Washington Times
Don’t Reward Law-Breaking Office
Blog
Another Illegal Rule from the Education Department
Recently, I wrote about a report to the Senate by a task force of college presidents, on how the Education Department is illegally dumping an avalanche of new…
Blog
Education Department Floods Schools with New Uncodified Bureaucratic Mandates
Recently, a task force of college presidents chronicled massive regulatory overreaching by the U.S. Department of Education, which, on a daily basis, floods the nation’s…
Simple Justice
First Amendment Relativists
Simple Justice quotes CEI`s Hans Bader on the NPR Ombudsman`s opinion on free speech and the Charlie Hebdo attack: In his parting shot as ombudsman for…
Blog
NPR Wrongly Suggests Hate Speech and Blasphemy Are Unprotected by First Amendment
NPR gets a lot of taxpayer money based on a false pretense of objectivity and accuracy. Its departing ombudsman, Edward Schumacher-Matos, says that “as a public…
The Daily Caller
NPR’s Ombudsman Is A Drooling Moron Who Doesn’t Understand The First Amendment
The Daily Caller quotes CEI`s Hans Bader on the NPR Ombudsman`s opinion on free speech and the Charlie Hebdo attack: Outgoing National Public Radio ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos…
Blog
Congress Should Reject Obama Budget Increase for Education Department Office for Civil Rights
The Obama administration perversely rewards agencies that overstep their authority by giving them budget increases to handle the increased workload that results. A classic example…
Blog
Obama Administration Learned Nothing from 2008 Financial Crisis, Mortgage Expert Says
Ed Pinto had a depressing and revealing op-ed in The Wall Street Journal Friday about how the Obama administration is artificially creating markets for risky mortgages, using…
Blog
Study: Cutting Unemployment Benefits Boosted Hiring
President Obama’s policies reduced employment and slowed America’s economic recovery by discouraging people from working. The Congressional Budget Office says Obamacare will shrink employment by around …
Blog
Did Slanted NPR Story Lead to Hasty, Illegal Education Department Sexual Harassment Rules?
Bad things can happen when an agency (like the Education Department) throws caution to the wind and regulates based on slanted media coverage from National…
CNS News
Obama Seeks More Double Taxation and Job-Killing Taxes in State of the Union Address
Blog
Obama Seeks More Double Taxation and Job-Killing Taxes in State of the Union Address
Blog
Terrorist Attack on Charlie Hebdo Reveals the Sorry State of Free Speech in the West
My wife Sylvie, who grew up in France, is terribly shocked about yesterday’s terrorist attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which murdered 12 people, including…
Blog
Bureaucrats Demand That Harvard Parrot Their Uncodified Views about Sexual Harassment
The National Review
An Amazing Assertion of Bureaucratic Power
Blog
Central “Planning” Often Creates Disorder, While the Free Market Provides Consistency
Government planning often contains contradictory elements that provide inconsistent signals for regulated entities about how to behave. For example, the New Deal of the 1930s…
CNS News
Government’s Mixed Messages – ‘Making Marriage the Exception Rather Than the Rule’
Beginning in the 1930’s, the federal government sharply increased central planning of the economy and society. (Perhaps as a consequence, the economy…
Washington Post
Are Common Core and Title IX linked?
Hans Bader writes a letter to the editor in the Washington Post on Common Core: "George F. Will was right to lament that “the Education…
Blog
Dodd-Frank’s Conflict Minerals Rules Increase Misery
Earlier, we wrote about the misery inflicted upon the Congo and millions of desperately poor people by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act’s “conflict minerals” provisions. A…
CNS News
Dodd-Frank Act Causes Starvation and Misery Through Conflict-Minerals Rules
Much misery has been inflicted upon the Congo and millions of desperately poor people by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, through its “conflict minerals” provisions, known…
Investor's Business Daily
The Other Amnesty
CEI's Hans Bader is cited in Investor's Business Daily on proposed racial quotas in school dicipline: In "People Who Care v. Rockford Board…
Blog
Taxpayer-Funded Green Ministries in Prince George’s County Violate the Constitution
Reporters like separation of church and state, unless it’s progressives violating it. Then, they lose interest in the concept. A recent Washington Post story cheerily reported on churches…
Blog
Biased Anti-Bias Regulations
Anti-bias regulations are sometimes biased and at odds with civil liberties. The Cato Institute’s Walter Olson gives a recent example from a left-leaning region in Spain:…
Study
From Overstock to Overtaxed
With Congress poised to consider similar taxes in the Marketplace Fairness Act…
Blog
Minneapolis Adopts Unconstitutional Racial Quotas in School Discipline
Given a choice between following the law, and doing what a bureaucrat with power over them wants, many people will do what the bureaucrat wants,…
Reason
Schools Implement Explicit Racial Bias in Suspensions
Blog
Voters Approve Minimum Wage Hikes
As pollsters predicted, voters approved increases in state-level minimum wages in four states (Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota), although to levels less than the increase…
Blog
Education Department Harassment Rules Metastasize through Administrative Fiat
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), where I used to work, today declared that schools can be liable for bullying (or anything else)…
CNS News
Most Democrats Back ‘Hate Speech’ Ban in Poll; Conservatism Equated with Hate
51 percent of Democrats support banning “hate speech,” while only 21 percent oppose such a ban, in a recent You.Gov poll. This is disturbing…
Wall Street Journal
Arne Duncan vs. Fairness and the Rights of the Accused
The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has indeed "imposed onerous demands" on colleges like Princeton University in how they investigate sexual harassment and rape…
Legal Brief
FOIA Request to CMS on Contract Issues
Read the Full Request Here…
Blog
Federal Obamacare Officials Once Recognized the Falsity of Their Current Argument about Tax Credits
The Obama administration has claimed that despite recurring language in the Obamacare law limiting tax credits to people who buy insurance on an “exchange established…
Legal Brief
FOIA Request to CMS on Tax Credits
View the Full FOIA Request Here…
National Law Journal
Suit Over EPA’s Deleted Text Messages to Proceed
A pro-business advocacy group can move forward with a suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that challenges top officials’ deletions of text messages, a…
Blog
Feds Apply Double Standards against Private Employers
Government contractors could face a financial death sentence over labor law, civil-rights law, or wage-and-hour law violations under a recent Obama executive order I discussed…
Washington Times
More Obama Executive Overreach
Big government means ideological double standards. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new federal agency headed by an Obama crony, is illegally and without consequence…
Products
Back to School Roundup
Provision in proposed “Campus Accountability and Safety Act” (CASA) would incentivize fining colleges by letting Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights keep the proceeds […
Products
For Federal Contractors, a Hundred Little Compliance Plans
Coyote and Hans Bader write about yet another new burden loaded on federal contractors, involving the creation of separate affirmative action plans for…
Blog
Taxpayers to Subsidize “Ministry of Truthiness”
The Washington Free Beacon reports: The federal government is spending nearly $1 million to create an online database that will track “misinformation” and…
Blog
Obama “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order Will Punish Firms in Pro-Worker States
Earlier, we discussed President Obama’s recent Executive Order 13,673, which “will allow trial lawyers to extort larger settlements from companies, and enable bureaucratic agencies to extract …
National Review
Government-Required Affirmative Action Is Costly
The always informative Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute has a good discussion of the economic costs of one of the Obama administration’s new…
Blog
Duplicative New Affirmative-Action Rule Drives Up Taxpayer Costs and Restricts Competition
Does it make sense to require a park campground operator that has a few hundred employees at 120 different locations to come up with 120…
CNS News
Executive Order 13673 Pressures Employers to Capitulate to Baseless Demands and Meritless Claims
A July 31 executive order from President Obama will make it very costly for employers to challenge dubious allegations of wrongdoing against them, if they…
Blog
Executive Order Pressures Employers to Capitulate to Baseless Demands and Meritless Claims
A July 31 executive order from President Obama, E.O. 13,673, will make it very costly for employers to challenge dubious allegations of wrongdoing against them,…
The Hill
Devil’s in the details of Campus Accountability and Safety Act
The Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA), S. 2692, seeks to change how publicly funded universities investigate allegations of sexual assault. . . The act…
Blog
Due Process Eroded by Bills like CASA That Let Agencies Keep Fines They Impose
Due process is being eroded by recent bills that would authorize agencies to impose massive fines on regulated industries, and then keep those fines for…
The National Review
Blatant Conflict of Interest in Campus Accountability and Safety Act
Writing with his usual clarity and command of facts and cases, Hans Bader of Competitive Enterprise Institute points out a glaring problem with the proposed…
The Daily Signal
Cyberbullying Law Struck Down in New York
A state court in New York recently struck down that state’s cyberbullying law as violating the First Amendment. . . the state of New…
Daily Caller
Democrat On U.S. Civil Rights Commission Wants Speech Codes For ‘Adolescent’ 21-Year-Olds
Hans Bader is mentioned in a Daily Caller article discussing campus restrictions on First Amendment-protected speech: Among many others, Hans Bader…
Blog
Federal Official Says Campus Speech Should Be Restricted to Protect Young People’s Brains
U.S. Civil Rights Commission member Michael Yaki says that speech on college campuses should be restricted to protect young people’s developing brains. This is yet…
Blog
Federal Official Says Campus Speech Should Be Restricted to Protect Young People’s Brains
U.S. Civil Rights Commission member Michael Yaki says that speech on college campuses should be restricted to protect young people’s developing brains. This is yet…
Overlawyered
Labor and Employment Law Roundup
“Telling Employee He Is ‘Eligible’ For Bonus Not Enough to Create Contractual Obligation” [Chris Parkin/Daniel Schwartz; Connecticut appeals court] Richard Epstein on Obama’s anti-LGBT-discrimination…
Blog
Fraud Rampant and Unpoliced on Obamacare Health Insurance Exchanges
Almost anyone can fraudulently obtain taxpayer subsidies to cover most of the cost of their health insurance on the Obamacare health insurance exchanges. That’s the…
Blog
Your Tax Dollars at Work: Justice Department Investigates Anti-Obama Parade Float
The Justice Department has responded to an anti-Obama float in a parade by treating it as a “discrimination dispute” necessitating federal intervention. One more…
Legal Brief
CEI v. EPA – Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief and Writ of Mandamus
View Full Complaint Here The Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compel the agency to…
Blog
Greece’s Mythical Government Austerity: Big Government Stifles Economic Recovery
Blog
Court Ruling Imminent in Challenge to Illegal Obamacare Exchange Subsidies
According to the explicit language in the Affordable Care Act, tax credits for purchasing federally-regulated health insurance on the “Obamacare” exchanges are only supposed…
Blog
Puerto Rico Governor Vetoes Workplace Bullying Bill Passed by Legislature
Puerto Rico’s economy has been in recession for years, and its public utilities are on the verge of defaulting on their debts. Judging from a recent …
Products
Proof and Campus Rape
To the Editor: Re “New Rules to Address Campus Rape” (editorial, June 30): It is unfortunate that the federal government now seeks to restrict…
CNS News
Obama Drives Up College Tuition Through Perverse ‘Pay As You Earn’ Program
Wastefully-run colleges can now increase tuition even faster, at taxpayer expense, as a result of the Obama administration's recent expansions of the Pay As You…
CNS News
Supreme Court Correctly Rules for Religious Businesses in Hobby Lobby Decision
In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., the Supreme Court ruled Monday that it violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) for the Department of…
Frontpage Magazine
Obama Is Out of Order
The Court ruled 5-4 in Harris v. Quinn that SEIU cannot compel people who care for their loved ones to become union members. Nor can…
Blog
New York Court Voids Cyberbullying Law, Thus Casting Doubt on Proposed Workplace Bullying Law
A law firm notes, “Since 2003, twenty-one states have introduced legislation to combat private workplace bullying but none have been passed into law.” However, a…
Blog
Obama Drives Up Tuition at Taxpayer Expense by Expanding Pay As You Earn Program
If you wanted to encourage wastefully run colleges to ratchet up their tuition at taxpayer expense, you couldn’t come up with a better way than the…
Fox News
Supreme Court Ruling on Union Dues Could Cost SEIU Millions in Payback
One of the nation's most powerful labor unions could face a costly onslaught of lawsuits seeking tens of millions of dollars in dues, after the…
The College Fix
California ‘Affirmative Consent’ Sex Bill Imposes Low Legal Standard for Guilt
Blog
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Hobby Lobby; Religious Businesses Can Invoke RFRA
In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., the Supreme Court has ruled that it violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) for the Department of…
Blog
Unanimous Supreme Court Strikes Down Unconstitutional Obama “Recess” Appointments
Today, in NLRB v. Noel Canning, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down President Obama’s “recess” appointment of NLRB members during a non-existent recess, saying there has to be…
Legal Brief
CEI Joint Amicus Brief in NLRB v Canning
Full PDF Document available here …
Blog
IRS May Step Up Its Attack on Free Speech of Non-Profits
Earlier, we wrote about how proposed IRS regulations would gag 501(c)(4) groups—and potentially 501(c)(3) groups like think tanks as well—by redefining non-partisan, non-election-related criticism of government officials,…
The Wall Street Journal
‘Landmark’ Case: Tenure Also Protects Good Teachers (letters)
You are right to criticize California teacher tenure and dismissal laws for making it hard to get rid of rotten teachers in places like Los…
Products
Regulating Sex on Campus
Legal Brief
Complaint filed in CEI v. NSA
The Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a lawsuit against the NSA for refusing to fulfill two Freedom of Information Act requests for records pertaining to the…
Mint Press News
Black And Hispanic Students Punished More Severely Than White Counterparts
Overlawyered
Schools Roundup
On school discipline and zero tolerance, Eric Holder draws the wrong lessons [Hans Bader, CEI "Open Market"] “Prior problem behavior accounts for the racial gap…
Investor's Business Daily
Study Hits Holder’s ‘School-Prison Pipeline’ Charge
As the attorney general again warns schools that even race-neutral discipline policies discriminate against black students, a study finds serial misbehavior "completely" explains the racial…
Blog
Senate Leaders Kill Patent Reform, Once again Thwarting Democracy to Protect Special Interests
Hundreds of moderate and conservative bills have passed the House of Representatives, often overwhelmingly, only to die in the Senate without even being voted…
National Review
Quick Hits
Hans Bader writes about how Harry Reid killed a bipartisan patent-reform bill, and simultaneously undermined one of President Obama’s favorite talking points.
Daily Caller
Punishment Without Trial: The Department of Education Attacks Students’ Due Process Rights
How would you feel if you could be expelled from your dorm, or prevented from attending a class, just because someone accused you of something…
Blog
Punishment First, Trial Later, or Never: The Education Department’s Investigation of Tufts University
Imagine if you could be expelled from your dorm, or a class, just because someone accused you of something -- even if the accusation was…
Blog
Attorney General’s School Discipline Push Will Backfire on Students and Reinforce Segregation and Zero Tolerance
In a speech Saturday, Attorney General Holder made a very ironic claim: blaming racial disparities in school discipline on "zero-tolerance" policies, even though such policies…
Wall Street Journal
On Colleges and Evidence Standards
Tucker Reed claims "it would be unduly burdensome" for a college "to apply a higher level of scrutiny than the 'preponderance of evidence' standard" in…
National Review
Holder vs. Roberts
Attorney General Eric Holder criticized Chief Justice John Roberts in a commencement speech a few days ago: "Chief Justice John Roberts has argued that the…
Blog
Attorney General Holder’s Deceptive Attack on Chief Justice Roberts
In a speech this weekend, Attorney General Eric Holder said that "the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly…
Blog
Failed Obamacare Exchanges and No-Work Contracts Drive up Obamacare Costs
Politico tallies the rising costs for "four failed Obamacare exchanges," reporting: Nearly half a billion dollars in federal money has been spent developing four …
Blog
Insurance Premiums Rising More Due to Obamacare
There are "rate hikes for all" coming due to Obamacare, predicts The Daily Caller, citing state insurance filings: Virginians will see upped health insurance premiums…
Blog
European “Right to Be Forgotten” Eats Free-Speech Rights of Google and Its Users’ Rights Too
In America, you can't invoke a "right to be forgotten" to suppress other people's speech on newsworthy (or even not-so-newsworthy) topics, as court rulings like…
Blog
Massachusetts Seeks Millions More from Taxpayers as Its Obamacare Exchange Fails
Massachusetts' Obamacare exchange has failed, even though Massachusetts adopted an individual health-insurance mandate in 2006, and thus had a built-in advantage over other states in handling Obamacare's requirements.
Reason
Choke Point Check-In: Constitutional Concerns in DOJ Targeting ‘Risky’ Businesses
Operation Choke Point was initially pitched as a crackdown on web-based payday lending businesses that lend into states that prohibit it. Now it may have…
CQ Researcher
School Discipline: Should zero-tolerance policies be revised?
Some school districts are voluntarily revamping their discipline policies, while the Justice Department has sued others referred to them by the Education Department's Office for…
National Review
The Obama Administration’s Deserving Victims
The Obama administration recently recommended that campuses deny students facing sexual-assault charges the right to cross-examine their accuser, a trend already well underway on campuses…
National Review
Operation Chokepoint: Creeping into Unconstitutionality?
Operation Chokepoint is part of the administration’s Obamaloans strategy to wipe out the small dollar lending industry that I wrote about in January. Briefly, this…
Blog
Washington, D.C., Imposes One Percent Obamacare Health Insurance Tax
The costs of Obamacare keep rising. The Council of the District of Columbia has imposed a one percent tax on all health insurance policies…
Blog
Federal Financial Aid Policies Punish Marriage
At the economics website E21, Jared Meyer describes the massive marriage penalties found in student financial aid programs, and how federal…
Blog
Operation Choke Point Targets Porn and Firearms, Potentially Violating the Constitution
In Operation Choke Point, the Justice Department is targeting lawful industries with investigations designed to inflict economic pain and…
The Blaze
White House Official Accused of Trying to Hide Communications
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has sued the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to produce the work-related emails of its director, John Holdren,…
Blog
CEI Files Lawsuit against Office of Science and Technology Policy
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute sued the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) for flouting the Freedom of Information Act. CEI’s…
Blog
Obama Administration Attacks Cross-Examination and Due Process Rights in Campus Guidance
Justice Brandeis once observed that “The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” However…
Blog
A Victory for Taxpayers and Equal Protection: Supreme Court Upholds Michigan’s Proposal 2
Taxpayers of all races pay more when government contracts are doled out based on race, rather than awarded to the lowest bidder. That's one reason…
Examiner