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Alarmists turn blind eye to global warming benefits–again
Tomorrow, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the national security threats from melting Arctic ice. Greenwire (subscription required), the Online environmental news…
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Blind to Obama’s Broken Promises
In 2008, Obama promised a “net spending cut” (although he never did come up with cuts to offset his proposed spending increases). Obama…
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Fishing for Rationality in the Beauty Salon
Thinking of getting one of those cool new “fish pedicures”? Well, you’d better act fast. 14 states have already banned the process. But a member…
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Regarding the Economics of Environmentalism, A Response to CAP’s Brad Johnson
it, either. So it seems there is some uncertainty on global warming. What is certain, however, is that reducing emissions also reduces economic growth, by…
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Obama Budget Explodes Debt, Taxes, CBO Admits
Obama’s budget would explode the national debt while increasing taxes. That’s the conclusion of the Congressional Budget Office, controlled by lawmakers who support…
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Herbert W. Obama
In the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover raised marginal tax rates to 63%, and went on a deficit spending binge. He also signed…
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Will talent flee to the City?
A different take on possible effects of lawmakers’ rabble-rousing on TARP bonuses. Jeffrey Goldfarb at breakingviews.com says that driving out talented financial…
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“Going Galt”– 90 percent tax may provide impetus
Already there’s confusion over what the 90 percent bonus tax bill passed by the House really means. Targeted at the AIG bonuses,…
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No “hysteria” about trade — just some facts
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A Cynical Poison-Pill Bill
Yesterday, liberal lawmakers, after publicly blasting the multi-million dollar AIG bonuses as undeserved and excessive, privately voted down GOP proposals to limit them.
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The AIG Tax Trojan Horse
The massive tax hike being voted on in the House today is a Trojan horse that uses the legitimate outrage over the American International…
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CO2 regulation under the Clean Air Act: Economic Train Wreck, Constitutional Crisis, Legislative Thuggery
Last week, EPA leaked a Power Point presentation revealing that the agency plans on April 30 to propose a finding that “air pollution” from emissions…
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NYT soft-balls trade protectionism
A New York Times editorial today urges the Obama Administration to take a stronger role in supporting open trade, more specifically, to reinstate the…
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A Global Green New Deal – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Showing that he believes Al Gore’s typical misunderstanding that the Chinese word for crisis is made up of the characters for threat and opportunity (…
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AIG Lies; Bonuses for Fannie & Freddie; Fed Explodes Money Supply, Risks Stagflation
It’s not just AIG, being bailed out for $170 billion, that’s using taxpayer money to give fat bonuses to its employees. The same thing is…
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Show Your Work!
Fiona Harvey of the FT is one of the better journalists covering the environmental beat, but I’m afraid that is a bit like saying that…
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Barack Obama v. Warren Buffett on the Economy
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Ron Kirk confirmed as USTR — vowed trade “enforcement”
The U.S. has a new U.S. Trade Representative — former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk. Kirk was confirmed by the Senate today in a 92-5…
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Tit-for-tat: Tariffs and trucks
It’s no empty threat — Mexico will be slapping high tariffs on almost one hundred U.S. products beginning tomorrow, according to its economy minister. …
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Carbon mitigation schemes are inherently protectionist
Thanks, Fran, for blogging on the carbon tariff threat to the peace and prosperity of the world. We should all remember that carbon…
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Postmodern Union-on-Union Fight
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is being denounced by a group of its own employees for doing, well, nothing wrong or illegal, but something…
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More on carbon tariffs
For more on the insanity of carbon tariffs, there’s an excellent 2008 article by the National Post’s Terence Corcoran appropriately titled “Blowing up the…
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Carbon tariffs quid pro quo?
Just as the World Bank put out a report on increased trade protectionism in the world, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu…
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Hypocritical Posturing By Obama Over AIG Bonuses
In response to public outrage, Obama is belatedly criticizing the millions of dollars in bonuses that AIG, which is being bailed by taxpayers at a…
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LibertyWeek 34: Michelle Minton Conquers the World
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Left-Wing Attorney General Ashamed of End to Discrimination
A federal appeals court recently upheld an injunction barring a county official from continuing to prevent people from voting based on their race. The unanimous…
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Mexico wants to keep on trucking
Mexico said it would impose tariffs on about 90 U.S. exports in retaliation for a recent bill that violates the North America Free Trade…
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With news coverage like this…
…does organized labor need a PR operation? In today’s Politico, Jeanne Cummings repeats — without qualification — the half-truth that supporters of the so-called…
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Economic Illiteracy’s Here Again
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Bailouts for Liars, Illegal Aliens, and Undeserved Bonuses
Insurance giant AIG, bailed out by taxpayers for $170 billion, is using taxpayer money to pay executives in the division that brought…
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Online gambling increases despite “ban”
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The Socialism that Dare not Speak its Name
“Socialism” is dead, according to Matthew Dallek, writing in the Politico. I put the term in quotes, because what Dallek defines as socialism is…
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An Explosion of Litigation
Already burdened by $8 trillion in new federal spending commitments and the likelihood of higher taxes to pay for bailouts,…
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Obama on Earmarks and Pork-Barrel Spending
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States Revolt against Card Check
State legislators are unhappy about the prospect of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) being imposed on their constituents’ businesses. That was a central…
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Alarmism increasing twice as fast as predicted
The Independent in London this week ran with the latest claim about sea level rise. Their headline illustrated perfectly how ridiculous predictions quickly transform…
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Trade and special interests
A National Review Online editorial today takes President Obama to task for catering to Democratic special interests opposed to free trade. The…
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Economists Give Obama Failing Grade; New Bailouts Demanded As Obama Breaks Promises
Obama gets a failing grade from economists. “U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received failing grades for their efforts to…
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Eugene Scalia on Card Check
With passage of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) growing more in doubt, organized labor and its Congressional allies are resorting to pushing the…
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Your Interests Are My Interests
As newspapers around the country are closing, Google's interest-based ads may be just the shot in the arm the content industry needs.
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Going Ballistic on Card Check
Today’s Wall Street Journal, in an editorial, notes organized labor’s latest hardball tactic in its effort to help enact the so-called Employee Free…
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Land Grab Bill on House Floor Today
UPDATE 1:15pm ET: Myron reports – “House narrowly defeats omnibus land grab bill under suspension. 282 yes to 144 no. Two thirds needed under suspension.
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Al Gore Wants .eco Web Domain…
Since Dot Eco TLD announced that they were seeking establishment as a top level domain (TLD) at ICANN’s (Internet Corporation for…
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Utah: Rated R for Ridiculous
Utah is on the verge of using it’s ‘Truth in Advertising’ bill to pass regulated enforcement of video game ratings. The bill which was in…
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Stimulus Subsidizes Corruption, Waste, Racism
The $800 billion stimulus package signed by Obama not only will make the economy shrink over the long-run, it will pay $88.6 million…
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LibertyWeek 33: Drinking Our Way to Economic Health
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Enemies of Sound Money
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Sen. Richard Shelby, LOL*
We normally don’t spend much time praising elected officials here at OpenMarket, but I have to make an exception (this week, at least) for Sen.
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Obama Insults America’s Allies, Endangers Economy
Not content with endangering the economy by pushing through $8 trillion in bailouts and welfare, Obama has now insulted the…
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Buffett Opposes Card Check, but Don’t Forget Binding Arbitration
Rumors of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) being introduced in the current Congress have come and gone — and will come again. Yet…
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The deep social meaning of couture fashion in Paris
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CO Liquor Stores & Craft Brewers Against Consumers?
After running into the owners of a Colorado Brewery this weekend, I stumbled on a battle going on in the state between, as the…
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$8 Trillion in Bailouts; Undeserving Rich Benefit
Federal bailouts and related spending proposed by the Obama Administration now total 8 trillion dollars, according to the American Institute for Economic Research.
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George McGovern on Card Check
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George McGovern on Card Check
Former Democratic Senator and presidential candidate George McGovern continues to speak out against the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, which he has described as an…
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As Washington frets over “behavioral advertising”…
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90 Percent Tax Rate Proposed
Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-California) has advocated raising marginal tax rates to 90 percent. Such a tax increase on the wealthy would be necessary, but…
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The 5% Bailout: Jeb Hensarling Trashes TARP
The Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), which oversees the spending of TARP funds, released its March report today entitled “Foreclosure Crisis: Working Toward a Solution.”…
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“Make Mine Freedom”
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Obama Bails Out Rich, Irresponsible People With LOW Mortgage Payments
Yesterday, I wrote about how high-income people with $700,000 homes, who are in no danger of becoming homeless, would benefit from the Obama Administration’s…
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Schadenfreude “Two-Fer”
The New York Times reported this week that the Peanut Corporation of America plants in Texas and Georgia that were shipping salmonella contaminated peanut products…
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Remaining ‘Swiss’ No Longer An Option
In a running theme, I again cover the topic of the U.S. government’s heavy-handed dealings with swiss…
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New Study Shows Job Loss Data under Card Check
This week, Dr Anne Layne-Farrar, an economist with the Law and Economics Consulting Group, published a new study in which she analyzes the likely…
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Yes, “Botch” is the right word.
Alex is right. “This IS one of these questions about what to do in the real world, where first-best solutions just aren’t politically possible†(emphasis…
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More Big Brother Tactics Against Charity
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Did the Supreme Court “Botch” Wyeth v. Levine?
I was initially going to post this as a comment to Greg Conko’s recent post arguing against the Court’s recent decision in Wyeth…
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LibertyWeek 32: FCC Don’t Tread on Me
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Bailing Out the Reckless Rich, Harming Our Economy
Well-to-do people will receive an unnecessary mortgage bailout, under a new federal program that will cut their payments to just 31 percent of their income…
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Imagine There’s No Agency
Washington spends and regulates, and it’s hard to make it stop doing either. Government agencies and programs attract constituencies that want to keep them around,…
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Good News: Already, Obama Is Backtracking on Climate Change
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Distorting the News, to Obama’s Advantage: Ledbetter v. Goodyear and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
Distorted press coverage of a Supreme Court decision gave a big boost to the Obama campaign, which made the decision a major campaign…
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Fed’s “Beige Book” paints a bleak picture
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Business + Gov. Leeching = Job loss
As I blogged about earlier many states…
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Supreme Court Botches Preemption Case
Ms. Levine alleged not only that the warning on Phenergan's label wasn't strong enough, but that Phenergan was "not reasonably safe for intravenous administration," and…
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CBO’s newest estimates of stimulus package’s effects
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Parallel Lies
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been talking with President Obama this morning, and high on the agenda was the PM’s call for international banking…
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In the Obama Era, Big Brother to Replace Private Charity (maybe?)
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Hansen belittles models, carbon trading, Kyoto; calls for coal-destroying carbon tax
Last week’s House Ways & Means Committee hearing on “scientific objectives for climate change legislation” contained much grist for skeptical mills. Dr. James Hansen did…
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Why Is the Chicago Tribune in Bed with T Boone Pickens?
Remove the rhetoric, and T Boone's plan is quite simple. He wants the government to (1) force taxpayers to subsidize his wind power; (2) force…
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Your Loss Is My Gain, Sucker!
I am being enriched by a vast expansion of government that will impoverish you and your family, and shrink the size of the economy in…
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Ironic Snowfall for Resource-Rich Greenies
Environmentalists characterize themselves as petite Davids battling gargantuan corporate Goliaths in order to grab media attention. But hundreds of green activists demonstrated today to raise…
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CEI stages “Celebrate Coal” counter-rally on Capitol Hill today
Despite the fact that the DC area was just clobbered with snow last night and this morning, hundreds of left-wing environmentalists descended on Capitol Hill…
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Will the “food police” be nationalized?
In this bizarre Washington world, it can’t possibly be true, but it is: a top staffer at the lobbying organization often pejoratively referred…
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“Sanity is not statistical”
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GM Volt may not be cost-effective for consumers, study says
A study by Carnegie Mellon finds that the Chevy Volt, GM’s rechargeable battery-driven car designed to go 40 miles on electricity, is “not cost effective in any scenario,” Bloomberg…
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DC on the School Reform Front Lines, Again
Today’s Washington Post features an editorial that strongly criticizes Congressional Democrats’ rush to kill the District of Columbia’s school voucher program, which enjoys bipartisan…
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What Does Norway’s Net Neutrality Mean for the U.S.?
Hopefully nothing. But international policy has a way of making waves on our shores; sort of a “Look what they’re doing in Europe, we should…
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Saving Us from Ourselves=lolprez
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Obama Administration’s trade agenda released
According to President Obama’s 2009 Trade Policy Agenda, trade policy in his Administration will be used to promote “social accountability” and make…
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Alarmism Has Consequences
In a magnificent display of self-delusion, the green movement is holding a demonstration at the Capitol’s power plant today to protest the continued use of…
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Soft Toilet Paper: Mankind’s Doom?
The NRDC's Allen Hershkowitz says that "People just don't understand that softness equals ecological destruction." I had to chuckle after reading that last sentence (it…
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CEI at CPAC – Fred L. Smith, Jr.
CEI President Fred L. Smith, Jr. dropped by CPAC today to speak on a panel about government bailouts. He also made appearances on Radio Row…
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GDP drops sharply — not a time to raise taxes
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An open auction for price clarity?
In today’s Financial Times, Gillian Tett addresses the opaqueness of determining the “price” of collateralized debt obligations backed by mortgage…
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Obama’s Corporate Environmental Income Tax
Tucked into the EPA budget proposal the Obama administration revealed yesterdays are plans to reinstate the Superfund taxes which expired in 1995 as a way…
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Bottled Water Hypocrisy
Apparently, Mayor Newsom–one of the first lawmakers to condemn bottled water and bar government agencies from buying it–has a separate standard for himself! A partially…
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Myron Ebell on Obama’s Green Energy Plan
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8oWwGqU4XY 283 234]…
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The Energy Tax Budget
“Not one dime,” said President Obama in his address to Congress, referring to how much extra tax people earning under $250,000 a year will have…
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Wayne Crews Considers the Cost of Regulation
From RealClearMarkets.com: Removing burdensome regulations on businesses, both large and small, hasn’t figured much into the economic recovery program thus far. But alternatives to “porkulus 
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