Blog
Bio Jet Fuel — the Real $600 Toilet Seat?
The custom-designed $600 toilet seat for P-3C Orion antisubmarine aircraft — often depicted as the epitome of government waste — is an urban legend.
Op-Eds
Is Scott Brown a Game-Changer on the Financial Bill?
A Yogi-ism for Congress: “It ain’t over until both houses of Congress vote for an identical bill and send it to the president’s desk…
Citation
Supreme Court Sarbanes-Oxley Decision
Citation
Supreme Court SOX Ruling Has IT Implications
News Release
Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Sarbanes-Oxley Provisions
Nearly five years ago, CEI and accountant Brad Beckstead began to discuss mounting a constitutional challenge to Sarbanes-Oxley’s Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The…
Citation
Wayne Crews on Cybersecurity and the Presidential “Kill Switch”
Competitive Enterprise Institute Director of Technology Studies Wayne Crews discusses the need for a decentralized and competitive approach of cybersecurity.
CEI On Demand
Sam Kazman on Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB
General Counsel Sam Kazman discusses the far reaching implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Blog
Liquor store privatization on tap in WA
In Washington state’s November election ballot will have a very interesting twist: dueling initiatives to privatize the state-run liquor stores: Washington Privatize State Liquor Stores…
Blog
CEI Weekly: Kozinski Brings Down the House at CEI’s Annual Dinner
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features the press coverage surrounding CEI's 26th annual dinner, including Judge…
Blog
Life Imitates The Simpsons – again
The Politico reports that Sen. Harry Reid (D.-NV) has hit on a new scheme for passing the chronically unpopular climate legislation that has been…
Newsletter
Official Bedtimes, Stimulus Creep and Free Trade Agreements
Japan’s Environment Ministry is encouraging its citizens to go to bed an hour earlier at night, and get up an hour earlier in the morning.
Blog
Good reporting, bad reporting
Compare and contrast the excellent analysis of Forbes.com’s Dan Fisher with the shallow softball St. Louis Business Journal on the A.G. Edwards case—though…
CEI On Demand
Arizona Declares War on Capitalism
The most persistent misunderstanding about Arizona’s new anti-immigration law, SB 1070, is that it is about security. The law’s supporters argue that there is…
CEI On Demand
Market Meddling Led to BP Oil Spill (Letter to the Editor)
Naomi Klein is correct that the mere $20m spent on accident prevention and spill response goes "a long way" toward explaining this disaster (…
Denver Business Journal
Markets Should Drive State’s Energy Industry
Xcel Energy is getting a lot of grief over its new “tiered” rate increase—a.k.a., the air-conditioner tax—but the criticism is somewhat misplaced. It’s impossible…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 143: Your Bedtime
In Japan, your bedtime is official government business.
Newsletter
Climate Skeptics, The Case Against Cap and Trade and Oil Spill Red Tape
The National Academy of Sciences recently published a report attacking the credentials of climate change skeptics. The Gulf oil spill has…
Blog
Ninth Circuit appeal in Bluetooth – reply brief
CCAF filed its reply brief in the Bluetooth case yesterday.
Denver Business Journal
USA Today Cheers Proposed Financial Protection Agency
Denver Business Journal
‘Green’ Energy Company Threatens Economics Professor … with Package of Dismantled Bomb Parts
Spain’s Dr. Gabriel Calzada — the author of a damning study concluding that Spain’s “green jobs” energy program has been a catastrophic economic…
News Release
Supreme Court Decision Spares America From Becoming International Magnet for Lawsuits
Washington, D.C., June 24, 2010 – The U.S. Supreme Court today saved this country from becoming a target-rich environment for international litigation, ruling against…
News Release
Lieberman-Collins-Carper Bill Threatens Nation’s Cybersecurity
Washington, D.C., June 24, 2010 – This afternoon, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee begins markup of the Lieberman-Collins-Carper cybersecurity bill, which contains controversial provisions…
PC World
Senate Panel Approves Controversial Cybersecurity Bill
PC World reports on the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act and discuss issues with the bill with Wayne Crews. One critic said Thursday…
Blog
A new low for science and the NAS — the “Black List”
In what has to be one of the most disgraceful examples of political, unscientific attacks, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published…
Blog
Five Years After Kelo
Today–this June 23–marks the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s wrongheaded ruling in Kelo v. New London. Here’s my piece on Kelo+5 in…
Blog
Sen. Inhofe demolishes energy independence rationale for cap-and-trade
Sen. James Inhofe’s daily Environment & Public Works Press Blog is a source I check early and often. The posts, which are more like essays than…
Blog
New Federal Interference With Oil-Spill Clean-Up: Feds Stop Louisiana From Dredging Needed to Create Protective Sand Berms
A TV station in New Orleans reports that “the federal government is shutting down the dredging that was being done to create protective sand…
Blog
Stimulus Package to Cost $75 Billion More Than Predicted; Plus, Government-Employee Bailout Sought
The stimulus package is going to cost at least $75 billion more than the $787 billion the Obama administration claimed, according to the Congressional…
Blog
Canada sees a good deal in Colombia FTA
Canada ratified a free trade agreement with Colombia on June 21, showing that the U.S.’s northern neighbor knows a good deal when it sees…
Blog
Judge rules Obama deepwater drilling ban “arbitrary and capricious”
Yesterday, Judge Martin Feldman of the Eastern Louisiana District Court lifted the Obama administration’s six-month moratorium on all oil and gas drilling in the…
Newsletter
Elena Kagan, Five Years of Kelo and Offshore Oil Drilling
More details about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan come to light. Today is the 5-year anniversary of the landmark property rights decision in the case…
Blog
“Oddly enough, I admired one of the lawyers.”
Bill McClellan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes about the Bachman v. A.G. Edwards case and settlement in today’s paper.
Daily Caller
Five Years After Kelo
Today marks the five-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s notorious Kelo v. New London decision. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court held that seizing…
Daily Caller
Constitutionality Aside, Look at the Economic Damage
Last week, the Obama administration confirmed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will file a lawsuit to challenge Arizona’s immigration law, SB 1070 before…
Daily Caller
The Walgreen Amendment
In passing the financial regulation bill, U.S. Senators made a point of how they were going after the “fat cats” on Wall Street.
Forbes
St. Louis Judge Hands Lawyers $21 Million For Coupons
Forbes discusses why Ted Frank challened the A.G. Edwards settlement. As Ted Frank of the Center for Class Action Fairness describes it, the…
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Lawyers win big in class action suit
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on Ted Frank's work to fight the A.G. Edwards Settlement that did not benefit the class members. Ted…
Blog
Judge Blocks Gulf Drilling Ban, Citing Deception by Obama Administration; Obama Continues to Delay Gulf Clean-Up
A federal judge has just blocked the Obama administration from imposing a blanket ban on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Blog
Supreme Court Upholds Controversial Antiterror Law; More Clues About Elena Kagan
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan was instrumental in getting President Clinton to veto a ban on partial-birth abortion. She also lumped…
Newsletter
Biocrap Victory, Cell Phone Scares and Obama’s Gulf Power Grab
The U.S. Supreme Court gave a major win to biotech crop breeders in a decision announced on Monday, reversing a lower court ruling in Monsanto…
Blog
Bachman v. A.G. Edwards update
You may recall the $60 million settlement that wasn’t to which CCAF objected. Judge Angela T. Quigless approved the settlement and approved the…
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Stimulus Spending Has Done Little to Promote Growth (Letter to the Editor)
The stimulus package destroyed private-sector jobs, since it was financed by borrowing money from private citizens that would otherwise have been spent on private…
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Great Immigration Deception
Arizona’s controversial immigration law and Democratic responses to it have ignited a fierce political fight that will only intensify as the law goes into…
Blog
Culture Warriors Are Missing the Point
Newsletter
Oil Spill Assistance, Immigration Crackdown and Money for Nothing
The White House refused to allow foreign ships to assist with cleanup of the BP oil spill. Arizona’s immigration crack-down inspires a public referendum on…
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Time For A Real Win-Win
The Senate is stalemated over climate policy for an obvious reason. The policies on offer – cap-and-trade, renewable electricity standards, “clean…
News Release
Memo: Upcoming Supreme Court decision in Sarbanes-Oxley case
MEMO TO: Friends of CEI FROM: John Berlau, Director of CEI’s Center for Entrepreneurs and Investors DATE: June 21, 2010 SUBJECT: …
News Release
Supreme Court Overturns Judge’s Ruling in Major Win for Biotech Crop Breeders
Washington, D.C., June 21, 2010 — The Supreme Court today over-turned a lower federal judge’s ruling that farmers could not plant a biotech alfalfa variety…
Blog
Ninth Circuit appeal in Bluetooth – opposition briefs
Earlier this month, plaintiffs and defendants each filed appellees’ briefs defending the district court’s approval of the Bluetooth settlement against our…
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Obama Uses Oil Spill to Push Failed Energy Policies
In his speech, President Obama used the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to push his failed energy policies, such as…
Blog
CEI Weekly: The Senate’s Global Warming Circus
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features the vote in the Senate on the Murkowski resolution and…
Blog
Obama Administration Blocks Clean-Up of Oil Spill by Louisiana and Foreign Allies By Imposing Red Tape
The Obama Administration recently used red tape to force Louisiana to stop using 16 barges that were cleaning up the Gulf…
Newsletter
Online Gambling, Orcs on Wall Street and the Chimera of Green Jobs
Congress continues to discuss a plan that would legalize online gambling in all fifty states. The government is on the prowl…
Blog
Friday Regulation Roundup
Arizona spends $1,250,000 to save 250 squirrels, plus more.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Obama’s Actions Prevent Timely Clean-Up By U.S. Allies
Crucial offers to help clean up BP’s oil spill “have come from Belgian, Dutch, and Norwegian firms that … possess some of the world’s most…
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Obama Blocks Louisiana, Foreign Allies from Oil Spill Clean-Up
The Obama Administration recently used red tape to force Louisiana to stop using 16 barges that were cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico…
Newsletter
Financial Reform, Hurricane Season and Bank Fees
Congress continues negotiations on a major financial reform bill. Florida Governor Charlie Christ vetoes a bill that would have allowed Florida insurance companies to build…
Blog
Congress Destroys Free Checking Accounts by Blocking Overdraft Fees for the Irresponsible
Banks can afford to offer free checking accounts with no minimum balance, to responsible people, only because they can charge overdraft fees to irresponsible people. …
Blog
Mordor Looks For More Wealth For Its Orcs
John Gapper has a very good column in the Financial Times today. He issues a timely warning that governments are on the prowl, looking…
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The New King of Detroit
Yesterday, the United Auto Workers union (UAW) named Bob King as its new president. Does this mean a change in direction for one of…
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Bad Idea: Congress Blocks Checking Overdraft Fees
Banks can afford to offer free checking accounts with no minimum balance, to responsible people, only because they can charge overdraft fees to irresponsible…
Cable Fax
FCC Releases Title II Broadband NOI for Comment
News Release
Center-Right Groups Protest Durbin ‘Interchange Fee’ Amendment Pushing Through Price Controls and Benefitting Big Retailers
Washington, D.C., June 17, 2010 – A coalition of 15 free-market and conservative groups are calling on Congress to reject credit and debit card…
News Release
FCC’s Destructive Inquiry Demands Congressional Action
Reactions by Competitive Enterprise Institute telecom policy analysts Ryan Radia and Wayne Crews on the Federal Communications Commission's Notice of Inquiry on broadband regulatory classification.
Letters
No Place for Corporate Welfare in Financial Regulation
Full Document Available in PDF As leaders of groups representing millions of Americans that comprise a Center-Right Coalition, we oppose price controls in…
Cablefax
FCC Releases Title II Broadband NOI for Comment
Cablefax discusses Ryan Radia and Wayne Crews's comments on the FCC Title II Broadband NOI. Reaction to this vote was immediate. Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
America’s Failed Domestic Ethanol Policy
I had a piece in yesterday’s Washington Times critiquing U.S. ethanol policy. My main points: Price subsidies are generally bad–they encourage overconsumption and distort…
Blog
Obama Uses Oil Spill to Push Failed Energy Policies
In his speech last night, President Obama used the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to push his failed energy policies, such…
Blog
Choosing individual liberty is no gamble.
On June 1st the Oregonian published an opinion piece by the editorial staff, titled “Legalization would be a gamble, too” The basis for the…
Blog
Cell Phone Cancer Scare Refuses to Die
Some people are scared that cell phones cause brain tumors. There are enough of these bedwetters that San Francisco just passed a new law requiring…
Letters
Coalition Letter Against Durbin Interchange Fee Price Control Amendment to Financial Reform Bill
Full Document Available in PDF As leaders of groups representing millions of Americans that comprise a Center-Right Coalition, we oppose price controls in…
Study
A Drought of Reason and Investigation
An Examination and Critique of the Center for Immigration Studies’ “A Drought of Summer Jobs”…
Cablefax
Chris Horner on Obama Energy Policy
CEI's Senior Fellow Chris Horner explains the problems with President Obama's energy policies.
Blog
Financial “Reform” Bill Engages in Racial Engineering, While Ignoring Corrupt Mortgage Giants
Congress and the Obama administration refused to do anything about the corrupt government-sponsored mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, even though administration…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 142: Ladies’ Night
Ladies’ night bar specials are illegal in Minnesota. They are unfair gender discrimination, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
Blog
Dewey v. Volkswagen, Water Ingress Settlement objection
The Dewey v. Volkswagen settlement where attorneys are asking for over $23 million for recovering an $8 million reimbursement fund for a small subset…
Blog
FL property insurance: turning a blind eye is not reform
While deregulation is always a good thing, we shouldn’t be fooled into believing that the recent news that Florida’s office of insurance regulation has…
Newsletter
EPA Disapproval, Oil Spill Politics and Ethanol Technology
Last week, the Senate rejected Lisa Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval against the EPA. President Obama has refused offers from several European countries to help clean…
Blog
EPA Overreach
I have an article in the Washington Times today about the EPA’s new status as a rogue agency. It begins: The Senate undermined its…
Cablefax
The Senate’s Global-Warming Circus
The Senate undermined its constitutional role last week with a vote that allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean…
Comment
Upcoming Supreme Court Decisions in Sarbanes-Oxley Case
Full Document Available in PDF The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision soon in a major case involving…
Blog
My article: “Purveying Pig Flu Panic at the Post”
“Panic is what we want,” Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum wrote last May of swine flu. “Panic is good,” she said, also labeling the disease…
Blog
Obama Blocked Clean Up of BP Oil Spill by Friendly Countries; International Assistance Blocked by Regulations Obama Had The Authority To Waive
Crucial offers to help clean up BP’s oil spill “have come from Belgian, Dutch, and Norwegian firms that . . . possess some of the…
Blog
Brava, Sen. Murkowski
Last Thursday, by a vote of 53-47, the Senate rejected S.J.Res.26, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval to overturn EPA’s endangerment rule. Although Sen.
Blog
Obama Wants Taxpayers to Cough Up $50 Billion To Bail Out Public-Employee Unions
President Obama now wants Congress to spend $50 billion to keep state governments from laying off government employees. In essence, this is a bailout…
Newsletter
Nuclear Power, AmeriCorps Fraud, and Climate Change ‘Denial’
The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future has drawn public ire for their decisions regarding nuclear power. President Obama is…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 141: Mandatory Fire Sprinklers
Politicians love it when housing prices go up. That's why Cumberland, Maryland is mulling requiring all new homes to install fire sprinkler systems. Cost: $3,000-$9,000…
Cablefax
Most Green Jobs Went to Foreign Firms (Letter to the Editor)
It is incredible that the federal government spent billions of dollars on so-called "green jobs" without having any definition of what a green…
Cablefax
Corporate Catfight Over Payment-Card Fees
Cablefax
Cap-And-Trade Prospects Dimmer Than Ever
Sen. Lisa Murkowski scored a political victory last week even though she fell short by four votes of achieving a legislative victory.
Human Events
Movie Star Misses Mark on Mining
Movie stars with advocacy agendas are a menace to society. Their charisma, looks, and access to a mass audience make them natural persuaders, but…
Human Events
Ending the Ethanol Experiment
Human Events
The Obama Window
Oh, dear. Politico reports that the president will make another push for his central planning repackaged as a “green economy” in a national address…
Human Events
Obama Refuses to Waive Law to Allow Foreign Help With Oil Spill
Crucial offers to help clean up BP’s oil spill “have come from Belgian, Dutch, and Norwegian firms that . . . possess some of…
Blog
CEI Weekly: Senate Defends EPA Power Grab
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features the vote in the Senate on the Murkowski resolution that…
Blog
Obama Fires Inspector General Who Uncovered Fraud, and Honors Defrauder Instead
Earlier, President Obama fired the inspector general for the AmeriCorps program after he uncovered fraud by Obama crony Kevin Johnson. (Johnson did not…
Newsletter
EPA Politics, Federal Courts and Chemical Safety
The Senate fails to pass Lisa Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval against the EPA. The Senate Judiciary Committee approves Obama’s nomination…
Blog
“‘Denialism’ has no place in scientific debate,” my letter in Nature Medicine
The key sentence in the letter is this, “‘Denialist’ is an ad hominem argument, the meaning of which is defined entirely by the user,…
Human Events
Action Needed Now to Stop EPA Power Grab
I wrote this morning in the American Spectator about how tight the vote is on Senator Murkowski’s bid to stop the…
Blog
AIG Bailout Had “Poisonous” Effect, Bailout Oversight Panel Says
“American International Group Inc.’s bailout had a ‘poisonous’ effect on the U.S. financial system because it demonstrated the government would protect Wall Street firms from…