CEI Weekly: CEI FOIA Request Reveals Relationship Between Treasury Department and GM

CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blog posts from CEI’s fellows and associates sent out via e-mail every Friday. Also included in the weekly newsletter is a brief description of CEI’s weekly podcast and a feature on a major CEI breakthrough made during the week. To sign up for CEI Weekly, go to http://cei.org/newsletters.

CEI Weekly
June 3, 2011

>>Featured Story

In its now-infamous 2010 ad campaign, General Motors misleadingly claimed it had repaid all of its government loans. After the ads aired, CEI filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Treasury Department for documents pertaining to the ads. The Treasury stalled for nearly a year; but finally, last week, they released documents that demonstrate a close, coordinated partnership between GM and the Treasury on PR strategy. Read CEI’s statement on the released documents here.

>>Shaping the Debate

Not So Cool Rules
Wayne Crews’ citation in The Wall Street Journal

Union Outrage
Vincent Vernuccio’s interview on Fox Business

Official Time: Good Value for the Taxpayer? (Video / PDF)
Vincent Vernuccio’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee

Use of “Official Time” for Union Activity is Scrutinized
Vincent Vernuccio’s citation in The Washington Post

CEI Replies to Consumers United For Rail Equity

Marc Scribner’s comments before the Surface Transportation Board

Unsportsmanlike Conduct on the NFL Players Union

Iain Murray’s op-ed in The Washington Examiner

Green Won’t Glow if Germany Shuts Down Nukes
Chris Horner’s citation in The Orange County Register

Michigan Target of EPA Carbon Diktat
Chris Horner’s citation in The Detroit News

Washington Declares War on Debit Cards
John Berlau’s citation in Scripps Howard News Service

Most Back Higher Fuel Efficiency Standards
Marlo Lewis’ citation in The Toledo Blade

Real Beneficiaries of the Stimulus
Hans Bader’s letter to the editor in The Washington Times

>>Best of the Blogs

Official Time: Union Activity on the Taxpayer‘s Dime
By Ivan Osorio

An Alaskan Mining Project: One Example of How Environmental Regulations Are Strangling the U.S. Economy
By Myron Ebell

The Case Against the Clean Energy Deployment Administration, a.k.a the Green Bank
By William Yeatman

New York City Health Officials: No Fun For Adults
by Michelle Minton

>> CEI Podcast

May 31, 2011: FDA Rescinds Approval of Breast Cancer Drug

Senior Fellow Greg Conko breaks down the fight over Avastin, a drug used to treat several types of cancer. The FDA is poised to rescind Avastin’s approval for treating breast cancer. It will retain its approval for other cancers. This will make life difficult, and possibly shorter, for some breast cancer patients. Conko believes this battle boils down to one question: who decides which treatments patients can use? Will it be the FDA, or doctors and patients?