Blog
Remembering Elinor Ostrom
Among the individuals with whom I wish I could have greater opportunities to exchange ideas is Elinor Ostrom. She passed away today, and now I…
Blog
The Private Sector Is Not “Doing Fine,” Contrary to Claims by President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Far more people have lost their jobs in the private sector than in the public sector, and the percentage of the economy consumed by…
Blog
Today’s Links: June 12, 2012
News Release
CEI Releases New Study, “All Pain and No Gain: The Illusory Benefits of the EPA’s Utility MACT”
Washington, D.C., June 12, 2012 – Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute published a new study, “All Pain and No Gain: The Illusory Benefits of…
News Release
Report: How to Fix Surface Transportation in Massachusetts
Washington, D.C., June 12, 2012 – Massachusetts, like other states, faces problems in funding its transportation infrastructure needs. A new report from the Competitive…
Forbes
Big Costs, Illusory Benefits: Why Congress Should Nix The Utility MACT
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote soon on legislation (S.J.Res.37) sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) to overturn one of the most costly regulations…
Forbes
EPA’s Phony Job Numbers
The Environmental Protection Agency acknowledges its new mercury regulation for coal-fired power plants will be the most expensive in history, costing more than $10 billion…
Newsmax
H.R. 1909 Lifts Barriers to Small Loans
Last Friday’s dismal jobs number renewed the call for Congress to find common ground and “do something.” Unfortunately, the “something” that the punditocracy usually calls…
WVNS TV
Machin, Republicans Fight Mercury Emission Rule
From WVNSTV and The State Journal: The Competitive Enterprise Institute released a report called "All Pain and No Gain" earlier this month stating…
Blog
Union Bosses Care More about Collective Bargaining than Students
Openmarket.org In Massachusetts and Louisiana, union bosses’ recent actions indicate collective bargaining privileges and lavish contracts are their number one priority. First in Massachusetts,…
Blog
Stigler on the Regulatory Mindset
"There are only two alternatives to the market: the state, and prayer. It turns out the two were merged in one."…
Blog
Union Bosses Care More about Collective Bargaining than Students
In Massachusetts and Louisiana, union bosses' recent actions indicate collective bargaining privileges and lavish contracts are their number one priority. First in Massachusetts, the AFL-CIO…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
65 new regulations last week, covering everything from substance abuse to the official taxonomy of the endangered African wild ass.
WVNS TV
Are Immigration Laws Like Jim Crow?
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley was forced to defend his state’s harsh immigration law recently against charges that it amounts to a return to segregation-era racially…
News Release
Center-Right Groups Oppose Price Controls on Retailers and Banks
Washington, D.C., June 11, 2012 – Two years after many retail associations lobbied successfully for price controls on the banks that process their debit…
WVNS TV
Should We Label Genetically-Modified Food?
Green State TV is back for 2011 with an interview on biotechnology and agriculture with Greg Conko…
WVNS TV
Norquist, Conservative Groups Petition FCC in Favor of Latest Verizon Deal
From Josh Peterson’s Daily Caller article: “Demand for wireless broadband is more than doubling annually, but vast swaths of valuable spectrum — the…
Letters
Coalition Letter on Consumer Debit Card Protection Act
Full Document Available in PDF To the Members of the United States Congress: You may have seen some recent reports, including in…
Study
Fixing Surface Transportation in Massachusetts
If all highway funding responsibility were to be devolved to the states, additional revenue must be found. Innovative financing, modern electronic tolling, and new roadway…
Newsletter
Labor Union Republicans, Highway Bill, and War on Salt
Study
All Pain and No Gain
The MACT Rule supposedly reduces risk to unborn children by lowering methylmercury concentrations in non-commercial fish. But the EPA provides no empirical evidence that any…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 220: Driver’s Side Mirrors
A math professor has invented a driver's side mirror that eliminates the dreaded blind spot, but regulators won't let car makers use them.
Study
MCOOL and the Politics of Country-of-Origin Labeling
The Mandatory Country-of-Origin Label (MCOOL) for beef and pork products was brought into force by the United States in 2008. It imposes uneven tracking, segregating,…
Blog
In New York, a Private/Public Sector Union Rift
The fact that government employee unions have been at the center of budget debates across the nation underscores their outsize influence on state and local…
Blog
Today’s Links: June 8, 2012
News Release
House Fails to Pass Taxpayer-Protection Measure
Washington, D.C., June 8, 2012 – Congress today failed in an 82-323 vote to end general revenue bailouts of the Highway Trust Fund. Rep.
Reuters
An Eye on Environmental Justice
From Curtis Brainard's post in The Observatory: The activity drew some attention from The Washington Post and The New York Times, but hasn’t…
Business Week
Obama Shouldn’t Embellish His Small Business Record
From Scott Shane's article in Bloomberg Businessweek: Now consider regulation. The National Economic Council report says that the president has cut “red tape”…
Blog
Seasteading for Enterprise on the High Seas
Complete exit from the state has long been a dream of many libertarians. From the defunct Republic of Minerva (perhaps the only nation every to…
Blog
CEI Podcast for June 7, 2012: MACT the Knife
A new EPA regulation is intended to cut mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. Are the costs worth it? Policy Analyst David Bier, co-author of…
Blog
Tapping Space Resources
Over at The Washington Times, Bob Zubrin says that we need space property rights. Gee, I wonder…
Letters
Coalition Letter to Surface Transportation Bill Conferees Supporting Public-Private Partnerships
Blog
Union Leaders, Not Members, Determine Union Political Donations
Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum dismisses the fact that 38 percent of Wisconsin union households voted to retain Governor Scott Walker as “exactly the…
Blog
Support the Broun Motion to Instruct; Oppose Future Highway Trust Fund Bailouts
Blog
Ten Thousand Commandments and Growing
Over at ?The Washington Times?, Wayne Crews and I praise President Obama's recent regulatory reforms. They're small, but they're better than nothing:…
Blog
Today’s Links: June 7, 2012
Blog
Taxpayers Win as Dulles Rail Drops Pro-Union Contracting Rules
In a win for Old Dominion taxpayers, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) yesterday rescinded a pro-union project labor agreement (PLA) for the building of the Metro…
Blog
Government Restrictions on Salt Consumption May Cost Lives
Some government officials would like to curb salt consumption, even though such restrictions could increase death rates. “The Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines still…
Blog
George Will Makes the Case for the REINS Act
In his column today, George Will makes the case for Congress to take responsibility for the enormous costs which regulation imposes on American businesses…
Blog
After Wisconsin, whither Government Unions ?
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s victory in a recall election at which organized labor threw everything but the kitchen sink will likely encourage lawmakers in other…
Blog
In Confronting Unions, Walker Further than Reagan
When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker first put forward his public sector labor reform, organized labor and its allies tried to portray the legislation -- especially…
Blog
Bhagwati: How the Multilateral Trade System Is Being Eroded
Trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati’s latest article points out dangers to the world trading system of bilateral and regional trade agreements between unequal partners that…
Blog
Twisting the Law to Punish Heretics: Elane Photography v. Willock
Judges are supposed to interpret laws narrowly if a broader interpretation would potentially encroach on religious freedom. For example, in NLRB v. Catholic Bishop…
Blog
Washington’s Ten Thousand Commandments
The 2012 edition of “Ten Thousand Commandments” is out now. If you don’t feel like reading all 66 pages (though I recommend you do!),…
Letters
CEI Coalition Letter to Surface Transportation Reauthorization Conferees Supporting the Broun Motion to Instruct
Full Document Available in PDF Dear Member of…
Business Week
Paul Ryan at CEI Gala: Want to See How This Movie Ends? Look at Europe
From Francesca Chambers’ post in RedAlertPolitics: It’s not to late to turn around our country and get the American Dream back, said Rep.
Daily Mail
Scott Walker’s Victory is a Victory for Worker Freedom
You wouldn’t know it from the recall election campaign itself, but yesterday’s failed attempt to unseat reforming Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin was all about…
Washington Post
Would Don Draper Hate Today’s Corporate Ad Campaigns?
From Suzy Khimm's post in The Washington Post's WonkBlog: If an ad man like Don Draper saw the groveling, apologetic PR coming from…
Op-Eds
Judge Flouts Supreme Court, First Amendment
Lawyer Aaron Walker was recently arrested for blogging against left-wing activist and convicted bomber Brett Kimberlin in violation of the First Amendment, as The Washington…
News Release
Wisconsin Recall FAIL: This is What Democracy Looks Like
Washington, D.C., June 6, 2012 – As a result of the failure of labor union forces to recall the Wisconsin governor yesterday, taxpayers were the…
Blog
Cut The Budget By Cutting Republican Sacred Space Cows
Over at Forbes, Cato’s Doug Bandow says that the Republicans need to lead by example: Presumptive Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney…
Blog
A Liberal War on Women: “New Law Keeps Many Homemakers from Qualifying for Credit Cards”
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act), a law passed by a liberal Congress and signed by President Obama, “…
Washington Post
Paul Ryan Goes Solo for Romney in N.C.
From ABC News’ Veep Beat: RYAN STUMPS FOR ROMNEY IN NORTH CAROLINA: While his state is engaged in a recall election today, Rep.
The American Spectator
Washington’s Ten Thousand Commandments
Deficits, taxes, and spending are the defining issues of the 2012 campaign. Regulation deserves a seat at the table, too. The federal government spent $3.6…
The American Spectator
Paul Ryan Calls Wisconsin Recall Election for Walker
Washington Times
Letter to the Editor: Judicial Injustice in Kimberlin Case
Robert Knight’s discussion of the harassment faced by conservative critics of Brett Kimberlin, the convicted “Speedway Bomber,” was spot on, as was his mention of…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
58 new rules despite the short work week, covering everything from dishwashers to Maine lobsters.
Blog
Wisconsin Recall: A High Stakes Battle
The past 15 months in Wisconsin have been tumultuous to say the least. Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin is facing a recall after labor unions…
Newsletter
CISPA, State Farm’s Strong Stand, Double Jeopardy & the Supreme Court
Washington Times
Former FCC Official Takes Stance Against FCC’s Possible 4G LTE Technology Mandate
From Josh Peterson’s article in The Daily Caller: Fred Campbell, director of the Communications Liberty and Innovation Project — a new project by…
Comment
CEI’s CLIP Submits Comments Before the FCC on 700 MHz Interoperability
Full Document Available in PDF The Communications Liberty and Innovation Project submits these comments…
Blog
New Space Property Rights Criticism
Over at the Space and Cyberlaw blog, Eric Dawson takes issue with my issue analysis on space…
Blog
Unemployment Rises, Debunking Obama Stimulus Claims
“The joblessness rate jumped to 8.2 percent. What makes that number particularly painful is that the Obama Administration claimed that the unemployment rate today would…
Blog
Supreme Court Takes Another Bite Out of Constitutional Protections Against Double Jeopardy
The Supreme Court recently weakened constitutional protections against double jeopardy in Blueford v. Arkansas, a homicide case. The 6-to-3 decision was written by Chief…
Blog
Maryland Gov. O’Malley Grants Big Labor Protections from Disclosure
Openmarket.org In Maryland, labor unions join the protected ranks of doctors and lawyers with respect to confidentiality privileges. In early May, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley…
Blog
Maryland Gov. O’Malley Grants Big Labor Protections from Disclosure
In Maryland, labor unions join the protected ranks of doctors and lawyers with respect to confidentiality privileges. In early May, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed…
Blog
Stand with State Farm as it Stands with ALEC
Wall Street Journal
Letter to the Editor: ‘Modest’ Doesn’t Describe the CISPA
Your editorial "Who's Afraid of #CISPA?" (May 21) rightly argues that facilitating voluntary information sharing is a vastly superior approach to bolstering America's cyber defenses…
Washington Post
Unions and the Obama administration, ‘First Principles’ to Prosperity and More
From The Washington Post's ThinkTanked: Competitive Enterprise Institute’s F. Vincent Vernuccio and Trey Kovacs: Big union’s unethical influence in government. (Washington Times)…
Washington Post
Federal Regulations Should Draw as Much Scrutiny as Facebook IPO
Facebook’s fall following its much-hyped initial public offering has politicians scrambling for “solutions.” But were it not for politicians’ meddling, Facebook’s and other recent IPOs…
Social Science Research Network
Two Questions for Law Schools About the Future Boundaries of the Legal Profession
From Elizabth Chambliss' NYLS Legal Studies Research Paper: A better strategy is to focus on lowering the cost of the unified J.D. degree,…
Case Western Reserve Law Review
The Role of the Avoidance Canon in the Roberts Court and the Implications of Its Inconsistent Application in the Court’s Decisions
[FN1]. See, e.g., Hans Bader, Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB:…
News Release
On National Donut Day, Be a Patriot – Eat One for Yourself, One for Your Freedom
Washington, D.C., June 1, 2012 – In a week that New York City’s mayor announced a planned ban on large-size sugary sodas, consumers have…
News Release
Competitive Enterprise Institute Launches Program to Advance Innovation in Telecommunications
Washington, D.C., June 1, 2012 – Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) launched the Communications Liberty and Innovation Project (CLIP), a program of…
News Release
CLIP Takes Bold Stance Against FCC Technology Mandate
WASHINGTON, D.C, June 1, 2012 – Fred Campbell, Director of the Communications Liberty and Innovation Project (CLIP) at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Blog
New York City Mayor Michael “Nanny” Bloomberg Wants To Ban Super-Sized Soda
The infamous mayor, known for instituting paternalistic food policies, like banning trans fats and Four Loko, limiting salt, regulating calories, is at it again.
Blog
Victory in Dewey v. Volkswagen!
WASHINGTON, DC – The Center for Class Action Fairness LLC announced today its victory in the U.S. Court…
Blog
Lawyer Arrested for Constitutionally Protected Blogging Against Convicted Bomber, After Hearing Before Judge C.J. Vaughey
Earlier, I wrote about how a judge in Montgomery County, Maryland (a liberal bastion), had silenced a critic of convicted "Speedway Bomber" Brett…
Blog
CEI Podcast for May 31, 2012: Ten Thousand Commandments
Congress passed 81 bills last year, while agencies passed 3,807 regulations. This, according to Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews, is regulation without representation.
Blog
Today’s Links: May 31, 2012
Blog
PATTERSON: June can’t come soon enough
The Washington Times June is shaping up to be a pivotal month for American liberty. On one front, the Supreme Court is expected in June…
Blog
May update
A disappointing loss in Cobell v. Salazar, the first time I lost a federal appeal I’ve argued. We’re still evaluating our options.
Blog
If Only All Policemen were Leroy Jethro Gibbs
As a fan of NCIS, I’m quite aware of the government's ability to track the location of individuals through their cell phones. One of the…
Washington Times
Big Union’s Unethical Influence in Government
In one of the most glaring examples of Washington's sordid revolving-door political culture, former National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Craig Becker took a job…
Forbes
Court Rejects Volkswagen Settlement That Gave Lawyers $9 Million, Owners Letters
Forbes discusses Ted Frank's victory when the court sided with him and overturned the Volkswagen settlement because the lawyers created a conflict of interest between…
Blog
CPSC Commissioner Challenges Precautionary Principle
Most of the time regulators focus on issuing rules, pushing paper, and often making business more difficult than necessary. But every once and a while,…
Blog
Long Commutes Will Kill You? A Brief Response to Matt Yglesias’s Post
Slate blogger Matthew Yglesias, a center-left economics writer whose work I generally enjoy reading, has a new post up with the title, "Long Commutes…
Blog
Causes of Public Pension Underfunding Are Not Hard to Identify
As if on cue, nearly every time state and local government officials try to rein in public employee pension costs in order to bring their…
Blog
The Futility of Religious Profiling at Airport Security Checkpoints
“Obviously, Muslims would be someone you'd look at, absolutely,” former-Senator Rick Santorum said during a GOP presidential debate last year. “Radical Muslims are…
Blog
Today’s Links: May 30, 2012
Forbes
55,000 Green Cards for Foreign Tech Graduates
From Justin Harper’s article in The Telegraph: David Bier, policy analyst at the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute, said: “The economy is ready to…
Blog
Injunction Imposed Over Blog Posts That Criticized Convicted Terrorist-Turned-Left-Wing Activist
In 2005, a New Mexico judge appalled people across America by issuing a restraining order against David Letterman after a wacky woman accused Letterman…
Newsletter
Fuel Credit Fraud, New Old Plans to Regulate Wireless, and EPA Pre-Regulation on Pebble Creek Mine
Blog
Paycheck Fairness Act Contains Unfair Provisions, Would Result in Equal Pay for Unequal Work
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., scheduled a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act when the Senate returns from its week-long recess,” reports Susan…
Blog
Today’s Links: May 29, 2012
Blog
When Schools Are Like Jails — Or Worse
A 17-year-old Texas honor student has been jailed for missing too much school. Diane Tran works both full-time and part-time jobs, in addition to taking…
Blog
CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
95 new final rules published last week, covering everything from crocodiles to the definition of "unblockable drain."…
Blog
Magical Thinking in Liberal Land
Forbes
President Obama’s Malthusian New Deal: Recovery Not
With unemployment high, economic recovery elusive, and gasoline prices near record levels, the term Great Recession has joined the economic infamy list that is only…
Forbes
Iowa Congressman Steve King Is Wrong On Immigration
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) thinks U.S. immigration policy should be like picking dogs. “You want a good bird dog, and you want one that’s gonna…