Welcome to the roundup of notable coverage and announcements from the Niskanen Center for the week of Friday July 10.

Niskanen Center scholars David Bier and Daniel Bier wrote for the Foundation for Economic Freedom’s Anything Peaceful blog about the trend that Americans are becoming increasingly more libertarian rather than increasingly liberal.  Citing numerous trends in public opinion polls, the data shows that while political parties remain staunchly divided between left and right, Americans trend together towards libertarianism.

IMMIGRATION

In an op-ed for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Congressman Charles Boustany (R-LA03) cited the Niskanen Center in his discussion of the importance of seasonal labor migration and the H-2B visa program.  Representative Boustany recently introduced the Seasonal Labor for Job Creators Act in order to ease the potentially harmful effects of a Department of Homeland Security cap on the number of H-2B visas.

CIVIL LIBERTIES

Niskanen Center’s Civil Liberties Policy Analyst, Ryan Hagemann was featured in the Foundation for Economic Education’s Anything Peaceful blog, and wrote about the recent debate over the USA FREEDOM Act and the benefits it brings to all Americans, despite some politicians’ criticisms.  Mr. Hagemann goes on to provide some policy prescriptions that ought to be made in the name of defending American civil liberties.

CLIMATE CHANGE

The Niskanen Center’s David Bailey and David Bookbinder were featured in an article on climate change in Environment & Energy Publishing.  The article highlighted Bailey and Bookbinder’s critiques in response to Oren Cass who described a carbon tax as a “fad that will wane.”

In a follow up to their critiques, Oren Cass responded to David Bailey and David Bookbinder in a piece in the National Review. Cass states that although both Bailey and Bookbinder offer novel ideas, such as bringing up the issue of a transmission mechanism from a U.S. tax to global action, he states that he still stands by his original proposal, and that it is up to the readers to decide.