News Release
CEI, Independence Institute Announce Opposition to Obama’s FERC Pick
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 28, 2013 — The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and the Colorado-based Independence Institute today announced their strong opposition to President…
Blog
DOMA Decision: Win for the Rights of U.S. Citizens to Freely Associate with Foreigners
“We received a cold, brief letter from the Immigration Service notifying us that our petition had been denied. Why? Because we’re both men.” That was…
News Release
Senate Immigration Bill Passage: Meaningful Victory for Free Market Reform
Washington, D.C., June 27, 2013 – Today, the Senate passed the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) by a substantial margin.
Washington Examiner
Europe exits climate money pit as Obama jumps in
Myron Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told me, "The centerpiece of President Obama's climate plan is…
Washington Examiner
In Europe Cutting Taxes and Spending Leads to the Best Results
Matthew Melchiorre, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow, has written a report on so-called austerity in Europe showing that many…
Washington Examiner
Bill to Expand U.S. Database to Verify Hires
“I don’t think people really understand that this creates a regulation not just for every employer, or for every immigrant, but also for every citizen…
Bipps
ALEC shows Kentucky’s issue with the EPA is a matter of state sovereignty
According to the report, titled “the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Assault on State Sovereignty,” the unilateral practice of replacing cooperative federalism with federal command and…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Obama war on coal, auto unions, and TSA body scanners
Blog
DOL Regulating An Entreprenuer Out of Business
Not much of a surprise, but the Department of Labor is inappropriately enforcing arcane regulations that threaten an entrepreneur. In a recent USA Today op-ed,…
Study
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Assault on State Sovereignty
Since 2009, the EPA has expanded its own prerogatives at the expense of the states’ rightful authority. Congress wanted states to quarterback environmental policymaking, but…
Blog
CEI Podcast for June 26, 2013: TSA Full-Body Scanner Transparency
Fellow in Land-use and Transportation Studies Marc Scribner discusses the TSA's lack of transparency and the scanners' ineffectiveness in deterring terrorism.
Blog
Border Security Doesn’t Require “Invading” the Border
When President Bush left office in January 2009, there were about 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. If the Senate immigration bill (S. 744) passes, this…
Study
The True Story of European Austerity
European governments that have cut spending and taxes have higher rates of economic growth than their neighbors. Then why do we hear lamentations from the…
Letters
Coalition Letter on the Domestic Alternative Fuels Act of 2013 (H.R. 1959)
Full Document Available in PDF The undersigned organizations urge you to oppose H.R. 1959, the Domestic Alternative Fuels Act of 2013. The…
Trib Live
Obama’s climate monstrosity: Fight back, Congress
Thankfully, Obama can't circumvent congressional control of the federal purse strings. “Congress should move immediately to defund as much of this as possible,” says Myron…
Daily Caller
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau compared to NSA
“The CFPB is demanding mounds and mounds of data during the examination process of financial institutions, basically making the implicit threat that they either give…
Daily Caller
Report: Obama’s EPA power balloons
“Since 2009, however, EPA has centralized a great deal of environmental policymaking,” said William Yeatman, author of the report and assistant director of the Center…
US News
The Great Pennsylvania Liquor Store Privatization Battle
Writing for National Review Online, Michelle Minton cites the example of Washington state, which just took the steps Corbett is urging for Pennsylvania. "Now more…
News Release
New Report Reveals Significant Increase in EPA Actions Under the Obama Administration
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 26, 2013 — A new report released today by the American Legislative Exchange Council shows a substantial increase in the power…
News Release
Free Market Groups Oppose Natural Gas ‘Fix’ for Ethanol Mandate
Washington, D.C., June 26, 2013 – Twelve free-market public policy organizations today released a joint letter urging House Members to oppose H.R. 1959, The…
News Release
Border Security Amendment Wastes Money, Adds Taxes, Fails to Address the Causes of Illegal Immigration
Washington, D.C., June 26, 2013 — Today, the Senate voted to approve a major security amendment to the Senate immigration bill (S. 744). The…
Forbes
‘Racist’ Massachusetts Voters Defeat A Hispanic Republican Senatorial Candidate
Pretty offensive headline, isn’t it? Baselessly ascribing racist motives to voters for choosing Caucasian Rep. Ed Markey over Latino challenger Gabriel Gomez in this week’s…
Blog
No Help Wanted: Unions Shut Out Foreign Students
Union-backed provisions in the Senate immigration bill would punish organizations that coordinate visits for foreign students who spend summers traveling and working in America.
Blog
Tracking the Cultural Exception, Part One: How Does One Exempt a Culture?
On June 14, the European Union’s Council of Foreign Affairs adopted a mandate for negotiation on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It…
Blog
Federal Regulations Make Americans 75 Percent Poorer
"Federal regulations have made you 75 percent poorer," and as a result, "U.S. GDP is just $16 trillion instead of $54 trillion," says an…
News Release
TSA Flouts Law With Vague Rule on Body Scanners
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 25, 2013 — Yesterday, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and Robert L. Crandall, former chairman and CEO of AMR and American…
News Release
President’s Climate Plan Undemocratic, Bordering On Authoritarian, Disingenuous on Keystone
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 25, 2013 – President Obama’s climate agenda released today is being done without public or congressional support and is being pursued in…
National Review
Obama’s Climate Plan: It’s for the Kidz
Yes, the official subtitle of “President Obama’s Plan to Cut Carbon Pollution” is “Taking Action for Our Kids.” That should give you plenty of clues…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Free market carbon tax?, Senate immigration vote, and #ceigala roundup
Comment
Comments to the TSA Regarding the Deployment of AIT
Full Document Available in PDF On March 26, 2013, TSA proposed a rule regarding passenger screening using advanced imaging technology after a…
Blog
Time for Splitting the Farm Bill?
The Chicago Tribune this morning had an excellent editorial about the House of Representatives’ defeat of the 2013 Farm Bill last Thursday. (See…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
96 new regulations, from fireworks shows near water to handling FOIA requests.
Blog
E-Verify: A Boon for Lawyers, Bad for Employers
I have written extensively about the threats to Americans’ civil liberties from E-Verify, the employment verification system contained within the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform (CIR)…
Blog
A Critique of “300 Million Engines of Growth”: Why More Spending Won’t Cure what Ails U.S. Infrastructure
Earlier this month, the Center for American Progress issued a report in which it set out recommendations for growing the American economy. A significant…
News Release
CEI Has ‘Major Concerns’ With New Climate Agenda
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2013 — Competitve Enterprise Institute Experts Myron Ebell, Marlo Lewis and Christopher Horner will be available tomorrow to comment on President…
News Release
CEI Experts Welcome Court’s Decision to Rule on NLRB Case
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2013 – Legal and labor policy experts at the Competitive Enterprise Institute said today they are pleased the Supreme Court…
National Review
Bad regulation is our biggest public scam
In the US, the Competitive Enterprise Institute recently surveyed the extent and cost of federal regulations. The Federal Register, a compendium of regulations, has swollen…
Blog
My Kingdom for a Peanut
Poking fun at United States agricultural policy is low hanging fruit. From catfish to sushi to alfalfa, most agriculture industries are handsomely subsidized…
National Review
A Bar Fight over Privatization
A booze-fueled brawl has broken out in Pennsylvania. But not in a bar — this fight is unfolding in the statehouse. Pennsylvania is one…
Blog
More Recognition that Dodd-Frank Harms Main Street Banks, Farmers, and Airline Passengers
In two high-profile forums last week, Dodd-Frank, the financial "reform" law sold as targeting Wall Street, was shown to have a devastating effect on Main…
Blog
Spread the Word: New Voice for Wine Consumers
With the launch of The American Wine Consumer Coalition today, U.S. wine consumers now have a place in public policy debates for the first…
Blog
D.C. Council Passes New Rules: Food Trucks Are Here to Stay
After four years, the Council of the District of Columbia finally passed rules to regulate the burgeoning mobile food industry that seem to please all sides.
Blog
President Repeats False “Equal Pay” Statistic Claiming Women Earn 77 Percent of What Men Do
President Obama repeated a myth about equal pay and pay discrimination, as the economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth notes at RealClearMarkets: Last week in the…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Farm Bill, Obamacare impact on jobs/state courts, and misuse of E-Verify
Forbes
Coming Soon: A Dramatic Downshift In Company Size, Plus Hours Worked
The regulatory state never sleeps, relentlessly working day and night to tilt the economic playing field in favor of the politically connected. The regulations it…
Blog
E-Verify National ID System Threatens Americans’ Privacy
“I’m not a criminal, so there’s really no reason for me to be in a criminal database.” That was James Shepherd, a Kentucky native…
Blog
Obamacare and Activist State Courts Drive Up Health Plan Costs
The so-called rate shock from Obamacare has hit Ohio. The state’s Department of Insurance announced last Thursday that the average individual-market health insurance premium…
Blog
NLRB: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
Last Friday another court struck down the NLRBs “poster rule” a requirement on employers to prominently display a notice of employee union rights. The U.S.
Forbes
Coming Soon: A Dramatic Downshift In Company Size, Plus Hours Worked
The regulatory state never sleeps, relentlessly working day and night to tilt the economic playing field in favor of the politically connected. The regulations it…
Forbes
Coming Soon: A Dramatic Downshift In Company Size, Plus Hours Worked
A recent study on the impact on business growth of regulatory thresholds built into Italian labor laws is quite instructive of how this works. In…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
93 new regulations, from tanning taxes to wine labels.
Legal Brief
Halbig v. Sebelius: Plaintiffs’ opposition to government motion to defer summary judgment briefing
Blog
France Wants Culture Out of U.S.-EU Trade Agreement
A New York Times article yesterday points out some of the potential difficulties already evident in early talks on a trade agreement between the…
Legal Brief
Halbig v. Sebelius: Government motion to defer briefing on plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion
Halbig v. Sebelius: Government motion to defer briefing on plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion…
Blog
GOP Introduces NLRB Reform Bill
On June 13, Representative Tom Price introduced the Representation Fairness Restoration Act that would rollback significant policy changes created in the National Labor Relations Board…
Blog
CEI Podcast for June 13, 2013: Deirdre McCloskey Wins CEI’s Julian Simon Award
Blog
Answering Michael Lind’s Question: Why Is No Country Libertarian?
Blog
Obama Should Learn from Germany about Cape Wind
I have an op-ed online in USA Today today entitled “America should learn from Europe on wind power.” In it, I outline how Europe…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Libertarian government, Julian L. Simon Award, and passenger rail problems
News Release
Border Security Amendments Won’t Work Without Legal Immigration Fix
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 13, 2013 — Yesterday, Sen. John Cornyn proposed a major amendment to the Senate immigration bill (S. 744), which would completely…
News Release
Scholar Awarded Julian L. Simon Memorial Award for Moral, Historical Defense of Freedom
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 13, 2013 – CEI is pleased to announce that Deirdre McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication, at the…
Investor's Business Daily
Climate Models Predict Heat That Hasn’t Occurred
Making the case against the models even stronger is the fact that the observed temperatures were taken from the tropical troposphere where, according to Marlo…
USA Today
America should learn from Europe on wind power
As the Department of Energy considers a loan guarantee for the Cape Wind Project in Massachusetts, it should learn from Europe's failed wind energy experiments…
Study
Avoiding the Regulatory Cliff
Full Document Available in PDF A Bipartisan Agenda to Restore Limited Government and Revive America's Economy Whether you are new to…
Blog
Free Labor Markets: Why Immigrant Riots Aren’t in America’s Future
Sweden’s recent immigrant riots demonstrate America’s large advantage over Europe in assimilating immigrants.
News Release
What Would Libertarian Government Look Like? CEI Offers Some Steps to Find Out
Blog
Cancer Rates Low Among Pesticide Workers
If chemical exposures are a significant cause of cancer, as some environmentalists say, you’d expect that individuals who apply pesticides for a living…
Forbes
The Blackberry Q10 Delivers As Mike Lazaridis Reflects
I first met Mike Lazaridis, the retired co-CEO and founder of Research in Motion (RIM), in 1991 when I was a rogue marketing manager at…
Blog
Legal Ignorance of the Day: Federal Officials Seek to Restrict Religious Speech and “Hate Speech”
To be appointed to a Justice Department position in the Obama administration, you may need to satisfy various ideological litmus tests. But apparently…
Blog
Farm Bill: One Big Catfish (Part 2)
Every five years, like pigs to the trough, the special agricultural interests line up on Capitol Hill, making sure to get their tasty little provisions…
News Release
Senate Immigration Bill Needs Rewrite on Guest Workers, Visa Regs, E-Verify, CEI Analyst Says
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 11, 2013 — Today, the Senate voted to proceed with debate on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act…
Blog
Farm Bill: One Big Catfish
In addition to the new, costly “agricultural risk coverage,” “adverse market payment,” and "supplemental coverage option" programs in the Senate’s Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act (…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Obamacare lawsuit, Barone on passenger rail regs, and nanny state attack on donuts
Blog
France’s Taxing Culture
France has long feared foreign competition as a threat to its domestic producers. The nation has some of the most punitive taxes and labor regulations…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
72 new regulations, from federal pecan insurance to avoiding collisions at sea.
Forbes
Now the Environmental Protection Agency
The allegations were first made by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank. It claimed the EPA was not being fair as…
Forbes
Government regs hurt passenger rail
That’s the message of this paper from the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The writers point out the American safety regulators require passenger rail cars to…
Forbes
Plaintiffs press health act fight
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), which is coordinating the lawsuit, is following the lead of Oklahoma, which sued last year after the Internal Revenue…
Daily Caller
White House knew about Lisa Jackson’s secret email account
“I’m unclear how grown men and women could think that it’s acceptable to have a nonexistent employee sign in as the test-taker [or to have…
Trib Live
‘Transparency’ through obstruction
But it wasn't the AP that originally uncovered Team Obama's penchant for email sock-puppetry. Chris Horner, Competitive Enterprise Institute fellow and author of “The Liberal…
Blog
CEI Podcast for June 7, 2013: National Donut Day
June 7 is National Donut Day. General Counsel Sam Kazman is urging Americans to eat not one but two donuts—one for themselves, and one for…
Blog
The Calm of the Genetically Modified Storm?
While the passionate and irrational debate about the health and environmental safety of biotech, or so-called genetically modified (GM), crops rages on, evidence of the…
Blog
CEI Sues Social Security Administration for Ignoring FOIA Request
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed suit in D.C. Circuit Court against the Social Security Administration (SSA) for ignoring a CEI FOIA request that sought…
Blog
Let’s “Officially” End Union Subsidies
This week Senator Rob Portman and Sen. Tom Coburn sent a letter to the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs with a message that…
National Review
Dodd-Frank’s Early Returns
‘Admit it . . . you haven’t read it all either.” Thus said a New York Times op-ed (by Bono, of all people) about…
News Release
Plaintiffs in Obamacare Suit File Motion for Summary Judgment
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 7, 2013 — Yesterday, the individuals and small business owners who are suing the federal government over a major IRS regulation…
Legal Brief
CEI v. Social Security Administration – June 6 Complaint
Full Document Available in PDF Plaintiff COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE (“CEI”) for its complaint against Defendant SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (“SSA”), alleges as follows:…
Blog
CEI Podcast for June 6, 2013: Making Passenger Rail Affordable
Fellow in Land-use and Transportation Studies Marc Scribner discusses a new CEI study arguing that regulations make passenger train cars unnecessarily expensive.
Legal Brief
Affordable Care Act Lawsuit – Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment
Full Document Available in PDF Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 and this Court’s Local Rule 7, Plaintiffs…
Blog
IRS: Double Standard Benchmark
Americans expect that federal agents will enforce the law with integrity, and they expect the ever-prying eyes of an independent media to help ensure that…
Letters
Coalition Letter to Congress Opposing “Buy America” Provisions for Government Infrastructure Projects
Full Document Available in PDF TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS Do you want to artificially increase the cost of…
Blog
Time for an official end to federal employee union subsidies
Did you know you're paying for union officials to do union business with your tax dollars, a practice known as "official time"?…
News Release
How To Be Patriotic on National Donut Day
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 6, 2013 — Tomorrow, June 7th, is National Donut Day. For some companies, the day is an occasion for unveiling new types…
News Release
It’s Not Just EPA; CEI Sues Social Security Administration for Ignoring FOIA Request
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 6, 2013 – It’s not just the Environmental Protection Agency that doesn’t seem to be able to respond to a Freedom of…
National Review
A Recipe for More Coastal Republicans
Josh Barro points us to a new report from David Edmondson and Marc Scribner on one of my favorite subjects — the fact that FRA…
Investor's Business Daily
Online ‘Fairness’ Tax Could Hit Your 401(k)
Financial transaction tax proposals have prompted much debate over the past year, both in the U.S. and internationally. In February, the European Union proposed allowing…
Blog
France Needs a “Power-Up” When It Comes to Labor Reform
In its annual country report released on Monday, the IMF turned up the heat on France for labor reform. The Washington-based lender called for…
Blog
Epic Union Walkout a Total Failure
Ten years is a long time. For example, ten years ago Facebook did not exist. “Friends” was still in its 9th season. iTunes was only…
Blog
Two Decades of Regulatory Growth
Over at The American Spectator, Wayne Crews and I marvel at how much the regulatory state has grown over the last twenty years. We also…
Blog
U.S.-EU Trade Talks — The Precautionary Principle Rears its Ugly Head
Even before substantive negotiations have begun, a major problem has surfaced in talks on a U.S.-EU trade agreement. Last month, the European Parliament passed…