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New EPA Rules Will Cost More than 800,000 Jobs
New EPA rules will cost more than 800,000 jobs, probably far more, according to a newly released congressional report. That includes the EPA’s…
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Not Wright for Internet Gambling
Some Net gamblers are lamenting the indictment of California State Senator Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) who was indicted by a grand jury for alleged voter…
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No Chickening Out on Trade Retaliation
Trade relations between the U.S. and China are heating up, with both countries bringing antidumping charges against the other — some in retaliation for earlier…
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Using Government to Weed Out Competitors
In states throughout the country, beverage distributors are stepping into the political ring and in every case the opponent is the same: competition. Since prohibition,…
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An Unpaid Internship at the White House
@whitehouse on Twitter alerted me this morning that applications for internships at the White House are due by October 3. I couldn’t help but look…
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Regulation of the Day 151: Water Heaters
The EPA recommends setting your water heater to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. But OSHA recommends setting it to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Why the difference?…
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An Annoying Regulation for Every Room in the House
The Obama administration isn’t satisfied giving the American people several big things we don’t want — the stimulus package, expanded bailouts, Obamacare — but it…
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CEI Weekly: Congress Should Liberate to Stimulate
CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features John Berlau's debate with Heather Boushey from the Center for…
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Five Radicals Approved for Judgeships by Senate Judiciary Committee
Five radicals have been approved for judgeships by the Senate Judiciary Committee, voting along party lines. The committee held over for…
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Bob Barr, [un]Principled Supporter of Ethanol
Bob Barr, the 2008 Libertarian Party presidential nominee, had a piece in yesterday’s Huffington Post titled Extending Ethanol Tax Credit Makes Sense. It’s…
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CEI Podcast – September 23, 2010: The Frankenfish Myth
CEI Senior Fellow Greg Conko, author of The Frankenfood Myth, talks about the promise and imagined peril of genetically modified salmon.
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GOP “Pledge to America” Includes Constructive Reg Reform
The House Republican “Pledge to America” unveiled today has been criticized by RedState’s Erick Erickson and other center-right pundits for a lack of specifics.
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Immelt Has Some “Thought Bullets”
Mr. “Ecomagination” — GE’s CEO Jeffrey Immelt — called on the U.S. to put a long-term price on carbon so this country could compete with…
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Obama Financial Czar Appointment Is Unconstitutional, Liberal Law Professor Says
Obama has appointed controversial Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren to informally run the powerful, newly-created Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection that will regulate the…
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Watch the Center on “Stossel” tonight
The Center for Class Action Fairness will be featured on “Stossel” tonight: Fox Business News, 9 PM and midnight Eastern. I talk with John…
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Motion to Stay Makes Strong Case Court Should Overturn EPA Global Warming Rules
Last Thursday (September 16, 2010), three groups, each led by the Coalition for Responsible Regulation (CRR), filed motions with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to “stay” (put…
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Canada’s Green Energy and Jobs Programs Butt Up Against WTO Rules, says Japan
Do green energy and green jobs mandates run counter to World Trade Organization rules? Japan says “yes” in relation to Canada’s program for renewable…
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Many Free Checking Accounts Disappearing Due to Dodd-Frank Financial “Reform” Law
The so-called financial “reform” bill that passed Congress — the Dodd-Frank Act — is wiping out many free checking accounts, since…
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Unfair ‘Paycheck Fairness Act’ Shafts Workers With Hazardous Jobs
We wrote earlier about the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill of Orwellian deception that would result in employees unfairly receiving equal pay…
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Study: Regulations Cost $1.75 Trillion in 2008
State and local regulations, of course, cost extra.
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America: Land of the Free?
Prior to arriving in America I imagined this country as being the land of the free. But somehow, it turned out this was a wrongly…
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Insurers Drop Children’s Health Insurance Due to Obamacare
Insurers have stopped writing children-only health insurance policies due to mandates in Obamacare that ignored basic principles of economics. So if…
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Distracted Driving Kills, But What About Dysfunctional Policy?
The Obama administration, having succeeded in bringing about economic recovery and having nation-built a democratic Afghanistan, has set its sights on another pressing…
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General Motors Now Admits It Didn’t Repay Bailout Money
Contrary to its claims in TV ads earlier this year, General Motors has now admitted that it did not repay…
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CEI in Europe: Travelblog 6–Berlin, Germany
One of the teachers at the recently-completed Language of Liberty camps was fond of telling students a certain joke: “Do you know what the…
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Some case updates
In Lonardo v. Travelers Insurance, our objection resulted in a $2 million improvement in the settlement. We maintained the objection, and the court…
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Insurance Regulators Approve Increases Based on Obamacare
In Connecticut, insurance rate regulators have approved hikes in insurance premiums of up to 20 percent, agreeing with insurers that…
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“The Trouble with Coupons”
“Coupons are not a valid substitute for money in many situations outside grocery shopping.” But I probably can’t cite to that in a brief.
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President Renominates Radicals and Oddballs for Judgeships
President Obama has just renominated four controversial men to judgeships, even though they previously failed to get confirmed by the Senate…
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Senators Challenge Administration’s Big Labor Giveaway
Despite all they have gotten from the Obama administration, many union leaders have vented their frustration over Democratic lawmakers’ failure to enact the unions’ top…
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CEI Weekly: Regulations Discourage Small Businesses from Hiring
CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features Wayne Crews' article this week where he lists the effects…
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Regulation of the Day 150: Toy Guns
Samuel Burgos is 8 years old. One day he brought a toy gun to school in his backpack. That got him expelled from his Miami…
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Obama’s Broken Pledge to Cut Wasteful Spending
When Obama was elected, he claimed he would “go through our federal budget– page by page, line by line–eliminating those programs we don’t need.”…
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New CEI Podcast: Creating High-Tech Jobs
Ryan Radia, CEI's Associate Director of Technology Studies, talks about obstacles and opportunities for job creation in the high-tech sector.
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CEI Weekly: CEI Stars in “The Green Swindle”
CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features CEI Expert RJ Smith on Fox News to speak on…
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Stimulus Roundup
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Michigan Child Care Workers May Get their Day in Court against Forced Unionization
Today, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered a lower court to explain its dismissal of a class action lawsuit challenging a forced unionization scheme for…
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California’s Insane Global Warming Initiative
What state ranks third in unemployment, second in foreclosures, has the nation’s worst credit rating, is running a $19 billion deficit — yet insists on…
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CEI in Europe: Travelblog 5–Sulejow, Poland
When we left Portugal for the Language of Liberty camp in Poland, we left a wine country for a vodka country. At the supermarket near…
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Tricks Against Trade
Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch is up to its tricks against trade again. Noted for its past expertise in destroying the Seattle WTO negotiations, the…
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San Francisco’s Mayor Opposed to Alcohol Tax
It isn’t often that we get to praise politicians, but cheers to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom who vowed to veto plans for an…
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Clearing the Way for High-Tech Jobs
Over at RealClearMarkets.c0m, my colleague Ryan Radia offer some ideas for how to create more high-tech jobs. Our main points:…
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One Way to Create High-Tech Jobs
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The Dead Weight Loss of Union Disputes
At Reason Hit & Run, Tim Cavanaugh provides a good observation on the ongoing dispute between the powerful Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and…
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Scholarships to Study Free-Market Ideas
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CEI in Europe: Travelblog 4–Sulejow, Poland
On our way to the Language of Liberty campsite in Sulejow, Poland, we were told that religion is the greatest antidote to government power. Our…
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Shifting the Burden of Explanation
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Obama to Insurers: Stop Telling the Truth
During the fight for health insurance reform earlier this year, opponents of the bill (aka Obamacare) claimed that the proposal would increase the cost of…
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Two Health Care Unions Battle Each Other for Members
Voting began today in one of the most disputed union elections in recent years. The contest pits the powerful Service Employees International Union (SEIU)…
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Study: Cash for Clunkers Didn’t Work
Cash for clunkers didn't change HOW MUCH people spent. It only changed WHEN they spent.
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Obama Aides Cheat on Taxes, as Obama Administration Raises Taxes and Violates Constitution
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CEI in Europe: Travelblog 3–Porto, Portugal
Some things at the Porto Language of Liberty camp are lost in translation. One problem is political labels. They call us “liberals,” meaning classical liberals.
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Obama Administration Mandates More of the Risky Loans That Spawned the Mortgage Crisis
The federal government is now expanding the affordable-housing mandates that helped spawn the mortgage crisis by goading mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to…
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One more Sears brief
Plaintiffs and defendants filed three briefs Tuesday and Wednesday before the Friday fairness hearing in the Sears Holding derivative action. And I had a…
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America Declines in Property Rights, Rule of Law
The World Economic Forum says that property rights are deteriorating in the United States, to the point where America ranks behind third-world countries…
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CEI Podcast: Alex Nowrasteh on Birthright Citizenship
In the latest CEI Podcast, Alex Nowrasteh discusses birthright citizenship.
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Rosh Hashanah Begets… Global Warming?
What could Rosh Hashanah have to do with environmental activism? My colleague Sam Kazman found out last year, listening to a sermon with a surprise…
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New Stimulus Plan Gets Skeptical Response, Even From Democrats
Obama’s plan for $50 billion more in stimulus spending is getting a skeptical response even from some Democratic lawmakers. (We explained earlier why…
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CEI in Europe: Travelblog 2–Porto, Portugal
The Portuguese Constitution guarantees the provision of many social services, including free health care. The students at the Porto Language of Liberty camp remind us…
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One Cheer for Obama Tax Plan, with Plenty of Caveats
President Obama’s new economic recovery plan, coming more than a year-and-a-half after an infusion of $1 trillion in big-government spending failed to “stimulate” the moribund economy, deserves…
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VA Liquor Privatization Bought with Higher Taxes?
Free marketeers in the Commonwealth of Virginia waited with high hopes after Governor Bob McDonnell made the announcement that he planned to privatize state-run…
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Obama Proposes $50 Billion More in Wasteful Deficit Spending
President Obama has proposed $50 billion more in deficit spending after his original $800 billion stimulus package…
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Regulation of the Day Update: Ladies’ Night Bar Specials
Attorney Roy Den Hollander think ladies' nights are unconstitutional. So he sued several bars.
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Kiss Your Ash Goodbye — Regulating Coal Combustion Byproducts As Hazardous Is An Unnecessary Job Killer
The Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to regulate carbon dioxide as an air pollutant is currently garnering most of the attention from the agency’s critics, but…
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CEI in Europe: Travelblog 1–Porto, Portugal
On the plane to Lisbon—on our way to our first Language of Liberty camp—I watched the first half of the unwatchable Prince of Persia. Alfred…
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You Were a Sucker If You Were Responsible, Thrifty, and Saved Money for a Down Payment
The Obama administration will launch today a new $14 billion program to bail out some people who are underwater on their mortgages. During the…
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Speaking Truth to Power Rarely Works
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Unemployment Jumps to 9.6%, 54,000 More Jobs Lost
Unemployment went back up to 9.6%, as the nation shed 54,000 jobs in August. Yet Obama calls this “Recovery Summer.” This is…
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Stockholm Syndrome in the Nachshin v. AOL case
CCAF filed its reply brief today in the Nachshin v. AOL appeal. The principal-agent problem does not just affect class action plaintiffs’ attorneys enriching…
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Federal Government Wastes Millions on Vacant, Run-Down Buildings, Including a Pink Monkey House
The Department of Veterans Affairs is spending millions annually on 314 run-down, vacant buildings, including a pink monkey house. “The buildings are home to…
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Will Grading Cars Dispell or Enhance “MPG Illusion”?
As discussed in my recent post “Obama’s EPA: School Marms R Us,” EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSHA) are…
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Greenhouse Protection Racket — An Update
Last week, the Obama Administration filed a brief on behalf of industry petitioners urging the Supreme Court to vacate an appeals court decision (State of Connecticut et…
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Record Federal Spending Increase Due to Wasteful Spending Like the Failed Stimulus Package
Federal domestic spending increased by a record 16 percent this year, thanks to wasteful spending by the Obama administration, such as its “huge economic…
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Antibiotics and Meat DO Mix
Whether you’re talking about human or animal use, banning beneficial uses today can have negative impacts on human and animal health just as surely as…
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Unions hire non-union protesters?
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqm5RRBCmiw 285 234]…
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Video Exposes Labor Union Protesters – No “Living Wage,” No Health Insurance, No Union Membership
Video: Unions hire non-union protesters? Should labor unions pay their protesters the wages and benefits that the unions demand of other employers? CEI labor…
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Obama’s EPA: School Marms R Us
The Obama Administration’s EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSHA) are proposing new rules “labeling each passenger car with a government letter grade from A…
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Professor John Palmer on the Center for Class Action Fairness
Professor John Palmer has some very generous things to say about me and the Center for Class Action Fairness on his excellent economics blog.
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Government Insurance: Guaranteed to Fail
Few observers were shocked when the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) asked for a nearly $20 billion bailout of its National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
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Expensive Jobs
Stimulus spending costs $221,428.57 per job saved or created. Startlingly inefficient.
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CEI Weekly: Post-Spill Moratorium Worse than the Spill
CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features Ben Lieberman's op-ed, criticizing the deleterious effects of the oil-spill…
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More Mercantilist Claptrap
No wonder people are confused about the trade issue when they read mercantilist articles like the front-pager by Howard Schneider in the Washington Post…
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Federal Regulators Making Laundry More Costly And More Dingy
In a classic case of a government solution in search of a problem, Washington has for years set energy efficiency standards for home appliances. By…
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Money for Nothing
A Virginia man collected 12 years of salary despite never showing up to his government job.
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Update on Sears Holding Corp. derivative shareholder suit
Plaintiffs filed an opposition; I filed a reply. The hearing has been moved from today to September 10, 9:30 AM.
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Barring Illegals from Driver’s Licenses: Dangerous and Dumb
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Medicare Proposal Could be a Real Killer
Medicare is speeding toward insolvency , and only major fundamental changes can save it. But beware the “tweakers” — those who say that little things…
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Appeal bond struck down
Imagine our surprise when we checked the docket in the Bachman case in late July (after checking it weekly since we filed our appeal) and…
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National Security Risks of Biofuel Mandates — Corrected*
Those amazing Idsos who run the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change review a paper recently published in AMBIO: A Journal…
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Fret Over Smoking on “Mad Men”?
“Desperate Housewives” star Kathryn Joosten made a bit of news this week complaining about cigarette smoking portrayed on AMC’s hit TV series “Mad…
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Regulation of the Day 149: Sliced Bagels
In New York State, sliced bagels cost 8 cents more than unsliced bagels.
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Sugar in the News Again
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s September 2010 issue of its magazine, “Amber Waves,” has an excellent article on the U.S. domestic sugar program –…
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Hype About Lobsters and BPA: Here We Go Again!
A series of articles and blogposts now warn that the chemical Bisphenol A–used to make hard clear plastics–is wreaking havoc on lobsters in the Long…
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Biofuels and Tax Expenditures
One of the claims that the renewable energy groups continue to make, as their tax credits approach the chopping block, is that the U.S. is…
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GM IPO Buyers Beware: Filing Asserts Exemption from Anti-fraud Laws
General Motors filed paperwork last week to launch its much-anticipated initial public offering. It could be the biggest IPO in U.S. history, raising up to $20 billion,…
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Bed Bugs Bite Liberals: Will They Call for DDT?
As bed bugs gnaw on liberal reporters at CNN, perhaps there is a chance some will reconsider their views of DDT. CNN offices apparently…
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CEI Weekly: The Union Pension Bailout
CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features Vincent Vernuccio's appearance on Fox Business to discuss the multi-billion-dollar…
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Video: The Open Internet and Lessons from the Ma Bell Era
Earlier this week, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart summed up the debate over net neutrality by stating, “On one side [are] those who want…
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When TSA Agents Attack
For most people, the TSA is merely an annoyance. For Kathy Parker, it was something far more serious.
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Privacy Isn’t Dead, It’s Evolving
Recent revelations about Microsoft’s internal debate over Internet Explorer’s handling of tracking cookies, as chronicled by The Wall Street Journal earlier this month, have…