Blog
Blowout Prevention Act – Will Rs Get Buyer’s Remorse? (Modified July 18, 2010)
Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved H.R. 5626, Chairman Henry Waxman’s Blowout Prevention Act. Here’s the version of the bill…
Blog
Senate Passes Financial “Reform” That Leaves Corrupt Bailout Recipients Unreformed, While Harming the Public
Yesterday, the Senate passed a so-called financial reform bill by a vote of 60-to-38, making it all but certain to become law. The bill…
Blog
Earthquake Hits Washington, D.C. Area; Politicians Seek to Expand Bailouts and Subsidize Earthquake Insurance
A mild earthquake hit the Washington, D.C. area this morning at around 5 a.m. It broke a jar of grapefruit marmalade that fell…
Blog
No, NHTSA didn’t blame all Toyota’s troubles on driver error
I can’t count how many people sent me items about how NHTSA says the whole Toyota Tempest has now been determined by the government to…
Blog
CEI Weekly: The Lady Gaga Economy
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features Wayne Crews' op-ed in The Daily Caller entitled "The Lady…
Blog
Dodd-Frank is not “financial reform,” it’s more Big Government lunacy
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill should not be called “financial reform.” Instead, it should be called what for what it is: pages and…
Blog
Abolish Law School, Keep the Bar Exam
Elizabeth Wurtzel argues that the bar exam should be abolished because many illustrious lawyer-politicians flunked it on their first try. I disagree. Passing the…
Blog
EPA, Not Jones Act, Blocked Dutch Skimmers
It was apparently the EPA, not the Jones Act, that blocked Dutch skimmers from cleaning up the oil spill in Louisiana in late April:…
Blog
Responding to Media Matters
This ad hominem attack deserves a rebuttal. The Daily Caller was kind enough to run mine this morning. I hope you will take a few…
Blog
A post for Fed Jur buffs only
Parties in a class action agree to submit to the jurisdiction of an Article I magistrate under 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). Then they settle the…
Blog
“[Cap-and-trade] is not in my vocabulary” — Reid
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will bring a sweeping energy and climate bill to the floor as early as the week of July 26, including…
Blog
Mommy, Are We Beyond Petroleum Yet?
No, Sylvester, not even close! As noted in a previous post, on Earth Day (April 22), a Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet became the first…
Blog
Bank Failures Rise; Banks Shuttered at a Faster Rate in 2010 Than in 2008 and 2009; Financial “Reform” Adds to Banks’ Woes
“This past Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shuttered another four US banks,” notes Neil Hrab in the Washington Examiner. “That makes 90…
Blog
Heritage Foundation Wrong on Obama Immigration Enforcement
The Heritage Foundation’s Matt Meyer wrote here that the Obama administration’s year old worksite audit program is resulting in “far fewer deportations of illegal immigrants.” …
Blog
Cell Phones Don’t Cause Cancer
Over at the Daily Caller, I debunk the fear that long-term cell phone use can cause brain tumors.
Blog
Dewey v. Volkswagen, Water Ingress Settlement objection response briefing
Today we filed our response brief; plaintiffs largely ignored the arguments we made earlier and instead made ad hominem complaints about some quotes…
Blog
LibertyWeek 101: Urban Beekeepers Unite!
Blog
CEI Weekly: LibertyWeek Turns 100
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features the 100th episode of CEI's podcast, LibertyWeek. CEI Founder Fred…
Blog
Readers Contest Factcheck.Org’s “Oil Spill, Foreign Help, and the Jones Act”
FactCheck.org argued that the Jones Act, which ordinarily bans both foreign ships and foreign crews from working in U.S. waters, did not interfere with foreign…
Blog
Robert Booth Trust v. William Crowley, Sears Holding Corporation shareholder derivative lawsuit
If you’re a Sears Holding Corporation (SHLD) shareholder like me, there’s a pretty big chance that you got a letter in the mail informing you…
Blog
Federal Alcohol Bill Hits a Snag
Kane’s Beverage News Daily (need subscription) reports today that a “well-placed lobbyist” in the industry informed them that hearings on HR 5034 –the…
Blog
Outlawing Pet Sales or Outlawing Pets?
The nanny statists not only want to to take care of you, they want to make sure every hamster in the world gets fair treatment. …
Blog
New “stimulus plan” brewing in Congress
It is actually less of a “stimulus” plan and more of a “get government out of the way and stop inhibiting growth” plan. A bi-partisan…
Blog
Ebell in NYT on new Climategate report — “Establishment circling the wagons and defending their position”
CEI’s Myron Ebell was quoted on the front page of the New York Times today – “above the fold” – discussing the University of…
Blog
Unintended Consequences of Unemployment Benefits
This letter of mine ran in today's New York Times in response to Paul Krugman's July 4 column.
Blog
In Defense of Urban Beekeeping
Beekeeping is an ancient human practice, with some anthropological evidence suggesting that primitive forms of honey bee domestication go back more than 4,000 years. Apiarists…
Blog
“Cell Phone Fear in San Francisco,” my article in Forbes.com
The king is dead. More accurately, Larry King is hanging up his suspenders after 25 years on TV interviewing essentially everybody who was anybody. His…
Blog
Automakers’ new problems – vampires and bears
Toyota complaints keep pouring in to the National Highway Safety Administration, and some are pretty darned bizarre. But most are less so than a Colorado…
Blog
LibertyWeek 100: The Venerable Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Blog
Greenhouse Protection Racket
Blog
Enron & BP: Global Warming as the Great Distraction
In a three–part post over at MasterResource.Org, my colleague Robert L. Bradley, Jr. shows that BP has much in common with Enron. Both companies aggressively sought rents (politically-contrived…
Blog
Friday Regulation Roundup
If you have ever been in a duel, you are ineligible to vote in Mississippi, plus more.
Blog
Making a Difference – A Very Small Difference
Blog
What’s ahead for free trade?
In her column today, Kimberley Strassel throws some light on what’s behind President Obama’s recent endorsement of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement and…
Blog
Fred L. Smith: Is Greed Good?
Blog
CEI Weekly: The Supreme Court Rules Against PCAOB
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features CEI's Supreme Court against the burdensome Sarbanes-Oxley act.
Blog
The Rahn Curve
A little government can do a lot of good. A lot of government can do little good.
Blog
Blowout Prevention Act Would Blowout Domestic Oil Production
Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a hearing on H.R. 5626, the Blowout Prevention Act of 2010. Although…
Blog
CEI in the News for July 1, 2010
Blog
140 New Regulations in Florida
New labeling rules for horse meat intended for human consumption, plus more.
Blog
California poker players: 1 – Free market opponents: 0
As I wrote yesterday, California was on the verge of passing a bill that would have allowed residents to play poker online at one…
Blog
Liberal Senators Make False Claims About Supreme Court’s Ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear, During Kagan Confirmation Hearings
Liberal Senators like Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are peddling fables about a Supreme Court ruling, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Blog
Anti-stripper law could create more prostitution
As so many journalists have punned, recently passed anti-stripping legislation makes the “Don’t Show Me” state a far more appropriate nickname for Missouri. Yesterday, Gov.
Blog
USA prevents effective oil spill cleanup
As readers may recall, a brouhaha erupted three summers ago concerning BP’s planned expansion of its Whiting Refinery near Chicago, Illinois. BP had…
Blog
For Whom the Dell Tolls
Less than fifteen years ago, Dell computers were the hot desktop brand. In a rapidly growing market, Dell developed a unique business model which…
Blog
Celebrating Bastiat
Economist Don Boudreaux reminds us that 209 years ago today, the great economic journalist Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) was born. F.A. Hayek in his introduction…
Blog
Supreme Court Dooms Chicago Gun Ban; Obama Judicial Nominees Oppose Gun Rights; Religious Clubs Lose First Amendment Case; Removal of High-Ranking Bureaucrats Made Easier
The Supreme Court doomed Chicago’s handgun ban Monday by ruling 5-to-4 that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments…
Blog
Wayne Crews on Cybersecurity and the Presidential “Kill Switch”
Blog
Blowout Prevention Act — or Oil Production Prevention Act?
That’s the question I address today on the free-market energy blog, MasterResource.Org. This morning, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment is holding…
Blog
Can Businessmen (and Women) Make Good Politicians
Blog
CA to criminalize Internet poker?
That is, unless you play at one of the three state-sanctioned “hubs”. Much like other proposals to “legalize” online poker and other Internet gambling activities,…
Blog
LibertyWeek 99: Sarbanes-Oxley Smackdown
Blog
CEI’s Supreme Court Oscar Speech
Blog
President Obama to push U.S.-Korea FTA
Economic reality is beginning to take the place of anti-trade rhetoric on the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, which has been on hold since it…
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.
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…
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…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 143: Your Bedtime
In Japan, your bedtime is official government business.
Blog
Ninth Circuit appeal in Bluetooth – reply brief
CCAF filed its reply brief in the Bluetooth case yesterday.
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…
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.
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…
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…
Blog
Culture Warriors Are Missing the Point
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…
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…
Blog
Friday Regulation Roundup
Arizona spends $1,250,000 to save 250 squirrels, plus more.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
Blog
Judiciary Committee Votes to Promote Judge Who Made Excuses for Roadside Strangler, Claiming His “Sexual Sadism” Was a “Mitigating Factor”
On a party-line vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved President Obama’s promotion of a federal judge who tried to block the execution…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 140: Plastic
“Plastics are the future,” a pushy relative told a young Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate. Was he giving career advice -- or a warning?…
Blog
No, It’s Not About Oil; Besides, Oil Is Good!
It is a measure of the weakness of the case against Sen. Murkowski’s resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res.26) that opponents keep trying to change the subject.