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“Bush holdover” is career civil servant hired during Clinton
Team Obama was embarrassed earlier this week when a leaked interagency memorandum acknowledged that EPA’s proposed finding that greenouse gases endanger public health and welfare could…
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Stupid and Evil Soda Tax
Nanny statists are, apparently, equal opportunity hacks. Activists on the left and their legislative team players are not only going after the bottled water…
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Adviser Admits Obama’s Tax Increases May Kill Economic Recovery
Harvard economist Martin Feldstein, warns that “the barrage of tax increases proposed in President Barack Obama’s budget could . . . kill any chance of…
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Law Professors Urge Supreme Court to Review Challenge to Powerful Agency, in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will weigh whether to decide what a federal judge called the “the most important separation-of-powers case regarding the President’s appointment…
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Ryan Radia on Intel and Antitrust
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Chris Horner on Green Propaganda in the Classroom
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Al Gore 1984
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Massive Tax Increase and Marriage Penalty from Obama
Obama's proposed tax increases create a massive financial penalty for married couples, by subjecting them to much higher income taxes than if they had chosen…
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Fred L. Smith, Jr. on Credit Cards
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Suitable for framing: Barton op-ed on Waxman-Markey
Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Joe Barton (R-TX) hits a home run in this oped, which says everything you need to know about the Waxman-Markey cap-and-tax…
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Annual biofuel subsidies will hit $60 billion in 2022 — Earth Track
Doug Koplow of Earth Track, assisted by researchers with Friends of the Earth, has produced a new study, A Boon to Bad Biofuels, on the…
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LibertyWeek 42: Hugo Chávez, Robber Baron
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How long will Sen. Barrasso’s “hold” on Regina McCarthy hold?
Maybe forever! On April 30, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) placed a hold on the nomination of Regina McCarthy as Assistant Administrator of the EPA Office of Air and…
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Chemical Blacklist Growing
Apparently, not only are state lawmakers in Minnesota as noted earlier today blindly banning useful consumer products. International bureaucrats are working on misguided bans…
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Lincoln Remains Opposed to EFCA
The possibility of parts of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), specifically EFCA’s binding arbitration provision, coming back into the political arena has focused…
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BPA Ban: Minnesota First in a Line of Fools
Usually California’s cast of political characters leads the way in the passage of stupid and counterproductive consumer product regulations. Yet last week, legislative clowns in…
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Deficit Skyrockets to $1.8 Trillion
The White House predicts the budget deficit will top $1.8 trillion, four times 2008’s record. Obama has sought to blame the deficit on Bush.
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Klaus vs. the Eurocrats
In The American Spectator, former CEI Bastiat Scholar Doug Bandow (now at the Cato Institute) describes how “[o]nly the Irish people and Czech President…
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Taxing Away American Jobs
Obama’s plan to raise taxes on the foreign operations of U.S. businesses may destroy management and professional jobs in the U.S., will put American business…
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Purpose of Hate-Crimes Bill Is To Promote Double Jeopardy and Shred Civil Liberties
On April 29, the House voted 249-to-175 to pass the federal hate crimes bill, which the bill’s supporters explicitly want to use to prosecute…
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Citizen Showing Gadsden flag ‘Stopped and Detained’ by Louisiana Police
Louisiana police stopped and detained a U.S. citizen for displaying the Gadsden "Don't Tread on Me" flag on his car. This lead G. Gordon Liddy…
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“Gangster government gave Chrysler to the UAW”
So reads the Washington Examiner’s editorial today about how Obama effectively gave ownership of Chrysler to the United Auto Workers Union (which spent…
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Obama Breaks Yet Another Promise
Obama promised to end the military’s ban on gays, but his Administration has not done so. In fact, it recently kicked out a West Point…
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The Road to Serfdom
On Hayek’s brithday, the following brief speech from internet megastar Daniel Hannan MEP should remind us that there are all too many paths leading to…
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George McGovern on Binding Arbitration
With Democrats just shy of the 60 votes they need to end a filibuster, the fate of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act remains in…
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New York State Jumps on Anti-Bottled Water Wagon
New York Gov. David A. Paterson has jumped on anti-bottled water bandwagon by issuing an executive order halting state-agency purchases of bottled water—claiming…
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Another Postage Hike on Monday
Postage rates will go up on Monday. Thanks to the forever stamp, most of us won’t have to bother with those infernal 2-cent stamps this…
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Cockroaches Win
If New York regulators get their way, the only other option will be for people to hire an exterminator. So basically, if your income is…
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Eco-sailors rescued by oil tanker
“An expedition team which set sail from Plymouth [England] on a 5,000-mile carbon-emission free trip to Greenland have been rescued by an oil tanker,”…
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So, Mr. Waxman, how much global warming will your bill avert?
MAGICC reveals that an 83% reduction in U.S. emissions “will only produce a global temperature ’savings’ during the next 50 years of about 0.05ºC.”…
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Destabilizing Afghanistan: the Quagmire Expands
The anti-American Taliban extremists are resurgent not only in Afghanistan, where they once sheltered Osama Bin Laden, but also in neighboring Pakistan (which has nuclear…
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LibertyWeek 41: SCOTUS Scurry
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Chris Horner on the White House Energy Summit
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A funny take on people’s resistance to new technology
"Meet Bronze!" "Bronze is Your Friend!" "Bronze is Brilliant; User-Friendly; and Multi-Purpose!" "Stone is Dead, Prepare for the Age of Bronze!"…
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Cato on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
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Flex-fuel mandates: throwing bad regulation after bad
Rent-seeking–the whoring after market-rigging rules and subsidies–is a true addiction, an appetite that grows with feeding. For the ethanol lobby, it’s not enough that government props up…
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David, Goliath and Chevron
How is little Ecuador going to collect from big Chevron? In 2007, investigative reporter Greg Palast posed the question to Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa regarding…
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RIP Jack Kemp
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Bed Bugs Bite
Don’t let the bed bugs bite was always a frightening thought when I was a kid. But today, it’s even scarier since bed bugs are…
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Bye Bye, Justice Souter
Liberal Supreme Court Justice David Souter is retiring. On social issues, this makes little difference: whoever replaces him will satisfy liberal litmus tests,…
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Congress to Tackle College Football
Having solved all of America's other problems, Congress is turning its attention to how college football's national championship is decided.
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Status Report on International Climate Treaty
There are only seven months until the global community plans to adopt a successor climate treaty to the failed Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen, but negotiators…
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Obama’s pending cybersecurity overhaul should heed the “Cybersecurity Commandment”…
Not many details have appeared, but the Atlantic reports on a speech given by the administration’s Melissa Hathaway in McLean, VA: In her speech,…
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Censoring Critical Blogs as “Harassment” Would Violate the First Amendment
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LibertyWeek 40: Keepin’ It on the CL
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Advice for Conservatives
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Chrysler bankruptcy an opportunity to reject Obama nationalization
Is 48 hours enough time to save Chrysler from being nationalized?…
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Detroit, D.C.
Today’s Wall Street Journal further drives home the difficult position in which the United Auto Workers, Chrysler, and General Motors are likely to find themselves…
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Civil Rights Commission Members Urge “NO” Vote on Federal Hate Crimes Bill
Four members of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission urged Congress not to pass the federal hate crimes bill (LLEHCPA) . . . pointing out that…
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Washington Swallows Detroit, Gives UAW a Piece
The United Auto Workers’ (UAW) loud complaining that they’re being asked to bear a disproportionate share of the costs of restructuring the Big Three begs…
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Fix Social Security; Unleash Capital
In RealClearMarkets.com, Fred Smith and I explain how the seemingly forgotten — but still important — goal of Social Security reform can help unleash capital,…
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Fed Policies Contradict Each Other
Low-inflation monetary policy and low-unemployment monetary policy contradict each other. The results speak for themselves.
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Specter Switches Parties, Cementing Liberals’ Filibuster-Proof Control of Senate
Contradicting earlier claims, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has switched to the Democratic Party, cementing the liberals' filibuster-proof majority on most issues in the Senate.
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The Economics of Pirate Deterrence
How can we stop pirate attacks? By applying the law of demand. If something becomes more costly, people consume less of it. How to do…
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Specter Switches, Says He’ll Still Oppose Card Check, Then What?
There’s nothing worse for an economy than uncertainty. Today, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has thrown large swathes of America’s struggling economy into a guessing game,…
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Strange Priorities: Government Fights “Indecency,” But Not Shoplifting
The prosecutor in Contra Costa County, California won’t prosecute shoplifters anymore, citing budget cuts. It’s open season on retailers in that large suburban…
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Well @#$%&, Supreme Court Upholds Ban on “Expleetive Deleetives.”
In FCC v. Fox today, the Supreme Court upheld regulation of “fleeting expletives” on broadcast television. What should be “fleeting” is the nearly century old…
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Farewell Union Transparency
Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis repeals vital reporting regulations which allowed union members to know how their hard earned dues money was being spent…
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Federal Hate Crimes Bill Will Erode Civil Liberties and Undermine Constitutional Safeguards Against Double Jeopardy
On April 23, the House Judiciary Committee voted 15-to-12 to approve a dramatic expansion of the federal hate-crimes law. The bill, H.R. 1913, would…
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Enron-like Fraud by Government in Bailouts
The federal government is perpetrating Enron-style fraud against investors in its bailouts of Merrill Lynch and Freddie Mac. The Treasury Secretary and Chairman of…
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North Korea Adopts Floral Basket-Based Economy
Isolated from the rest of the world, Kim Jong Il’s bankrupt North Korean regime appears to have stumbled upon a new gimmick to stay afloat:…
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Is Texas the new California?
Texas, once known for its oil tycoons and cattle barons, is now a stage on which renewable-energy moguls preen and strut. But whereas demand for Texas oil…
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Obama: 100 Days of Lies and Broken Promises
Obama has asked the big three networks to give him a free hour of air time on his hundredth day in office. They have…
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When Government Spending Gets Really Obscene
My good friend and Bureaucrash ally Xaq Fixx recently altered me to an interesting story on the intersection of politics, technology and free…
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Celebrating the Bard’s birthday
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Torture Prosecutions for Thee, But Not for Me
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants Bush Administration officials prosecuted for facilitating torture. Fair enough. But if they get prosecuted, she should get prosecuted,…
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Comedic highlights of the Waxman-Markey bill hearing
File these vignettes among the endless list of political inanities that would be uproariously funny if the potential economic fallout were not so toxic. Yesterday, in…
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General Growth Properties (GGP) — Bankruptcy the way it ought to be
On the surface, given the economic turmoil we’ve had, there was nothing that remarkable about the bankruptcy of shopping mall owner General Growth Properties (GGP).
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Obama credit card meeting — should meet with economists instead
Instead of meeting with the executives of credit card issuers and sactimoniously lecturing them about not raising rates, as he is doing…
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Diamond in the rough?
Hmm. A Papua New Guinea tribesman is suing the The New Yorker magazine over an article penned by MacArthur “Genius” and Pulitzer…
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Unions Disunited — and Fighting
The civil war between the two factions that until recently made up the union UNITE-HERE heated up further this week. Yesterday, the leadership…
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“We don’t need no stinking baseload,” FERC Chairman
Okay, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff didn’t actually say America doesn’t need coal-fired and nuclear power plants. He stopped short of openly embracing the …
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¿Can We Be Amigos?
The Fifth Summit of the Americas held in Trinidad and Tobago on April 17th shed light on America’s new role in the Western Hemisphere. The…
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Green Is the Color of Death
Okay, so the title of this blog post might be a little provocative, but allow me to explain. The term “green” as used by environmentalists…
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Mortgage Executive Kills Himself, After Obama Makes Mortgage Giant Freddie Mac Lose Money to Bail Out Irresponsible Borrowers
The chief financial officer of mortgage giant Freddie Mac committed suicide today in his basement. The Obama Administration forced Freddie Mac to run up…
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People Make Earth Day Better
This year, we at the Competitive Enterprise Institute are suggesting that those who will be celebrating Earth Day remember the challenges presented by living in…
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Enviro-Scare Artists
According to a new report released by enviro-scare artists at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, most food packaging still contains the chemical Bisphenol…
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Kids Know a Bucket of S**t When They See One
I’ve always been a fan of Lewis Black’s take on things, even when it’s obvious we disagree politically, but this take on the way TV…
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More Green Tape
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson states in a press release today: “People have a right to information that might affect their health and the health…
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Americas Summit: Two Views
Abajo! (“Down!”) was the response given by the friendly, bronzed-skinned middle-aged Cuban man who chatted with my husband and me over Cuban coffee on Calle…
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Does Anyone Understand The Internet?
I’m beginning to think “no” is the definitive answer. While most tend to understand the basic concepts of Internet connectivity and its associated parts, it…
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The “Small Business” Exemption Distortion
Many of the federal regulatory and tax laws include a “small business exemption” – politicians displaying an aversion to crippling a…
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Washington Logic
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Obama to Sign $6 Billion National Service Boondoggle; Mandatory Service Mulled
President Obama will sign into law a $6 billion “national service” boondoggle. In the March 31 Washington Examiner, I described how the “Americorps…
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Between the Headlines:”Sustainability” Means Sustainably Poor
“Mars Sets Goal for Sustainable Cocoa Sources” Another Washington Post story suggests that “sustainability” –whatever it may mean — still can…
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Hans Bader on Government Ownership of U.S. Banks
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exTXY__Il6g 285 234]…
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Nationalizing the Banks? Stock Conversion May Backfire
The Obama Administration wants to convert the preferred shares the government got from banks in the bank bailout into common shares. In theory, it…
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Between the Headlines: “Russian Voting Tinged with Green”
“Russian Voting Tinged with Green” This Washington Post headline from earlier this month illustrates one of worrisome side-effects of authoritarian rule. …
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Whither Hemispheric Trade?
In his post-Summit of the Americas remarks in Trinidad and Tobago today, President Obama stated his administration’s commitment to improving relations with countries around the…
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Tea Party Protesters Are Right
Tea party protests questioned the constitutionality of some of the massive bailouts over the past year, which amount to trillions of dollars. That drew…
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Endangerment finding: Legislative Hammer or Suicide Note?
The CO2 litigation campaign that begat Massachusetts v. EPA turns out to be too clever by half. As Roger Pielke, Jr. and Michael…
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Stop Thief! NYT steals Examiner’s AIG scoop with no attribution
One week after Washington Examiner ace investigative reporter Timothy P. Carney broke the blockbuster story reporting that American International Group’s post-bailout CEO Edward Liddy…
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Tech is Key in Ideas Battle
Earlier today, Competitive Enterprise Institute President Fred Smith delivered an informative but lively, entertaining speech about the role of NGOs. The speech was delivered at…
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Slandering the Tea Parties
The “tea party” protests against out-of-control government spending have been very clear in identifying what wasteful spending they object to. One example is…
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D.C. Tea Party and the 1,000,000 Teabags
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Well, the Feds at least banned an “amusement tax”
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Chris Horner on Renewable Fuels and Corporate Welfare
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Regulated Out of Work
CEI has highlighted the fact that poorly drafted drinking water regulations do more harm than good. In particular, the that greatly increased the stringency…
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Horse Racing As A Public Good?
Maryland politicians really have their hands full as the legislative session draws to a close. Instead of focusing on their state’s looming long-term budget…
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