Huffington Post
Transatlantic Free Trade Must Be Done Right
There's a buzz, says Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, in both Berlin and D.C. these days, for free trade as a potential path back to…
Bipps
Yes Kentucky, the war on coal is real
William Yeatman from globalwarming.org – whose tagline is “May cooler heads prevail” – recently posted an article spelling out this exact point. According to Yeatman,…
Bipps
Tobacco rules substitute one problem for another
“Cigar smoking knows no politics. It’s about the pursuit of pleasure, taste, and aroma,” someone once said. Premium cigars are enjoyed by adults as much…
Blog
Anti-Immigration Group FAIR: Market Is Like “A Mob Without Reason, Irrational and Immoral”
Last week, Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) denounced CEI’s position on immigration. Mehlman argued new foreign workers would degrade wages…
National Review
Do as Reagan Did, And Free Credit Unions
In their post-mortem on the election, National Review’s editors stressed the need to “make the case that conservative policies would make the broad mass of…
Blog
Catching The Chimera: Right-To-Work In Michigan
Openmarket.org Labor leaders have seen the writing on the wall for their movement for a while now. But that writing just got bolder and more ominous…
Blog
Catching The Chimera: Right-To-Work In Michigan
Labor leaders have seen the writing on the wall for their movement for a while now. But that writing just got bolder and more ominous for…
Blog
Researchers Repudiate BPA Junk Science
The chemical bisphenol A (BPA) -- which is used to make hard, clear plastics and resins that line food containers -- regularly appears in news…
Blog
CEI Podcast For December 6, 2012: Rising Public Sector Pay
Senior Fellow Matt Patterson discusses why public sector workers make substantially more money than their private sector counterparts.
Blog
Union Holds U.S. Ports Hostage
Representatives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 (ILWU) agreed to a labor contract with port operators associated with the Los Angeles/Long…
Blog
When Gridlock Is Good: The Case Of The Toxic Substances Control Act
When it comes to traffic, gridlock is never good. And in politics, it's a big problem when lawmakers can't agree on a plan to rescue…
Forbes
Why Grover Norquist’s Tax Pledge Works
Listening to the media these days, it seems Grover Norquist is Public Enemy No. 1. His insistence lawmakers keep their promises to voters—in the form…
News Release
CEI: Tell Americans NOW How Much Time Govt. Workers Spend On Union Duties
Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 2012 – Federal employees spent about 3.4 million hours performing union duties while on the clock in 2011, according to an…
Forbes
A Tax Both Ayn Rand And Ralph Nader Could Love
Here is a puzzler worth pondering as Congress scrambles to find enough tax revenue to feed its insatiable appetite for spending. Can you come up…
Blog
Appeals Court Hears Challenge To Obama Administration Power Grab Over NLRB
This morning, the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in Noel Canning v. NLRB, which includes a challenge to President Obama's "recess" appointment of two…
Blog
The Temperance Movement Is Alive And Well
Today, Dec. 5, is the day to go out and raise a glass to celebrate the anniversary of the repeal of alcohol prohibition in the United…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Fiscal Cliff alternatives, renewable fuel standards, and green chemistry
Letters
Coalition Letter on the Fiscal Cliff and the Taxpayer Protection Pledge
Full Document Available in PDF Dear Republican Members of Congress, We, the undersigned organizations, who represent millions of Americans dedicated to fiscal…
Blog
Beyond The Fiscal Cliff, Bipartisan Regulatory Reform
If I'm reading this right, the Progressive Policy Institute wants to roll back some over-regulation. It's not clear how much, but it does seem to…
Blog
Today’s Links: December 5, 2012
Blog
Victory For Small Business: Lawsuit-Spawning Disabilities Rights Treaty Blocked
"By a vote of 61 to 38 with two-thirds needed, the U.S. Senate" Tuesday "failed to ratify the far-reaching Convention on the Rights of Persons…
Blog
Anti-Immigration Group Repudiates Free Market Principles
My last blog post pointed out the anti-immigrant charge that “massive infusions of cheap foreign labor” impoverishes the country is fundamentally anti-people. After all,…
Blog
If You Can’t Beat Him, Join Together
Wisconsin’s largest teachers unions may be joining forces. The WEAC, an affiliate of the National Education Association, and the AFT-Wisconsin, affiliate of the American Federation of…
National Review
Sneaky Stuff
Some Democrats are trying to sneak through legislative amendments that would, by overturning a number of Supreme Court decisions, both codify and expand disparate-impact causes…
Point of Law
Will lawmakers slip disparate impact, punitive damages into Title VI?
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination by recipients of federal education spending and other programs, does not currently allow…
Point of Law
Hans Bader on Disparate Impact Liability
In his recent article, New Pressure On Schools To Adopt Quotas, Speech Codes, And Low Standards?, senior attorney at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Hans Bader,…
Point of Law
Does Fisher Matter?
The recently-argued Supreme Court case of Fisher v. University of Texas has many people believing that the Court is likely to strike down the explicit…
News Release
Coalition Warns Against Tax Hikes, Defends Taxpayer Protection Pledge
Blog
What Is Green Chemistry?
Washington's state bureaucrats are soliciting proposals from "public and private sector firms to help create a technically competent and vibrant Green Chemistry Center to help…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Internet sales tax, Exxon-Mobil’s carbon tax, and the anti-immigration sentiment
Blog
Today’s Links: December 4, 2012
Blog
More Lawsuits Against Doctors, Hospitals Due To Senate Amendment 3215 To NDAA
Earlier, I wrote about a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013, which would dramatically increase lawsuits against schools and…
News Release
Institute Welcomes Court Ruling on Commercial Free Speech
WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 4, 2012 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute applauded the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision yesterday, concluding that the…
Blog
Official Time: Officially Outrageous
Would you be upset if you learned that your local tax dollars were funding a rival sports team in another state? Of course, but that, thankfully, is…
Blog
Official Time: Officially Outrageous
Openmarket.org Would you be upset if you learned that your local tax dollars were funding a rival sports team in another state? Of course,…
Newsletter
CEI Today: Anti-chemical risk, Civil Rights Act, and the Copyright Act
Blog
Anti-Immigrant? Or Just Anti-People?
What economists call “labor,” most of us just call “people.” Without people, there is no economy -- no producers, no consumers, no supply, and no…
Blog
Today’s Links: December 3, 2012
Blog
American Capitalism Is More Compassionate Than European Socialism
America has not yet become Europe. And that’s a good thing. In Investor’s Business Daily, I empirically show that the American model of greater…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
88 new regulations, from phone bill formatting to food labels.
The Washington Times
Internet sales taxes attack states’ rights
Proponents of Internet sales taxes are asking the lame-duck Congress to bless their state tax cartel as part of a larger tax reform package by…
Newsmax
Seven of 10 Richest Members of Congress Are Democrats
"However, the EPA stacked the decks against petitioners, establishing a burden of proof that was virtually impossible to meet," according to Mario Lewis, a senior…
Fordham Law Review
Conflict Minerals Legislation: The SEC’s New Role as Diplomatic and Humanitarian Watchdog Sneaky Stuff
Congolese activists and others have continually asserted that this regulation will lead, and has already led, to an embargo of Congolese minerals, a drastic cost…
Project M
Great lowered expectations
The final bill would in turn be partially funded by the $7 billion in federal tax revenues gained as a result of corporations’ reduced tax-deductible…
Blog
Looting The Future: Union Bosses Violate Spirit If Not Letter Of The Law
Openmarket.org Hostess’ union-induced shutdown captures the essence of the modern labor movement–more anti-employer than pro-worker. Workers are taking notice of unions’ negative impact on employers,…
Blog
New Pressure On Schools To Adopt Quotas, Speech Codes, And Low Standards?
Lawsuits against schools and colleges have nothing to do with our troops and their needs. But that didn’t stop Senators from seeking to add a harmful…
Blog
Looting The Future: Union Bosses Violate Spirit If Not Letter Of The Law
Hostess’ union-induced shutdown captures the essence of the modern labor movement–more anti-employer than pro-worker. Workers are taking notice of unions’ negative impact on employers, for…
Blog
Today’s Links: November 30, 2012
Blog
Obama Breaks Pledge Against Middle-Class Tax Hikes By Proposing Tax Increase On Dividends, Capital Gains
Newsletter
CEI Today: Carbon taxes, global warming science, and the STEM Jobs Act
Study
Rachel Was Wrong
As the world reexamines Rachel Carson’s anti-pesticide legacy, this paper focuses on the importance of chemicals designed for crop production. Unfortunately, the benefits of these…
News Release
New Study: Rachel Carson Was Wrong
WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 30, 2012 – This year marks the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the book credited with launching the modern environmentalist…
Blog
Immigration Reform Is Not A Zero Sum Game
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on Republicans’ first post-election attempt at pro-immigration reform. But their bill, the STEM Jobs Act (H.R. 6429),…
Blog
Today’s Links: November 29, 2012
News Release
Decades-Old ECPA Needs Update, CEI Urges
Washington, D.C., November 29, 2012 — This morning, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on an amendment to the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy…
News Release
STEM Jobs Act a Step Backward on Immigration Reform, Warns Free Market Group
WASHINGTON D.C., Nov. 29, 2012 – This Friday, the House of Representatives will vote on the STEM Jobs Act (H.R. 6429). The bill would…
Forbes
Grover Norquist’s Gnomes Duke It Out With The Tax Fairness Fairy
No one seriously believes that federal spending is going to be brought under control any time soon. Regardless of what deals are cut during the…
Blog
L.A. Public Pension Problem A Microcosm Of California’s Financial Woes
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan abandoned efforts this week to gather signatures for a ballot initiative to reform the city’s public pension plan.
Op-Eds
Senator Durbin is wrong on energy drinks ban
Several lawmakers have called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “do something” to protect the public from the alleged threat of energy…
Blog
CEI Podcast For November 27, 2012: Rachel Was Wrong
Senior Fellow Angela Angela Logomasini talks about her forthcoming CEI study, "Rachel Was Wrong: Agrochemicals’ Benefits to Human Health and the Environment."…
Blog
Guest Workers Can Help End Illegal Immigration
The debate over immigration reform has focused on its long-term effects on America’s culture as well as its economy. But that obscures the fact that…
Blog
Intrade Is Only The Latest CFTC Outrage
Every so often, a government agency will do something so outrageous it will shock even even everyday critics of "big government," as well as draw…
Blog
Today’s Links: November 27, 2012
Blog
The Real Thanksgiving Turkey? SEIU’s Failed LAX Demonstration
Blog
The Bank Of England Breaks With Tradition, Only To Continue It
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s selection for the new governor of the Bank of England (BOE) is a strong break with tradition.
Blog
Union Fail: Walmart Survives Labor-Driven Intimidation Campaign
Openmarket.org Well, that was pitiful. Union-backed groups OUR Walmart and Making Change at Walmart had planned a massive, nationwide strike/protest campaign against the retail…
Blog
Union Fail: Walmart Survives Labor-Driven Intimidation Campaign
Well, that was pitiful. Union-backed groups OUR Walmart and Making Change at Walmart had planned a massive nationwide strike/protest campaign against the retail giant designed…
Newsletter
CEI Today: The Basel Cliff, America or Europe?, and the union behind Black Friday protests at Walmart
Blog
Good Riddance! — SEC’s Schapiro Sabotaged Startup Law Supported By Obama
When President Obama appointed Mary Schapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission four years ago, I kept an open mind and was even cautiously optimistic.
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: September – October 2012
Blog
Myths About Thanksgiving
The first Thanksgiving didn’t usher in a time of plenty for the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims continued to confront the specter of starvation until they ditched…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
32 new regulations, from dehumidifiers to solid waste.
Blog
Today’s Links: November 26, 2012
News Release
Three Scholars to Appear at Conference of State Legislators
Forbes
Regulatory Uncertainty Drives A Fish Farmer To Foreign Waters
Feeding 7 billion people is no small challenge. As it has from time immemorial, high quality protein harvested from the sea plays a major role…
Washington Examiner
EPA administrators invent excuses to avoid transparency
The Environmental Protection Agency is the latest Obama bureaucracy exposed for embarrassing efforts to avert transparency. Its administrator, Lisa Jackson, has been using the email…
Appeal Democrat
Taking money off the table
The range of higher taxes looming Jan. 1 as part of the "fiscal cliff" are not the only blow the economy could suffer, John Berlau…
Appeal Democrat
Opportunity And Wealth Remain In America, Not Europe
The presidential election proved Americans have embraced European-style social democracy and that ObamaCare is but the first chapter in a new era of big government.
Appeal Democrat
Walmart employees striking locally, nationally on Black Friday
“The union may say they’re not engaged in an organizing effort here,” said Matt Patterson, speaking for the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “But the truth is…
Forbes
A Guide To Talking Politics At The Thanksgiving Table
“And remember, no talking politics. Most of the people there will be liberals and you know how badly they react to opinions different from their…
Blog
PATTERSON AND BROWN: Demise of the Twinkie reveals unions’ true priorities
The Washington Times Is there a more iconic American snack than the Twinkie? The long-ubiquitous “golden sponge cake with cream filling” has been around…
Newsletter
CEI Today: EPA email scandal, biofuel ruling, carbon tax prospects, online poker, and more
Blog
Government Files Motion To Dismiss Dodd-Frank Lawsuit
Dodd-Frank’s destructive economic impact continues to grow week by week. Last June, CEI and two other plaintiffs, the State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas,…
Blog
Alcohol Regulation Roundup: Turkey Day 2012 Edition
While most people in the U.S. are fantasizing about turkey slathered in gravy, yams, and pumpkin pie right now, beer connoisseurs throughout the nation --…
Blog
Profile: The Union Behind Black Friday Walmart Protests
As the union-backed groups OUR Walmart and Making a Change at Walmart gear up to make a statement this Black Friday, the company took…
Legal Brief
Dodd Frank Challenge – Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss
Full Document Available in PDF This lawsuit cobbles together an array of disparate challenges to the constitutionality of three titles of an…
Blog
CEI Podcast For November 21, 2012: Will Hostess Survive?
Senior Fellow Matt Patterson breaks down the controversy surrounding confection maker Hostess' perilous position.
Bloomberg
Watchdog Wants EPA Chief’s Use of Alias E-Mail Probed
The allegation about alias e-mail accounts at the agency was first made by Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based…
Bloomberg
Demise of the Twinkie reveals unions’ true priorities
Is there a more iconic American snack than the Twinkie? The long-ubiquitous “golden sponge cake with cream filling” has been around since 1930, when baker…
Daily Caller
‘Basel cliff’ looms for community banks
As if the “fiscal cliff” were not enough, banks of all sizes — and in turn the consumers and businesses that rely on their credit…
Blog
Hostess Bankruptcy Backstory: The AFL-CIO vs. SEIU Rivalry
The controversy over the impending shutdown of Hostess Brands — and who is to blame — has pitted two unions against each other. That…
Blog
New I-495 Express Lanes Present Challenges, But Remain Best Option
This past Saturday, the innovative I-495 Express Lanes opened on the Washington Beltway. The 14-mile high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes — which were built and are…
Blog
The Hostess Bankruptcy And The Threat Of A PBGC Bailout
On Friday, November 16, Hostess Brands announced it was shutting down operations after the Bakers, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), which rejected…
Blog
Today’s Links: November 20, 2012
Blog
Eleventh-Hour Twinkie Reprieve?
Today, representatives from Hostess Brands and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) undertake an 11th-hour effort to negotiate a…
Blog
Hostess Negotiates With Union: Jobs And Twinkies Could Be Saved
On Monday, Hostess Brands asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York for permission to close and liquidate all assets. But at…
Blog
“I, Pencil” Premiere Party
Blog
Walmart: A Black Eye On Black Friday
Walmart has long been one of the left's favorite boogeymen, and no wonder -- the company stubbornly and successfully has resisted efforts by labor unions to organize its workforce for years.
Blog
The Estonian Solution To America’s Fiscal Cliff: Cut Spending
Real austerity brings real growth. That’s the story of Estonia, which broke the common European mold of tax increase-based economic retrenchment by taking an axe…
Blog
Walmart: A Black Eye On Black Friday
Openmarket.org Walmart has long been one of the left’s favorite boogeymen-men, and no wonder — the company has stubbornly and successfully resisted efforts by labor unions to organize its…