bottled water is substantially different from tap. About 75 percent of bottled water is from sources other than municipal systems such as springs or underground sources. Much of the bottled municipal water undergoes additional purification treatments to produce a higher quality product that must meet Food and Drug Administration bottled water quality standards, packaging, and labeling mandates. In terms of safety, tap water has more documented health-related case reports compared to bottled water. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends bottled water for individuals with compromised immune systems to reduce the risks associated with tap water.”
2. POLITICS
Officials consider putting together a second stimulus package to follow the $787 billion in spending authorized in February.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Regulatory Studies Fellow Ryan Young on the nature of stimulus spending:
“One problem: any stimulus proposal is, by its very nature, less than a zero-sum proposition. Stimulus involves taking some money out of the economy, wasting some of it on bureaucracy, then putting it back in. Rebate check-style stimulus is less harmful than the pork-laden American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But the same logic still applies. There are transaction costs to sending out millions of checks. And if the rebate increases the budget deficit, then tomorrow’s taxes will have to be raised to pay off today’s rebate.”
3. CONSUMER
ProtectingAmerica.org releases a study calling for more government involvement in insurance markets.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Policy Analyst Michelle Minton on the moral hazard of subsidized insurance:
“If legislators really want to protect American homeowners and tax payers they will focus on freeing the market, not tying it up even more. Private reinsurance is available and provides real protection for insured homes. State-run programs are already charging far less than they should creating the set-up for a major financial disaster. The creation of a government backstop for state-run insurance pools will only let allow them to continue offering insurance at a discount rate, pushing out private insurers that are unable to compete with government subsidized rates, luring more consumers into the state-run insurer, and putting the rest of the country on the hook to bail them out when the big one hits.”
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