Blog
Gov. Scott Walker Aims to Make Wisconsin 25th Right-to-Work State Monday
No individual should be forced to financially support an organization they disagree with or risk penalty. Thankfully, Governor Scott Walker is determined to ensure that…
Washington Examiner
Critics Push Back at Hillary Clinton’s Email Tweet
Washington Times
No Desire for a Streetcar
CEI's Marc Scribner is quoted on the modern streetcar resurgence in the Washington Times: If nearly everybody likes a streetcar, fewer want to…
News Release
Oral Argument at Supreme Court Challenges Illegal IRS Move to Rewrite the Affordable Care Act
Blog
How Department of Labor’s “Fiduciary” Rule Could Cripple IRA Choices
Last week, President Obama called on the Department of Labor to “update the rules and requirements that retirement advisors put the best interests of their…
Blog
U.S. Supreme Court Could Free Government Workers from Forced Union Dues
Public-sector workers could soon gain the freedom to decide whether or not to pay union dues if the U.S. Supreme Court hears the impending case,…
News Release
Legal Team in King v. Burwell to Discuss the Case Following Supreme Court Hearing
News Release
Hillary Clinton Not Alone in Dodging Law on Email Use
Washington Examiner
Transparency Advocates Condemn Clinton’s Secretive Private Email Account
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The FCC, inspired by a law passed in 1934, unveiled its controversial plan to regulate the Internet as a public utility. Beyond that it was…
Blog
Another Illegal Rule from the Education Department
Recently, I wrote about a report to the Senate by a task force of college presidents, on how the Education Department is illegally dumping an avalanche of new…
Opportunity Lives
Republican Pollster Explains How GOP Can Close the Gender Gap in 2016
Blog
3 Things You Should Know About King v. Burwell
USA Today
Obamacare Rule Harms Millions
MSNBC
Why the FCC’s Vote to Regulate the Internet Is a Mistake
On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to regulate Internet providers as public utilities under a 1934 law. President Obama celebrated…
Blog
Union Employees on Public Payroll Challenged in Pennsylvania Courts
A recent lawsuit filed by The Fairness Center, a public interest law firm, is challenging the Philadelphia School District's practice of allowing school employees perform…
Forbes
Private Sector Fuels Growth; Student Loan Repayment Should Reflect This
At the Conservative Political Action Conference, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dinged President Obama for his economic policies. “We have a president who thinks we grow…
Blog
Net Neutrality Vote Shows Congress Must Rein In and Replace the FCC
The separation of powers doctrine demands that Congress not tolerate unelected federal agencies going it alone and making binding law. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC),…
Blog
CEI Statement on Today’s Net Neutrality Vote
Blog
Education Department Floods Schools with New Uncodified Bureaucratic Mandates
Recently, a task force of college presidents chronicled massive regulatory overreaching by the U.S. Department of Education, which, on a daily basis, floods the nation’s…
Blog
Wisconsin Opponents of Right-to-Work Offer Weak Defense of Compulsory Dues Payments
Predictably, yesterday, labor unions and its supporters protested outside of the Wisconsin Capitol to voice their displeasure with the right-to-work (RTW) bill that is making…
Blog
Capitalism Makes a Comeback on Campus
There’s exciting stuff going on in the world of higher education these days for fans of free markets. Just last week, the University of Arizona’s …
Blog
There Are No “Neutral Taxes” in Politics
Those favoring larger government are finding it harder to finance them by raising taxes. Proponents have sought to reduce opposition by claiming that they’re not…
Mass Live
Can MBTA passengers get a refund on their passes?
Massachusetts Live talks to CEI's Marc Scribner about the issues facing MBTA: Transportation scholar Marc Scribner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute said in…
Products
In Support of Citizens United, Against Targeting Political Speech
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
In a very cold, holiday-shortened week, federal agencies issued 40 final and 33 proposed regulations covering everything from lithium-ion batteries to small fish in Oregon.
Blog
Brussels Meeting Ends with White Smoke
To surprise of many, Friday’s meeting in Brussels ended with white smoke, like Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has hoped when he was referring to…
Products
Stop the Insanity: How GOP Congress can lead way to smart energy policy
Blog
How to Help Tesla and Taxpayers
Policies aimed at reducing auto emissions in California and 10 other states are having a troubling set of unintended consequences, according to a recent editorial at…
Blog
When Kittens Explode
A fascinating Kickstarter funding campaign just ended yesterday, and it was a major one. A new card game with the alarming title of “Exploding…
Blog
Vapes on a Plane: More on Why DOT’s Proposed In-Flight E-Cigarette Ban Is Fatally Flawed
Over at CNN.com, I have a piece arguing against the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) forthcoming rule aimed at outlawing “vapes on a plane.” I explain why…
Washington Examiner
No Currency Manipulation Rules in Pacific Trade Deals a Good Thing for Americans
Last week, President Obama told Congressional Democrats not to expect any rules against “currency manipulation” in the forthcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. This is…
Forbes
FTC Sues To Block Sysco – US Foods Merger
Blog
NLRB Ambush Election Rule Weakens Worker Privacy
Government should not have the power to force private-sector employers to disclose workers’ private contact information to a third party special-interest group for any cause.
Blog
Does Regulation Hurt Innovation?
How much does regulation crimp innovation? Not very much, according to a new study from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Nathan Goldschlag and George Mason University’s Alex…
Blog
Victory for “Caveman” Blogger and Free Speech in North Carolina
Many people associate professional licensing with consumer safety. For example, we wouldn’t want any schlub doing surgery. But where occupational licensing laws may have started…
CNN
Don’t Ban E-Cigarettes on Airplanes
These are good times for anti-smoking campaigners. But you wouldn't know it from listening to their rhetoric. At the urging of anti-tobacco activists, the Department…
Blog
What the U.S. Can Learn from Canada on Aviation Innovation
As I continue to digest the sUAS NPRM, which is expected to be published in the Federal Register on Monday, I came across Canadian drone attorney Diana…
News Release
Plaintiffs File Reply Brief in Supreme Court Obamacare Subsidies Case
The petitioners in King v. Burwell today filed their closing brief in the case, which the Supreme Court will hear on March 4.
Letters
CEI and R Street Institute Coalition Letter Against Obama Budget’s Reinsurance Taxes
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
In a week like any other, regulatory agencies issued more than 50 new rules covering everything from from rockfish to wine. On to the data:…
Blog
Missouri a Step Closer to Enacting Right to Work
Last Thursday, right-to-work passed the Missouri House. The bill, approved 91-64, makes union dues payments in the private-sector voluntary and now awaits a contentious political…
Blog
First Thoughts on FAA’s Small Unmanned Aircraft System Proposed Rules
At 10am on Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced its draft rules to govern small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The announcement is not particularly surprising,…
Simple Justice
First Amendment Relativists
Simple Justice quotes CEI`s Hans Bader on the NPR Ombudsman`s opinion on free speech and the Charlie Hebdo attack: In his parting shot as ombudsman for…
Blog
Coming Up: King Plaintiffs’ Day in Court
Oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in King v. Burwell will be held on March 4, 2015. The Competitive Enterprise Institute is coordinating this…
Blog
Congress Takes First Shot at NLRB Ambush Election Rule
Congress established the National Labor Relations Board as a body made up of neutral arbiters to represent the public in labor disputes. Under the Obama…
Forbes
A Valentine For Capitalism
The notes and cards we exchange on Valentine’s Day cover a wide range of emotions—from intimate love letters for that special someone to the simple…
Blog
Ridesharing and Regulation
Earlier this week, I appeared on a Cato Institute panel organized by Cato’s Matthew Feeney, author of a new report on for-hire vehicle safety issues. Video…
Blog
New U.S. Dietary Recommendations to Correct Misunderstanding about Cholesterol, Not Fat
Thomas Jefferson once said, “If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in…
Blog
The $7 Billion Slowdown
The ongoing logjam at ports on the West Coast could cost American retailers around $7 billion this year, according to the consultancy Kurt Salmon. That’s a…
Legal Brief
CEI v. EPA – No. 15-215
CNS News
Fed Wasted Millions on Activist-Spawned Media Frenzy About BPA Risks
After a decade or more of alarming headlines about the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA), you may be surprised to learn that it poses no significant…
Study
Obama’s Climate Trick
Read the full study here In a rush to end the production of inexpensive electricity from coal—a policy that would hamstring the…
Blog
NPR Wrongly Suggests Hate Speech and Blasphemy Are Unprotected by First Amendment
NPR gets a lot of taxpayer money based on a false pretense of objectivity and accuracy. Its departing ombudsman, Edward Schumacher-Matos, says that “as a public…
Roll Call
What Rules To Govern Uber-Type Services?
Roll Call reports on Marc Scribner's presentation at a Cato Institute policy forum on ridesharing regulations: But Marc Scribner of Competitive Enterprise…
The Daily Caller
NPR’s Ombudsman Is A Drooling Moron Who Doesn’t Understand The First Amendment
The Daily Caller quotes CEI`s Hans Bader on the NPR Ombudsman`s opinion on free speech and the Charlie Hebdo attack: Outgoing National Public Radio ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos…
News Release
Casino Mogul Again Seeks Internet Gambling Ban With New Congress
A handful of GOP lawmakers have revived an effort to effectively ban internet gambling, re-introducing the so-called Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA). The bill,…
Blog
Zenefits: A Disruptive Company Fights Back
Sometimes cronyism in the business world takes the form of a company receiving special government favors and subsidies—the now-infamous Solyndra, for example—but sometimes it takes…
Blog
Congress Takes First Shot at NLRB Ambush Election Rule
Congress established the National Labor Relations Board as a body made up of neutral arbiters to represent the public in labor disputes. Under the Obama…
Blog
Harvard Study Confirms Dodd-Frank’s Harm to Main Street
Literally since the day the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law by President Obama, my Competitive Enterprise Institute colleagues…
Citation
The Cato Institute: How Should Ridesharing Be Regulated?
The Blaze
Operation Choke Point: Consumer Protection Bureau Can Act as Judge, Jury and Executioner to Targeted Businesses
The Obama administration has been waging an undeclared war on businesses it doesn’t like by stretching executive authority beyond its proper bounds. Known as Operation…
Blog
The Empire Strikes Back!
Right-of-center groups have for some time become a bit complacent. Sure the left had the universities, the media, and pop culture—but we had the think…
Blog
Educating Tomorrow’s Business Leaders on Markets and Politics
This weekend I attended a fascinating event at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business on the subject of economic inequality. Prof. …
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Last week’s batch of new rules covered everything from fluorescent lights to postage rates. On to the data: Last week, 59 new final regulations were…
Human Events
In Washington, Every Day is Groundhog Day
Reason
Don’t Extend the Dead Hand of the FCC to the Internet
On February 26, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote on a proposal to regulate companies that provide Internet access as public utilities. Spearheaded…
The Freeman
Greece Jumps from Scylla to Charybdis
Every Greek child reads Homer in school. So Greek children are familiar with the legend of Scylla and Charybdis, from Homer’s Odyssey. The sailor Odysseus,…
Blog
GOP Divided on Internet Gambling Ban
As expected, members of the GOP reintroduced a measure that would create a de facto prohibition on all Internet gambling. The effort, which was written by GOP mega-donor…
Blog
Treasury Union President: IRS Needs More Money
As budget talks heat-up, union officials are making their presence known and that their agencies need more money.
Blog
Tainted Claims about “Agglomerated” Corks
A recent article in Wine Industry Insight titled “Micro-Agglomerates: 350 Million Illegal Corks Per Year?” reports: “Agglomerated cork manufacturers and importers are facing scrutiny from two major…
Blog
No Sprinkles in Obama’s America: Trans Fat, Hyperbole, and the Threat Nobody Is Talking about
“Say goodbye to your favorite sprinkled doughnuts,” warned Clayton Morris, guest host on Fox & Friends. “The [FDA] is now regulating Americans intake of trans fat…the…
Vox
Is Network Neutrality Becoming a Partisan Issue?
Vox cites CEI's Ryan Radia on the Net Neutrality debate: Ryan Radia, a telecom policy expert at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Blog
Congress Should Reject Obama Budget Increase for Education Department Office for Civil Rights
The Obama administration perversely rewards agencies that overstep their authority by giving them budget increases to handle the increased workload that results. A classic example…
Products
Obama Administration Hot and Cold on Climate Warnings
Blog
Transportation Roundup: Obama Budget, DOT 2045, and Sad Transcontinental Railroad Nostalgia
The President’s FY 2016 Budget On Monday, the White House released its DOA FY 2016 budget. Like President Obama’s previous budgets, this one has no…
Blog
Greek Government’s Stance Suggests a Confrontation with the EU
The latest statements of the newly elected Greek government show that negotiations between Athens and the so-called “Troika” will not be easy. SYRIZA sent a strong…
The Washington Post
Defining Economic Failure Down
George Will cites Wayne Crews' regulatory calculations in his column. The lingering economic anemia is astonishing, given plummeting energy prices. To a…
Blog
Premature Capitulation?
Over the decades I’ve spent in this Heart of Darkness (a.k.a., the bowels of American politics), I’ve learned two lessons that have encouraged the steady…
Blog
Poll: 75% of Ohioans Disapprove of Using Taxpayer Funds to Collect Union Dues
Jason Hart, Watchdog.org labor reporter, recently published a story that highlights a new poll from the think tank Opportunity Ohio on Ohioans' opinions of labor…
Blog
Obama Administration Learned Nothing from 2008 Financial Crisis, Mortgage Expert Says
Ed Pinto had a depressing and revealing op-ed in The Wall Street Journal Friday about how the Obama administration is artificially creating markets for risky mortgages, using…
Blog
Bet on the Big Game? You Probably Broke the Law
Industry experts expected yesterday’s Super Bowl game to bring in around $100 million in legal sports wagering in Nevada. That’s a lot of moola, but…
Blog
GOP Introduces Labor Reform Bills
As the 114th Congress kicks-off, labor reform seems to be on the minds of the GOP. On January 28, Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Lamar…
Blog
Study: Cutting Unemployment Benefits Boosted Hiring
President Obama’s policies reduced employment and slowed America’s economic recovery by discouraging people from working. The Congressional Budget Office says Obamacare will shrink employment by around …
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Regulators stepped up their pace last week, with nearly 80 regulations covering everything from defibrillators to Korean oranges. On to the data: Last week, 77…
Investor's Business Daily
Save Capitalism With Those Ads On Super Bowl
With another Super Bowl comes another venerable tradition — the contest to produce the best ads. It's the biggest event of the advertising year —…
Human Events
Back to the Future of Education
The Free Beacon
Sierra Club: Saudi Arabia ‘Our Best Ally’ in Keystone Fight
The American Spectator
Main Street Challenges Dodd-Frank’s Chipping Away at the Constitution
"Wall Street Chips Away at Dodd-Frank,” blared a recent front-page headline in the New York Times about bipartisan measures that have passed the U.S. House…
Forbes
Obama’s 2016 Federal Budget And Middle Class Economics
To everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you. To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate…
Forbes
Can Cutting Red Tape Generate $200B For Low-Income Families?
With partisanship de rigueur in Washington, rare moments of compromise are refreshing. One area ripe for bi-partisan reform is occupational licensing. President Obama’s proposed budget…
Blog
Main Street Fights Dodd-Frank’s Chipping Away at the Constitution
“Wall Street Chips Away at Dodd-Frank,” blared a recent front-page headline in The New York Times about bipartisan measures that have passed the U.S. House of Representatives…
Blog
Invest in Transportation Act of 2015 Violates Fiscally Conservative Transportation Principles
It was just announced that Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) would introduce the Invest in Transportation Act of 2015. The bill aims to offer…
Blog
Don’t Reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank
Here’s a letter I wrote to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that appears in today’s paper: The Post-Gazette’s editorial board calls on Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import…
Blog
FDIC Retreats from Operation Choke Point
In a partial victory for all those campaigning against the abuse of power known as Operation Choke Point (see our comprehensive study here), the Federal…
Washington Times
Analysis Tracks Costly Path of 3,541 New Federal Regulations, Provides Antidote for Congress
The Washington Times heavily cites CEI's Agenda for Congress and regulatory cost calculations. The frugal but liberty-minded analysts at the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Forbes
Je Suis S&P: Government’s Chilling Effect on Credit Rating Agencies
Blog
Study Shows Health Benefits of Moderate Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol is a favorite target for health nannies and politicians looking to boost revenue. Excessive drinkers, they say, cost society millions or billions of dollars!…
The Washington Examiner
A Closer Look at Sick Leave
RealClear Policy
The Crushing Burden of Government Regulation
Anyone concerned about the future of jobs and economic competitiveness in America must have been disappointed by the litany of free lunches and new government…