Products
Ten Thousand Commandments 2013: A Fact Sheet
Full Document Available in PDF 1. This is the 20th anniversary of Ten Thousand Commandments. In that time, 81,883 final rules have…
Blog
Udall-Paul Legislation Spreads Freedom for Credit Unions and Entrepreneurs
By definition, if a bill is sponsored by Sens. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., or any similarly odd ideological couples in the House, it…
Blog
What Happened to U.S. Wages During Mass Immigration?
America’s immigration debate often focuses on how immigrants affect the welfare state, even though many immigration restrictionists would oppose immigration even if we did…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 231: Serving Olive Oil
Starting January 1, 2014, any olive oil served at EU restaurants “must be in pre-packaged, factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labelling in…
Blog
Minnesota DFLers Attempt to Payback Big Labor
Even though a survey conducted by the Minnesota Licensed Family Child Care Association showed 86 percent of family childcare providers in Minnesota oppose pending legislation…
Blog
10KC in WSJ
The Wall Street Journal editorial board weighed in this morning on the issue of regulation, citing a few numbers from the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
This week in the world of regulation: Last week, 71 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. This is up from 64 new final…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Crushing regulation, investigating the EPA, and wind farms v condors
Wall Street Journal
Red Tape Record Breakers
President Obama is opposing a bill passed by the House last week that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to better measure the costs…
Citation
Obama administration demands that colleges adopt unconstitutional speech codes
The Justice Department and the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights have now effectively defined dating and flirting as “sexual harassment,” in addition to demanding…
Blog
IRS Abuse of Americans Is Nothing New
Blog
Regulation Roundup
Height limits for flying witches on broomsticks, mandatory street musician auditions, and more.
Blog
Could a Unionized Federal Employee Reject a Visa Application for Political Reasons?
Now that IRS officials have been caught red-handed targeting conservative organizations, it is reasonable to ask whether officials at other federal agencies also need more…
Blog
Treasurers’ Union: A Treasure Trove for Democrats
The Internal Revenue Services claims to be “one of the world's most efficient tax administrators.” But it may also be one of the most biased.
Blog
Obama Recess Appointments Violate Constitution; Another Appeals Court Rules Against the NLRB
Another federal appeals court has ruled that President Obama's so-called "recess appointments" to the National Labor Relations Board were unconstitutional because the Senate was not…
Blog
CEI Podcast for May 16, 2013: A Controversial EPA Nominee
According to Myron Ebell, the deeper cause of this political fight is a startling lack of transparency at the EPA that McCarthy is unlikely to…
Blog
Surprising Junk Science on Fox News
News stories trumping junk science are common, but I expect better from Fox News, which claims to be "fair and balanced" and hosts great shows…
Blog
Chaos at the NLRB
Yes, a second court has now ruled that President Obama's "recess" appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were unconstitutional. The 2-1 decision from the…
Newsmax
EPA Waives Fees for Some Groups, But Not Conservatives
The Environmental Protection Agency waives its fees for big "green" groups 92 percent of the time while it waives fees for major conservative groups only…
Blog
Rep. Whitfield Discusses CEI’s Battle With EPA on House Floor
In the below video, U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield (KY-01) talks about the Environmental Protection Agency’s discriminatory practice of granting fee waivers to political allies and…
Letters
Coalition Letter on E-Verify Amendment
Full Document Available in PDF We, the undersigned organizations, representing thousands of businesses and millions of Americans from all sides of the…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 230: The Temperature of Beer
The state of Indiana regulates the temperature at which convenience stores may sell beer. Specifically, they must sell it at room temperature. Cold beer is…
Blog
Coalition Urges Policymakers to Reform the “Terrible Twelve” of Farm Policy
Action is heating up on the next farm bill, as the Senate Agriculture Committee today completed its markup of their bill which will go…
Blog
‘Gift Clause’ Can Eliminate Union Pork
What happens when state laws grant government unions the power of collective bargaining? Taxpayer funds become misused and end up aiding government union bosses at…
The Atlantic
No Sex Talk Allowed: What’s wrong with the Obama administration’s definition of sexual harassment
"Federal government mandates unconstitutional speech codes at college and universities nationwide," the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) accurately…
News Release
Diverse Coalition Supports E-Verify Reform
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2013 — This week, an ideologically diverse coalition of 44 organizations led by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, National Small Business…
Courthouse News
Lawyers Lose $2M Award for HP Inkjet Settlement
Courthouse News reports on Ted Frank's work to object to settlements that break the Class Action Fairness Act. While two members of the…
Law 360
$1.5M Attys’ Fees Scuttle HP Printer Defect Deal In 9th Circ.
Law 360 reports on the Center for Class Action Fairness' victory in their objection to the Hewlett-Packard Co. settlement which benefited the plaintiffs' lawyers more…
Letters
Coalition Letter on the “Terrible Twelve” of Farm Policy
Full Document Available in PDF Washington’s Farm Policy is a nearly trillion dollar tangle of agriculture subsidies, welfare payments and environmental patronage.
Forbes
Move Over Polar Bears, Palm Oil Orangutans Want Their $5 Worth Of Fame
What do polar bears,orangutans, the Walt Disney DIS +0.48% Company, Cheetos, recycled fundraising schemes, and corporate shakedowns have in common? It’s just another day on the social…
Forbes
E-Verify’s biometric database: A huge step toward a permission-slip society
“Maybe we should just brand all the babies.” With this mocking remark, Ronald Reagan dismissed a national ID proposal in 1981. In the 32 years…
Forbes
FCC again balks on telephone network shutdown
According to Fred Campbell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and a former bureau chief at the FCC, Friday’s notice is “more likely to…
Human Events
Now Boarding the Obama Administration Scandal Train: the EPA
CEI reviewed Freedom of Information Act requests sent between January 2012 and this spring from several environmental groups friendly to the EPA’s mission, and several…
The Business Journals
Conservative group accuses EPA of playing favorites on FOIA fees
That’s according to an analysis of a year’s worth of FOIA requests by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit Washington, D.C.-based public policy group…
The Business Journals
EPA makes information requests more difficult for conservatives
According to EPA records obtained by the free market Competitive Enterprise Institute, since January 2012 the agency has granted fee waivers for 75 out of…
The Business Journals
Uh Oh: Obama’s EPA Mistreated Conservative Groups, Too?
It’s not just the IRS that treats groups on the right differently from the rest. According to documents obtained by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the…
News Release
EPA Gives Info For Free to Big Green Groups 92% of Time; Denies 93% of Fee Waiver Requests from Biggest Conservative Critics
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14, 2013 – It’s not just the IRS that treats groups on the right differently from the rest. According to documents obtained…
Blog
Sorry, Daily Beast: E-Verify Will Be National ID
Daily Beast blogger Justin Green, who blogs on columnist David Frum’s Daily Beast blog, has responded to Wired’s recent article “Biometric Database of All…
Blog
Milton Friedman, Immigration, and Birth Control
Milton Friedman, perhaps the most important free market economist and libertarian activist of the 20th century, is also the favorite of immigration restrictionists for comments he…
Blog
IRS Investigated Groups for Teaching about the Constitution
The IRS didn’t just investigate groups based on their perceived political views, but also targeted groups for “educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights”…
Newsletter
CEI Today: IRS abuse of power, immigrants & poverty, and EPA nominee misleading Congress
Blog
“Shocking” Truth about Government and Soap
Is your hand wash slowly killing you as government regulators sit idly by? Sounds silly, but that’s what environmentalists seem to think about an antibacterial…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
64 new regulations, from drawbridge schedules to official seals.
The Business Journals
Could Immigration Bill Lead to Big Brother Database?
David Bier, an analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, warned, “The most worrying aspect is that this creates a principle of permission basically to do…
The Business Journals
Consternated Conferences
The conservative movement’s factions also pushed back against the often puzzling decisions of the American Conservative Union board, which controls CPAC. The gay conservative group…
New York Times
This Week in Small Business: Small Data
Adam Liptak says this has been the most business-friendly Supreme Court since World War II. The Senate approves an online sales tax bill,…
Wall Street Journal
Should Washington Allow Internet Gambling?
Blog
Correcting Misconceptions about Autonomous Vehicles: Reason Magazine Edition
In the June issue of Reason, one of my favorite publications, Greg Beato has an article discussing the public policy implications of autonomous vehicles, such…
Blog
Excuses, Excuses
The IRS today acknowledged that it had wrongfully targeted Tea Party groups for heightened scrutiny. In trying to explain the agency’s mistake, IRS spokeswoman…
Blog
Federal Title IX Enforcers Effectively Define Dating and Sex Education as “Sexual Harassment”
No one would believe you if you made this up, but it's now actually happened: The Justice Department and the Education Department's Office for Civil…
Blog
Coalition Urges Reform of Sugar Program
The Hill picked up our coalition’s release on reforming the U.S. sugar program. The letter, sent to all Senate and House offices, was…
Blog
IRS Apologizes for Targeting Conservative Groups
Comment
Comments on Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
Full Document Available in PDF In what would be the largest trade pact ever, the United States and the European Union early…
Blog
Heritage Immigration Report Implies 70% of Americans “Increase Poverty”
The Heritage Foundation’s new report on the fiscal costs of legalization for unauthorized immigrants concluded that it will cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion. Yesterday, I…
News Release
CEI Files Comments on Transatlantic Trade Agreement
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 10, 2013—The Competitive Enterprise Institute filed comments today on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The United States and European…
Blog
Government’s Chinatown Bus Shutdowns Based on “Statistical Malpractice”
Reason’s Jim Epstein has an article up that does a nice job debunking a National Transportation Safety Board study, prompted by a 2011…
Blog
Seven Ways Heritage Concluded Immigration Reform Will Cost $6.3 Trillion
The Heritage Foundation’s report this week that suggests legalization for unauthorized immigrants will result in a $6.3 billion fiscal deficit is an important conversation…
Blog
The Economist on “the muddle-headed world of American public pension accounting”
As state governments across the nation struggle to address a public pension underfunding crisis they can no longer deny, The Economist is the latest…
Letters
Coalition Letter to House Members on the Sugar Program
Full Document Available in PDF Dear Congressman, Over the next several weeks, policymakers in the House and the Senate will be marking…
Letters
Coalition Letter to Senate on the Sugar Program
Full Document Available in PDF Dear Senator, Over the next several weeks, policymakers in the House and the Senate will be marking…
News Release
Coalition Urges Congress to Address “Outdated, Wasteful” Sugar Program
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 9, 2013—As Members of Congress prepare to mark up provisions for the 2013 Farm bill, a coalition of consumer, taxpayer, and policy…
News Release
A Big Day for Transparency on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 9, 2013 — Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee took a brave and principled stand for transparency on…
Blog
CEI Podcast for May 8, 2013: The Debate over Undocumented Immigration
CEI Immigration Policy Analyst David Bier is critical of a new Heritage Foundation study that estimates that giving legal status to America's undocumented immigrants would…
Blog
Europe’s “Green Energy” Initiatives Don’t Want Your Help
As European renewable energy initiatives seek to radically reform their means of energy production, it would make sense that it be done in the most…
Blog
Youth Unemployment Is at Highest Sustained Level Since World War II
Real youth unemployment is at 16.1 percent, the highest sustained rate since World War II. As the non-partisan youth advocacy group Generation Opportunity notes,…
Blog
Ohio Deserves Right-To-Work
Right-to-work has been sweeping the country like a glorious fever (symptoms include swelling opportunity and dangerous spikes in liberty), even seizing brows in deep-blue union strongholds like…
Blog
‘Life of Julius’ shows how unions kill jobs, hurt workers
Many people realize that unions can hurt the workers they claim to represent. For example, the United Auto Workers union drove labor costs up for…
Blog
Government Gives Students Lifelong Lesson— In Debt
Jodi Romine is just your typical 26 year-old. Like most students, Jodi took out a student loan so that she could afford university in hopes…
Blog
John Locke’s Response to Heritage: Don’t Blame Immigrants for Fiscal Problems
Washington's largest conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, has released a study that suggests legalization for illegal immigrants will cost taxpayers trillions of dollars over the next…
Blog
First Amendment Menace: Obama Administration to Expand Americans with Disabilities Act over Websites?
Can websites be forced to change to accommodate the disabled -- by using "simpler language" to appeal to the "intellectually disabled," or by making…
Blog
Update in Apple MagSafe settlement Ninth Circuit appeal
CCAF filed an opening brief in October; after many delays in the briefing schedule, we filed our reply brief in April. Details at…
Forbes
A Supreme Court EPA Decision That Could Cost Taxpayers $21 Billion Per Year
Is the Clean Air Act so badly flawed that it will cripple environmental enforcement and economic development alike unless the EPA and its state counterparts…
Forbes
Why Are Social Security Cards Still Easy To Fake?
Libertarians oppose such cards for a variety of reasons, one of which is the impact on businesses, according to David Bier, an immigration policy analyst…
Forbes
Online sales-tax bill faces web of opposition in U.S. House
But Jessica Melugin, an adjunct policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C., public-policy group, said that would place an unfair burden on…
Forbes
Conservatives Must Reject the “Poor Are Parasites” Narrative
When Mitt Romney made his comments about the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay taxes and were supposedly “dependent on government,” many conservatives rightly…
Forbes
How The Federal Reserve Became History’s Biggest Bad Bank
Every time a plane crashes, a team of engineers and aviation experts jump into action, methodically reconstructing the event to determine the cause—whether mechanical failure,…
Blog
Twinkie, Twinkie, Little Star
America will be celebrating this July with parades and fireworks. That’s right, the Twinkie is back! The private equity firms Metropoulos & Co and Apollo…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Internet sales tax, apples and pesticides, and European austerity
Blog
Conservatives Must Reject the “Poor Are Parasites” Narrative
When Mitt Romney made his comments about the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay taxes and were supposedly “dependent on government,” many conservatives rightly…
Blog
The Doctor Is In, America: Get With the Estonian Program
Don’t let the optimism surrounding last month’s job numbers fool you. The unemployment rate’s decline from 7.6 percent in March to 7.5 percent in…
Forbes
What we learned about immigration reform yesterday
Not a single right-leaning think tank rose in defense of Heritage’s anti-immigration study. The American Enterprise Institute, the Cato Institute, Manhattan Institute, the Competitive Enterprise…
Roll Call
Congress Must Rein In Expensive ‘Sue and Settle’ Tactics by EPA
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Competitive Enterprise Institute scholar William Yeatman recently shed some light on how the EPA uses the sue and settle…
Real Clear Markets
The GOP Has a Blurry View of Free Markets In Medicine
Bad ideas and special interest politics don't ever die in Washington, D.C. They get re-introduced in the next Congress. Earlier this month, Rep. Larry Bucshon,…
Study
Separating European Austerity Fact and Fiction
Full Document available in PDF Rarely a week goes by without mention in the media of European governments’ failure to restore economic…
Blog
How Online “Marketplace Fairness Act” Could Tax Your 401(k)
Today, the Senate likely will pass the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would force online retailers to collect sales taxes for states in which purchasers reside. Most have heard how this…
Blog
Historian: Housing Nominee Mel Watt Helped Spawn the Subprime Crisis
In the Daily Caller, historian and presidential biographer Charles C. Johnson writes that “Housing nominee Mel Watt helped create the…
Blog
Obama: A Sweet Pension for Himself, But Not For America’s Savers or Investors
In The Washington Post, Allan Sloan points out that while President Obama wants to cap American citizens' IRAs at $3 million or substantially…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
62 new regulations, from the federal flood insurance to California olives.
Blog
Southwest Drink Voucher objection
I’ve previously discussed the problems with the Southwest Drink Voucher coupon settlement, and CCAF attorney Melissa Holyoak is representing a class member objecting…
Washington Times
Nutritious apples, poisonous claims
Eat fewer apples, strawberries and grapes, and more corn, onions and pineapples, and you'll protect yourself and your children from "toxic" pesticides, according to the…
Reason
Democratic Nativist (Yes, Such a Creature Exists) Strikes At Nikki Haley
Every good liberal knows that GOP is the party of bigoted, narrow-minded “knaves and fools” that is in every way morally inferior to the noble…
Reason
To Grow, The U.S. Economy Needs More Low-Skilled Immigrant Workers
Recently introduced legislation to tackle immigration reform has elements that should satisfy both liberals and conservatives–namely, strong border security metrics for conservatives and a pathway…
Reason
US Senate approves Internet sales tax
Opposing the bill are several trade groups and Internet companies, including TechAmerica, the Financial Services Roundtable, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, eBay, Etsy, the Information Technology…
Spectator
The Busch Doctrine: Tilting For Windmills
The job creation claims rest on two obvious premises: the viability of wind energy and economic efficiency of government investments in it. The first point…
News Release
CEI Slams Senate Vote on Marketplace Fairness Act
Washington, D.C., May 6, 2013 – Senators crossed a dangerous line today when they voted to approve the dubiously named Marketplace Fairness Act (S. 743),…
Orange County Register
Lost lives the real costs of regulator overreach
Every once in a while, one encounters the perfect example of the folly, naivete and hubris of an ivory-tower academic. A case in point was…
Blog
Anti-Immigration Group: “They’re Taking Your Jobs!”
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the close-America’s-doors lobby group, has a facile new study that purports to show “there really are no jobs…
Blog
Poisoned Apple: Unions Taint NYC’s Economy
The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s recent video “The Life of Julius: How Unions Hurt Workers” demonstrates how unions lead to higher taxes. Many scoffed at this…
Blog
What Are the National ID Implications of the Senate Immigration Bill?
1. ID standards: The bill requires all employers to check photo IDs of all employees they hire—any employee who fails to present a photo ID…
Blog
Fraley v. Facebook
Lots of class members forwarded me their notices in this settlement, which is likely to pay the class zero; if it pays anything, it will…