The Natural Resources Defense Council recently went after The Heritage Foundation after hosting an event with Dr. Gabriel Calzada, author of a study that concluded for every green job created in Spain, 2.2 were lost. Let’s run through the NRDC’s points: 1.) “If you scour the Web this week, you find Kreutzer and only a tiny handful of others touting the now totally discredited “findings” of a Spanish “study” that purports to expose the pernicious nature of green jobs.” And, “[I]t is worth bearing in mind that ExxonMobil and the …
“…I am indeed fearful writing this. It’s really a bad idea to speak out. Angering the President is a mistake…” What country would you expect to hear a citizen make this statement? Venezuela? Cuba? Russia? Nope, those are the words of prominent hedge fund manager Clifford Asness, who wrote a now-famous and widely circulated open letter this week describing the intimidation techniques used by President Obama and his administration. Why did the President have to resort to such enhanced techniques of intimidation? Mainly because he was asking financial lenders to …
Today the Obama administration’s Department of Interior announced that it would keep a Bush administration rule forbidding government scientists from considering global warming when protecting polar bears pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. When the Bush Interior Department announced their rule, they were roundly criticized by the enviro-left. It will be interesting to see how they react to the Obama administration taking the same position. More interesting is how the Obama EPA justified their decision. McClatchy reports: On Friday, the Interior Department reluctantly agreed, saying that it’s scientifically impossible to …
Any honest economist will tell you that a carbon cap and trade scheme, if it works perfectly, functions the same as an energy tax. The Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill currently under consideration in Congress is no different. In 2007, MIT did a study on the costs of cap and trade and found that cap and trade proposals that would reduce carbon emission by 50% to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 would cost the American household $800 a year in economic losses and $3,100 a year in taxes collected …
The U.S. Treasury auction of long-term bonds on Thursday was “terrible”, in the words of one Wall Street economist, with the rate on the 30 year bond jumping from 4.1 to 4.3 percent. This is just the first sign that the debt-based Obama economic stimulus plan is about to become a major drag on the recovery, just as expected. The economic news is not all bad. We are seeing signs the rate of contraction is abating quickly, promising a bottom to the recession sometime this summer as many forecasters have …
Today is Friedrich Hayek’s birthday and it is an important year to celebrate his birth. Although the twentieth century was the century of Hayek, this year seems also to be the year of Hayek. As a country, we are belatedly remembering his warnings, and seeing the consequences of ignoring them for so long. Hayek explained many years ago the problems with centralized monetary policy, over-regulation and interference with prices. He understood the danger of subsidizing risk and loss and feeding a boom with easy money. He also understood that markets …
When it comes global warming, two debates are currently taking place. At the forefront is the political debate. Current legislation introduced by House Democrats Ed Markey and Henry Waxman includes a cap-and-trade plan to attempt to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. But the debate unfortunately (and like most political debates) has largely evolved into each party talking past each other. In fact, even Democrats have been talking past each other, which forced Chairman Waxman to bypass subcommittee markup and moving to full committee to keep the bill moving …
The Washington Post reports today: Intelligence officials released documents this evening saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was briefed in September 2002 about the use of harsh interrogation tactics against al-Qaeda prisoners, seemingly contradicting her repeated statements over the past 18 months that she was never told that these techniques were actually being used. … The issue of what Pelosi knew and when she knew it has become a matter of heated debate on Capitol Hill. Republicans have accused her of knowing for many years precisely the techniques CIA …
As we come across them, we will post tributes to the legacy and life of Jack F. Kemp. This one comes from Mrs. Mildred Hailey, the founder of the nationwide movement of residents to manage and own their own public housing and Mrs. Cynthia Wiggins who succeeded Kimi Gray as head of their nationwide organization founded during Jack Kemp’s tenure as Secretary at HUD. “To Secretary Kemp’s Wife Joanne, Children and Family, on behalf of the leadership and families in public housing, affordable housing and section eight we send our sincere condolences. In …
Late last month the conservative blog Verum Serum posted a video of Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) telling a single payer health care rally: “I know many of you here today are single payer advocates and so am I … and those of us who are pushing for a public health insurance don’t disagree with this goal. This is not a principled fight. This is a fight about strategy for getting there and I believe we will.” Watch the video here. … oh wait … you can’t! BoilingWater media, who we …
