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Gag Rule for Hedge Funds Challenged in Supreme Court on First Amendment Grounds in Bulldog Investors v. Galvin
Usually, you can advertise and discuss a product, even if not everyone is allowed to buy it. Thanks to the First Amendment, you can advertise…
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$15 Trillion for… What, Exactly?
In a new study, Cato’s Michael Tanner finds that “Despite nearly $15 trillion in total welfare spending since Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty…
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Stimulus Aided the Politically Connected at Massive Cost to Taxpayers
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Today’s Links: April 24, 2012
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A Bad Week For Shuttlyndra Supporters
Two serious blows were struck against the Senate Launch System this week, though based on previous behavior, when knocked down by…
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Regulation of the Day 219: Cat Cafes
In a city as big as Tokyo, there is plenty of room for niche businesses. One niche is the neko café; neko is the Japanese…
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Today’s Links: April 23, 2012
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
84 new rules, 1,675 Federal Register pages, including new regulations for medical exams for commercial drivers, Chilean pomegranates, and springsnail habitats.
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CEI Weekly: Happy Tax Day!
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An America of Inequalities
Increasingly, ordinary people get prosecuted for trifles, while politically connected people get a pass for the exact same crime, or far worse behavior. A whale-watcher…
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No, Paranoid Progressives, the Koch Brothers Had Nothing to Do With Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” Law
In primitive societies, people blame their misfortunes on witchcraft and other imaginary phenomena. The American Left blames the Koch brothers for everything, with equally little…
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Regulation Roundup
Alpaca tax breaks, IRS seeks power to confiscate tax delinquents' passports, and more.
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Today’s Links: April 20, 2012
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ALEC Unfairly Demonized Over “Stand Your Ground” Laws
The pro-free-market American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is under fire for its support of self-defense laws, known as "Stand Your Ground" laws. It began after…
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The Tax Man Cometh — and Taketh
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CEI Podcast for April 19, 2012: Right to Work Laws and Compelled Speech
Indiana is becoming a right to work state, which means unions will no longer be able to force workers who don't want their representation to…
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Today’s Links: April 19, 2012
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What the Redskins Can Teach Loudoun County
Proponents of Phase II of Dulles Rail often appeal to the notion that having a metro station marks a community as significant. Metro seems to…
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FDR on FDIC
Robert Samuelson’s column (April 8, 2012) discussing President Franklin Roosevelt’s reservations about the longer term implications of Social Security should not be surprising. In…
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How to Fix U.S. Water Policy? Less Government, More Market Pricing
Late last week I received an invitation to testify in the Water and Power Subcommittee of the House of Representatives Natural…
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Today’s Links: April 18, 2012
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Ambulance Chasers Feast on Americans with Disabilities Act Claims
Thanks to generous attorney-fee provisions contained in federal civil-rights law, trial lawyers are feasting on Americans with Disabilities Act claims at the expense of…
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Today’s Links: April 17, 2012
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Another Dubious TSA Trifecta
Stolen iPads, harassing drag queens, and a former TSA chief calls for reform -- three years after his departure.
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Tax Day Approacheth
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Regulation of the Day 218: Bagpipes
Street musicians were recently banned from playing bagpipes in Vancouver, British Columbia. Just in time for the city’s Scotland Week celebration, Mayor Gregor Robertson happily…
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The Space Property Rights Discussion Continues
As I (sort of) predicted last week, Tanja Masson-Zwaan, president of the International Institute of Space Law, has weighed in on…
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Today’s Links: April 16, 2012
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
77 new regulations were published last week, the Federal Register grew by 1,475 pages, and the federal government is liberalizing its golden nematode policy.
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CEI Weekly: Justice Department Sues Apple Over E-Books
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Department of Transportation Bureaucrats Fail Tolling 101
Peter Samuel's extremely valuable TOLLROADSnews brings us this gem, "FHWA Office of Highway Policy Information - sloppy & stupid”: So under Toll Facilities, New…
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Today’s Links: April 13, 2012
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Union Recalcitrance on Race Relations
Openmarket.org Recent events have exposed unions’ troglodytic views on race relations. Basically, unions seek to preserve the current racial makeup of their workforce, regardless of…
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Union Recalcitrance on Race Relations
Recent events have exposed unions’ troglodytic views on race relations. Basically, unions seek to preserve the current racial makeup of their workforce, regardless of changes…
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CEI Podcast for April 12, 2012: Apple, E-Books, and Antitrust
Yesterday the Justice Department sued Apple and five major publishers over their e-book pricing model, alleging price fixing. Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia…
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99% Spring: An Anatomy of Destruction
Openmarket.org The establishment left’s weeklong protest training, deemed the 99% Spring or Shareholder Spring, is an effort to train 100,000 activists in civil disobedience…
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Competition in Water Infrastructure
Today, CEI released a report on how increased competition could make a big difference in the cost to taxpayers for upgrading water infrastructure.
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On the waterfront: Mob stench still fouls New York Harbor
CEI Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs and Research Associate Jack Mann Featured in New York Post As he tries to clean house at the bloated…
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Modernity is Amazing
A man separated from his family 25 years ago as a small child used Google Earth and Facebook to find them and reunite.
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Today’s Links: April 12, 2012
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99% Spring: An Anatomy of Destruction
The establishment left’s weeklong protest training, deemed the 99% Spring or Shareholder Spring, is an effort to train 100,000 activists in civil disobedience to achieve…
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Big Push for Costly “Comparable Worth” Legislation Coming? Lilly Ledbetter Returns to the Stage
Lilly Ledbetter, who made false claims about her pay discrimination lawsuit, has returned to the political arena, as you can see at…
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A Free Market Defense of Retransmission Consent
Unshackling a market from obsolete, protectionist regulations can be a very challenging undertaking, especially when the lifeblood of a regulated industry is at stake. The…
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One Small Step for Human Spaceflight
The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) have been a thorn in the American space industry’s side for almost fourteen years, ever since Congress moved…
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Why Matt Taibbi’s Anti-JOBS Act Screed Couldn’t Suck Worse
I have had a range of reactions when reading Matt Taibbi's pieces in Rolling Stone. Most of the time, I vehemently shake my head, but quite a few times…
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San Francisco Judge Dismisses Lawsuit against McDonald’s over Happy Meals
"In San Francisco, Judge Richard Kramer has dismissed the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s lawsuit on behalf of parent Monet Parham seeking to…
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Sources of Economic Error
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Staggering Law School Debts Will Lead to Exploding Debt Disaster for Graduates and Taxpayers
Federal financial aid policies have encouraged law students to borrow increasing amounts to attend law school, despite the glut of lawyers (oddly, government…
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Today’s Links: April 10, 2012
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Grow Economy by Cutting Law School Subsidies
The economy remains slow, recovering from the recession at an unusually low rate, partly due to economically-harmful Obama administration policies. "U.S. stocks fell, dragging…