Blog
New U.S. Dietary Recommendations to Correct Misunderstanding about Cholesterol, Not Fat
Thomas Jefferson once said, “If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in…
Blog
GOP Divided on Internet Gambling Ban
As expected, members of the GOP reintroduced a measure that would create a de facto prohibition on all Internet gambling. The effort, which was written by GOP mega-donor…
Blog
No Sprinkles in Obama’s America: Trans Fat, Hyperbole, and the Threat Nobody Is Talking about
“Say goodbye to your favorite sprinkled doughnuts,” warned Clayton Morris, guest host on Fox & Friends. “The [FDA] is now regulating Americans intake of trans fat…the…
Blog
Bet on the Big Game? You Probably Broke the Law
Industry experts expected yesterday’s Super Bowl game to bring in around $100 million in legal sports wagering in Nevada. That’s a lot of moola, but…
Blog
Study Shows Health Benefits of Moderate Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol is a favorite target for health nannies and politicians looking to boost revenue. Excessive drinkers, they say, cost society millions or billions of dollars!…
Blog
Could the FDA’s New Calorie-Count Mandate Harm Winemakers?
The trade association, WineAmerica, which represents 600 wineries in the U.S., seems to think so. The group has hired a lobbyists to push the…
Washington Examiner
Beer Tax Overhaul Pits Big Brewers Against Crafty Upstarts
Blog
Besting a Billionaire: How a Grassroots Campaign Stopped a Ban on Internet Gambling
This week we get to say goodbye to the 113th Congress. For those who believe in free markets and individual liberty, it was a doozy.
Blog
Fraternal Order of Police Once Again Opposes Internet Gambling Ban
Once again, the Fraternal Order of Police expressed their staunch opposition to a federal prohibition on Internet gambling. In a letter sent to Sens. Harry Reid…
Blog
Adelson’s Online Gambling Ban Losing Political Steam
It was a bad week for Sheldon Adelson. The billionaire casino owner has said he’ll spend whatever it takes to stop the spread of legal…
Blog
How the “Stupid” American Public Pays for Gruber’s Deception
The Washington Times points out that Jonathan Gruber, our nation’s most famous sufferer of foot-in-mouth-disease, has profited greatly from the “stupid” American public to whom he…
The New Republic
Let Chris Christie Legalize Sports Gambling. It Won’t Ruin the Game.
Last Friday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law a bill legalizing sports gambling in his state. Casinos and racetracks began preparing to…
Pittsburgh Courier
Online Gambling Ban Does Nothing to Protect Consumers
Wellington Webb says gambling ensnares “naïve and foolish” people who think they can strike it rich. But how is legal online gambling any more of…
Study
The Wire Act and Implications for State-Based Legalization of Internet Gambling
More than 30 years after the original Federal Wire Act, members of Congress seek to use it to stop the rise of casino-style gambling on…
Blog
Journalists Called Out for Bad Reporting on Consumption Data
Being a journalist is not an easy job; it demands fast paced and high volume production. For those “wonk” journalists tasked with analyzing data-heavy reports…
Blog
Cyanide, Tylenol and How Free Markets Make You Safer
Today is the anniversary of one of the most significant food and drug related events in recent memory. Often discussed in college business classes these…
Blog
Study on Artificial Sweeteners Interesting But Flawed
A new study out of Israel on the possible effects of artificial sweeteners is making a lot of headlines this week. Unfortunately (and as usual)…
The Hill
Black Markets Do Not Protect Minorities
Originally published at The Hill Former Denver mayor Wellington Webb argues in a Sept. 14 op-ed in The Hill that legalized online gambling would…
Blog
CDC Study: Kids Eat Same Amount of Sodium as Worldwide Average
It’s not exactly a blood-pressure raising headline, which is probably why the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is actually…
Blog
Cops to Destroy Rare Wine Collection in Pennsylvania
In the fifth century BCE, famous Greek tragedian Euripides supposedly said, “where this no wine there is no love.” This certainly holds true in present day…
DC Beer
Could Prohibition Still Be Slowing the Craft Beer Boom?
Originally published on DC Beer This week marks the sixth year bars, brewers, distributors and other beer enthusiasts will come together to celebrate the…
Blog
Newsweek’s Cover Story on Internet Gambling Plays Fast and Loose with Facts
Newsweek’s recent cover article on online gambling, “How Washington Opened the Floodgates to Online Poker, Dealing Parents a Bad Hand,” by Leah McGrath Goodman,…
Town Hall
Republicans Seek to “Restore” an Online Gambling Ban that Never Existed
Republicans generally oppose federal encroachment on policy matters traditionally left to the states. SO why is Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex) alone among his GOP House…
Baltimore Sun
Are Tax Dollars Paying for Anti-Alcohol Advocacy?
This month, Maryland banned high-proof liquors like Everclear and other inexpensive tipples. Self-proclaimed public health activists claimed such "high octane" liquors increased the likelihood of…
Blog
Happy There’s-No-Such-Thing-as-Junk-Food Day!
Whomever it is that decides the dates for the ever multiplying obscure holidays apparently designated today, July 21, as “Junk Food Day.” While the origin and…
Blog
FDA’s Trans Fat “Ban” a First Foray into Controlling Americans’ Diets
Last November, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its plan to revoke the “Generally Recognized As Safe” designation for partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs),…
Blog
Celebrate Food Freedom this 4th of July
“If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a…
Blog
FDA’s Salt Phobia a Waste of Money
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week plans to phase in “voluntary” reduction in the level of sodium in foods produced by manufacturers and…
Blog
Friday June 6th: Have a Doughnut for Freedom
Do you know what today is? If you said D-Day, you’d be right. But this year, June 6 also marks another, less well known occasion.
Blog
Reihan Salam’s Argument for Alcohol “Prohibition Lite” Doesn’t Hold Water
In Slate recently, Reihan Salam argued that as America eases up on the criminalization of marijuana use it ought to consider ramping up the war…
Blog
No, Gov. Perry, a Ban on Internet Gambling Won’t Protect the Internet or Individual Freedom
In an attempt to save face, Texas Governor Rick Perry is trying to justify his support for a federal online gambling ban by claiming that it’s the…
Roll Call
Republican Online Gambling Ban Sets a Dangerous Precedent for States’ Rights
Washington Post
The consequences of Sheldon Adelson’s push to ban Internet gambling
Study
Republicans’ Bad Bet
Roll Call
Libertarian CEI Knocks GOP Internet Gambling Bills
Roll Call
CEI’s Minton: Push to Ban Internet Gambling Divides GOP
The Hill
Libertarian groups slam online gambling ban
Blog
Republican Internet Gambling Ban Undermines States’ and Individual Rights
Despite rhetoric that we need to “restore” the Federal Wire Act in order to protect states’ rights, Republican lawmakers are pushing a bill that…
Letters
Coalition Letter to the Judiciary Committee on HR. 4301
Blog
Pseudoscience and Clickbaiting Results in Beer Fear
There’s a lot of pseudoscience about food out there. From genetically modified crops to organic foods to corn syrup, to preservatives, passionate opinions abound, but…
Blog
Victory for Maryland Parents and Consumers: Energy Drink Ban Voted Down
A bill that would have banned the sale of energy drinks for minors in Maryland was recently voted down in committee almost unanimously. The…
Heartland Institute
Bill Would Force Florida Brewers to Pay Distributors for Their Own Beer
Michelle Minton, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Fellow who specializes in alcohol regulation, said although all the states but Washington have a “three-tiered” system for alcohol…
Blog
Professional Licensing: A Risk to the Free Markets and Freedom of Speech
From physicians to dentists to lawyers, the licensing requirements of many professions are well known—but for bloggers? A recent case in North Carolina demonstrates the…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Hydrogen Power from Plants
Early in the week I wrote about a major breakthrough toward the peaceful use of nuclear fusion. While that type of energy could drastically…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day from HumanProgress.org: Organ Replacement Technology
We are only three days away from Human Achievement Hour (March 29, 8:30pm to 9:30pm)! What better way to celebrate than with a post from…
Blog
Human Achievement of the Day: Breakthrough toward Unlimited Clean and Cheap Energy
Shocking as it might seem, some of us at CEI agree with environmentalists that reducing personal waste is a good idea. Voluntarily reducing our individual…
Comment
Comments to the FDA on Trans Fats
Baltimore Sun
Banning Energy Drinks for Kids Isn’t the Answer
Baltimore Sun
No One Cards At Starbucks
In Maryland, as in other states, consumers need to show ID when buying alcohol or tobacco products. Energy drinks could be added to that list…
Blog
New York Alcohol Bill Benefits Big Business at Consumers’ Expense
New York’s consumers and small alcohol retailers could soon be paying more for their tipples, for the benefit of big wholesalers. A bill now making…