The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
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Issues in the News
1. ENVIRONMENT
President Bush announces plans to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: General Counsel Sam Kazman on the potential impact of the rules:<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = U1 />
“With gas prices rising, Americans are already moving to conserve oil and boost fuel efficiency in a far more intelligent manner than that proposed by the President. Higher fuel economy standards will only succeed in restricting consumer choice, destroying jobs, and increasing traffic fatalities. It's a shame that the President, spurred by a political desire to appear pro-active, is taking one of our worst federal programs and making it even worse.”
2. MEDIA
Canadian publisher Thompson Corp. proposes to buy Reuters for over $17 billion, pending regulatory appeal.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on the parallel bid of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to purchase Dow Jones:
“We need to see what market discipline emerges before we jump to government discipline. […] We create wealth and information in news markets just like we do in fiscal, goods and service markets. With a bid like this, and the potential for expansion of coverage in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Asia and the expansion of global markets, we need to see what the capital markets do in response to this merger and not worry so much, but see what happens and see what new level this takes us to.”
3. LEGAL
The Washington Post editorializes in favor of an expanded federal “hate crime” law.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on the Post’s contradictory reasoning:
“[The Post’s] editorial is at odds with both its past editorials opposing hate crimes laws and the concept of equality under the law. In 1992, the Post argued that all hate-crimes laws violate the First Amendment by criminalizing biased thoughts, in the course of criticizing a Wisconsin hate-crimes law that the U.S. Supreme Court later upheld in 1993. In 2000, the Post praised the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Morrison. The Morrison decision struck down a federal law that allowed people to sue over gender-based hate crimes in federal court, ruling that the law exceeded Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.