Newsletter
Stocks Drop, Thrift Stores Threatened and Spending Tobacco Money
Stock values drop as investors await the passage of an economic stimulus bill and the new rules and restrictions that it will come with. New…
News Release
Florida Doesn’t Deserve a Federal Bailout, Think Tank Says
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News Release
Senate Approves Stimulus, Steps off Economic Cliff
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Citation
Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund
Citation
Florida office director for the Competitive Enterprise Institute Scores for Fla.’s McCarty For Cat Fund Lobbying Effort
Citation
Florida office director for the Competitive Enterprise Institute Scores for Fla.’s McCarty For Cat Fund Lobbying Effort
Blog
UNITE-HERE to Disunite?
UNITE-HERE, the 450,000-member textile and hospitality union, is embroiled in a “civil war,” according to its president, who is now openly considering breaking up the…
Blog
Stanford Economist Blames Government for Crisis
Blog
LibertyWeek 29: The Mother-in-Law of All Debts
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TARP Challenged in Federal Court
Three businesses and five individuals recently brought suit against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in the Eastern District of New York. The case,…
Blog
The COPs are back
Today has seen much activity and media coverage of the TARP’s Congressional Oversight Panel. Today the Panel released a number of reports on their…
Blog
Dickie Scruggs Back in Court
But, alas, not as a litigator – the role that made him rich and famous – but as a defendant. According to Legal Newsline,…
Blog
Usage Caps and the DLC Model
I just read an intriguing post by Mike Masnick over at Techdirt. Masnick points out that ISPs keep changing the definition…
Blog
More Economists Sign On to Cato’s Anti-Stimulus List
Blog
Amid Recession, Congress Forces Thrift Stores to Close
According to statements from the National Association of Retail & Thrift Shops and the National Association of Manufacturers, a law designed to protect kids…
Blog
Eileen Norcross on the Stimulus Bill
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The Prince and the Paupers
I still regard myself as a loyal subject of Her Britannic Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, but it’s hard not to come over all Cromwellian when…
Blog
Stimulating Comment
Comment from a friend watching Obama’s Indiana town hall promoting the stimulus: “Some chump just told Obama to mail a check to the people who…
Blog
Spending Money Isn’t Bold, New and Certainly Isn’t Change
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Tilting at Food Safety Windmills
Unfortunately, as long as the world's food production system continues to be highly decentralized and fragmented, there will continue to be foodborne illness outbreaks like…
Blog
Why “doing nothing” is something really big: Stopping the Anti-Stimulus
Robert Higgs, he of the famous “ratchet effect” theory of government growth (up but never down in answer to a crisis), has…
Newsletter
Stimulus Showdown, New SEC Rules and Obama’s Labor Pains
Aides on Capitol Hill prepare for negotiations between House and Senate versions of the economic stimulus bill. New Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Schapiro…
World Net Daily
Obama’s reversal of Bush global warming policy
News Release
Tobacco Settlement Challenge to Be Argued in Court
A lawsuit challenging the 46-state tobacco “Master Settlement Agreement” (MSA) will be argued today in federal district court in Shreveport, Louisiana, amid fresh reports of states misspending settlement…
Blog
Broadband Stimulus Cut
Bloomberg is reporting that an agreement on a stimulus package has been reached in the Senate. Included in the compromise was…
Blog
Should the Anti-Stimulus Package be tan or beige?
President Obama more than once last week called it “inexcusable” for Congress to get “bogged down in distraction, delay or politics as usual” over the…
Blog
Today’s Gift to Big Labor
Even as the nomination of Hilda Solis for Labor Secretary remains stalled due to tax and potential ethics rules troubles, organized labor got a…
Blog
More Questions about Solis
Today’s Washington Examiner proposes some questions which Senators should ask Obama Labor Secretary nominee Hilda Solis. Solis is treasurer and a member of the…
Blog
SEC penalty policy change could harm innocent investors
In one of her first actions as SEC chairman, Mary Schapiro announced today that she was getting rid of a policy that required SEC officials…
Blog
Senate Broad Stimulus & Avoiding Federal “Strings”
Aside from the fact that the Senate lacks the necessary votes to pass its version of the stimulus, the bill does…
News Release
SEC Decision on Corporate Penalties Could Harm Investors
SEC Decision on Corporate Penalties Could Harm Investors Watchdog Group Urges Chairman Schapiro to Reconsider…
Op-Eds
Protectionism is the embrace of fear, the rejection of hope
In the context of America’s $17-trillion economy, $12-trillion national debt and $4-trillion federal budget, a few billion dollars worth of international trade doesn’t sound…
Blog
Smoke On in California?
A liberty loving person could almost applaud the proposed roll-back of anti-smoking legislation in, of all places, California. The city of Long Beach,…
Blog
Obama’s New Appliance Efficiency Mandates, Consumers Better Run For Cover
President Obama today announced that he is pressuring the Department of Energy (DoE) to speed up some long-delayed efficiency standards for appliances. His move…
Blog
Stimulus Plan Harms Economy, Congressional Budget Office Admits
The bloated $800 billion “stimulus” package would not only create a mountain of debt, it would harm the economy in the long run.
Blog
For Obama, No Solace in Solis
This afternoon, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee abruptly canceled a session to consider the nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) for Labor…
Blog
Stimulus Bill Is Full of Pork
The $800 billion stimulus bill contains billions of dollars in pork and wasteful spending on items that have nothing to do with stimulating the…
Op-Eds
Insurer’s Exit Leaves Florida on the Brink
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Blog
Chris Horner Explains the Hype Behind Global Warming
Our very own Christopher C. Horner explains the hype behind global warming and talks about his new book, Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming…
Blog
Support for Stimulus Collapses Internationally
Rasmussen reports that support for the borrow-and-spend plan is falling rapidly: The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 37% favor the…
Letters
Oppose the Federal Stimulus Bill
We the undersigned public interest organizations, representing millions of members and supporters nationwide, hereby call upon you to reject the $819 billion spending bill that…
Blog
Obama’s defense of weatherizing homes as “stimulus” with Anderson Cooper on CNN is priceless
The President actually said: –it puts people to work –it saves families on their energy bill –it reduces dependence on foreign oil.
Newsletter
Stimulus Trade Wars, Smart Grids and Bank Nationalization
Lawmakers propose applying a “buy American” restriction to projects funded by the economic stimulus package. Energy companies lobby for subsidies for a national “smart” electrical…
Op-Eds
Eli Lehrer: “The U.S. government has no business taking over banks.”
Nationalize U.S. Banks: In light of the financial crisis, the U.S. should nationalize banks, taking over the most troubled ones. Pro: The…
World Net Daily
Obama’s Top Economic Adviser Conceding ‘Considerable Uncertainty’ About Stimulus Jobs Claims
World Net Daily
Election Reopening National Catastrophe Fund Debate
News Release
Opposition Builds to Senate Stimulus Bill
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Letters
No Midnight Rulemaking
Full Document Avalible in PDF Chairman Steve Cohen 1004 Longworth House Office Building Washington DC 20515 February 3, 2009 Dear Chairman Cohen:…
Blog
Marlo Lewis Debates Global Warming on CNN
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Palaces For The Bureaucrats
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Expensive Energy Does Not Stimulate the Economy
Last week the House of Representatives passed HR 1, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allocates $816 billion to stimulate the economy. Environmental policy…
Blog
The Smart Way to Provide Power
It’s not often I disagree with Ron Bailey, but his article about the “Smart Grid” today glosses over the main reason why electric companies…
Blog
Should the U.S. Government Nationalize “Broken” Banks?
Such is the title of the latest BusinessWeek.com debate. Taking the “con” side is CEI’s own Eli Lehrer, who argues (in part): Long-term…
Blog
LibertyWeek 28: Don’t Forget Your Limousine Tax
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Stimulus Plan Repeats Mistakes That Spawned Great Depression
The European Union is threatening a trade war over provisions in the $800 billion “stimulus” package backed by Obama and Congressional leaders. The Great…
Newsletter
Stimulus Transparency, Springsteen on Wal-Mart and the Mirage of Green-Collar Jobs
Developers launch StimulusWatch.org to keep track of the hundreds of billions of dollars Congress is planning to spend to stimulate the economy. Bruce Springsteen grabs…
Blog
Appetite for Creative Destruction
Duff McKagan of Guns n’ Roses fame is going to be writing on financial matters at Playboy.com. What makes this more interesting than the…
Blog
Stimulus Watch Launches Today
Blog
Springsteen clashes with Obama advisor on Wal-Mart
In between playing at the Lincoln Memorial for Barack Obama’s inaugural concert and performing the half-time show last night at the Super Bowl, Bruce Springsteen…
Blog
Renewable Energy Jobs Will Have To Wait
The porcine stimulus bill passed by the House contains $15 billion in capital investments and loan guarantees for renewable energy projects and new electric transmission…
Blog
English Arch-Druid wants to limit you to two children
Two children should be limit, says this British green “guru.” What makes him a guru? Saying outrageous things that others should do, but not…
Blog
Opposition to “Stimulus” Package Rises
Opposition to the $800 billion stimulus package continues to rise, and polls show support for it has fallen to 42%. Independent swing-voters oppose…
Newsletter
A Plea for Bottled Water, Stimulus to Nowhere and Al Gore’s Venus Envy
Emergency officials in Kentucky put out the call for volunteers and donations of bottled water. Republicans leaders doubt that the federal stimulus spending bill will…
Op-Eds
State Farm exit will leave Florida on the brink
State Farm’s decision to quit providing homeowners insurance in Florida shows that the state’s insurance market simply can’t survive in its current form.
Op-Eds
Wetlands–An Environmental Issue for Free Marketeers
Conservatives have good reason to question parts of the environmental movement’s wish-list. Proposals for new energy taxes, “green jobs” programs, and restrictions…
Op-Eds
Granting Emissions Waiver Will Lead to De-stimulus
President Obama has directed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to reconsider the Bush Administration’s denial of a Clean Air Act waiver that would…
Blog
Activist Jim Boulet RIP
Blog
All Pregame all the Time
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Len Nichols of NAF on Incentives in Health Care
12:52pm Len Nichols of the New America Foundation is driving down the same “Middle Road” that the last panel plotted out. So far,…
Blog
Ranking geo-engineering strategies, or “climate hacks” to cool Earth down
Numerous approaches have been described to cool what some insist is a warming world (though not over the past few years). In any event, not…
Blog
Heart Docs & Health Reform: What about Regulation?
I’m listening now to a panel discussion at the America College or Cardiology Health System Reform Summit. The panel’s topic: “Health Care Reform: State Models…
Op-Eds
Lessons from Europe
Lessons from Europe Iain Murray, Gabriel Calzada, Carlo Stagnaro The recent European Union climate agreement provides a useful warning to…
Op-Eds
State Farm’s exit leaves Florida on the brink of a crisis
State Farm’s decision to quit providing homeowners insurance in Florida shows that the state’s insurance market simply can’t survive in its current…
Blog
What’s Stupid About Bottled Water?
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Increasingly Lost Property Rights
Most people probably think “wetlands” should be wet. But not in the view of federal bureaucrats. Land can be perfectly dry–indeed, never have the slightest…
Blog
FACT Check the Internet’s Future
The Future of American Communications (FACT) working group funded by the Media Democracy Fund released its official report on the 26th of January. The report,…
Blog
Tree Hugger Ads for Bottled Water?
You gotta love it. I searched the greenie website Tree Hugger today for the term “bottled water.” Guess what came up on the top of…
Blog
What’s Stupid about Bottled Water?
Politicians, greens, and other alleged do-gooders keep saying that if you like bottled water, you must be stupid maybe even reckless! Chicago has even imposed a…
Blog
James Hansen: Ideologue or Scientist?
James Hansen of NASA is one of the leading climate alarmists, and possesses a scientific credibility lacking in the Goracle. But Hansen really has become…
Blog
We’re Here from the Government to Hurt You (the Toymakers)
That old line about “we’re here from the government to help you” always garners a laugh. But small toymakers are crying. Investigative columnist Timothy…
Newsletter
Green Stimulus, Bottled Water and Big Labor Infighting
Congress sets aside billions in the economic stimulus package for environmentally oriented energy and infrastructure projects. The New York Times’ “Freakonomics” column debunks the argument…
News Release
What’s Stupid About Bottled Water?
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Blog
What NASA Thinks of James Hansen
James Hansen of NASA has become one of the leading climate alarmists. Quite simply, the world is about to end. That being the case, industry…
Blog
Tim Carney: How Stimulating
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Unions Stall on EFCA, Advance Elsewhere
The Democratic Congress’s failure to pounce instantly to pass the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), also known as the “card check” bill, presents a…
Blog
How to Sell a Bunk Bill: Marginalize the Opposition
Blog
SEIU Split in California?
Ousted officials from a Bay Area local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced yesterday that they were forming a new union, and…
Blog
Obama Distorts Ledbetter v. Goodyear Case, In Signing Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
In signing his first bill into law, Obama didn’t let facts get in the way of a good story, or milking a political wedge issue.
Blog
Update on Green Stimulus: It Still Stinks
Both chambers agree with President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff that the government should shower winners in the renewable energy industry with…
Blog
COP, America’s Financial Paper Tiger
The Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) recently issued a report on the TARP. This report represents the second in a monthly series of reports to be…
Blog
Smoke for Me, But Not for Thee
Bars and restaurants here in Washington, D.C. have operated under a smoking ban for a little over two years now. As many bar owners…
Newsletter
Economists Disagree on the Stimulus, Gore Self-Serving Testimony and the Trouble with TARP
Two-hundred economists dispute President Obama’s claim that there is “no disagreement” about the need to expand government spending to jumpstart the economy. Former Vice President…
Blog
That Was Fast: Stimulus Passes House
The House of Representatives has just passed the $800-billion stimulus package which President Obama hopes to make a centerpiece of his administration’s early economic…
Blog
Billy Powell, RIP
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LibertyWeek 27: Blago in Absentio
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Chris Horner on Al Gore’s Global Warming Testimony
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CA Restaurant & Bar Owners (not drinkers) Will Feel the Pinch of Nickel Tax
February 1st 2009 is the day that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s per-drink tax increase will go into effect throughout the state. The tax…
Blog
Al Gore, the lobbyist
In a letter dated January 26th, 2009 Al Gore’s company Generation Investment Management sent a coalition letter along with other institutional investors representing $1.7 trillion…
Blog
Liveblog of Al Gore Climate Hearing
No TV station seems to be covering this live, but you can watch here. Kerry in his introduction says “if there was a…
Newsletter
Stimulus to Nowhere, Banning Cell Phone Cameras and More Money for Ethanol
Republicans on Capitol Hill attack the $825 billion economic stimulus bill championed by President Obama. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) introduces legislation to ban silent cell…