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A Second Stimulus?
Any stimulus proposal is, by its very nature, less than a zero-sum proposition. Stimulus involves taking some money out of the economy, wasting some of…
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Congress Sticks It to the Taxpayer by Supporting No-Strings-Attached Green Energy Loans
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Government health care monopoly–not in consumers’ interests
Regina Herzlinger, chair of Harvard Business School, in National Review takes on health care and the Obama Administration’s arguments that a government-run plan…
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Leading trade lawyer: real problems with carbon tariffs
Leading trade lawyer Gary Horlick testified yesterday on carbon tariffs before the Senate Finance Committee. As the Senate prepares an energy suppression/global warming bill,…
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Regulation of the Day: Asphalt Emissions
EPA is proposing national emission standards for asphalt processing and asphalt roofing manufacturing.
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Obama Nominee: Corrupt Foreign Rulers Have Right to Remain in Office Until They Receive “Judicial Process”
Arturo Valenzuela, Obama’s nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State, falsely claims it was an illegal “coup” for Honduras to remove its corrupt would-be…
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July 6 Bluetooth hearing
Monday, I attended the fairness hearing for the Bluetooth MDL settlement. UCLA math professor and client Henry Towsner was in the audience. Dozens of people…
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Crews in the News: Consumer Choice Doesn’t Come From Regulation
CEI’s own Wayne Crews is quoted in the Boston Globe this morning, explaining why real competition — not government-mandated ‘openness’ — is the best…
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Igniting Agricultural Innovation
"Biotechnology applied to agriculture has enormous potential to enhance our ability to develop seeds for improved crops and for enhanced livestock to enable us to…
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Antitrust Irony
Microsoft is having a tense antitrust discussion with the EU. Meanwhile, Google is readying an operating system to directly compete with Windows. Compare and contrast.
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Blight Hits East Coast, Capitalism Saves the Day
There are many reasons for free-market advocates to be unhappy about current affairs. With numerous pieces of legislation being proposed to put shackles on our…
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Ex-CEO Hank Greenberg hits home run against AIG and Spitzer
Once again, the team of politicians and corporate bureaucrats pursuing the witchhunt against former American International Group CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg have struck out.
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Antitrust Policy and Telecoms
It’s hard to make a case that a company is abusing market power if it doesn’t really have any. And Verizon and AT&T are not…
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Stepping Up the Class War
On both of the most salient issues of the day, health care reform and climate change, proponents of the corresponding legislation are setting their sights…
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Young in American Spectator: “Unnecessary Baggage”
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Blowing Sunshine
Apologies for the late notice, but I had an article on the potential of solar power in last Friday’s Washington Examiner: If the American…
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Obama: “Universal Principle” Gives Presidents the Right to Keep Ruling Even If They Violate the Law
Honduras removed its would-be dictator, President Mel Zelaya, for violating his country’s constitution by seeking to extend his term in office, and replaced him with…
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Killing Bill
In today’s Washington Examiner, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ran an ad where its President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue warns that the Waxman-Markey climate…
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Regulation of the Day: The Size of Your Carry-On Bags
The Securing Cabin Baggage Act wouldn't add to security, wouldn't make flying more convenient, and may well be the result of rent-seeking.
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DC Independence Day Tea Party: My Perspective
This weekend I was able to glean a different perspective when they asked me to deliver one of the speeches at the DC Independence Day…
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Regulation of the Day: The Price of Shrimp
The ITA has been upset for some time that a Thai shrimp exporter is selling shrimp cheaply; hungry consumers have had no complaints.
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LibertyWeek 50: Detroit Bribe City
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Good For Us Isn’t Good Enough: Broadband and the Real Money It Costs
The Commission must not only identify the most cost-effective approach for catalyzing broadband deployment but also ensure that any public funds spent are…
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Congress Vehemently Opposed to Reading the Legislation It Votes On
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Will Obama Blackmail Honduras Into Installing Would-Be Dictator?
Obama is quite wrong to claim that the removal of Zelaya was "illegal." The Honduran president forfeited his right to rule under the Honduran Constitution.
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Michelle Minton at the July 4th DC Tea Party
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EPA Whistleblower in The Wall Street Journal
Today in her column, The Wall Street Journal‘s Kimberley Strassel explains the Obama EPA’s censoring of an internal study that questioned the scientific foundation…
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UnderMining Prosperity
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p691OaOKUE8 285 234]…
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“Obama stands with tyrants,” “Sides with Chavez, Castro against Honduran Democracy,” Newspapers Say
“Obama stands with tyrants,” writes the Washington Times. “When thousands of Iranians flooded the streets of Tehran protesting a rigged election and were…
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Put Rocket Fuel, Not Corn in Your Tank
As the ethanol industry sees its prospects flounder, it has sought the help of an actual general to stem the public backlash against its uneconomic,…
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Washington Post Sells White House Access to Lobbyists, and Misreports Obama Health-Care Facts
Until it was publicly-exposed, the Washington Post was selling its access to the White House to lobbyists. As Politico reported, “For…
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Lesson: don’t mix real and virtual worlds
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Alexis Arguello, RIP
Three-time champion and Boxing Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello was found dead of a gunshot would this morning, at his home in Managua, Nicaragua, of…
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Regulation of the Day: Saving the Children from Durable Products
How much safer will this rule make our children? How much more expensive will the affected goods be? How many people actually bother to send…
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America’s Ranking Crisis
With every passing month, the United States falls further behind the global leaders in broadband Internet access thanks to a combination of market…
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Progressive Intolerance
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Can the Blogosphere Be Regulated?
The Federal Trade Commission seems to think so. A fresh set of proposed Federal Trade Commission guidelines, if approved this summer, would…
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To Hell in a Handbasket
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More Risky, Low-Income Loans: Obama Asks Congress to Create a Harmful Consumer Financial Protection Agency
Banks will now be pressured to make even more risky, low-income loans. Obama has sent to Congress his proposal to create a politically-correct Consumer…
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“If you like public housing, you will love public health care”
Best line this week — should be a slogan for health care debate: “If you like public housing, you will love public health care.” Read…
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More Welfare and Marriage Penalties from Obama and Liberal Congressmen
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Obama’s Call for Light Bulb Regulation Not a New or Bright Idea
Eager to sustain his regulatory whirlwind, President Obama is now calling for efficiency standards for household and business lighting. As if the climate-themed…
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Obama Silences Science: Is This the Change We Were Promised?
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Obama Backs Dictatorship in Honduras
Honduras removed its bullying, autocratic President after he began behaving as a dictator, and its Congress replaced him with a less power-hungry member of…
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Regulation of the Day: Cap and Trade
The Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill that passed the House last week contains 397 new regulations.
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Goodbye, Mary Lou: Tribute to a great journalist and editor
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LibertyWeek 49: Censoring Science at the EPA
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Strange Bedfellows? Maybe Not
Many lawmakers support policies that provide concentrated benefits to their constituents while dispersing the costs among the populace, and insurance policy is no exception. When…
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“Treason on the House floor,” says Krugman
Noted atmospheric scientist and Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Paul Krugman, has a rant in the New York Times today saying that…
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“Saving the world?”
So many people declare that they want to “save the world!” A candidate for Miss Universe declared that to be the main purpose of her…
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Obama Blunders in Honduras and Afghanistan
The U.S. is meddling in Honduras to prop up an anti-American ruler backed by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. After Honduran president Manuel Zelaya attempted…
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Supreme Court Rules in Favor of White and Hispanic Firefighters in Ricci v. DeStefano
The Court reversed a decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, including Judge Sonia Sotomayor. . . The Supreme Court held that this was…
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Regulation of the Day: School Buses
Because of overwhelmingly negative comments, DOT has decided not to go forward with a proposed change to federal school bus policy (isn’t education supposed to…
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Bluetooth Reply Brief
This morning we filed this reply brief in the Bluetooth Headset Products Liability Litigation. The hearing is July 6, a week from today. If…
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Compare and contrast: Costco renewal settlement
Not all class action settlements are anti-consumer, and CCAF does not reflexively oppose settlements. I had two people independently approach me about a class action…
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Krugman Undermines Waxman-Markey Job Creation Claims
Today, National Public Radio held a pep rally for the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, with Paul Krugman as head cheerleader. No critic of the bill…
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Ameritrade Stock Spam Settlement
In 2007, plaintiffs brought a class action lawsuit against Ameritrade, alleging that Ameritrade was somehow behind the plaintiffs’ receiving spam pushing the purchase of certain…
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Companies to China: Don’t profit-block us bro
An article in this morning’s wall street journal commends a coalition of business associations and councils that sent a letter to China’s Premier…
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WTO-UNEP report gives the nod — sort of — to carbon border taxes
Today, the World Trade Organization, together with the UN Environment Programme posted a report on trade and climate change that outlines…
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“Take My Voice with You”
Thus tells an Iranian woman to a journalist passing through her town, in the new film, The Stoning of Soraya M., which opens…
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Green Pork and (Davis) Bacon
The alliance between organized labor and leftist environmentalists remains as strong as ever. As Carter Wood at Shopfloor.org notes, the Waxman-Markey climate change bill…
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“Leveling the playing field” with border taxes (read “bring down the economy”)
In Washington, beware any proposal that attempts to “level the playing field.” What is usually meant is hobbling competition with restrictive rules and regulations…
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Regulation of the Day: Solid Waste
When an agency screws up really badly, political leaders will sometimes change the agency's name. The EPA’s Office of Solid Waste is now called the…
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Obama’s Job-Killing Stimulus Package Replaced Investments With Welfare, Out of Political Correctness
Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package was purged of most investments in roads and bridges, and filled instead with welfare and social spending,…
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Regulation of the Day: Rice Inspection Certificates
Our rice is in crisis. Inspection certificates currently contain some data in the grade line section that better belongs in the results section. Fortunately, the…
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LibertyWeek 48: Total Privacy Awareness
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Obama Backs Corrupt Status Quo in Financial Rules Overhaul
The mortgage crisis was caused largely by the reckless government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and by federal affordable-housing…
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Minneapolis Drops $75k to Defend Stinky Tap Water
Cities around the nation are spending thousands in taxpayer dollars to promote tap water because of the alleged environmental problems with bottled water. But…
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Cap and Trade Round-Up
Word has it that the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade/energy tax bill is finally hitting the floor of the House, probably this Friday. CEI is decidedly in the…
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Opposition briefing in Bluetooth
The plaintiffs and defendants each filed their briefs yesterday in the $0-for-the-class and $800k-for-the-attorneys settlement. Note that defendants were required to pay $1M in notice…
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Hearings Open on Coercive and Counterproductively Costly Health Care Bill
Congressional Democrats are pushing hard to complete their health care bill before next week’s recess, but their hopes for a quick passage and the…
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FDA Tobacco Regulation May Harm Public Health By Blocking Healthy Alternatives
FDA regulation may actually undermine public health by making it harder to market to smokers other tobacco products, like snus, that are not as lethal…
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Commission Asks Justice Department Why Pro-Obama Thugs Got Away With Menacing White Voters
Members of the NBPP were caught on film blocking access to the polls and physically and verbally intimidating voters. . . When the defendants did…
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FTC to Monitor Blogs for Undisclosed Compensation
So much for the idyllic “free information” model of the internet. The Federal Trade Commission is drafting new rules that would extend its authority to encompass bloggers who…
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Obama Administration’s Anti-Travel Policies Hit New Low
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the new passport requirements implemented at the U.S.-Canada border. As I noted at the time, most Americans–including…
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Supreme Court Limits Voting Rights Act, But Declines to Strike Down Key Section of the Act
The Supreme Court expanded the ability of local governments to “bail out” of a draconian provision of the Voting Rights Act, which requires them…
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The Irony of the Liberty Bill
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U.S. Senate Investigates Mobile Phone Exclusivity Deals
A group of US Senators has sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing their concern that the exclusive arrangements that are common between wireless…
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E-Cigarette Smokers Could Be Left Out in the Cold
The “smokes” may be different, but the Food and Drug Administration’s ever-vigilant watch to keep us safe from ourselves in its quest to quantify…
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Stimulus = Welfare + Quotas + Corruption
Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package is now being used to force states to adopt racial quotas in government contracts, even if their state constitution…
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Obama Administration Gives Miranda Warnings to Enemy Combatants in Afghanistan, Even Though They Are Not Legally Required
The Obama Administration is now requiring investigators to give Miranda warnings to some “captured foreign fighters” in Afghanistan, advising them that they…
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Senators Act on Clean Water Restoration Act
Yesterday, in a mere one hour and seventeen minutes, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sailed through S. 787—the Clean Water Restoration Act…
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Privacy Declared Public Good
Bruce Schneier, eminent cryptographer, has declared market failure. He points to what he calls a meta-problem: Those entrusted with our privacy often…
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The $60,000 Obama Health-Care Plan: It’s “Eye-Poppingly” Expensive on a Per-Person Basis
Obama’s health-care proposals will cost well over a trillion dollars, without providing universal coverage. They are so “eye-poppingly” expensive that even Congressional Democrats have…
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Taxes without Borders
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Regulation of the Day: The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
The State Department has renewed its membership in the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. This will cost taxpayers more than $2 million in annual membership dues.
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The Stoning of Soraya M.
The Stoning of Soraya M. is a difficult film to watch, but worth taking the time to do so. The film . . . depicts…
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U.S. Civil Rights Commission Opposes Federal Hate Crimes Bill on Double Jeopardy and Civil Liberties Grounds
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has decided to oppose the federal hate-crimes bill. The Commission calls the bill a “menace to civil…
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Obama care: The Daily Horoscope of Policy
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Regulation of the Day: Parole Rules for Federal Prisoners
Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from the Department of Justice ($26 billion 2009 budget, 112,000 employees). Parole rules for DC offenders and…
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Clean Water Hoax
Sen. Barbara Boxer and company are going to bring the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) up for full committee mark-up and vote in their Thursday…
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Obama Seeks to Mandate More Risky, Low-Income Loans by Banks, in New Financial Rules
The President has just announced proposals for a major overhaul of the financial system. The proposals would force banks to make even…
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HHS Secretary: Health Insurance Industry Needs Competition… With Government
In an AP interview on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called for competition in the health insurance market. No, not between…
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Wasteful Regulation
The issue of “e-waste” has been receiving a lot of attention recently, mostly from critics concerned about discarded electronics being shipped off to developing…
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In re Bluetooth Headset Product Liability Litigation
“If you bought a Bluetooth headset between June 30, 2002 and February 19, 2009, the settlement of a class action lawsuit may affect your…
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Welcome
This is the blog for the Center for Class Action Fairness, a non-profit project founded by Ted Frank to provide pro bono…
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Tourism Bill to Be Combined With Anti-Civil-Liberties Hate Crimes Bill
If you were a tourist, would you like to come to a country where you could be tried twice for the same crime — even…
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Earmarks By Another Name
During the 2008 presidential campaign and even in the months following President Barack Obama’s election, Democrats in Congress and the administration have said…
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Regulation of the Day: Clean Air in Columbus, OH
Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from the EPA. One would think that regulators, seeing heartening results, would pat themselves on the back…
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Obama’s Speech to AMA on Healthcare Misses the Point
In a speech before the American Medical Association on Monday, June 15, President Obama pitched his plan for heathcare reform. The main thrust of the…