Stimulus Waste, California’s Deficit and Internet Privacy
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) releases a report citing millions of misspent dollars from the federal economic stimulus package.
The state of California faces a $24 billion budget shortfall.
Internet companies face heat on Capitol Hill over consumer privacy.
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1. CONGRESS
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) releases a report citing millions of misspent dollars from the federal economic stimulus package.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on the fraud and waste in stimulus spending:
“Obama claimed the stimulus package was needed to prevent the economy from suffering from ‘irreversible decline,’ but the Congressional Budget Office admitted that the stimulus package would shrink the economy ‘in the long run.’ The stimulus package has since destroyed thousands of jobs in America’s export sector, and subsidized countless examples of government waste and corruption. Recently, Obama fired an inspector general, Gerald Walpin, who uncovered millions of dollars of waste and fraud in the AmeriCorps program, including by a prominent Obama supporter, endangering the Obama supporter’s ability to administer federal stimulus spending in Sacramento.”
2. BUSINESS
The state of California faces a $24 billion budget shortfall.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Energy Policy Myron Ebell on the state’s dire situation:
“California is in economic freefall largely as a result of spendthrift government spending, crushing taxes, and heavy-handed regulations that have raised the cost of energy and of doing business in California. The whole sorry story is explained clearly and analyzed acutely in an op-ed in the Washington Times by Tom McClintock, a freshman Republican Member of the House of Representatives and a long-time Member of the California state legislature. Rep. McClintock said in January that in his judgment it was inevitable that California would default on its debt. Unless the state legislature suddenly reverses course, McClintock will soon be proved right. California is facing bankruptcy.”
3. TECHNOLOGY
Internet companies face heat on Capitol Hill over consumer privacy.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Information Policy Analyst Ryan Radia on how best to protect users online:
“Not all consumers understand what information is gathered about them as they browse online. The best way to protect such users is not through regulation, but by educating — and, therefore, empowering — users. Volumes have been written on privacy and data security, and the ongoing Technology Liberation Front series ‘Privacy Solutions’ offers a growing body of tips on how consumers can achieve the level of privacy that suits them.”
Listen to LibertyWeek, the CEI podcast, here.