National Review
The Worst Federal Agency
Examiner
National Park Service and Interior Dept. sued under FOIA over shutdown documents
Law 360
9th Circ. Vacates Apple Adapter Settlement Over Attys’ Fees
Law 360 reports on CCAF's objection to the Apple adapter settlement that was unfair to class members. Ted Frank of The Center for…
Blog
CEI Sues National Park Service and Interior Department under FOIA over Government Shutdown Documents
Last night, CEI filed suit against the United States Department of the Interior and the National Park Service for failing to produce documents in…
Legal Brief
Complaint in CEI v. Department of Interior, National Park Service
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 23, 2014: Reforming Fannie and Freddie
Senior Fellow John Berlau argues that a bill from Senators Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo intended to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would only…
Blog
Driverless Cars, Innovation, and Regulation: Let’s Not Mess it Up
CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman about to take a spin in Google’s self-driving car. (Photo by Marc Scribner) For the past several years, I’ve been…
News Release
Conservative and Free-Market Leaders Urge Senate to Reject Johnson-Crapo Housing Finance Overhaul
Washington, D.C., April 23—The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) in a coalition of 26 public policy leaders sent a letter to members of the Senate Banking…
News Release
When Robot Cars Arrive, Lawmakers and Regulators Should Steer Clear
WASHINGTON, April 23 – Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a new report by transportation policy expert Marc Scribner to help policymakers address regulating…
Overlawyered
Schuette v. Coalition, in tweets
Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court, over two dissents, ruled that the voters of Michigan were within their rights under the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause to…
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Print Edition Only)
Disparity Reflects a Sad Reality
Walter Williams was right to criticize a recent "guidance" letter from the Obama administration that pressures schools to have the same school discipline rates for…
Blog
Pseudoscience and Clickbaiting Results in Beer Fear
There’s a lot of pseudoscience about food out there. From genetically modified crops to organic foods to corn syrup, to preservatives, passionate opinions abound, but…
Letters
Johnson-Crapo Coalition Letter
Study
Self-Driving Regulation
Leonardo da Vinci first sketched the design for a self-propelled cart in the late 15th century. In 2010, Google announced its fleet of self-driving cars…
Overlawyered
Schools Roundup
More applications of New Jersey’s pioneering “anti-bullying” law. And will it stand up in court? [Hans Bader, earlier here, etc.]…
Law 360
Pella Window Deal Leaves Class In The Cold, 7th Circ. Told
Law 360 mentions Ted Frank's comments on whether the Pella Window settlement benefit class members. Theodore Frank, who represents a separate objector, added…
Blog
Victory for Maryland Parents and Consumers: Energy Drink Ban Voted Down
A bill that would have banned the sale of energy drinks for minors in Maryland was recently voted down in committee almost unanimously. The…
Blog
Taxable Bitcoins 2: We’re Not Gonna Pay it!
Reason magazine’s Brian Doherty recently addressed the IRS’s recent announcement that bitcoin transactions are taxable. As I addressed in my last piece, while the…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
84 new regulations, from stair-climbing wheelchairs to crustacean irradiation.
Blog
UAW Drops Volkswagen Union Election Appeal
Remember when the United Auto Workers lost in a unionization vote at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and filed an appeal to overturn the…
Human Events
Big Labor’s Privileged Position
Today, an important hearing gets underway in Washington, D.C. that started with a billboard. Well, not quite. But that phrasing makes for better copy. Hearings…
Trib Live
The secret ballot: Protect it
A new report on the United Auto Workers' attempt to organize Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., makes clear the need to better protect workers' right…
Washington Post
The Truth About Lilly Ledbetter
In her April 13 op-ed column, “A political stunt by Democrats,” Ruth Marcus wrote that a woman who lost a pay-discrimination case in the…
Forbes
Common Core Razes Charter School Standards
A battle is raging between those who would challenge our public school monopolies and those who wish to nationalize school curricula. There is much more…
Blog
The NLRB Shows Union Favoritism
Unions have always had special privileges in America, but ever since 1973, when United States v. Enmons exempted them from compliance with the Hobbs Act,…
Washington Examiner
Examiner Editorial: The ‘soft despotism’ of regulation imposes high costs on Americans
Oregon Catalyst
In opposition to Jackson County Measure 15-119 GMO ban
Blog
CEI, Former State Department Officials Defend Freedom of Contract in Supreme Court Case against Argentina
[caption id="attachment_74355" align="alignright" width="300"] Argentina President Cristina Kirchner[/caption] Can a country seeking to welsh on its debts invoke sovereign immunity to evade not just court…
Study
Capitol Research Center: The Social Cost of Carbon
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 17, 2014: Brexit Strategy
Iain Murray, CEI's Vice President for Strategy, along with Freedom Association Director Rory Broomfield, won second place Institute for Economic Affairs' Brexit Competition. The goal…
Wall Street Journal
Regulator Without Peer
Free Beacon
IG: DOE Ignored Internal Expert’s Advice in Subsidizing Bankrupt Solar Company
The Blaze
What Obama Isn’t Telling You About the ‘All-of-the-Above’ Energy Strategy
Blog
Paycheck Protection and Union Dishonesty
Paycheck protection and right-to-work are under siege in Missouri’s continuing labor fight.
Blog
CEI Testifies against National Labor Relations Board Rule to Allow Ambush Elections
On three separate panels, I testified last week against the flaws inherent in the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) latest proposed rule. The NLRB…
Politico
White House Calls in the Deans — China Growth Slows — Bloomberg Says He’s Going to Heaven
COURT MOVES AGAINST PART OF DODD-FRANK — CEI’s John Berlau: “[The recent] ruling of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that Dodd-Frank’s ‘conflict minerals’ disclosure…
News Release
CEI Report: Secret Ballot in Union Elections in Peril
WASHINGTON, April 16 – A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report by policy analyst Trey Kovacs documents efforts by the United Auto Workers (UAW) to…
Study
How the UAW Lost Tennessee
In 2011, after state tax incentives lured Volkswagen to Chattanooga, Tennessee, the UAW saw its best chance of making the goal of unionizing a foreign…
Heartland Institute
Bill Would Force Florida Brewers to Pay Distributors for Their Own Beer
Michelle Minton, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Fellow who specializes in alcohol regulation, said although all the states but Washington have a “three-tiered” system for alcohol…
Free Beacon
Begich Earmarked Millions for Bankrupt Green Energy Company
Blog
First Ever Constitutional Ruling against Dodd-Frank Voids Destructive “Conflict Minerals” Section
Today’s ruling of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that Dodd-Frank’s "conflict minerals" disclosure mandate violates the First Amendment is the first time ever a court has…
Blog
Encouraging News about Honeybee Health
A recently released study in Europe reports some good news about honeybee health, which should prompt public officials to reexamine a recent ban on…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
59 new regulations, from rearview cameras to pocket gophers.
Blog
Unions Attack Right-to-Work
The battle over Right-to-Work is heating up in Missouri, as proponents and opponents pour on the rhetoric.
Human Events
The Rising Class-War Chorus
Power Line
Lilly Ledbetter and the Lie That Will Not Die
When a lie becomes an article of faith not just for a movement for an entire political party, that lie is probably here to stay.
Overlawyered
Free Speech Roundup
New Jersey ruling letting parents be sued over kids’ Facebook posts will chill speech [Hans Bader/CEI, earlier]…
Blog
Wasserman on cy pres
University of Pittsburgh Law Professor Rhonda Wasserman has a paper on cy pres forthcoming in the USC Law Review, “Cy Pres in Class Action…
Forbes
Dueling Visions For Taxing Times: Grover Norquist v. Robert Reich
This is why I got into radio: A pairing of guests representing two competing visions for the nation’s economic future, each making their case in…
Forbes
Dueling Visions For Taxing Times: Grover Norquist v. Robert Reich
This is why I got into radio: A pairing of guests representing two competing visions for the nation’s economic future, each making their case in…
Legal Brief
Data Quality Act Request to OSTP about Holdren’s Polar Vortex Comments
Blog
Unconstitutionally Overbroad New Jersey Anti-Bullying Law Challenged; Reference To “Head Lice” Deemed “Bullying”
New Jersey's anti-bullying law, which applies to the state's schools and universities, is so overly broad that a fourth-grader was punished just for…
Blog
CEI’s WorkplaceChoice.org Scores Paycheck Fairness Act
The Competitive Enterprise Institute scored Wednesday’s vote in the U.S. Senate on the passage of S. 3772, The Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that would…
Weekly Standard
Monotony Motors
Blog
EEOC Loses Hypocritical Lawsuit against Employer over Background Checks
"In this case the EEOC sued the defendants for using the same type of background check that the EEOC itself uses." So began a…
Blog
Pompeo-Butterfield Food Labeling Bill: Valuable But Needs Work
Earlier today, Reps. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) introduced a bill in the House that would establish federal standards for the labeling of…
Blog
Administration’s Lack of Transparency Extends to States; The Independence Institute Reports New Findings
Although President Obama occasionally clings to the claim that his administration is the “most transparent” in history, with more and more revelations, this gets farther…
Blog
Threatening Free Speech, New Jersey Court Allows Parents to Be Sued for Children’s Facebook Posts
Earlier, we wrote about a Wisconsin town whose ordinance holds parents liable for bullying by their children, including certain speech. We and law professor…
Legal Brief
Complaints filed in CEI v EPA
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 9, 2014: A Consumer’s Guide to Chemical Risk
Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini talks about her new Consumer's Guide to Chemical Risk.
Letters
CEI Signs Coalition on Patent Reform
Blog
Opening brief in Pearson v. NBTY, Inc., No. 14-1198 (7th Cir.)
In a settlement of several class actions over the labeling of glucosamine supplements, class counsel settled for a claims process that paid the class under…
News Release
CEI Sues EPA Over Stonewalling Records Request
WASHINGTON, April 9 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a lawsuit today against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compel the agency to produce text…
Weekly Standard
More Profits, Fewer Jobs, But Many Fewer Workers, Too
William Galston makes a valid point with his comment that low interest rates may be counterproductive in the country’s search for more employment (“Soaring Profits…
CNS News
NJ Court Allows Parents to Be Sued for Children’s Facebook Posts
Earlier, we wrote about a Wisconsin town whose ordinance holds parents liable for bullying by their children, including certain speech. We and law professor Eugene…
News Release
CEI’s Iain Murray Wins Second Place at Brexit Prize Competition in London
Blog
Professional Licensing: A Risk to the Free Markets and Freedom of Speech
From physicians to dentists to lawyers, the licensing requirements of many professions are well known—but for bloggers? A recent case in North Carolina demonstrates the…
Blog
Food Policy Fight: Junk Study on Vegetarian Diet
Log on to Twitter and you might read: "A vegetarian diet is associated with poorer health, a higher need for health care, and poorer quality…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
79 new regulations, from whistleblowers to watermelon promotion.
Blog
In re Apple MagSafe Power Adapter Litigation oral argument in the Ninth Circuit Tuesday
Class counsel collected $3.1 million in the Apple MagSafe Power Adapter Litigation, but their putative clients received less than $900,000, and perhaps even less than $500,000—the…
Human Events
Lawn Darts, BB Guns and the Trouble With Protecting Us From Ourselves
Forbes
Will Republican Culture Warriors Snatch Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory?
I was recently invited to speak at the annual Conservative Leadership Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, a regional red-meat gathering of the conservative faithful trying to…
Blog
Is High-Frequency Trading a Form of Front-Running?
On 60 Minutes, Michael Lewis accused high-frequency traders of front-running. Apparently it’s become necessary to remind critics of high-frequency trading of the definition of “front-running.” Front-running – n. “The…
News Release
New York High Court Court Rejects Challenge to Greenhouse Gas Initiative
WASHINGTON, April 4 – The New York Court of Appeals has rejected a challenge by three small business owners to the State’s involvement in…
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 3, 2014: Clean Air Act Costs and Benefits
Senior Fellow William Yeatman is skeptical of an EPA report claiming the Clean Air Act will have nearly $2 trillion in annual benefits by 2020.
Fox News
Critics say ‘transparent’ administration anything but open about federal regulations
Federal agencies are required to report all the regulatory actions they have under consideration in what's known as the Unified Agenda twice a year. In…
Blog
Is the Stock Market Really Rigged?
Everyone seems to be jumping into the debate about high-frequency trading, now that Michael Lewis is peddling his new book, Flash Boys. Lewis contends…
Blog
Consumer’s Guide to Chemical Risk
Will these chemicals make me fat? That sounds like a weird question, but some consumers may actually have such worries, thanks to a constant barrage…
News Release
CEI Releases Consumer’s Guide to Chemical Policy
News Release
Wind Energy Boondoggle Gets Another Shot at Tax Subsidy
WASHINGTON – On Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee scheduled a mark-up of legislation to extend tax credits for certain special interests, including the wind energy…
Townhall
Wind Blows
Blog
Taxable Bitcoins: Property or Money?
Is Bitcoin currency or property? It depends on which parts of the federal government you ask. Last week the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that bitcoins…
Blog
Why Is Obama’s Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulation Delayed?
In April 2013, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued its Draft 2013 Report to Congress on the…
Legal Brief
DC Circuit Transcript of March 25 Hearing
Study
A Consumer’s Guide to Chemical Risk
A constant barrage of news headlines suggests that synthetic chemicals—even some naturally occurring ones—are responsible for nearly every public health problem imaginable, sowing fear and…
Blog
Ryan FY 2015 Budget Calls for Transportation Funding Rationalization
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., released his FY 2015 budget today. In just three pages, he calls for surprisingly sensible reforms to…
Blog
U.N.’s Narrative of Fear on Climate Change
In their latest report on climate change, officials at the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) once again fail to address important developments in…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
64 new regulations, from refrigerators to Korean chicken.
Human Events
Cronyism versus the Free market
The American Spectator
Praying for an Obamacare Escape
Matt Drudge’s widely discussed mid-March tweet that he has already paid Obamacare’s “liberty tax” highlights the uncertainties the self-employed face both from the health care…
Newsmax
Dodd-Frank Reined In by Democratic Judges
As the late March weather alternates between winter and spring, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today blew a nice cool breeze of common sense.
Platts
Bay nomination process marked so far by fewer fireworks, outcry by free market groups
Review Journal
Nevada prepares for arrival of fracking
Blog
Why and How I’m Celebrating Human Achievement Hour
"Better to light one incandescant bulb than curse the darkness" Tonight is Human Achievement Hour, a time to celebrate human progress and…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Hydrogen Power from Plants
Early in the week I wrote about a major breakthrough toward the peaceful use of nuclear fusion. While that type of energy could drastically…
Sun News
Turning lights on
Forbes
Lights Out For Earth Hour
You would think that demonizing electricity would be a tough sell to a populace devoted to smartphones, gaming consoles, DVRs, flat screen TVs, iPhones, tablets,…
Blog
Interested in co-authoring a law review article?
I keep a list of law review articles I’d like to write. That list has grown to thirteen, ten of which are about class action…
Letters
Coalition Letter to NY Governor Cuomo on Estate Tax Exemptions
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Bionic Eyes
You won’t see the glory of human achievement if you abide by the World Wide Fund for Nature's recommendation that you spend an hour…