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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short work week due to the July 4 holiday, but regulators still managed to publish 34 proposed regulations and more than 90…
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The Other “Fourth” Worth Celebrating
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Vatican Downplays Political Involvement in Climate Debate While Joining Forces with Radical Leftist Naomi Klein
Kathryn Jean Lopez reports on NRO’s The Corner that Cardinal Peter Turkson downplayed the political intentions of Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si’, when he spoke to…
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Clarification Regarding the Oregon Governor’s Scandal
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Supreme Court Ruling that Fair Housing Act Bans Disparate Impact Creates Confusion and Uncertainty
The Supreme Court’s June 25 decision in Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. creates confusion and uncertainty in multiple respects. In…
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Advocating Free Trade, Not Foreign Aid for the World’s Poverty
A Review of the Poverty Cure Documentary Series Poverty Cure is a six part documentary series directed and hosted by Michael Matheson Miller, produced by…
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Government Union Privilege Highlights Necessity to End Forced Union Dues in Public Sector
Every worker should be able to get and keep a job without being forced to pay union dues. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it…
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Independence Day? Yeah, Right: A Fourth of July Roundup of Federal Regulation
Congress is in recess and can’t do any more damage as the Fourth of July approaches, but federal agencies remain in business until they enjoy…
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Are There Broader Implications of the Supreme Court’s EPA Ruling?
“In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court blocked the Environmental Protection Agency’s mercury and air toxics standards, charging that the administration failed to adequately consider…
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U.S. Supreme Court to Take on Government Union Power
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert to a case that could give all public employees right-to-work protections. If SCOTUS rules in favor of the…
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Reimagining Surface Transportation Reauthorization: Pro-Market Recommendations for Policy Makers
Today, CEI published my white paper, “Reimagining Surface Transportation Reauthorization: Pro-Market Recommendations for Policy Makers.” In it, I lay out the case for making…
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5 Reasons Why It’s Time to Close the Ex-Im Bank
The clock is ticking on the Export-Import Bank’s upcoming reauthorization. Here are the top 5 reasons why it’s time to finally close the Ex-Im for…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The big news from last week was the Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell decision, which upheld the IRS’ right to issue regulations directly contradicting legislation passed by…
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Supreme Court Rewrites Obamacare, Again
This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the Obama administration in King v. Burwell, upholding the legality of health insurance tax credits for people…
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Kudos to Rep. Tom McClintock for His Principled Stand
Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of TSCA reform (H.R. 2576) by a roll call vote of 398 in favor, one opposed,…
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California Department of Water and Power Trusts Used as Union Slush Fund
Public resources should be used to promote public purposes, meaning tax dollars should not go toward efforts that exclusively financially assist a private entity.
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Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 8: Back Door Bank Subsidies
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…
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Suspending Reason to Pass “TSCA Reform”
The process of lawmaking is often compared to sausage making: an unpalatable job that produces a palatable result. It’s easy to agree with the first part…
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Was Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s Right-to-Work Veto Influenced by UAW Campaign Contributions?
On June 4, Governor of Missouri Jay Nixon vetoed right-to-work legislation, which would end forced union dues payments, and was joined by UAW Local 249…
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Ten Years After Kelo v. New London
Ten years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision upholding the City of New London, Connecticut’s “right” to condemn Connecticut homeowners’…
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Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 7: Mercantilism
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…
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One Nation, Ungovernable? Confronting the Modern Regulatory State
(Note: What follows is a hyperlinked version of the introductory paragraphs to the chapter of the same name in the new Fraser Institute/Mercatus…
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Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 6: Ex-Im’s Strange Dual Mandate
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The Federal Register passed the 35,000-page mark with new regulations covering everything from food additives to chimpanzees. On to the data: Last week, 81 new final regulations…
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Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 5: Corruption
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…
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Dodd-Frank Conflict Minerals Rules Cause Smuggling, Starvation, and Harm to U.S. Businesses
The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act effectively restricted U.S. business’s ability to obtain minerals from the war-torn nation of the Congo and surrounding countries. That caused massive …
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Only One Option to Rein in Politicized NLRB: Eliminate Appropriations
In a recent Forbes article my colleague Wayne Crews explains that "federal regulation matters more than spending." On the flip side, one of the only…
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2015 CEI Dinner Movie: The Magnificent 7
Complete with cowboy boots, wagon wheels, lamps made out of whiskey bottles, and wanted posters of the most “notorious” U.S. regulators—if you’re talking to a…
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Excerpts from Carly Fiorina’s Address at CEI’s Annual Dinner
Keynote address by business and nonprofit leader Carly Fiorina delivered at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s annual dinner on June 11, 2015. Excerpts from text as…
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Negotiators Leave Empty Handed, Greek Bank Withdrawal Begins
Greece’s neglected payment to the International Monetary Fund on Friday, June 5, has caused escalated tensions in the negotiation process between creditors and Greek Prime…
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California Labor Commission Rules Uber Drivers Are Employees
A recent ruling by the California Labor Commission found that an Uber driver is an employee, not independent contractor as the ridesharing company argues. The…
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Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 4: False Economic Catastrophism
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…
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FCC Ignores Rule of Law in Attempt to Fine AT&T for Throttling Wireless Users
Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), on a three-to-two vote, found that AT&T violated federal regulations by failing to disclose that it was throttling certain wireless…
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The IRS, Obamacare, and the English Language
In the days just before the March 4 Supreme Court hearing in King v. Burwell, I got a number of calls from total strangers who had…
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Obama Administration Pressures Colleges to Adopt Unconstitutional Speech Codes
Under the Obama administration, the Education Department has pressured schools and colleges to restrict speech, including off campus speech, even when it is protected by the…
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Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 3: It Favors Big Business
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. This series of posts makes the case for closing Ex-Im, one argument at a time. See also…
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Significant Labor and Employment Issues in FY 2016 Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations Bill
Stamped June 15, 2015 (5:55PM), the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee Department on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies has…
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Trade Supporters Opt for More Breathing Room
House leadership will delay reconsideration of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)—up to a July 30 deadline they set—to give more time for President Obama to…
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Federal Witch Hunt Successfully Bans Trans Fats
Ding dong the witch is dead; killed by the federal government…well, that’s if the witch was a recluse people hardly ever saw, probably hasn’t hurt…
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Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 2: Its Favors for Some Businesses Hurt Other Businesses
Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 2: Its Favors for Some Businesses Hurt Other Businesses The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. Unless…
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Union Deauthorization Provides Workers Weapon to Combat Pro-Union NLRB Actions
Nearly all action to come out of the Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board has sought to ease union organizing campaigns in order to funnel…
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Reasons to Oppose the Ex-Im Bank, Part 1: It’s Pro-Business, Not Pro-Market
The Export-Import Bank’s charter expires on June 30. Unless Congress votes to reauthorize that charter, Ex-Im will soon cease to exist. This would be a…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a prolific week for the Federal Register, with more than 1,700 pages covering everything from real estate appraisal to water banks. On to the…
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Abolish Ex-Im Bank, Don’t Reform It
Over at the American Spectator, University of Chicago lecturer Frank Schell recently published a column arguing that the Export-Import Bank should be reformed, not…
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How Many Significant Regulations Escape Congress’ Notice?
The Spring 2015 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions was released in late May, presenting recently completed actions and ongoing priorities of the federal…
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Trade Promotion Authority: What it Is and What it Isn’t
The House of Representatives is poised to vote on Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (H.R. 1314). Unfortunately,…
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Union Official Time Breeds Corruption
The Office of Labor-Management Standards of the Department of Labor conducts criminal investigations to unearth union wrongdoing that violates the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.
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DOJ vs. Reason.com Commenters: How the Deck Is Stacked Against Anonymous Political Speech
Our friends over at the Reason Foundation, a venerable libertarian think tank and publisher of Reason magazine, recently received a grand jury subpoena from a federal prosecutor…
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DOJ vs. Reason.com Commenters: When Everything Is Deemed a “Threat”
The Supreme Court has said that true threats can be banned without violating the First Amendment, but that doesn’t mean that hyperbolic rants are unprotected…
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Bad Tradeoff: Ex-Im vs. a Weak Dollar
At this point, it looks like Congress will let the Export-Import Bank’s charter expire on June 30. This is not a big deal in grand scheme…