Blog
Executive Order Pressures Employers to Capitulate to Baseless Demands and Meritless Claims
A July 31 executive order from President Obama, E.O. 13,673, will make it very costly for employers to challenge dubious allegations of wrongdoing against them,…
Blog
Union President Threatens Opponents of Common Core with Violence
When unions get involved in political debates, it gets ugly fast. For example, the SEIU is known to bus hundreds of protesters to private residences…
Blog
Honeybee Population in Decline—Or Not?
If you read the news about honeybee survival, it’s all very confusing. Some sources sound the alarm by pointing out that the number of honeybee…
Blog
Michael Grunwald’s High-Speed Rail Fantasies
Perhaps the one thing Time magazine's Michael Grunwald loves more than drone assassinations of American citizens and dissident journalists is heavily subsidized passenger rail. This is not the…
Study
Deadline Citizen Suits: An Idea Whose Time Has Expired
This study was originally published at the Applachian Natural Resources Law Journal. Read Full Study Here Two statutory devices — deadlines…
Study
The EPA’s War Against the States
This study was originally published at the Capital Research Center Read Full Study Here Congress intended the Environmental Protection Agency to…
Study
Cutting the Gordian Knot: A Road Map for British Exit from the European Union
This study was originally published at the Institute for Economic Affairs as a finalist for the 2014 IEA Brexit Prize coauthored with Rory…
Study
Food and You: Feeding The World With Modern Agricultural Biotechnology
This study was originally published at the American Council on Science and Health, coauthored with Martina Newell-McGloughlin and Bruce Chassy. Read…
The Hill
Devil’s in the details of Campus Accountability and Safety Act
The Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA), S. 2692, seeks to change how publicly funded universities investigate allegations of sexual assault. . . The act…
Courthouse News Service
Objection to Google’s $8.5M Privacy Deal
Courthouse News Service reports on the Center for Class Action Fairness' objection to a judge's ruling that Google should pay $8.5 million to settle the suit, because…
Politicker NJ
Objection! Clean Diapers & Dirty Class-Action Settlements
Politicker NJ describes the work of the Center for Class Action Fairness and the president Ted Frank in an event announcement. Since its…
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief of the District of Columbia in Support of CEI and National Review
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief of Alliance Defending Freedom
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief of Cato Institute et al.
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief of Online Publishers and Electronic Frontier Foundation, et al.
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief of Mark Steyn
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press and 26 Other Organizations in Support of CEI and National Review
Blog
The Ex-Im Bank’s Unilateral Disarmament Fallacy
One of the weakest arguments against free trade is the "unilateral disarmament" fallacy--that a country should refuse to liberalize its trade policies until other countries…
Blog
Red Tapeworm 2014: Tell Us — Which Regulations Hurt Your Business as You Grow?
This is Part 24 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal…
News Release
Dozens of News and First Amendment Groups Support Free Speech in Libel Lawsuit
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 – This week dozens of news and First Amendment groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), The Washington Post, Gannet, Bloomberg,…
Blog
Due Process Eroded by Bills like CASA That Let Agencies Keep Fines They Impose
Due process is being eroded by recent bills that would authorize agencies to impose massive fines on regulated industries, and then keep those fines for…
Blog
Celebrate National Employee Freedom Week
National Employee Freedom Week, which started August 10 and runs until August 16, is a countrywide effort by 70 groups in 41 states that's goal…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Despite another 47 proposed regulations and 80 final regulations last week, 2014 remains on pace to have the smallest number of new regulations of any…
Human Events
Business Vs. Labor is Really About Cooperation Vs. Confrontation
It’s an age old struggle—more often rhetorical than physical. Usually framed as business vs. labor, it’s really about cooperation vs. confrontation. Since humans could walk…
The National Review
Blatant Conflict of Interest in Campus Accountability and Safety Act
Writing with his usual clarity and command of facts and cases, Hans Bader of Competitive Enterprise Institute points out a glaring problem with the proposed…
Daily Online Examiner
Google’s Privacy Settlement With Vanity Searchers Draws Opposition
The Daily Online Examiner reports on the Center for Class Action Fairness' objection to Google's privacy class-action lawsuit settlement. The deal, which was…
Blog
The Case for Closing the Export-Import Bank
Over at American Banker’s BankThink blog, I have a piece making the case for closing the Export-Import Bank, mostly on corruption grounds: The…
The Daily Signal
Cyberbullying Law Struck Down in New York
A state court in New York recently struck down that state’s cyberbullying law as violating the First Amendment. . . the state of New…
Legal Brief
DC Court of Appeals, Order Permitting and Expediting Appeal
Legal Brief
Mann, Opposition to Response to Show Cause Order
Legal Brief
CEI & National Review Response to Show Cause Order Regarding Appeal
Legal Brief
Appellants Letter to Supreme Court Clerk Regarding Extension of Time
Blog
Red Tapeworm 2014: Small Businesses Beaten Down by Recordbreaking Federal Regulations
This is Part 23 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal…
Blog
Uber and Regulation: Pro-Business Is Not Pro-Market
“Republicans love Uber. Young urban voters love Uber. And Republicans hope that means young voters can learn to love the GOP.” That was the opening…
Blog
Homecare Workers Freed from Big Labor’s Greed
Homecare workers in three states have finally been liberated from something they should never have experienced in the first place: paying dues to government unions…
New York Times Magazine
Has the ‘Libertarian Moment’ Finally Arrived?
The Competitive Enterprise Institute's annual dinner and CEI president Lawson Bader are mentioned in a New York Times magazine feature article examining the opportunities…
National Review
Obama’s Idea of Transparency
Chris Horner is mentioned in a National Review article about the Obama administration’s lack of transparency: The Internal Revenue Service’s handling of the Lois Lerner…
Investor's Business Daily
States Tire Of Regulatory Overreach, Take Obama EPA To Court
William Yeatman is mentioned in an Investor's Business Daily article discussing why 12 states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency over proposed rules on greenhouse-gas emissions:…
Blog
Red Tapeworm 2014: Completed Economically Significant Rules at Record Levels
This is Part 21 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal…
Blog
Public Still Favors Transportation User Fees over Tax Increases
Voters in Missouri yesterday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have imposed a 0.75 percent sales tax to fund transportation, with nearly 60 percent opposing a…
Legal Brief
DC Court of Appeals, Scheduling Order
Legal Brief
National Review Opening Appellate Brief
Legal Brief
CEI Opening Appellate Brief
Legal Brief
DC Superior Court, Order Denying Renewed Anti-SLAPP Motions to Dismiss
Daily Caller
Democrat On U.S. Civil Rights Commission Wants Speech Codes For ‘Adolescent’ 21-Year-Olds
Hans Bader is mentioned in a Daily Caller article discussing campus restrictions on First Amendment-protected speech: Among many others, Hans Bader…
Watchdog Wire
Report: Governments Mask Pension Debt, May Put Taxpayers At Risk
The Competitive Enterprise Institute's report, "Understanding Public Pension Debt" was featured by Nevada's Watchdog Wire: A new report once again sheds light…
Investor's Business Daily
Big Government Can’t Keep Up In Digital Era
Article by Michael Barone Earlier this week, I was thinking of writing a column about the lying and duplicity of ObamaCare backers who argued that…
Blog
The Let Me Google That for You Act
When it comes to government transparency, more is better. As a general principle, the government should make public as many of its documents as possible…
Blog
Jefferson Federation of Teachers Proposes Union-Friendly Contract
In the past two years, the Jefferson Federation of Teachers (JFT) and Jefferson Parish public school system have tried, unsuccessfully, to come to terms on…
The Washington Examiner
EPA’s Gina McCarthy Broke the Law by Destroying Official Text Messages and Should Resign
Text messages sent on a private telephone between Maureen McDonnell, wife of Bob McDonnell, and businessman Johnnie Williams are key evidence in the corruption trial…
Free Beacon
Report: Government Accounting Hides Debt
Article by Bill McMorris Your state may not be as fiscally solvent as politicians have led you to believe, according to a new…
Business Insider
A Watchdog Lawyer Is Raising Questions About HP’s Plans To Sue Former Autonomy Executives
Business Insider describes Ted Frank's efforts to object to the outcome of the HP class action settlement case in which lawyers received a high compensation…
Cook County Record
Judge Gives Preliminary OK to $75.5M Proposed Settlement in TCPA Class Action; Believed to be Largest of Its Kind
The Cook County Record discusses the Capital One class action lawsuit settlement with Ted Frank. Ted Frank, president and founder of Center for…
Law 360
Objectors Seek To DQ Cotchett Firm In HP Inkjet Settlement
Law 360 reports on CCAF's objection to the HP inkjet settlement. Objectors to a proposed settlement in a lawsuit accusing Hewlett-Packard Co. of…
Blog
Red Tapeworm 2014: Big Dollar Federal Regulations in the Pipeline Highest under Obama
This is Part 21 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal…
Legal Brief
Halbig v. Burwell: Government Petition for En Banc Reconsideration
View the Full Petition Here A group of small business owners (and individuals) in six states filed a lawsuit on May 2,…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Ninety-eight new regulations, from Moroccan blueberries to home furnaces.
Blog
NLRB McDonald’s Decision Hurts Small Businesses, Diminishes Opportunities for Everyday Americans
The NLRB’s General Counsel Richard F. Griffin Jr. found merit in 43 of 181 unfair labor practice complaints made against McDonald’s in the last 20…
Blog
Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Gov. Scott Walker’s Collective Bargaining Reform
Since 2011, Governor Scott Walker’s signature public-sector collective bargaining reform has withstood venomous union protests at the state capitol, fleeing state legislators, and sparked a…
Austin American Statesman
Texans Should Beware of Internet Sales Tax
Texas is one of the nation’s best states for doing business, according to a recent CNBC survey. Lone Star lawmakers deserve credit for the pro-growth…
Blog
GMO Row Comes to Kansas Congressional Race
Blog
New Study Estimates around $70 billion in Financial Regulatory Costs
Complying with regulations is part of the cost of doing business. For bigger businesses that can absorb those costs (or rather, pass them on to…
Blog
Federal Official Says Campus Speech Should Be Restricted to Protect Young People’s Brains
U.S. Civil Rights Commission member Michael Yaki says that speech on college campuses should be restricted to protect young people’s developing brains. This is yet…
Blog
Federal Official Says Campus Speech Should Be Restricted to Protect Young People’s Brains
U.S. Civil Rights Commission member Michael Yaki says that speech on college campuses should be restricted to protect young people’s developing brains. This is yet…
Blog
The Case for Repealing the Davis-Bacon Act
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is making the case for repealing the Depression-era Davis-Bacon Act. The law, passed in 1931, bars contractors and subcontractors from paying…
Legal Brief
Supreme Court Review Sought in King v. Burwell
On July 31, 2014, attorneys in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal’s Obamacare case, King v. Burwell, requested Supreme Court review of the ruling handed down…
Study
Operation Choke Point
Can the government shut down legal but politically disfavored businesses? If an ongoing federal regulatory campaign continues, that may be precisely what happens.
Forbes
SEC Crowdfunding Barriers At South By Southwest
In mid-July, South by Southwest (SXSW) – the Austin-based yearly festival that brings together the creators of film, music and technology every March – trekked…
LA Times
Lawyers Challenging Health Subsidies Seek Quick Supreme Court Ruling
Lawyers challenging President Obama's healthcare law filed a quick appeal with the Supreme Court on Thursday, urging justices to take up the issue this fall…
Politico
Supreme Court Asked to Hear Obamacare Subsidies Case
The four Virginians whose challenge to Obamacare subsidies suffered a defeat last week are now asking the Supreme Court to hear the case. Their lawsuit…
News Release
“Operation Choke Point” Targets Legal Businesses, Harms American Consumers
Washington, D.C., July 31 – A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report digs into a campaign by federal regulatory agencies to shut down businesses that are…
News Release
Supreme Court Review Sought in Obamacare Exchange Case
Washington, July 31 — Today, attorneys in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit's Obamacare case, King v. Burwell, requested Supreme Court review of the…
Blog
Study Proves Economic Harm of Collective Bargaining
A new CEI study by economist Lowell Galloway and public policy expert Jonathan Robe demonstrates the harmful economic effects of unionization on a state-by-state basis. Among the…
Blog
House Brings Transparency to Endangered Species Act, Still Needs to Protect Property Rights
Today the House passed H.R. 4315, the 21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act. Unfortunately, it likely has no chance of passing in the Senate and word is…
Baltimore Sun
Are Tax Dollars Paying for Anti-Alcohol Advocacy?
This month, Maryland banned high-proof liquors like Everclear and other inexpensive tipples. Self-proclaimed public health activists claimed such "high octane" liquors increased the likelihood of…
Forbes
Executive Branch Power In The Crosshairs As GOP Readies Vote On Lawsuit Against Obama
Obama favors Executive Orders. Approval ratings seem to suggest the public favors Anti-Executive Orders. Increasingly, “the silken bands of mild government” that…
Products
Study: Collective Bargaining Slows Economic Growth, Lowers Wages
Collective bargaining may not be the boon for workers that labor unions claim it is, according to a new study. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI),…
Blog
New Report Highlights Driverless Car Urban Impact; Takes Techno-Dystopian Stance
Earlier this month, Professor David Begg of Transport Times published a new report on automated transport technology focusing on the potential impacts on London. This is one of…
Study
The Unintended Consequences of Collective Bargaining
With high levels of unionization and no right-to-work laws, union presence has cost individuals more than $10,000 in income over the last 50 years…
Blog
Red Tapeworm 2014: Here Are the Federal Agencies that Issue the Most Regulations
This is Part 20 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State (2014…
The Daily Signal
Panel: Obama’s Emissions Regulations Mark ‘Unprecedented’ Executive Expansion
The Environmental Protection Agency kicks off public hearings today on its new carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions regulations for power plants. But before the…
Washington Examiner
Study Estimates Unionization Cost Workers in Some States $11,000
Heavy unionization cost the average worker in Michigan about $11,000 over the last 50 years. It cost workers in Nevada about…
The Freeman
A Petition from the Booksellers
To the Parliament of France, Gentlemen, you are on the right track. Time and again you have shown your willingness to defend the humble French…
News Release
CEI Report Finds Unionization Costs Individuals More Than $10,000 in Some States
New CEI Report Finds Unionization Costs Individuals More Than $10,000 in Some States Big Labor Holding Back Employee Wages and State Economic…
Products
Dodd-Frank is the new ObamaCare
“If you like your life, home, and auto insurance, you can keep them.” No, President Obama didn’t utter those words when he signed the Dodd-Frank…
Blog
Bitcoin’s Undiscovered Potential
A recent piece in American Banker magazine explores how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can help the underprivileged, particularly the millions of unbanked people who…
Blog
Obama Claim Spurious; Labor Unions Furious; New Ranking Curious
Coauthored with Alex Bolt. President Barack Obama spuriously claimed, "These so-called right-to-work [RTW] laws, they don't have anything to do with economics," when he futilely…
Blog
Kentucky Teachers Union Demands Pay Raise to Perform Union Business
Contract negotiations between Jefferson County Public Schools and its teachers union have hit an impasse. Union officials want more than the state-mandated 1-percent raise, which…
Study
EPA’s Illegitimate Climate Rule
Full Document Available in PDF On June 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule under the Clean Air…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Seventy-four new regulations, from spearmint oil to insurance exchanges.
Human Events
Big Government Ripple Effect
Overlawyered
Labor and Employment Law Roundup
“Telling Employee He Is ‘Eligible’ For Bonus Not Enough to Create Contractual Obligation” [Chris Parkin/Daniel Schwartz; Connecticut appeals court] Richard Epstein on Obama’s anti-LGBT-discrimination…
Blog
Subprime Auto Concerns Caused by Government Intervention
Should we worry about a crisis in subprime auto loans? That question has been asked in the financial media lately. My answer is yes, with…
Blog
House Hearing Highlights Problems in the Fair Labor Standards Act
The Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing yesterday that focused on the troubled regulatory structure of…
National Review
Obamacare’s Architect Agreed That Only State Exchanges Could Offer Subsidies
Tonight, Reason’s Peter Suderman published an interesting revelation about the history of the decision reached this week by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, that Obamacare subsidies couldn’t…
Forbes
In 2012, Obamacare’s Architect Agreed With ‘Right-Wing’ Strategy To ‘Gut’ Obamacare
Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia—the second highest court in the land—ruled that Obamacare’s subsidies for individually-purchased insurance…
Bloomberg
The Surprise Obamacare Ruling That Wasn’t
Since the Halbig v. Burwell decision came down from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — which ruled that insurance…
Reason
Watch Obamacare Architect Jonathan Gruber Admit in 2012 That Subsidies Were Limited to State-Run Exchanges
Earlier this week, a three-judge panel in the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that, contrary to the Obama administration’s implementation and an Internal Revenue Service rule,…
Slate
Libertarians Think They’ve Found a Smoking Gun in the Halbig Case
Last night I joined the cheerful libertarians of the Competitive Enterprise Institute for a celebration of the D.C. Circuit's Halbig decision, gathering string for a piece about…
Fox News