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This yankee doodle Vee-Dub evinced 100-percent german DNA with its body motion control and eager dynamics.
2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year: Contenders and Finalists
How does the Passat drive in the snow?
I have just over 33k miles on my 2012 Passat TDI SE 6sp manual. Here are my observations:
Purchase to date - I'm averaging 47 MPG with between 45% - 60% being city driving. My best highway was a sustained 56 MPG when I drove the posted highway speed limit. It was quite the challenge because -
Torque (236 lbs.) - In every gear you can snap your neck back into the headrest! Though the torque cliff is around 4,2k RPM you'll be up-shifting well before hand if not going full throttle.
Fit & Finish - I have a triple black Passat with the 17" Continental Pro Contacts. All season tires but I know that this New England Winter will be a challenge because of the torque - though I'll most probably start off in 2nd. or even 3rd. in snow or ice.
Body, creases, and fitment - All seams are very well calibrated;as is the finish.
The ride - If you are a fan of German chassis rigidity you won't be disappointed at all. Handles bumps, speed-bumps, uneven terrain exceptionally well. Active dampers keep you strait up.
The front seats are firm and very supportive. The leg room up front can handle anyone up to 7' with no problems. Where I was used to setting the seat all the way back on my older Volvo XCountry and Honda Odyssey I don't come close on this one and I'm 5'11". Then there's the rear seat -
It's cavernous to say the least. It's clean, comfortable, and very spacious. I used to drive a BMW 750iL and this Passat comes very close to the rear legroom space. The trunk -
It's freekn' huge - No problem packing four standard golf bags into it along with all the incidentals for four players. The rear seat-release latch is located in the trunk for both seat backs. Pull the lever and push or pull either seat down. The seats almost fold down flush but not perfect. The spare (3/4) tire is located under the rear main floor. The DPE (Urea) tank is on the near right side of the trunk. A single tank of DPE will most assuredly last a minimum of 10k miles.
This is my first VW Branded car. It won over my short-list competition of: Acura TL - SHAWD, Infinity M-37x, and Honda Cross-Tour. Honestly, the TDI's fuel mileage and overall performance is a win-win!
Interesting to note the exchange between VeeDub4LF and Schum1F1Fan. I am researching cars since my current car is getting up in years (16 yrs, 170K miles). One of my sons recently bought a VW, and I am impressed. My SIL in Germany just told my wife that her son's VW quit on him and it was going to cost 7,000 Euros to replace "the pump". I flipped out when I heard this. What kind of a car needs a pump that costs almost 35 to 50% of a reasonable purchase price? So, I went on line today to read up on what is being said about VW. This is not the only site where I have found references to $10,000 repairs for a VW. I appreciate reading VeeDub4LF's post. I happen to think it's valid. VW has a problem which I will keep in mind as I continue to evaluate what car (if any) will replace my trustworthy 1997 Camry V6 which I love to show off with when challenged by a VW, even a Beamer. I have been beaten, but not by a VW. (It was a little Honda with one of those speed kits.) My old Camry will still go in excess of (censored) and peel just a tiny bit of rubber. I suspect SchumiF1Fan is a shill for VW. What is your position with VW Sir/Ma'am? How long have you been in their employ? Alles mit humor gemeint lieber Freunde! Hang in there "Volkswagen for life", I take it you are a true VW lover and are voicing a legitimate complaint. Bravo!
Just traded our 2011 Camry on a Passat SE. Good riddance. Camry was reliable,yes but driving it is best described as 'flabby' and boring. Horrible re-sale value, BTW. But enough abt. negatives; on to the positive:
The driving dynamic and sheer joy of the superior handling of the Passat sold us. My husband and I have been watching/reading abt. the car since its winning COTY. Motor Trend did a recent comparison[ Dec.2012] of most of the Passats' competition, Honda, Toyo, etc. and the Passat won again!
With abt. 500 miles on it, we are excited abt. our upcoming ' Super Trek' 5-week round-trip vacation from our North Carolina home to California [visiting as many Nat'l Parks as we can]. Let's DRIVE!!
Just traded my A3 TDI for a Passat TDI SEL> AWESOME CAR! B-U-T, the absence of seat bottom tilt is inexcusable for the top of the line sedan from VW! German engineering compromised by American bean counters????
This is a NO brainier... Do you want a nice car for less than $200 a month... Simply lease this car for 3 years.. Give $3000 drive off and you will have a nice, decent good looking VW with service and guaranty covered for your 3year lease at the manufacturer's expense.. This is not an Audi but certainly not a Hyundai... You will also be happy to know that you're helping American workers in TN's plant as it is finally assembled there. That's what I did and I am quite happy cruising in beautiful sunny CA on a VW that is not my '73 Beetle anymore.
The v6 for all it offers for 30k is a nice car. Real fast rides like a euro car should in the corners I like it and can see why it would get coty. but the volume leader 2.5 motor sucks It;s the best implementation of it ever in this car but is just such a pos motor. the rest of the car is great. Vw if you are listening sll you gotta do is have say a 1.8 turbo or even 1.6 with around 170hp ans some good low down torque it would be so much better and get better mileage. The only car I see that can compete will be the next accord but cvt transmissions are not generally very good.
VW's CR 2.0 TDI engine still has a serious design problem. The high pressure fuel pump's are prone to failure and if it fail's out of warranty it is a $10,000+ repair bill as it contaminates the entire fuel system with metal shavings. VW has done nothing to ease the worries of current TDI owners that are getting close to being out of warranty. Stay away from the current 2.0 TDI until they fix the problem or warranty this fuel system past the normal warranty!!!!!!!!!!Read more about it here >forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=284441
this car wouldn't made car of the year in 1995
100% german my ass the transmission is made from Japan and engine assembly in mexico
god damm that one ugly car
As a car enthusiast, who has become extremely jaded at auto journalists and their almost total lack of appreciation for any car that won't pull one g on a test track , I feel that your car of the year review of the 2012 VW Passat is one of the best pieces of automotive journalism I have read in ages. I am unabashadly a Chrysler person but felt that your choice of the Vdub was very well rounded and very well explained. As a Canadian it would be nice to get diesels available in alot more vehicles. A thirty five to forty mpg crossover would be heaven. Keep up the good work, it's much appreciated.
Let's see... there is no other sedan in this size and price range that offers this type of handling, reliability, class, style, ride quality, intuitive features, safety, engineering, performance and warranty. Overall the best value period. Safest in its class. Most fuel efficient in its class. Most standard features in its class. Most legroom & cargo space in its class. Best performance and power in its class... and you get 3years of care-free maintenance & 24/7 Roadside assitance for free. They did all of this for a reason. YOU WOULD BE AN IDIOT TO BUY ANYTHING ELSE IN THE SAME PRICE RANGE.
I'm now into my second week in my 2012 Passat SE w/sunroof and couldn't be happier. I've owned several worthy makes over the years--VW, BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, Saab--and know what a European car should feel like. So when it came time to buy a mid-range family sedan (three kids), I opened it up to the Sonata, Optima, Mazda6, even the Fusion, to be fair. At the end of the day I settled on the Passat because of its interior size, fit and finish, and, yes, styling. In black/black, my car is far from boring. Serious maybe, but not boring. In fact the new Passat is the antidote to the silly swoops and curves of the Japanese makes. It's all a matter of taste, but the styling of the new Passat--inside and out--will wear well over time where the little "spaceships" from Japan will date themselves with every annual makeover. I've already received several complements on its looks. The Passat well deserves to be COTY.
Just looked at this car yesterday. I went in, really wanting to like this car. First comment is one of safety: it is impossible to manually open the locked rear doors if the electricity is out, even if the child safety lock is disengaged. This is a HUGE SAFETY CONCERN. Our kids are trained to know how to open the rear door locks manually, should we have some kind of accident occur where the electric locks don't work, such as driving into a lake (forget about "the computer unlocks the doors in an accident"--break the battery cable and you're dead in the back seat). Amazing omission by VW. Next comment: I can't see how the Passat could earn Car of the Year. We looked at the beige interior. There is such generous use of hard plastics, it looks cheap and dated. The rear view mirror has a ring of the same cheap plastic around it which really looks bulky. I dislike the "leatherette." Just say vinyl. We didn't even bother with a test drive because of the rear door lock issue.
I was heavily disappointed in the drive and features of this vehicle. It was equally boring looking at it outside as it was to drive. I know it's no race car, but to call the vehicle 'dynamic' in any way would be a lie. It is just another camry/accord. Boring and incredibly pointless, much like those who are interested in them. If this offends you, prove me wrong.
As a 2 time previous VW owner, I can vouch for the fact that VW remains the best built car and best value for the money anywhere. Build quality inside and out was outstanding on the 2 Jetta's I have previously owned. Each time I turned one in it still drove and felt like it did the day it came off the lot. In 6 yrs of VW driving I had only one issue, a cooling sensor that was replaced in under 24 hrs.
That's a good selling point only buy a VW if you live close to a dealer so you can have expensive maintenance done by VW mechanic.
@CIK607, I can imagine that many of the people that have had reliability issues with VWs get their cars serviced at sketchy local mechanics instead of the dealership. That having been said I think it's fantastic that the first 3 years of maintenance are included with the car so that should help. I plan on taking care of my new Passat like you take of your cars and hopefully I can be added to the list of people with no VW complaints.
@ CIK607 I owned 2006 Jetta TDI did all my maintenace myself, its pretty simple, never had a problem and saved a fortune not using a VW certified mechanic.
I own a 2008 Passat with 6-speed manual transmission and I have NEVER replaced a clutch, throttle, exhaust, or anything. My car is never broke and has never even been in the shop. As long as I keep and oil change everything is fine. I also drove my car off the lot brand spanking new. Now, as a loyal VW owner (2 Jettas, a Beetle, and my Passat), I've come to know that VWs are EXTREMELY temperamental cars so you must get all your maintenance on time and ONLY at the dealership or certified VW mechanic. If you do that, you're home-free! Maintenance is expensive so as long as your prepared for that, VWs are THE BEST!!!
I just bought a top of the line V6 SEL Premium model and so far I love it. It is a simple yet quality car. I have never owned a VW car in my life and I was hesitant but the value of this car is off the charts in terms of the features it offers. I bought an extended warranty with it so that I'm covered to 75,000 miles bumper to bumper since I heard of some reliability problems. But it's amazing so far, loving my new car!
I own a 2008 Passat and want to warn anyone that is thinking about buying a VW that these are the least reliable cars on the planet. In the 60,000 miles I have driven this I have replaced the clutch, cam shaft, throttle body, whole exhaust system, and it has been in the shop for many electrical problems. It also burns a quart of oil every 1000 miles and the check engine light comes on at least 1 once a week. I drove it off the lot new. I know this is an updated car that is much different than the one I drive but do not say you were not warned. When it is not broke it is an amazing car but it is always broke.
While the Passat is far from one of the most exciting cars of today, that is not what it is meant to be. Instead, it offers practicality, affordability, and efficiency. All while providing a nicely equipped, styled, and comfortable interior.
I recently purchased base S model, manuel transmission. I love it. Plenty of pep vs 6 automatic in my opinion. No bells and whistles other than what I really need/want in a car. And I am quite sure a lot of love went into building my car - and all VWs out of the TN plant. Glad to see VW received COTY !
You say "nichts besonderes" -- that's 'nothing special', for those who don't speak German. Could it look better? Of course it could. It could look more like the CC, but it differentiates itself from the Japanese and Korean cars.I say, you should go see this car in person - and go drive one. I did that last weekend, and I was quite impressed. This is a very good car for the price. It is solid, quiet, and drives well. If I were in the market for a large sedan, I would consider buying one. I'm more of a 5-door fan, though, so we bought a SportWagon TDI 6-Speed manual. Over two years, our average mpg is about 40, mostly in daily city driving. I think it's great that VW is making the new Passat in Chattanooga. I'm looking forward to more new models coming out of this plant.
Looks like every other car. nichts besonderes
I was looking forward to the COY issue. This years selection really surprised me. What we have here is very vanilla looking car. They should have named it the VW Bland. It is not particularly efficient. Oh yes there is the diesel that gets about 30% better mpg, but then diesel fuel costs 30% more than gasoline. I suspect that Accord and Camry people might take a look and determine it looks a lot like the car they already and then go buy another Camry or Accord. I want to wish VW a lot of luck on world domination with looks and engineering like this.
My goal is to have more people put pressure on VW to fix a horrible design and give some type of assurance for the customers that have already purchased a VW CR TDI. Either through an extended warranty on the pump or a pump recall. If you have 50,000 people asking VW WTF is up with this pump they may do something. True Diesels will not run with gas in the tank...but how many past designs result in a $10,000 complete fuel system replacement? It is fairly common in the US to have poor quality fuel, not just gas in the fuel but also water as well as the lower lubricating properties as compared to EU Diesel. People should know that they are rolling the dice if they decide to keep this car past the warranty like most TDI owners aim to. Rolling the dice on your next fill up being sub par fuel and you having to make a repair equal to half what the car is worth or more. I had a HPFP failure at 18,000mi on m 2011 Golf TDI, no contamination ever only filled at large truck stops. VW has let us down.
Ok, VeeDub, what exactly is your goal here? To scare people away from diesel VWs, of which thousands and thousands have been sold to happy customers.I'm an engineer,and I've done my own research on the NHTSA Investigation, # EA11-003. Of course, there appears to be an issue with fuel pump failure, but you have to dig a little deeper. In about 90% of the cases, there was gasoline in the diesel fuel. Was diesel fuel at the filling stations contaminated, or did someone actually put gasoline in the diesel VW? Who knows? What I do know is that no diesel car, from any manufacturer, will run with a mix of diesel and gasoline in the tank. It's been a couple of weeks since I researched this, and after reviewing the NHTSA file and speaking with people at VW, I am convinced that the diesel fuel pump failure in TDI models is not a large scale issue. In fact, I read that the failure rate for 2010 vehicles was 0.11%.VW TDIs are great cars. There are four in our family, and none have had any issues.
I am a VW fan, have been for years. That said if you want a Diesel either get a used VW (prior to 08) or go BMW. The new VW TDI is one of the worst designed cars on the road. Any car that can have a $10,000 fuel pump bill is a looser in my world. This is no Ferrari, we expect more from VW. They keep failing by the day. Read all about it.http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=286380http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=299854VW's dirty little secret. Buy at your own risk.
I really appreciate living in a country where we have the right to free speech. We should enjoy our freedom. That said, however, it very sad that this 'STORY' of the diesel fuel pump failure seems to be brought up over and over again. Before you get scared away from buying a great diesel VW, that gets around 40 mpg in town and 50 mpg on the highway, without hybrid hyper-miling driving, you should go test drive some of these cars, and do your own research.Once you drive a VW TDI, you will become a diesel fan.
The Jap crap is on the wane. It is time once again for our beloved Germany to abolish the inferiors, to rid the world of junk automobiles.My friends, this is the future. No longer will we be coerced to drive soulless cars designed by ungrateful, revenge filled Asians. We will eliminate the scourge of inferior Jap cars.
The nonsense of unreliable VWs is outdated. I had one of the first Rabbits in 1975, a 1977 Rabbit, and now a 2008 GTI. The GTI has proven as reliable as Tacomas-in fact the Toyota required more maintenance. Germans have the prowess, and technology.
When the High Pressure Fuel Pump fails...and it will. It is a $10,000+ fix on the TDI. Think twice abour saving a few bucks at the pump and just get the gas powered one. VW needs to fix it's TDI design.
LETS BE REAL HERE.This Car Diserved The Award.All you prissy people complaining cannot get over the fact that Volkswagen Group has become super competitive. The past is the past with Reliability, and from 2008+ All Volkswagen Cars are Average to Above Average in that segment. Many Other makes Domestic and Imports score much less in Reliability.GetOverTheFactThatBORING PLASTIC FILLED TIN CAN VANILLA CARS are no longer winner CAR OF THE YEAR.Side note, The same people complaining here about the Passat are also in the other forum (SUV OF THE YEAR) saying how a HONDA CRV or TOYOTA RAV4 Should of won. GIVE ME A BREAK.
When you google high pressure fuel pump failures in TDIs be sure to read the articles, too, and not just the subject lines.If you do you'll find that even the people reporting these problems say they rarely occur.
The comments about "real men" not driving the Passat are laughable, and that's being charitable. The Passat is primarily a family car, like everything else in its class, and not just for single men, gay or straight.BTW, there is less than half a second difference between 0-60 times for a V6 Camaro and a V6 Passat. (The Camaro takes 6 sec., the Passat 6.4.) Sounds pretty manly to me.
VW reliability? Like most brands, it varies. My 1999 B5 Passat 1.8T finally needs some major work...after 2 teenagers have abused the manual transmission for 5 years. 2002 Beetle Turbo S was a blast, but body parts started falling off after 5-6 years and both EGR and anti-lock systems failed at the 7/8 year mark. 2006 Audi A3 2.0T blew an injector at 50K but otherwise fine. 2007 B6 Passat Wagon 2.0T, bought used for a song due to an electrical system problem, was fixed at no charge by VW and has been a charm...only improvement would be a diesel engine. 2011 Sportwagon TDI is a jewel. I still own all but the 2002 Turbo S (my wife isn't out of mourning, yet). I guess you can argue second hand information or extrapolate from one example to damn the brand. I've been pretty pleased with the performance, safety, reliability and service I've received over the past 12 years.I've test driven the 2012 Passat TDI and agree with Motor Trend; it will be my next purchase.
Excellent post, Danny428!VW has come a long way and continues to improve. We love our TDI and are averaging around 40 mpg in daily driving -- and about 50 on the highway.Quality, ride, and comfort are on par or better than our BMW, and cost of driving is much lower, even with diesel prices higher than premium.If we needed another car, we would definitely consider another VW TDI.
I subscribed to Motortrend, Autoweek and a few other car magazines and mostly the reviews are great for the Passat. I have owned BMW X5, Acura MDX, Ford Explorer, Saab 92X, Toyota Camry, Honda Civic and a few other cars. I just bought a VW Passat TDI and even my wife love it more than any other cars, and our 2 other cars are driving great. People should go test drive the car if they are in the market instead of listening to clueless posters who think "real men don't drive Jetta, Passat, Beetles or Audi." Sounds like some stuborn people are still stuck in the 60's believing American cars are the only ones that are muscle cars. Grow up. Outside of your cave.As for the poster who commented that VW are cheaply made, do you get out much? The VW Passat's quality is about the same as the X5 we got.I have friends who are car buffs and love their VW Passats and Golf just as much as their BMW or Mercedes. Go compare the Passat with the Camry or Accord, both on and off the road, then we'll talk.
The VW Passat as COTY? Motor Trend must be in need of new advertising dollars. Seems as if the only people defending MT's choice here are current or new VW owners (imagine that). In a couple of years this POS will be riddled with "nagging" problems and reliability issues just like most cheaply made VW's of past/present.
Google VW High Pressure Fuel Pump failure before you think about buying the TDI version of this car....
@svms12; I can appreciate a well made car like the Passat as much as the next person, but most people buy cars as an extention of their personality. Most of the cars made these days are of high quality and build; excellent performance and ride. My comment was for the judges, of which I'm willing to bet a couple "gay" guys were in there voting for the car that best reflects their personalities. This isn't about the COTY as much as it is about pushing your own liberal agenda on the rest of the Country. I just hate to see a car magazine go "political" like this. The Subaru or the Lexus are much better cars. The Kia Rio has more style to it than a Passat. Personally, I don't want a bunch a girlie boys picking a COTY. And in my opinion, real men were lacking in this so called contest! Perhaps you are still young, but there are certain cars that scream "I like boys" and you need to decide if you want to be driving them.
For once Motor Trend nailed it. This is a great car and is the best value out there. I have driven many VW's and never have had any maintenance problems.
@mrbvlo: I like this car, and I'm a single man, but I am definitely not gay. What would your COTY choice have been anyway?
Of course the COTY is always a controversial matter and will not please everyone. But I think most folks will agree that the Passat and Jetta are both cars that are prefered by single gay men. You see a guy driving a Passat or Jetta and my money says 9 times out of 10, he's gay! Real men don't drive Jettas, Passats, or Beetles, or Audi's for that matter! I'm so sick and tired of the bias Motor Trend shows for the German built autos. Even worse is continued pussification of this magazine by the editorial staff. Should of had a pink cover to make the award complete.
November fools!Right?


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Let's face it: simply stating that an outfit is chic or on-trend isn't enough. In order to really understand what makes a great ensemble work, you need the all-important "why" factor, which brings us to our new informative fashion feature: Why It Works! Each month, we'll break down the inner workings of a must-try outfit and explain the importance of each element involved. Plus, we'll even show you how to get the look with a slew of stylish like-minded items! So let's get to it, shall we?
Emma Stone
While Emma Stone is known for consistently getting it right on the red carpet, we find that her off-duty style choices are worthy of praise too. Take the ensemble she wore arriving to The Late Show with David Letterman in New York this past June, for example. The actress was polished perfection in a Burberry Long Cotton Gabardine Leather Detail Heritage Trench Coat ($1595), Rag & Bone/JEAN Skinny Jeans ($187) in Kensington, and Sergio Rossi patent pumps--a simple and chic combination every woman should have in their repertoire come fall. Here is Why It Works:
Trench Coat: In lieu of a traditional khaki trench, go for one with black or brown leather trim. The subtle detail adds visual interest, giving the outerwear definition without being distracting.
Similar Essentials Burberry Long Cotton Gabardine Leather Detail Trench Coat ($1595); Banana Republic Equestrian Trench ($198); Kensie Double-Breasted Trench Coat ($104).
White Shirt: A crisp white shirt, buttoned all the way to the top and left untucked, keeps your outfit sophisticated while lending the overall look a hint of menswear polish.
Similar Essentials Equipment Signature Blouse ($208); J. Crew Boy Shirt ($148); Gap Boyfriend Shirt ($50).
Skinny Jeans: Skinny jeans--in a dark, solid wash and hemmed right above the ankle--are timeless and professional, plus they're perfect for showing off a sleek heel.
Similar Essentials J Brand Maria Skinny Jeans ($233); Guess by Marciano The Skinny Jean No. 61 ($148) in Dark Vintage Wash; Divine Rights of Denim Skinny Jeans ($27).
Heels: A single-sole, patent stiletto with a slightly pointed toe is elegant and ladylike--think: Catherine Deneuve--so it's a great way to introduce a dressier element to otherwise understated separates.
Similar Essentials Manolo Blahnik BB Pointy Toe Pumps ($595); Kate Spade New YorkTalia Pumps ($298); Aldo Romelia Heels ($80).-- Jessica Baker
Photo of Emma Stone, courtesy of X17

subset: commoncrawl


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In a news release, U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) today responded to letters from Louisiana's Attorney General Buddy Caldwell and Secretary of Department of Children and Family Services Suzy Sonnier regarding his recommendations for aggressive action in response to fraud that occurred during an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system outage in north Louisiana. Vitter sent his
recommendations in a letter.
"I'm extremely disappointed in the response I've gotten from state officials," Vitter said. "There should be serious consequences for the outrageous theft and fraud at these Louisiana retailers, and the state has authority in disqualifying and prosecuting any guilty EBT recipient."
According to the news release, Caldwell and Sonnier committed to his request that no reimbursements be made to retailers who did not follow proper protocol. However, it states, they refused to prosecute any beneficiaries guilty of theft or fraud and deferred to USDA on disqualifying or suspending any beneficiaries. Vitter has asked Caldwell and Sonnier for a follow up meeting in Baton Rouge.
The text of Vitter's letter to Caldwell and Sonnier is below.
ovember 4, 2013
Buddy Caldwell
Office of the Attorney General
State of Louisiana
P.O. Box 94005
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
Suzy Sonnier
Office of the Secretary
Department of Children and Family Services
P.O. Box 3776
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
Dear Attorney General Caldwell and Secretary Sonnier:
Thank you for your quick responses to my letter of October 30 regarding the outrageous incidents of food stamp theft and fraud in Louisiana on October 14.
Thank you also for clearly committing to not reimburse any vendor above any beneficiaries' benefit limits, my first request. Unfortunately, in contrast to this, I found your responses to my second and third requests really disappointing and inadequate.
My second request urged you to disqualify or suspend from the program beneficiaries guilty of this theft and fraud. In response to this, you basically stated that you are asking permission to pursue suspensions from the program from the Obama administration, namely USDA. Why? All relevant law
clearly gives the state authority to administer the program, including authority to disqualify or suspend those guilty of theft or fraud (7 USC 2015(b)). You clearly do not have to get federal permission to do this with regard to every individual enforcement action.
So I again urge you to take such action in these cases without first asking permission unnecessarily from the Obama administration. Given the administration's support for the almost limitless expansion of the food stamp program, I think their granting this unnecessary permission unlikely.
My third request urged you to prosecute these same beneficiaries. In response to this, you stated that this decision is up to the retailers involved. No, it isn't. Such a prosecuting decision is always up to the public prosecutor with appropriate jurisdiction. Walmart and other retailers no doubt want to pass on urging prosecution because they screwed up and, quite frankly, because they benefit from most food stamp fraud in their stores.
So again, I urge you to form a task force with the prosecutors in the local jurisdictions involved to aggressively prosecute these crimes. As I stated in my October 30 letter, these prosecutions will be fully supported by ample computer/EBT account evidence and do not depend on the active cooperation of
the retailers involved.
I would like to personally meet with both of you in Baton Rouge to discuss this further in the very near future. Thank you again for your service to Louisiana.
David Vitter
U.S. Senator
Cc: The
Honorable Bobby Jindal
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- Bluegrass Institute
- Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions
- Business & Media Institute
- Calvert Institute
- Cascade Policy Institute
- Cato Institute
- Center for Consumer Freedom
- Center for College Affordability and Productivity
- Center for Equal Opportunity
- Center for Health Transformation
- Center for Immigration Studies
- Center for International Private Enterprise
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Center of the American Experiment
- Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation
- Citizens Against Government Waste
- Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy
- Club For Growth
- Commonwealth Foundation
- Competitive Enterprise Institute
- Council for Affordable Health Insurance
- Empire Center for New York State Policy
- Ethan Allen Institute
- Freedom Foundation
- Federalist Society
- Foreign Policy Research Institute
- Fraser Institute
- Foundation for Defense of Democracies
- Foundation for Educational Choice
- Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability
- Foundation for Research on Economics & the Environment
- Free Congress Foundation
- Free State Foundation
- FreedomWorks
- Galen Institute
- Georgia Public Policy Foundation
- Goldwater Institute
- Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
- Great Plains Public Policy Institute
- Heartland Institute
- The Heritage Foundation
- Heritage Libertad
- Hoover Institution
- Hudson Institute
- Illinois Policy Institute
- IMANI Center for Policy & Education
- Independence Institute
- Independent Institute
- Institute for Health Freedom
- Institute for Energy Research
- Institute for Humane Studies
- Institute for Justice
- Institute for Market Economics
- Institute for Marriage and Public Policy
- Institute for Policy Innovation
- Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation
- Institute of Economic Affairs
- Intercollegiate Studies Institute
- International Policy Network
- International Republican Institute
- James Madison Institute
- John Jay Institute for Faith, Society & Law
- John Locke Foundation
- Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy
- Kansas Policy Institute
- Landmark Legal Foundation
- Leadership Institute
- Lexington Institute
- Libertas Institute
- Mackinac Center for Public Policy
- Maine Heritage Policy Center
- Manhattan Institute
- Maryland Public Policy Institute
- Mercatus Center
- Mississippi Center for Public Policy
- National Center for Policy Analysis
- National Center for Public Policy Research
- National Taxpayers Union
- Nevada Policy Research Institute
- North Dakota Policy Council
- Ocean State Policy Research Institute
- Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
- Pacific Research Institute
- Palmetto Family Council
- PERC - The Property and Environment Research Center
- Philanthropy Roundtable
- Phoenix Center
- Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research
- Progress & Freedom Foundation
- Property Rights Alliance
- Public Interest Institute
- Public Policy Foundation of West Virginia
- Reason Foundation
- Rio Grande Foundation
- Science and Public Policy Institute
- Show-Me Institute
- South Carolina Policy Council
- State Policy Network
- Sutherland Institute
- The Tax Foundation
- Texas Public Policy Foundation
- Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
- Thomas Jefferson Institute
- Virginia Institute for Public Policy
- Washington Legal Foundation
- Washington Policy Center
- Wisconsin Policy Research Institute
- Yankee Institute for Public Policy
- Young America's Foundation
Recent Policy Studies
Economic Growth
Heritage Employment Report: September Job Creation Still SlowBy James Sherk, Salim Furth, The Heritage FoundationIssue Brief, 10/05/2012
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) September payroll survey finds that employers added a net 114,000 new jobs, continuing the trend of slow employment growth during the recovery. The substantially divergent job growth reported in the household survey and the associated drop in the unemployment rate is inconsistent with other economic indicators and may represent statistical sampling error. Part of this sluggishness is due to the sharp decline in employment at start-up companies, which has hit record lows. Impending tax increases make it more risky to hire, and excessive regulations make it more expensive to start up new businesses. Congress and the Administration should reduce barriers to starting a business instead of increasing them.
Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure: Why Pure Capitalism is the World Economy's Only HopeBy John A. Allison, McGraw-HillBook, 10/05/2012
Not only is free market capitalism good for the economy, says industry expert John Allison, it is America's only hope for recovery. As the nation's longest-serving CEO of a top-25 financial institution, Allison has had a unique inside view of the events leading up to the financial crisis. He has seen the direct effect of government incentives on the real estate market. He has seen how government regulations only make matters worse. And now, in this controversial wake-up call of a book, he has given a solution. Readers will learn how government incentives helped blow up the real estate bubble to unsustainable proportions, how financial tools such as derivatives have been wrongly blamed for the crash, and how Congress fails to understand it should not try to control the market—and then completely mismanages it when it tries. In the end, readers will understand why it's so important to put "free" back in free market.
Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
A Housing Market Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The Effect on Housing StartsBy Nahid Anaraki, The Heritage FoundationSpecial Report, 10/04/2012
This empirical study tries to identify the main determinants of housing starts by measuring the responsiveness of housing starts to the mortgage interest rate compared with economic fundamentals at the national and regional levels. If housing starts are not responsive to changes in the mortgage interest rate, then interventions by government-sponsored enterprises in the housing market that lower mortgage interest rates would not significantly affect housing starts. Econometric analysis of the supply side of the housing market suggests that economic fundamentals, not mortgage interest rates, drive housing starts. Therefore, shutting down Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac would likely have little effect on the housing starts.
Budget & Taxation
Citizen's Guide to Senate Joint Resolution 8221: To Reduce Washington's Constitutional Debt LimitBy Jason Mercier, Washington Policy CenterPolicy Note, 10/04/2012
Washington is a high-debt state and has seen a growing percentage of the operating budget going to pay for debt service instead of funding other public services. SJR (Senate Joint Resolution) 8221's proposed phase down of the state's constitutional debt limit from 9% to 8% by 2034 would help reduce this problem while providing a more predictable capital budget cycle. Washington Policy Center recommends adopting reforms like those proposed by SJR 8221 that would help reduce the state's debt burden on taxpayers. SJR 8221 would strengthen the state's finances by implementing the recommendations of the Commission on State Debt and would free up more of the state's operating budget in the future for education spending and other important public programs.
Citizens' Guide to Initiative 1240: To Allow Public Charter Schools in WashingtonBy Liv Finne, Washington Policy CenterPolicy Brief, 10/04/2012
Initiative 1240 would allow 40 public charter schools to open over five years, eight schools each year. A charter school is a community-based public school that operates independently of central district management and administrative rules. Charter schools are tuition free and open to all students. Charter schools must comply with the same civil rights, nondiscrimination and public safety laws that apply to all schools. This Citizens' Guide provides an overview of schools, summarizes Initiative 1240's main provisions, reviews the academic success of charter schools in other states, and reviews the main arguments made against charter schools. Based on these findings, this study concludes that allowing a limited number of charter schools within public education would improve learning outcomes, reduce the dropout rate and open new learning opportunities for children, especially in communities that are underserved by the current education system.
Did Your Teen Find a Summer Job?By Eric Shannon, Washington Policy CenterPolicy Note, 10/04/2012
For 10 years Washington has had one of the highest youth unemployment rates of any state. Washington also has had the nation's highest minimum wage. Numerous studies show there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the two. Washington Policy Center has long recommended lawmakers allow employers to pay a training wage of 85% of minimum wage for young workers up to age 25. The law currently allows this temporary wage only for 14 and 15 year olds, but given Washington's high unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds, it is obvious a much larger segment of young workers is in need of relief. It should be noted that this policy enjoys broad support. A time-limited training wage would expand youth employment by making it economical for employers to hire low-skill workers just entering the work force. The result would be more young adults being hired, and reducing the long-lasting "wage scarring" and other long-term consequences created by prolonged periods of unemployment for young workers.
Health Care
Biosimilars: The Precarious Struggle Between Cost-Driven Health Care Policy and Patient-Centered CareBy Peter J. Pitts, Roger Stark, Washington Policy CenterPolicy Brief, 10/04/2012
Biosimilar drugs offer the very real possibility of providing patients with quality alternative medicines and enhanced treatments at better prices. But bringing biosimilar drugs to patients depends on achieving a transparent, predictable, competitive marketplace, protected by strong intellectual property and regulatory systems. As the key issues highlighted in this paper are addressed by policymakers, regulators, physicians, payers and others, then as a consequence, high-quality, safe and effective biosimilars will provide patients and prescribers additional treatment options and expand access by offering lower-cost alternatives for biologic medicines. The emphasis, however, must stay laser focused on "high-quality, safe and effective."
There's More Than One Way to Pave a Road: A Study of Alternatives for Tennessee Transportation FundingBy Paul C. Stumb, Kaleigh Walker, Alexandria Wood, Beacon Center of TennesseePolicy Report, 10/04/2012
With the intent of improving public policy in the state of Tennessee, this policy report examines alternative funding techniques for transportation infrastructure that have been considered or adopted by other states, and explores the benefits and shortcomings of each. These include: public-private partnerships (PPPs); tax increment financing (TIF); tolling; vehicle miles traveled (VMT) taxes; congestion pricing, vehicle weight-mile taxes; state infrastructure banks (SIBs); vehicle C02 emissions, taxes, and fees; mass transportation; debit instruments; and increasing the fuel tax. In the end, this report concludes that the solution set that appears most desirable includes a VMT tax in which the vehicle owners and operators who benefit most from the road system bear the largest burden for maintain it.
Budget & Taxation
Sales Tax Pooling Should Be Expanded in MissouriBy David Stokes, Show-Me InstituteTestimony, 10/04/2012
Many key Missouri counties should carefully consider sales tax pooling. While it may sound great that cities compete with each other for retail development, the reality is that the effects of that government competition have been devastating for Missouri. It has resulted in tax giveaways and home takeaways, all for the sake of bureaucrats trying to plan our local economies. The government planning and the abuse of TIF have failed to benefit our state's economy. It has not grown jobs or opportunity. There is a better way; a more free-market oriented way. Sales tax pools are a more free market change that encourages growth for the whole region instead of having cities fight with each other for retail development. Missouri counties need to move in that direction.
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
The Limits of Wind PowerBy William J. Korchinski, Julian Morris, Reason FoundationPolicy Study, 10/04/2012
Environmentalists advocate wind power as one of the main alternatives to fossil fuels, claiming that it is both cost effective and low in carbon emissions. This study seeks to evaluate these claims. The analysis reported in this study indicates that 20% would be the extreme upper limit for wind penetration. At this level the CO2 emissions reduction is 90g of CO2 equivalent/kWh, or about 18% of total emissions from electricity generation. Using wind to reduce CO2 to this level costs $150 per metric ton (i.e. 1,000 kg, or 2,200 lbs) of CO2 reduced. Very high wind penetrations are not achievable in practice due to the increased need for power storage, the decrease in grid reliability, and the increased operating costs. Given these constraints, this study concludes that a more practical upper limit for wind penetration is 10%. At 10% wind penetration, the CO2 emissions reduction due to wind is approximately 45g CO2 equivalent/kWh, or about 9% of total.
Elections, Transparency, & Accountability
Restoring Federalism: Compendium of Winning Entries, 21st Better Government CompetitionBy Pioneer Institute, et al., Pioneer Institute for Public Policy ResearchWhite Paper, 10/04/2012
Past Competitions have often focused on specific policy areas. This year's theme is "Restoring Federalism," a seemingly more abstract notion that should interest you for three reasons: First, the explosion in the federal government's scope has reached into minute aspects of how states and localities provide services. In some cases necessary to protect the rights of individuals, this federal mission creep into health care, education, and other services, is a recipe for sclerosis and poor quality service. Second, federal overreach minimizes policy experimentation and innovation; Justice Brandeis did not speak of a single "laboratory of democracy." We no more think of the federal government as a hub of innovation than we do monopolistic companies. Finally, an ever expanding federal mandate has lowered an "accountability fog" on state and local government. With multiple government players involved in delivering services, who is accountable when there is a problem? Who do you call?
The Constitution/Civil Liberties
Individual, Community, and State: How to Think About Religious FreedomBy Matthew J. Franck, Hillsdale CollegeImprimis, 10/04/2012
Individuals of faith, joined in communities of faith, forming a civil society imbued with the many faiths of those many communities, own this country. The state's authority comes from the people, and its power—the power of its elected employees—cannot be greater than what they can rightfully give it. The people cannot give the state power over the conscience of men and women, because they do not themselves have any right to come between God and our fellow citizens. The sooner the nation's elected employees remember these foundational truths, the sooner the nation may begin to recover a healthy notion of religious freedom.
Health Care
Coordinated Care Management for Medicare and Medicaid BeneficiariesBy Grace-Marie Turner, Robert Helms, Galen InstituteStudies, 10/04/2012
Doctors and patients, not government, should control health care decisions. Changes are needed at the federal level to loosen regulatory reins and give states more flexibility and control over resources so they can develop programs to better serve patients who are dually-eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. The policies outlined in this paper intended to provide better care for dually-eligible patients already are beginning to be tested in demonstration programs around the country, and learning from these programs can help provide a roadmap to state and federal officials to improve the programs for the future. States are ready to take the lead.
Health Care
Part D Is Still WorkingBy Grace-Marie Turner, Galen InstituteGalen Reports, 10/04/2012
Private competition in Medicare Part D has led to lower prices and more choices for seniors, and the program is saving money for taxpayers as well. Part D represents the first significant initiative to rein in health spending by restoring personal responsibility and incentives for savings to Medicare beneficiaries. In doing so, it shows that government can leverage free-market forces to cut costs while giving seniors more choices. The average basic premiums for Medicare prescription drug plans are half what they were expected to be at this point when the program was enacted in 2003 – about $30 a month vs $60 a month from the initial estimates. Congress would be well-advised to apply the Part D model of competition and consumer choice to modernization of the overall Medicare program in the future.
Information Technology
Spectrum Rules for Reducing Uncertainty Must Reject Unduly Regulatory FCC PrecedentsBy Seth L. Cooper, Free State FoundationReport, 10/04/2012
New FCC (Federal Communications Commission) rules regarding spectrum license acquisition and use offer the promise of a more predictable and certain administrative process. Reducing regulatory uncertainty will better incentivize wireless providers to engage in efficient and output-enhancing market transactions to obtain and use spectrum licenses. But a pro market emphasis in new FCC spectrum rules is critical to ensuring that regulatory uncertainty is reduced and that improved efficiency is realized. The restrictive, pro-regulatory approach taken in prior FCC orders reviewing transfers of spectrum licenses must be curbed. New FCC spectrum rules must reflect the dynamism of the wireless marketplace and the potential economic benefits flowing from heavy investment in next-generation wireless networks.
The Way of the Future: Education Savings Accounts for Every American FamilyBy Matthew Ladner, Friedman Foundation for Educational ChoiceStudies, 10/04/2012
Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman proposed a system of school vouchers more than 50 years ago as a method for improving education outcomes and efficiency. Technological advances allow today's school choice advocates to design programs that replace state-funded vouchers redeemable at a school of a parent's choice with actual accounts parents can manage down to the last penny. Through ESAs, parents can choose between a much wider gamut of instructional approaches, including private schools, private tutors, online educational programs, or higher education. This key design feature creates an incentive for parents to judge education service providers both on quality and cost—a unique and crucial trait in publicly financed K-12 education. An ESA (Education Savings Account) approach will create powerful incentives for education service providers to provide the largest possible bang for the education buck.
Health Care
The Price of Public Health Care Insurance: 2012 EditionBy Nadeem Esmail, Milagros Palacios, Fraser InstituteResearch Study, 10/04/2012
Canadians often misunderstand the true cost of their public health care system. This occurs partly because Canadians do not incur direct expenses for their use of health care, and partly because Canadians cannot readily determine the value of their contribution to public health care insurance. In 2012, the estimated average payment for public health care insurance ranges from $3,418 to $11,401 for six common Canadian family types, depending on the type of family. For the average Canadian family, between 2002 and 2012, the cost of public health care insurance increased more than twice as fast as the cost of shelter, roughly four times as fast as food, more than five times as fast as clothing, and 1.6 times faster than average income. The 10 percent of Canadian families with the lowest incomes will pay an average of about $487 for public health care insurance in 2012. The 10 percent of Canadian families who earn an average income of $55,271 will pay an average of $5,285 for public health care insurance, and the families among the top 10 percent of income earners in Canada will pay $32,628.
National Security
The Domestic Counterterrorism Enterprise: Time to StreamlineBy Michael P. Downing, Matt A. Mayer, The Heritage FoundationIssue Brief, 10/03/2012
Over the last decade, the domestic counterterrorism enterprise in the United States has added a significant amount of much-needed capacity. From the expansion of Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) by the FBI to the development of intelligence fusion centers by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the resources now dedicated to gathering information, analyzing it, developing actionable intelligence, and acting upon it are substantial. With that being said, the domestic intelligence enterprise should base future improvements on the reality that governments at all levels are fiscally in crisis. Rather than add additional components to the system, law enforcement officials should streamline the domestic counterterrorism enterprise by improving current capabilities, leveraging state and local law enforcement resources and authorities, and, in some cases, reducing components where the terrorist threat is not high and the financial support is too thin or could be allocated more effectively.
Economic Growth
Why the Slow Economic Recovery?By Salim Furth, The Heritage FoundationIssue Brief, 10/03/2012
The slow economic recovery since 2009 has not hewn closely to the patterns set by previous recoveries. One explanation that matches the key facts of this recovery-less recovery is that the fixed costs of production have risen. Higher regulation, tight credit, and other costs affect small, start-up businesses more than incumbents. Since start-ups normally create all of the net new jobs in the economy, job creation and investment are slack.
Taiwan Admitted to the Visa Waiver ProgramBy Jessica Zuckerman, The Heritage FoundationIssue Brief, 10/03/2012
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the addition of Taiwan to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Taiwanese citizens will now be eligible to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days visa-free. However, key U.S. allies and friends—such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia—continue to be left waiting to join the VWP. These delays make little sense given the extensive benefits that VWP expansion offers the U.S. in terms of national security, the economy, and public diplomacy. With demonstrated political stability and recent economic growth, Taiwan will be a well-deserved and welcome addition to the VWP. Congress and the Administration, however, should look to build on this momentum, decrease the barriers to greater program expansion, and promote broader efforts at visa reform.
Budget & Taxation
Time to Make the Budget More Transparent for Texas Taxpayers and LawmakersBy Tamladge Heflin, Texas Public Policy FoundationTestimony, 10/03/2012
To provide taxpayers and most legislators with more and better information about the Texas budget, the Foundation urges the Committee to consider enacting a number of transparency reforms, such as including more line items (and thus more information), limiting the size of line items to amounts that describe discreet programs, or if a program is very large, to discreet activities within those programs; having line items based on programs and activities should describe what the program does and where it is authorized in law; and ensuring that line items have more information about the source of funds (general revenue, general revenue-dedicated, federal funds, and other funds) being appropriated. The Texas Legislature should transition away from the strategic budgeting format and into a program-based budgeting layout.
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
Texas vs. EPA Litigation ScorecardBy Josiah Neeley, Texas Public Policy FoundationPolicy Perspective, 10/03/2012
Texas' battle with EPA overreach is ongoing. While the state has won significant victories, other challenges remain out¬standing, and unless EPA changes course, additional litigation may be required. The results of these challenges will have ma¬jor implications for the relationship between state and federal power, as well as for the course of environmental regulations in Texas and the nation as a whole. It is important that the At¬torney General's office be given the necessary support to con¬tinue this important fight. While state tax dollars are scarce, the fiscal implications of simply acceding to EPA's dictates would be even more severe. The state should therefore con¬tinue to support these legal efforts, and, if necessary, include additional funding to the Attorney General's office to hire out¬side counsel to defend the state's rights in court.
Budget & Taxation
Improving Texas' Public School Finance System through Property Tax ReformBy Talmadge Heflin, Texas Public Policy FoundationTestimony, 10/03/2012
There are better ways to fund government, and public schools, than the property tax. The Foundation recommends a number of alternatives, including reworking the state-local sales tax rate to 15.7 percent if the current sales tax base is used and includes the sale of property or 11.0 percent if all services that are taxed in at least one state are taxed in Texas and includes the sale of property. A scaled-down version of this proposal calls for simply eliminating the school district maintenance and operations (M&O) tax. These policies would strengthen Texas' economy and jobs picture by increasing personal income in the range of $3.6-$3.68 billion in the first year, while promoting a net gain of 123.9 thousand and 337.4 thousand jobs over the course of five years. Finally, such reforms would likely result in more revenues coming into the coffers of Texas governments without a tax increase.
Budget & Taxation
Preserve Texas' Rainy Day Fund in These Uncertain Economic TimesBy Chuck DeVore, Texas Public Policy FoundationPolicy Perspective, 10/03/2012
Using the ESF to fill a hole in a chronically overdrawn budget creates the danger that higher levels of state spending will deplete the rainy day account, which, by design, is not reliant on a stable revenue source. The ESF should not be tapped to sustain ongoing expenditures, such as for education or entitlements. Rather, it ideally should be used only for one-time emergency items or tax relief. Ultimately, in the interest of the state's future financial security and to keep state spending from growing faster than is wise the Foundation recommends that the fund be used as sparingly as possible in the upcoming legislative session.
Budget & Taxation
Next Year's BracketsBy Nick Kasprak, Tax FoundationFiscal Facts, 10/03/2012
Given that the CPI-U (consumer price index for all urban consumers) average for the previous twelve months is 2.57% higher than the previous year, we can expect tax year 2013's parameters to be roughly 2.57% higher than 2012's. Projecting 2013's brackets is more complicated than usual given the uncertainty surrounding the potential expiration of the Bush tax cuts (originally enacted in 2001 and 2003) and some more recent stimulus bill tax cuts (originally passed in 2009), but since tax parameters are adjusted for inflation in more or less the same way, the Tax Foundation can project next year's parameters under a variety of scenarios with a high degree of certainty. This report provides estimates of the 2013 federal tax brackets under a number of these possible scenarios.
Budget & Taxation
Would the Romney Tax Plan Necessarily Reduce After-Tax Incomes for the Middle Class?By Gerald Prante, Tax FoundationFiscal Facts, 10/03/2012
In August, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) released a report claiming to show that Mitt Romney's tax reform plan would necessarily raise taxes on middle-class taxpayers and reduce their after-tax incomes, while giving a significant tax cut to high-income taxpayers. However, analysis of TPC's report shows that if one assumes a 1 percent dynamic income growth effect under Romney's plan (as interpreted by the Tax Policy Center), then low-and-middle income earners would experience a slight increase in after-tax income as opposed to a decrease. A more modest growth of less than 1 percent would imply a decrease in after-tax income for low-and-middle-income earners, but a more robust growth of more than 1 percent would imply a substantive increase in after-tax income.
Budget & Taxation
Simulating the Economic Effects of Romney's Tax PlanBy Stephen Entin, William McBride, Tax FoundationFiscal Facts, 10/03/2012
While the debate over tax reform has been consumed with distributional issues, the economy continues to limp along in the worst recovery since the Great Depression. To be sure, this economy faces headwinds that even an ideal tax code will not address, but pro-growth tax reform can provide substantial benefits. The results of this study indicate that by lowering tax rates on investment and labor, the Romney tax plan would grow the economy by 7.4 percent, the capital stock by almost 19 percent, wages by almost 5 percent, and hours worked by 3 percent. The benefits would be widely enjoyed, as every income group would experience at least a 7 percent increase in after-tax income. It would benefit the federal budget as well, in that fully 60 percent of the static revenue loss from Romney's plan would be recovered from taxing a larger economy.
The Streetcar SwindleBy Samuel L. Scheib, Reason FoundationReason, 10/03/2012
Demand for the streetcars is driven not by the public but by the dreams of land-use planners and downtown boosters who imagine that aesthetically pleasing vehicles lumbering in slow circles through walkable areas will somehow prompt a boom in economic activity. Yet the fantasy that people will travel or move to a particular location purely for the pleasure of tootling around in a trolley has consistently failed to materialize. There are, however, some appropriate uses for the modern street car, such as connecting dense student housing, a university, a functioning downtown, and a regional shopping venue, hospital, or other large attractor in a community of around 100,000 people. There is also the possibility of private companies circulating fleets of old-fashioned streetcars as a means of transportation to be paid for by costumers. In any event, publically creating, funding, and supporting streetcar systems in most communities is an unwise policy.
Health Care
Save Our Seniors by Delaying ObamaCareBy John C. Goodman, Devon Herrick, National Center for Policy AnalysisIssue Brief, 10/03/2012
Over the next 10 years, more than half the cost of ObamaCare ($716 billion) is to be paid for by reduced Medicare spending. The Obama administration had hoped to achieve these reductions by increased efficiency, based on the results of pilot projects and demonstration programs. The problem: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said in three consecutive reports that these projects are not working as planned and are unlikely to save money. If the necessary savings do not materialize, the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a bureaucracy established by the ACA (Affordable Care Act), has the power to reduce doctor and hospital fees to such an extent that access to care for the elderly and disabled will be severely impaired. Thus, it is imperative to delay the scheduled Medicare cuts.
Economic Growth
Which Federal Policies Help or Hurt Economic Growth?By R. David Ranson, National Center for Policy AnalysisIssue Brief, 10/03/2012
The historical evidence explains why the economy is performing so poorly. Many policies pursued by the Obama administration, as well as some pursued by the preceding Bush administration, have widely been thought to be stimulative. They have led instead to prolonged economic weakness, a careful reading of history suggests. To turn the situation around, Washington needs to stabilize the dollar, freeze and reduce spending, cut tax rates, and let the markets set interest rates freely. Ironically, economic stimulus implies government restraint. Copious evidence covering many decades shows that activist policies such as government spending, government employment, and the creation of money tend to restrain the performance of output, employment and stock prices. If so, the current failure of the economy to recover rapidly from the 2008 recession is easy to explain, since policies advertised erroneously as "stimulus" have been pursued on an unprecedented scale.
Health Care
The Crisis of the Uninsured Is Far from OverBy Devon Herrick, National Center for Policy AnalysisBrief Analysis, 10/03/2012
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that up to 30 million people will remain uninsured even after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is fully implemented. Perversely, regulations will encourage employers to drop their employee health plan. These and other incentives will induce millions of individuals to forgo coverage until they need costly medical care.
More Americans Dependent on Disability, LongerBy Veronique de Rugy, Mercatus CenterPaper, 10/03/2012
A recent Senate report found that the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program is plagued with weakness, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies in its process of approving disability claims and rewarding benefits, leading to an increase in the number of those wrongly added to the disability rolls, each of whom costs taxpayers at least $300,000 (the average lifetime cost of a single disability award). Evidence presented in this paper lines up with research findings that show that the SSDI program provides strong incentives for applicants and beneficiaries to remain permanently out of the labor force and hold off on terminating benefits until they've reached the federal retirement age or death. Ultimately, whatever the reasons, the current trends are disquieting: more backlogs in the application and awards process, the increasing rate of trust fund exhaustion, and an increasing burden to taxpayers and the disabled.
Health Care
Medicaid Reform and Emergency Room Visits: Evidence from West Virginia's Medicaid RedesignBy Tami Gurley-Calvez, et al., Mercatus CenterWorking Paper, 10/03/2012
Residents of West Virginia were given the choice of a "basic" or "enhanced" Medicaid during an innovative redesign of the state's Medicaid that occurred from 2007 to 2010. This paper uses the effects of that plan to estimate the causal impact of incentives within Medicaid to encourage better health care behaviors and reduce emergency room (ER) visits. Estimates show that the enhanced plan is effective in reducing certain types of ER visits for children. Overall, the net effect is an increase in the probability of an ER since far more individuals chose (or were defaulted into) the basic plan than the enhanced plan. The effects are largely driven by adults, who experienced a 7 percent increase in the probability of an ER visit and about a 10 percent increase in the probability of both nonemergency and primary-care treatable visits. This paper also finds evidence that placing the average member in the basic plan increases primary-care treatable ER visits and the opposite holds for the enhanced plan.
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
Subsidizing Big Wind: The Real Costs to TaxpayersBy Robert Bryce, Manhattan InstituteIssues, 10/03/2012
No other segment of the energy sector gets as much preferential treatment as the wind-energy industry. The wind industry has had 20 years of subsidies. This study finds, among other things, that on a per-unit-of-energy-produced basis, the PTC provides a subsidy to the wind industry that is at least 12 times greater than that provided to the oil and gas sector and 6.5 times greater than that provided to the nuclear industry. In addition, more than two-thirds of the American population live in states that have mandated the use of renewable electricity, and those mandates are imposing significant costs on ratepayers. Further, if viewed solely as a job-saving measure, a one-year extension of the PTC will cost about $329,000 per job. If the wind industry cannot manage to stay in business without subsidies, it doesn't deserve to be in business.
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
The Projected Economic Impact of Proposal 3 and Michigan's Renewable Energy StandardBy David G. Tuerck, Paul Bachman, Michael Head , Mackinac Center for Public PolicyPolicy Brief, 10/03/2012
The findings of this brief suggest that in 2015, because of the 2008 Clean, Renewable and Efficient Energy Act which mandated that specific "renewable energy sources," be used to generate 10 percent of retail electricity sales in Michigan by 2015, Michigan's electricity prices will be significantly higher and employment significantly lower than they would have been otherwise. The effects of these increased energy prices will in turn lower employment and reduce disposable income. The "Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs" proposal would increase this standard to from 10% to 25%, which would impose net costs on the Michigan economy of $2.55 billion, and lower employment by 10,540 jobs, while lowering disposable income by $1.42 billion. The cost caps included in this legislation will ultimately be borne by the ratepayers or the utilities, adversely affecting the economy either way. And regardless of the caps, taxpayers bear the cost of financing state and federal subsidies to renewable energy producers.
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
High Tide for Hype on the OBX: Apocalyptic Predictions Miss the Mark on North Carolina Sea LevelsBy Patrick J. Michaels, John Locke FoundationSpotlight, 10/03/2012
The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission's (CRC) forecast of sea level rise from climate change is far greater than the consensus estimate of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Cli¬mate Change. The CRC forecasts 38 inches over the next 87 years, while the UN's mean value is about 14 inches from 1990 through 2100. Global warming forecasts that are associated with such a large sea level rise are demonstrably erroneous. Contrary to public perception, Atlantic hurricane activity exhibits no sys¬tematic changes in the last hundred years, despite the fact that many storms went undetected prior to the satellite and hurricane-hunter eras. Residents of the northern Outer Banks experienced sea-level rise in the last 100 years- caused mainly by geologic processes – greater than the mean value forecast by the UN for the next hundred years. It is therefore likely that people will similarly adapt in this century.
Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Savior or Menace?By Todd J. Zywicki, Mercatus CenterWorking Paper, 10/03/2012
Through initiatives such as the Credit CARD Act of 2009, the Durbin Amendment to Dodd-Frank, and, finally and most importantly, the CFPB, Washington has systematically imposed punitive and ill-advised regulation and price controls on core consumer financial products: credit cards, debit cards, and mortgages. The results have been tragic—systematically driving consumers out of the mainstream financial system, withdrawing high-quality products, and increasingly driving many consumers to inferior substitutes such as payday lending, overdraft protection, and prepaid cards. Many consumers, especially lower-income consumers, have limited credit options already; a regulatory policy that raises the cost of lending to these consumers or deprives them still further of some of their currently limited choices is an unwise policy. Equally tragic is that the creation of the CFPB reflects a squandered opportunity to update, improve, and bring coherence to the nation's consumer financial protection laws. Sensible reform proposals to the CFPB's structure have been proposed and should be adopted soon.
National Security
Religious Freedom and National SecurityBy William Inboden, Hoover InstitutionPolicy Review, 10/03/2012
Both the Bush and Obama administrations have demonstrated at least a rhetorical appreciation for the relationship between religious freedom and broader security equities. Yet in operational terms, the U.S. government has consistently treated religious-freedom promotion as at best a tertiary priority. While religious freedom exists as a normative good in its own right, its potential contributions to stability and security have been less explored, let alone appreciated. Understanding religious freedom's relationship with national security would mean moving it from the periphery towards the center of American policy. Designing effective implementation policies will remain a challenge — yet a challenge worth embracing not only for American ideals, but for American interests.
Economic Growth
Economic Transitions: Learning from Central EuropeBy Dalibor Rohac, Hoover InstitutionPolicy Review, 10/03/2012
Economics can provide a willing reformer with a list of measures that are needed for a successful transition to market economy. In this respect, the old-fashioned laundry list of macroeconomic stabilization, liberalization, and privatization, implemented credibly and in a short time frame, gives as good a policy prescription as any other. Indeed, there is not much else that the prospective reformers are in a position to do. The idea that policymakers ought to design a perfect set of working institutions and legal norms ahead of the reforms, and that they carefully plan the sequence of gradual transitional steps, is a display of fatal conceit. After 1989, a change in ideas and rhetoric transformed much of Central and Eastern Europe into normal, prosperous countries. The same can happen again in the Middle East and North Africa.
Economic Growth
Rich Donors, Poor CountriesBy M.A. Thomas, Hoover InstitutionPolicy Review, 10/03/2012
While it may seem obvious that the governments of poor countries are themselves poor, donors have largely failed to appreciate the enormity of the gap between the revenues of poor country governments and of their own governments. They have taken for granted the government-provided prerequisites that make their favorite policies work at home. Recipients and donors together will need to reinvent government for poor countries, with the full understanding that such government will not be very similar to government in rich countries. Government that is fiscally sustainable with domestic resources will be much more limited in function, scope, quality, and the number of government-enforced rights. This is not a question of ideology; it is a question of pragmatism. Only by bringing government functions and obligations back in line with government resources and capacities can poor countries reap the benefits of accountable and effective government.
National Security
The Cuban Missile Crisis as Intelligence FailureBy Amy Zegart, Hoover InstitutionPolicy Review, 10/03/2012
One of the most widely accepted lessons of the Cuban missile crisis — that the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba constituted a stunning American intelligence success — needs to be challenged. Shifting the analytic lens from intelligence success to failure, moreover, reveals surprising and important organizational deficiencies at work. Fifty years after the Cuban missile crisis, intelligence warning is still plagued by many of the same challenges. Some of the most powerful barriers to effective intelligence warning remain relatively unexplored. Intelligence, at its core, is a collective enterprise. Organizations are not passive players, where individuals do all of the hard thinking and make all of the tough calls. Instead, organizations powerfully influence whether signals get amplified or weakened, whether analysis looks backward at continuity or leans forward toward disjuncture, and whether dissent gets highlighted or hidden.
National Security
Reducing the Global Nuclear RiskBy Sidney D. Drell, George P. Schultz, Steven P. Andreasen, Hoover InstitutionPolicy Review, 10/03/2012
It's the sense generally held that the U.S. nuclear enterprise currently meets very high standards in its commitment to safety and security. The greatest concern, however, is that the same cannot be said of the nuclear enterprise globally. The biggest concerns with nuclear safety and security are in countries relatively new to the nuclear enterprise, and the po¬tential loss of control to terrorist or criminal gangs of the fissile material that exists in such abundance around the world. This policy review provides a short overview on the history of the nuclear enterprise, three guiding principles for efforts to reduce risks associated with nuclear weapons and nuclear power, and four interrelated recommendations that should be adopted by the nuclear enterprise, both military and civilian, in the United States and abroad.
Economic Growth
Uncertainty and the EconomyBy Scott R. Baker, Nicholas Bloom, Steven J. Davis , Hoover InstitutionPolicy Review, 10/02/2012
The U.S. economy hit bottom in June 2009. Thirty months later, output growth remains sluggish and unemployment still hovers above 8 percent. A critical question is why. One view attributes the weak recovery, at least in part, to high levels of uncertainty about economic policy. This view entails two claims: First, that economic policy uncertainty has been unusually high in recent years. Second, that high levels of economic policy uncertainty caused households and businesses to hold back significantly on spending, investment, and hiring. Both claims are investigated in this article. The analysis performed provides considerable support for the first claim of the policy uncertainty view, although it does not provide a definitive analysis of the second claim. However, it does find evidence that increases in economic policy uncertainty foreshadow declines in output, employment, and investment. It can thus be said with some confidence that high levels of policy uncertainty are at least associated with weaker growth prospects.
21 Reasons Why the San Antonio Pre-K Tax Plan is a Bad IdeaBy Jeff Judson, Heartland InstitutePolicy Brief, 10/02/2012
On November 6, voters in San Antonio, Texas will vote on whether the city should own and operate a network of early childhood education centers. The initiative is controversial, and rightly so. There are many reasons to question whether such a network, which would operate in competition with existing private and public day-care and pre-school programs, is the best or even an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. This Policy Brief describes the initiative and then presents 21 reasons the plan is a bad idea, including the excessive cost of the program, uncertainty as to whether or not it would be effective at addressing the problem it is intended to solve, and indeed whether this program even addresses a real, existing problem.
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
Is There a Future for Generic Biotech Crops?By Gregory Conko, Competitive Enterprise InstituteIssue Analysis, 10/02/2012
Current government regulations are set to erase a substantial portion of the economic gains which would be expected to be associated with the expiration of patents on nearly two dozen biotech traits within the next ten years. These regulations require that biotech crop traits must be re-approved or re-registered every few years by regulatory authorities in the U.S. and important export markets. The most straightforward resolution to this problem, getting rid of these unnecessary restrictions, appears politically impossible for the foreseeable future. To help fill the gap, major players in the seed, biotechnology, and related industries are now developing a contractual agreement intended to facilitate the compensated sharing of regulatory data packages and ongoing regulatory and stewardship obligations. Although there are many questions regarding how well this will work, the industries should be congratulated for making a good faith effort to resolve these issues in a way that should permit farmers and the food supply chain to continue reaping the substantial benefits of the biotech crop revolution.
Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
Facebook, the JOBS Act, and Abolishing IPOsBy Adam C. Pritchard, Cato InstituteRegulation, 10/02/2012
The JOBS Act's increase to 2,000 shareholders for public company status promises to bolster the liquidity of private markets, making them a robust alternative for growing companies. This newly available liquidity is the lynchpin of my argument that we should replace IPOs with a two-tier market system. The JOBS Act's increase to 2,000 shareholders for public company status promises to bolster the liquidity of private markets, making them a robust alternative for growing companies. This newly available liquidity is the lynchpin of my argument that we should replace IPOs with a two-tier market system. This proposal affords the SEC an opportunity to promote capital formation while also enhancing investor protection. The two-tier private/public market scheme outlined here would harness private markets to promote the public good while simultaneously eliminating the public bad of initial public offerings.
Monetary Policy/Financial Regulation
Are Payday Lending Markets Competitive?By Victor Stango, Cato InstituteRegulation, 10/02/2012
The decision whether to mandate access to telecommunications networks presents policymakers with a choice between two regulatory paradigms. One focuses on breaking down the monopoly by stimulating competitive entry; the other surrenders to the monopoly and simply seeks to allocate the monopoly facility. The theoretical and empirical literature both suggest that whenever competition is feasible, policymakers should generally follow the first course by refusing to mandate access. Moreover, when competition is feasible but not yet present, policymakers should mandate access only if the short-run static efficiency losses from monopoly dominate the long-run dynamic efficiency gains and should undertake a realistic assessment of the proposed regulatory authority's institutional capabilities. Access regulation is justified only if all of these criteria are satisfied. Given the overall level of competition that already exists in these markets and the current pattern of entry by new technologies, it is likely that the scope of this justification is already small and will only become smaller in the years to come.
Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science
Producing Public Goods PrivatelyBy Pierre Lemieux, Cato InstituteRegulation, 10/02/2012
The Appalachian Mountain Club, which lists its mission as "the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region" and which focuses on the New England and Mid-Atlantic areas, is essentially a private association pursuing private goals dear to its members and supporters, and it is a private supplier of public goods. It has grown expert at using private property for these purposes and could serve as a model for many other associations, and helps to demonstrate that government is not the only means to address market failure.
Proposal 2 of 2012: An AssessmentBy Patrick J. Wright, et al., Mackinac Center for Public PolicyPolicy Brief, 10/02/2012
If adopted Proposal 2 in Michigan would realign collective bargaining relations in state and local government by clearly giving union contracts the ability to override, veto or nullify any law deemed to impair or limit the contract's enforcement. It would require the government to honor collective bargaining agreements even if the terms of the union contracts were inconsistent with state or municipal law. Further, the measure would give labor organizations the ability to force unionized employees to pay for union services regardless of an individual worker's desire for representation. In light of the state of Michigan's recent history, the provisions of Proposal 2 are not just questionable, but disproportionate. The result for working families—indeed, for all the people of Michigan—seems less likely to protect jobs than to create larger demands on private-sector workers' income to supply better wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment for government employees.
The Constitution/Civil Liberties
Religious Liberty and Expression Under Attack: Restoring America's First FreedomsBy Jay Alan Sekulow, The Heritage FoundationLegal Memorandum, 10/01/2012
Religious freedom is one of the core principles upon which the American system of government is based. And yet religious freedom in America is under assault: Politicians mock the faithful's claims of religious conscience, while government entities and actors treat religious freedom and expression as obstacles to be overcome rather than as important values to protect. Individuals of all faiths or none, and from all points on the political and ideological spectrum, should be alarmed at the mounting assault on the free exercise of religion and freedom of religious expression. The erosion of one constitutional right—especially one as fundamental as religious liberty and the freedom of speech—may serve as a precedent for the erosion of other rights to the detriment of all Americans.
Will California Become a Right-to-Give State?By Michael M. Rosen, American Enterprise InstituteThe American, 10/01/2012
In the Golden State, as, alas, in several other states, unions automatically deduct employee wages and funnel them to political campaigns—without the consent of the employee. Although it's hard to imagine California ever becoming a right-to-work state—given labor's tremendous clout in Sacramento—a dedicated alliance of good government reformers, fiscal conservatives, and just plain sensible folks are working to make it a right-to-give state.
The Hangover: Thinking About the Unintended Consequences of the Nation's Teacher Evaluation BingeBy Sara Mead, Andrew Rotherham, Rachael Brown, American Enterprise InstituteSpecial Report, 10/01/2012
New teacher evaluation systems adopted over the past three years have real potential to foster a more performance-oriented public education culture that gives teachers meaningful feedback about the quality and impact of their work. This paper seeks to move the debate beyond ideology and technical issues by highlighting four key tensions that policymakers, advocates, and educators must consider in the development of new teacher evaluations; namely, the issues of (1) flexibility versus control with regards to the issue of school autonomy, (2) the process of evaluation in an educational system which is constantly evolving, (3) the different purposes for implementing these evaluations and the tensions between them, and (4) the evaluation of teachers as professionals, which requires an element of subjective judgments which some new teacher evaluations seek to do. This paper offers a number of policy recommendations in response to these questions.
Foreign Policy/International Affairs
Under the Shadow of a Rising Great PowerBy Szu-yin Ho, American Enterprise InstitutePaper, 10/01/2012
As studies of international diplomatic history have shown, the rise of a great power has always cast a long shadow over the international scene. China is now a rising great power. All of its Asian neighbors—from South Korea to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), from India to Australia, and even across the Pacific to the United States—must adjust their foreign policies to accommodate China's rise. Taiwan is no exception, due to its status as the most important territorial and sovereignty issue for China. This paper will briefly describe cross-Strait relations under Taiwan's Ma administration, and then analyze Taiwan's military and economic security. It will conclude with speculations on possible future developments across the Taiwan Strait.
Information Technology
The Internet Doesn't Need More RegulationBy Jeffrey A. Eisenach, American Enterprise InstituteThe American, 10/01/2012
Last Thursday, September 20th, the D.C. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on whether to uphold the Federal Communications Commission's so-called "data roaming" rules, which would impose new open-access regulations on wireless broadband companies. The issues at bar—including whether imposing such a requirement on an Internet carrier amounts to "common carrier" regulation—are similar to the issues the court will face when it rules on the FCC's net neutrality regulations next year. The economic issues in the two cases are also closely related: Simply put, will more regulation improve the market for Internet-based communications? The answer is that the Internet marketplace has been working just fine without the FCC's new rules, and it will continue to do so if the court wisely decides to strike them down.
Information Technology
What Happens When Local Phone Service Is Deregulated?By Jeffrey A. Eisenach, Kevin W. Caves, Cato InstituteRegulation, 10/01/2012
The process of de-monopolization and price liberalization of retail telephone services has been underway in the United States for several decades. In recent years, roughly a dozen states have completed the liberalization process by eliminating price controls on basic telephone service. Opponents of price liberalization have claimed that the removal of price controls would lead to higher (even "unaffordable") rates. This regression analysis, however, demonstrates that, holding other factors constant, liberalization has led to lower prices. Moreover, looking at several indices of utilization, this study finds no evidence that rates have become less affordable as a result of liberalization. Given the broad consensus that liberalization contributes to innovation and overall economic welfare, and the strong evidence that the removal of price controls on other telephone services has benefited consumers, it can be concluded that liberalizing price controls on basic telephone service will benefit consumers and contribute to economic growth.


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Published: 14 February 2012
Remarks by John Doran, Managing Director, Belfast International Airport, at the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce "Value of Connectivity" event, Tuesday, 14th February 2012
Northern Ireland's geographic location makes us unique in both a UK and EU context. We are the most westerly part of the Union, and the only region of the UK separated by water, yet sharing a land frontier with another member state.
Consider also that the Republic of Ireland is in the eurozone, and you get some idea of where we are economically, and how important it is to have strong, efficient and sustainable connections with key business markets.
We have to trade; we have to travel; and, given our peripherality and island location, robust air links are a fundamental underpinning of our current economy, and the essential springboard from which future economic growth will be launched.
Our most successful firms thrive in Global export markets......be that beef, eels or indeed chocolate sprinkles into the Dutch market - to aircraft parts, diagnostic equipment, generators, buses or wind farms, all manufactured within half an hour of where we are this morning.
Air connectivity is the key to efficient trading.
We are fortunate to enjoy extensive links between Belfast and London – indeed the advent of flights to Southend will shortly open up a fifth London area gateway for access to and from Northern Ireland into the capital. Equally we are liberally connected with all of the regional business centres and communities throughout Great Britain.
In European terms, while our direct accessibility has improved over recent years, work remains to be done to secure direct linkages from key source markets for tourism and investment. But even in short haul European terms, on-line access to airline booking engines and the ever-greater sophistication in consumer behaviour has made connecting to and from anywhere in Europe a relatively straightforward process via a number of alternative points such as Gatwick, Luton, Manchester, Paris or Amsterdam.
However, in the global arena, for Northern Ireland, flexible connectivity over Heathrow remains vital – there is no other currently available efficient channel to access Vancouver, Atlanta, Moscow, Beijing or Sydney, to name but a few key long haul destinations.
So, for the Northern Ireland economy to prosper, we need to be efficiently linked with our key trading partners and visitor source markets. For worldwide markets, that largely means access via Heathrow for the present and foreseeable future.
Of course we recognise the need for Government to develop policies for aviation that deliver balance between economic development and long term social and environmental sustainability. Heathrow is a prime example of such a compromise.
We also recognise that, in striking the sustainability balance, Heathrow slots are a finite resource upon which there are many competing demands. That said, our over-riding goal ought to be the safeguarding of enough daily seats to meet market demand, even if the absolute number of daily services becomes more limited than at present.
2012 is a pivotal year of opportunity for the Northern Ireland economy. Our tourism product is being marketed internationally as never before. We have to be able to facilitate efficient access for visitors to our market.
Yes, they will travel by air to Ireland, but flying into Dublin will not deliver the fillip which the Northern Ireland economy seeks or needs. Visitors need to feel the soil of Northern Ireland between their toes, as it were, when they touch down here, to experience the full authenticity of what this region has to offer.
Expanding direct access will be a key part of this project, but maintaining core global links via London Heathrow into Belfast, if anything, remains an even more critical aspect in our economic development endeavours.
Pictured left to right are Ross Baker, BAA Strategy Director, Andrew Brammer, Support Services, Allen & Overy, Ann Mc Gregor, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Irwin Stelzer, Hudson Institute, Washington D.C., John Doran, Managing Director, BIA and Neil Gibson, Director of Regional Services, Oxford Economics.