CEI Launches Website Condemning ‘Beach House Bailout’

New Site Offers News, Information on Policies That Benefit Beachfront Property Owners

Washington, D.C., June 19, 2009—The Competitive Enterprise Institute today launched a new website, nobeachhousebailouts.org, offering news and information about legislative proposals in Congress for a national catastrophe fund. CEI experts say that the proposal amounts to a “beach house bailout” that could make taxpayers bail out the beach-front property of the super-wealthy.

The site, nobeachhousebailiouts.org, will be the go-to site for the national catastrophic fund (“CAT”) fund issue. “Currently, Congress is looking at foolish legislation that would create a taxpayer burden to bailout wealthy celebrities like Madonna, O.J. Simpson, Bernie Madoff, and Anna Kournikova,” explains CEI Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer, the team leader for CEI’s insurance project. “We want to expose the absurdity of this kind of government intervention in the property insurance market.”

“CEI is already the leading think tank on cat fund issues with numerous studies, publications, and editorials, but we wanted to create a place where all the information relevant to the cat fund debate can be found in one place” says CEI Policy Analyst Verlan Lewis, the site’s administrator. “This website does it.”

The website features a petition that visitors can sign to express their disgust for government intervention that bails out the super-wealthy with taxpayer dollars. The site will offer a substantial library of resource documents on the national catastrophe fund debate and news reports about the status of the legislation.