Blog
Obama Administration Pressures Colleges to Adopt Unconstitutional Speech Codes
Under the Obama administration, the Education Department has pressured schools and colleges to restrict speech, including off campus speech, even when it is protected by the…
Blog
Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 3: It Favors Big Business
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…
Study
Time for a Sensible Sense of Congress Resolution on Climate Change
Read the full OnPoint here: During Senate debate on the Keystone XL Pipeline, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced an amendment affirming that…
Simple Justice
The Public Accommodation Formerly Known As SJ
Simple Justice cites CEI`s Hans Bader on the Americans with Disabilities Act: Walter Olson, at Overlawyered, here and here, Amy Alkon…
The Hill
Tax cuts and reform for air travelers
The Hill quotes CEI`s Marc Scribner on the Passenger Facility Charge: The Congress Blog has hosted two well thought out pieces on the…
News Release
The Real Climate Change Disaster: Bad Facts Lead to Bad Policy
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today released “Time for a Sensible Sense of Congress Resolution on Climate Change” by Marlo Lewis, offering a template…
News Release
Statement on Obama “Fiduciary Rule” Vote Today
Today, a House committee is poised to mark up a plan to block the Obama administration's so-called "fiduciary rule," which would restrict the investment choices…
Blog
Significant Labor and Employment Issues in FY 2016 Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations Bill
Stamped June 15, 2015 (5:55PM), the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee Department on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies has…
Blog
Trade Supporters Opt for More Breathing Room
House leadership will delay reconsideration of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)—up to a July 30 deadline they set—to give more time for President Obama to…
Blog
Federal Witch Hunt Successfully Bans Trans Fats
Ding dong the witch is dead; killed by the federal government…well, that’s if the witch was a recluse people hardly ever saw, probably hasn’t hurt…
Blog
Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 2: Its Favors for Some Businesses Hurt Other Businesses
Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 2: Its Favors for Some Businesses Hurt Other Businesses The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. Unless…
The American Spectator
Chaffetz Greases Wheels For Online Sales Tax
The American Spectator quotes CEI`s Jessica Melugin on the Internet Sales Tax Bill: Jessica Melugin, an adjunct fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, claims in …
The Daily Caller
INVESTIGATION: The Inside Story Of The Money, The Activists, And The Cure For Hepatitis C
The Daily Caller cites CEI`s Greg Conko on Gilead Sciences` new Hepatitis C pill: Instead of enduring up to a year of weekly injections,…
Forbes
White House’s Final 2014 Report To Congress On Regulatory Costs And Benefits Appears
The White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) final 2014 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs…
Blog
Union Deauthorization Provides Workers Weapon to Combat Pro-Union NLRB Actions
Nearly all action to come out of the Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board has sought to ease union organizing campaigns in order to funnel…
Blog
Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 1: It’s Pro-Business, Not Pro-Market
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. Unless Congress votes to reauthorize that charter, Ex-Im will soon cease to exist. This would be a…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a prolific week for the Federal Register, with more than 1,700 pages covering everything from real estate appraisal to water banks. On to the…
News Release
CEI Responds to The Remote Transactions Parity Act
The Hill
The conservative case for a modernized Passenger Facility Charge
Recently in these pages, Grover Norquist, president of the venerable Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), argued that modernizing the airport Passenger Facility Charge (PFC)…
Forbes
The Pope, Poverty And Global Warming
The world waits in anticipation as Pope Francis and his advisers finalize an official Vatican statement on climate change and the environment – expected out…
The Hill
Latest Internet sales tax bill gives states unprecedented taxing power
This week’s introduction by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) of yet another Internet sales tax bill illustrates the importance of understanding this complex issue and the…
National Review
The True Myth of Magna Carta
Today, Britain, America, and other Anglosphere countries celebrate the 800th Anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. In that meadow, tranquil to today (at least…
The Daily Caller
Chaffetz Greases Wheels For Online Sales Tax
The Daily Caller quotes CEI`s Jessica Melugin on the Internet Sales Tax Bill: Jessica Melugin, an adjunct fellow at the Competitive…
The Washington Times
Obama fights for Asia trade deal with relevance hanging in the balance
The Washington Times quotes CEI`s Fran Smith on the TTP negotiations: Some analysts say the administration’s stature on the world stage is hanging in…
Blog
Abolish Ex-Im Bank, Don’t Reform It
Over at the American Spectator, University of Chicago lecturer Frank Schell recently published a column arguing that the Export-Import Bank should be reformed, not…
National Review
Two Excellent Letters on an Excellent Op-ed on Title IX
National Review cites CEI`s Hans Bader`s letter on the an op-ed on unconstitutional speech codes: On June 8, the Wall Street Journal ran…
Vox
Conservatives are now debating carbon taxes. Here’s why many are still skeptical.
Vox quotes CEI`s Marlo Lewis on carbon taxes: Some conservatives had their own counterargument to this. During the Q&A session, Marlo Lewis of…
News Release
House TPA Rejection Protects the Past at the Expense of the Future
Products
Labor and Employment Roundup
Overlawyered cites CEI`s Hans Bader: President Obama keeps promoting myths about Lilly Ledbetter case [Hans Bader, CEI]…
Blog
How Many Significant Regulations Escape Congress’ Notice?
The Spring 2015 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions was released in late May, presenting recently completed actions and ongoing priorities of the federal…
Blog
Trade Promotion Authority: What it Is and What it Isn’t
The House of Representatives is poised to vote on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (H.R. 1314). Unfortunately,…
National Review
First Amendment Protections on Public College and University Campuses
CEI`s Hans Bader is quoted by the National Review on the issue of `First…
Advice Goddess Blog
How ADA-For-The-Web Regulations Could Kill This Website
So few people understand how laws passed can be used — and easily misused. Stretched into something they were never supposed to be (or not…
The Wall Street Journal
Title IX: From Pro-Female Reform to an Anti-Male One
The Wall Street Journal quotes CEI`s Hans Bader on the unconstitutional speech codes: “Ms. Gavora rightly criticizes the Education Department, where I used…
The Wall Street Journal
Title IX: From Pro-Female Reform to an Anti-Male One
Ms. Gavora rightly criticizes the Education Department, where I used to work, for pressuring colleges to adopt unconstitutional speech codes in the name of fighting…
Blog
Union Official Time Breeds Corruption
The Office of Labor-Management Standards of the Department of Labor conducts criminal investigations to unearth union wrongdoing that violates the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.
Washington Monthly
Why Is America Losing the Commercial Drone Wars?
The Washington Monthly quotes CEI`s Marc Scribner on FAA`s drone regulations. "The business press and tech websites are filled with stories slamming the…
Heartland
Senators Question Federal Agencies’ Backdoor Rulemaking
CEI`s Vice-President for Policy Clyde Wayne Crews Jr. talks to the Heartland on the Federal Agencies` backdoor rulemaking. “The new effort…
Real Clear Policy
USA FREEDOM Act: A Win for Privacy
For years, unbeknownst to the American people, a top-secret government program overseen by the National Security Agency collected and stored "metadata" about nearly all U.S.
Blog
DOJ vs. Reason.com Commenters: How the Deck Is Stacked Against Anonymous Political Speech
Our friends over at the Reason Foundation, a venerable libertarian think tank and publisher of Reason magazine, recently received a grand jury subpoena from a federal prosecutor…
Blog
DOJ vs. Reason.com Commenters: When Everything Is Deemed a “Threat”
The Supreme Court has said that true threats can be banned without violating the First Amendment, but that doesn’t mean that hyperbolic rants are unprotected…
Blog
Bad Tradeoff: Ex-Im vs. a Weak Dollar
At this point, it looks like Congress will let the Export-Import Bank’s charter expire on June 30. This is not a big deal in grand scheme…
News Release
CEI Responds to Dismissal of Murray Energy Lawsuit Against EPA
Senior Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute Marlo Lewis responded today to a federal appeals court decision to dismiss a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection…
News Release
President Obama’s Rose-Colored Glasses Regarding Healthcare
Blog
The Right to Choose Your Investment Partner
The following is an abridged and revised version of my keynote address to the FinTech Global Expo at the San Diego Convention Center on May 29,…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
New regulations last week covered everything from growing cherries to airport security fees to preventing collisions at sea. On to the data: Last week, 65…
News Release
President Obama Posits Himself as All Three Branches in One
POLITICO
Barack Obama poised to hike wages for millions
POLITICO quotes CEI`s Aloysius Hogan on the rule to raise the overtime treshold to be proposed by the Labor Department: Aloysius Hogan, a…
Forbes
Memo To Presidential Campaigns — Federal Regulation Matters More Than Spending
President Barack Obama’s federal budget proposal for FY 2016 sought $3.999 trillion in discretionary, entitlement, and interest spending; the Republican alternative a little…
Blog
Both Parties Should Oppose the Export-Import Bank
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) chairs the House Financial Services Committee. The Export-Import Bank’s reauthorization falls under his jurisdiction, and he has been one of the…
Blog
NLRB Approves of Vulgar Union Gear at Workplace
Under the Obama administration, the National Labor Relations Board has gone to great lengths to expand employee Section 7 rights to the point of absurdity.
Huffington Post
Save the Bees: Eliminate Biofuel Mandates
The Obama administration made a lofty promise with the launch of its National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and other Pollinators.
Fox News
National Doughnut Day: Have a doughnut (or two) for freedom
Friday is national Doughnut Day (or “donut” if you’re a Dunkin’ loyalist). Celebrated the first Friday of June, it might seem like a simple promotion…
News Release
On National Donut Day—How About Some Patriotic Overindulgence?
Blog
NLRB’s End Run Around Right to Work Laws
Yesterday, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing entitled, "Compulsory Unionism Through Grievance Fees: The NLRB’s Assault on Right to Work," which examined…
Blog
Henry Hazlitt and the Ex-Im Bank
Henry Hazlitt is most famous for his book Economics in One Lesson. Export-Import Bank supporters have consistently ignored a very important part of Hazlitt’s simple…
Blog
Obama Has Issued More “Economically Significant” Rules in 6.5 Years than Bush Did in Eight
It happens to be the case that, in terms of overall counts of rules and regulations published in the Federal Register as final rules, the George W.
Blog
Manufacturing Alarm: Dana Nuccitelli’s Critique of John Christy’s Climate Science Testimony
Environmental scientist Dana Nuccittelli accuses University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) atmospheric scientist John Christy of “manufacturing doubt about the accuracy of climate models” at a May…
Blog
“Worker’s Choice” Proposal
On June 2, 2015, Vincent Vernuccio, the Director of Labor Policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and one of my predecessors here at…
Blog
The Value of Trade
WTO's new video, titled “Trade matters to me,” captures the consumer value of trade on an everyday basis, from pants to…
Blog
Texas Court Upholds NLRB Ambush Election
On June 1, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas upheld the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) ambush election, which dramatically alters…
Blog
Ex-Im and Boeing, Sitting in a Tree
In most years, nearly half of the Export-Import Bank’s business is for Boeing’s benefit. The relationship between the two is so cozy that Ex-Im’s informal…
Blog
Employment Effects of the NLRB’s Joint-Employer Cases
Following the script of the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Administrator David Weil in his book The Fissured Workplace, the National Labor Relations…
Blog
Here Are All 205 “Economically Significant” Rules in the Spring 2015 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations
The Spring 2015 Unified Agenda of Federal Deregulatory and Regulatory Actions was released by the Obama administration just before Memorial Day weekend. It’s less of a…
News Release
Federal Court in Texas Rules on NLRB Ambush Election Rule
Fox News
DC weighs gondola system to connect tony Georgetown with outside world
Fox News talks to Marc Scribner on the DC gondola system: "Street cars in the sky — that's how I like to think…
The Freeman
The Poor Need Affordable Energy
Affordable energy is fundamental to what economist Deirdre McCloskey calls the “Great Fact” of the explosion of human welfare. It remains central to the…
Daily Caller
Will Democracy Drown In A Sea Of Sophistry?
Blog
Understanding the EPA’s Power Grab through the “Waters of the U.S. Rule”
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) promulgated the Waters of the U.S. Rule, a…
Comment
CEI Comments to the Uniform Law Commission’s Study Committee on State Regulation of Driverless Cars
Full Document Available in PDF On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”), I respectfully submit these comments in response to the…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a four-day work week because of the Memorial Day holiday, but regulators still had a busy week, with new regulations covering everything from…
Study
The NLRB Joint-Employer Cases
Designating companies with certain business models as “joint employers”, including many restaurants, gas stations, day care providers, cleaning services, auto repair shops, hotels, and more,…
News Release
Report: Labor Union Attack on Franchise Businesses and Jobs Turns on Politicized ‘Joint Employer’ Lawsuits
A new report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute spells out how a set of lawsuits brought by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) attacks independent…
News Release
The PATRIOT and USA FREEDOM Act Update
The Washington Examiner
Gondolas in D.C.? Transit policy should not be a high-wire circus act
The Washington Post’s Perry Stein recently wrote a fascinating article on a proposed new transit link between Georgetown and Arlington. No, it wasn’t…
Bloomberg
EPA Proposes Reduction in Biofuels Required for Blending in Fuel Supply
Marlo Lewis discusses Biofuel in Bloomberg: “This proposal today is a stopgap measure,” Marlo Lewis, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
National Review
America’s Own FIFA: the EPA
Overlawyered
Liability Roundup
Overlawyered cites CEI`s Hans Bader on the Brown v. Nucor Corp. case: "Brown v. Nucor Corp.: did…
News Release
EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Proposal Ushers in Uncertainty
Today the EPA announced its Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) proposal, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute takes a look at the heart of the issue:…
Blog
Union Bosses Lobby for Exemption from $15 LA Minimum Wage
As I reported in yesterday, Big Labor spent a lot of money and resources supporting the Los Angeles' $15 minimum wage.
News Release
New EPA Regulation Codifies Uncertainty; Congress Should Overturn
Today, the Obama administration announced a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation that will affect thousands of waterways and wetlands. Myron Ebell, director of CEI’s…
Daily Caller
EPA Grants Itself Power To Regulate Ponds, Ditches, Puddles
The Daily Caller quotes William Yeatman on the EPA's new guidelines for the Clean Water Act: “Rather than clarifying the Clean Water Act,…
Washington Times
Forecast sees milder-than-average hurricane season
Blog
Raise a Glass to Lower Taxes
You might not know it, but about half the cost of your preferred alcoholic beverage is made up of taxes and fees. One man in…
Blog
Big Labor Money Behind Los Angeles Minimum Wage Hike
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2020.
Blog
Politics vs. Principle: Export-Import Bank Edition
On the merits, the case for closing the Export-Import Bank is a slam-dunk. This has made life difficult for the bank’s supporters, especially since the…
Blog
Fourth Circuit Flouts Appellate, Evidence, and Class-Action Rules in Brown v. Nucor Corp.
In the past, businesses have been happy to put new factories in states like South Carolina and Virginia, due to their right-to-work laws and relatively…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The big regulatory news from last week was the publication of the semiannual Unified Agenda, which lists most upcoming regulations from rulemaking agencies at various…
Overlawyered
Liability Roundup
The Overlawyered cites CEI`s Hans Bader on Brown v. Nucor Corp. decision: Brown v. Nucor Corp.: did Fourth Circuit just try to gut…
Blog
Trade Promotion Authority in the Senate: Do-It-Yourself Economics
The U.S. Senate yesterday continued discussion on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), also called the “fast-track” trade authority, which would give the President power to negotiate…
RealClear Policy
Saving the Bees vs. Pork Barrel Spending
Forbes
A Comprehensive Regulatory Reform Agenda, Barack Obama Veto Pen Notwithstanding
Congress passes a few dozen laws each year, but regulators meanwhile issue several thousand rules and regulations. On top of that, “regulatory dark matter“…
Blog
Sen. Warren Gets Hit on Trade Issues
Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus (May 20, 2015) took on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) contention that trade agreements are being negotiated in secret, with…
Blog
Pollinator “Strategy”: Pork Barrel, Handouts, and Counterproductive Pesticide Policy
The Obama administration has finally released its National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and other Pollinators. It’s the federal government’s answer to all…
Blog
Long Mass Transit Commutes Are Horrible for Your Health
Joseph Stromberg at Vox.com has an article up arguing that “commuting alone by car” is “associated with obesity, high blood pressure, sleeplessness, and general unhappiness” relative…
Blog
Defund the Partisan NLRB
One of the primary objectives of the National Labor Relations Act is to remedy the perceived "inequality of bargaining power" between employees and employers. However,…
Washington Examiner
Elizabeth Warren Gets It Wrong, Obama’s Trade Rep Says
The Washington Examiner cites Fran Smith's work on trade agreements: Fran Smith, adjunct fellow at the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute, says there is…
Forbes
Now More Than Ever, Make ABC ‘s George Stephanopoulos Moderate Presidential Debates
I’ve never been a fan of the “objective media” platitude, preferring competing biases to pretended objectivity. The crucial corollary to that, though, is that…
Daily Caller
Congratulations, New Grads, And Welcome To Indentured Servitude!
Letters