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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: July 19, 2011
California: In an attempt to lower the rates of minors drinking alcohol, a bill is being pushed that would prevent grocery store patrons from…
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Another Shot at Pennsylvania Liquor Privatization
Ah, Pennsylvania: home sweet home. The state known for its soft pretzels, Hershey’s chocolate and Sylvester Stallone statues. Unfortunately, it has also…
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Police Shut Down Renegade Lemonade Stand
Vendors inside the car show didn't appreciate the competition. So they talked the city government into passing a new ordinance that put the girls out…
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Regulation of the Day 184: Picking up Dog Poop
A Vienna, Austria man was recently jailed for not picking up after his Great Danes.
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British Social Workers Tear Apart Happy Families, Seize Children from Loving Parents
In Britain, social workers and child-protective services are tearing apart happy families, and seizing children from loving parents "for no good reason," notes Christopher…
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Morning Media Summary
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Permit More Permits, Please
Want jobs? The National Ocean Industries Association and the American Petroleum Institute have the answer: restore the number of exploration and offshore drilling permits…
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The President’s Health Care Fables
The president pushed the health care bill through Congress using a series of fables -- health insurance horror stories…
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Liquor Wholesaler Domination in Washington, D.C.
Terroirist blogger David White has posted a good commentary on the Specialty Wine Retailers Association report on alcohol wholesaler spending: “Toward…
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Greens’ “Skin-Deep” Science on Sunscreen
It’s summer and, not surprisingly, environmental activists at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) are publishing summer-themed scare reports. This year, they “update” their a…
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Stealing You Blind: Some Solutions to Over-Government
The central theme of my new book Stealing You Blind is that America is over-governed – at federal, state, and local level (there’s a…
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NYC Bureaucrat Tries to Harsh Urban Apiarist’s Buzz for Not “Watering” Beehive
Although New York City reversed its position on urban beekeeping in Spring 2010 and legalized the practice, there are apparently still some government employees with…
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Morning Media Summary
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Obama Administration Funds Special-Interest Groups, Wipes Out Jobs, Refuses to Cut Wasteful Spending
The EPA has donated millions to the very environmental groups that routinely sue it. Then, when they sue it, it gives them millions…
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CEI Podcast for July 14, 2011: The Incandescent Light Bulb Ban
Have a listen here. Earlier this week, General Electric (GE) CEO Jeffrey Immelt gave a speech at a conference on free enterprise. Energy Policy…
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Debt Ceiling Deal of 1996 Set Regulatory Reform Precedent
In National Review this week, Wayne Crews and I make the case for including regulatory reform in a debt ceiling package. "Any hike in…
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$130,000 in Stimulus Funds Spent for Book on “White Privilege” that Attacks Colorblindness
The Omaha Public Schools spent $130,000 in federal stimulus funds to buy a diversity manual for 8,000 teachers, administrators, support staffers -- even…
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Morning Media Summary
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Massachusetts’ Collective Bargaining Law: A Worry for the Obama Administration?
It's not easy being a governor or state legislator these days. With states facing deep budget deficits, state lawmakers around the nation are working to…
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Morning Media Summary
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Fannie Mae Played a Bigger Role in the Financial Crisis than Previously Thought
In the Wall Street Journal, Peter Wallison, who prophetically warned against the risky practices of mortgage giant Fannie Mae, describes the key role…
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A Free-Market Told-You-So
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Michelle Obama’s 1700 Calorie Hypocrisy
I am no fan of ad hominem attacks, especially when it’s the President and his administration that deserve true criticism for their policies. So, when…
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CEI’s Iain Murray Interviewed on New Book, Stealing You Blind
CEI Vice President for Strategy, and director of CEI’s Center for Economic Freedom, Iain Murray has a new book, Stealing You Blind: How Government…
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Obama Makes Deficit-Reduction Deal Harder by Appearing to Plot to Use Tax Increases for Spending, Rather Than Debt Reduction
Publicly, President Obama has suggested a grand bargain to get America's staggering budget deficits under control, a deal in which Republicans would agree to…
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Immelt Pleads for Tax Holiday to Enhance GE Rent-Seeking
Yesterday, arch rent-seeker Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric CEO and Obama’s job czar, headlined the “Campaign for Free Enterprise” job summit. In typical fashion, Immelt had…
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Morning Media Summary
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Justice Department’s Witch Hunt Against Banks Will Harm Economy
The Justice Department is now extorting multimillion dollar settlements from banks, by accusing them of racial discrimination because they use traditional, non-racist lending criteria…
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Energy Secretary Wants to Force You to Save Money
Energy Secretary Steven Chu admitted the paternalistic motivation for the effective ban on incandescent light-bulbs on Friday. Such honesty from a bureaucrat is somewhat…
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Regulation of the Day 183: Throwing Wet Sponges
Apparently British regulators don’t think their subjects are sponge-worthy.
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Morning Media Summary
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Stimulus Dollars Funded Mexican Coffin Industry through “Operation Fast and Furious”
Not content with just using American tax dollars to subsidize foreign "green jobs" that replaced U.S. jobs, the Obama administration used stimulus dollars…
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Schumpeter on Why People Are Bad at Arguing
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Unemployment Rises, Driven Up By Failed Government Policies
U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest number of workers in nine months . . . Non-farm…
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Regulation of the Day 182: The Definition of a Hot Dog
Having solved the state’s fiscal crisis, California’s state legislature has moved on to more important issues, such as the legal definition of “hot dog.”…
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Strangely Specific Regulations
The next someone tells you the economy is dangerously unregulated, refer them to this list:…
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CEI Weekly: Big Labor Alliance With Democrats in Jeopardy
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How Wealthy Are You?
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Obama Administration Creates New Debts to Pay Off Trial Lawyers Even as it Demands Increase in Debt Ceiling
The Supreme Court ruled in Alexander v. Sandoval (2001) that outside the employment context, people bringing discrimination lawsuits under the civil-rights laws generally have…
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Morning Media Summary
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CEI Podcast for July 7, 2011: How Much Does Regulation Cost?
One federal study says federal regulations cost $1.75 trillion. Another says it's $62 billion. The difference is almost a factor of 30. Vice President for…
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Mica and Duncan’s Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill Calls for 42% Cuts from SAFETEA-LU Levels
Today, House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and Highway and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-Tenn.) announced they would be introducing a $230-billion,…
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Big Government Continues to Hurt Small Businesses Most
The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy released a study showing that the burden of government regulation disproportionately falls onto small businesses. Specifically, those with…
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New Video on the D.C. Taxicab Medallion Bill
Reason.tv has a new video up today, “D.C. Taxi Heist: How a new law would screw drivers and riders,” that explains why Washington’s proposed…
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Morning Media Summary
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Wasteful Stimulus Spends $7 Million Per Household to Get Montana Residents Broadband Access
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Virginia’s Child Support Guidelines Likely to Become Grossly Excessive for Most Households
Virginia seems likely to increase its child-support obligations on non-custodial parents, based on flawed methods of calculating child-rearing costs that overstate child-rearing costs. As I…
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The Tragedy of the Truth
The Yale Cultural Cognition Project recently released a new study with surprising findings. According to the data of their national survey, people who are…
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Morning Media Summary
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Public-Sector Unions in the Northeast are a Tough Group to Please
Openmarket.org The cozy relationship between liberal governors in Northeast states and Big Labor is becoming strained. Elected Democrats are realizing how strongly strings were attached…