CEI Today: Napolitano resigns, Obamacare regs, and Apple anti-trust allegations

Today in the News

NAPOLITANO RESIGNS – MARC SCRIBNER

Openmarket.org: DHS Secretary Napolitano Resigns, TSA Body Scanner Scandal Remains Unresolved

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is resigning to become president of the University of California system.

News of Napolitano’s resignation deserves one response from civil libertarians and those in favor of risk-based security policy: Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Among other unsavory deeds, for her entire tenure, she allowed the Transportation Security Administration to illegally deploy whole-body imaging scanners in airports.

 

OBAMACARE SECTION 4205 – LIZ THATCHER

Real Clear Policy: Obamacare’s War on Chain Restaurants

These days, it seems not a week goes by without a new hidden cost in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, coming to light. This time it’s Section 4205, a provision that imposes a costly, one-size-fits-all regulation on restaurants and grocery stores: Any food-service establishment with 20 or more locations must display calorie counts on its menus.

Given the significant costs Section 4205 imposes, it’s worth asking who would benefit from it or support it. The National Restaurant Association lobbied to include Section 4205 in Obamacare.

 

APPLE ANTI-TRUST – RYAN YOUNG

Daily Caller: Apple’s ebook ruling and the absurdity of antitrust law

Apple committed offense number one [raising prices] when it raised its e-book prices at publishers’ behest in 2010. The Justice Department sued, to the delight of Apple’s competitors. This Wednesday, Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York ruledin the Justice Department’s favor (here’s the decision). The argument goes that Apple colluded with publishers to raise e-book prices, which took away the pressure on competitors like Amazon and Barnes & Noble to keep their prices down.

Apple will likely appeal the decision for this and other reasons. This would send the case to the Second Circuit, which is unlikely to overturn Judge Cote’s decision. That would be unfortunate, but this state of affairs will persist until the President and Congress bring antitrust laws in line with market realities.