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Two GOP Senators Say Get Rid of Ethanol Subsidies; Gore Says His Support for Ethanol Subsidies a Mistake
In the Washington Post’s “Plum Line” column today Greg Sargent focuses on two GOP senators’ campaign to get rid of the ethanol subsidies that…
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Voters Rejected Enviro-Alarmism About Gulf Oil Spill
My colleague Ben Lieberman’s thoughtful op-ed in The Washington Times focuses on voters’ rejection of environmental alarmism about the Gulf oil spill. It appears…
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Russia’s Frozen Poulty Ban — Not Likely a Path for WTO Membership
Russia will be banning frozen chicken imports beginning January 1. The reason for the proposed ban? The head of the Russian agency in charge…
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Will Trade Be a Winner in the New Congress?
In its Sunday editorial, The Washington Post takes an upbeat post-election look at the prospects for stalled trade agreements, especially the pending U.S.-Korea Free…
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Rare Earths — Not So Rare?
What do yttrium, ytterbium, erbium and terbium have in common? They are rare earth elements first found in the Swedish town of Ytterby between 1828…
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Stalled Korea FTA May Get a Boost
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk is scheduled to meet today with Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon in San Francisco to discuss the pending U.S.-Korea…
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A Surge Toward a New “Scientific-Technological Elite”?
AEI’s Steve Hayward, in his article “Power Surge,” presents what he says is an innovative solution to foreign oil dependence and global warming: pump huge…
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Salute to Capitalism — And the Miners’ Rescue
“Capitalism saved the miners” is the provocative title of Daniel Henninger’s article in today’s Wall Street Journal. And he makes his case quite clearly. …
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EU-Korea Trade Pact Will Hurt U.S. Without its Own FTA
As the European Union signs a trade pact with South Korea, U.S. manufacturers are calling on policymakers to approve the U.S.-Korea Free Trade…
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Job Losses and Productivity Gains
I came across this chart tracking U.S. manufacturing jobs and U.S. productivity over the past 38 years (posted yesterday by Mark Perry). It’s worth…
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Sugar Program Opponents Stake Out Their Position
Sugar producers got a sweet deal in the 2008 Farm Bill. Now, with the next bill scheduled for 2012, some opponents of the U.S. sugar…
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Take a Look at U.S. Tariffs – They Raise Costs and Restrict Choice
With so much focus on “unfair” trade vis-à-vis U.S. trade partners, especially China, it’s sometimes sobering to look at protectionist U.S. policies that restrict…
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No Chickening Out on Trade Retaliation
Trade relations between the U.S. and China are heating up, with both countries bringing antidumping charges against the other — some in retaliation for earlier…
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Immelt Has Some “Thought Bullets”
Mr. “Ecomagination” — GE’s CEO Jeffrey Immelt — called on the U.S. to put a long-term price on carbon so this country could compete with…
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Canada’s Green Energy and Jobs Programs Butt Up Against WTO Rules, says Japan
Do green energy and green jobs mandates run counter to World Trade Organization rules? Japan says “yes” in relation to Canada’s program for renewable…
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Tricks Against Trade
Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch is up to its tricks against trade again. Noted for its past expertise in destroying the Seattle WTO negotiations, the…
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More Mercantilist Claptrap
No wonder people are confused about the trade issue when they read mercantilist articles like the front-pager by Howard Schneider in the Washington Post…
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Sugar in the News Again
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s September 2010 issue of its magazine, “Amber Waves,” has an excellent article on the U.S. domestic sugar program –…
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A Full-Court Press on Trade? Not Likely
Today’s Washington Times has a lengthy article on the Obama Administration’s trade agenda vis-à-vis the stalled free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and…
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A “Chickening Out” Lesson
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Mexico’s Retaliation — A Good Idea?
Cato’s Dan Ikenson posted today in favor of the trade retaliation measures announced by Mexico in response to the U.S. refusal to open its…
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Public’s confidence in institutions at odds with Administration’s and Congressional attacks
In a new Gallup poll on confidence in institutions, Congress ranked last out of 16 institutions consumers were asked to consider. Only 11…
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Ebell in NYT on new Climategate report — “Establishment circling the wagons and defending their position”
CEI’s Myron Ebell was quoted on the front page of the New York Times today – “above the fold” – discussing the University of…
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What’s ahead for free trade?
In her column today, Kimberley Strassel throws some light on what’s behind President Obama’s recent endorsement of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement and…
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Celebrating Bastiat
Economist Don Boudreaux reminds us that 209 years ago today, the great economic journalist Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) was born. F.A. Hayek in his introduction…
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President Obama to push U.S.-Korea FTA
Economic reality is beginning to take the place of anti-trade rhetoric on the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, which has been on hold since it…
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A new low for science and the NAS — the “Black List”
In what has to be one of the most disgraceful examples of political, unscientific attacks, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published…
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Canada sees a good deal in Colombia FTA
Canada ratified a free trade agreement with Colombia on June 21, showing that the U.S.’s northern neighbor knows a good deal when it sees…
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Bipartisan letter urges action on Korea FTA
On May 10, 2010, two high-ranking senators, a Democrat and a Republican, sent a joint letter to President Obama asking him to take action…
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Things are getting better and better
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“How many regulators does it take . . .?
On Bankstocks.com Thomas Brown has a clever piece about why a new consumer financial protection agency doesn’t make any sense. He describes a commercial…
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“Basic needs” need to be regulated, say Dems
Reason’s Ron Bailey, in an “I told you so” article today, points out that Senate Democrats are poised to support a bill that would…
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USDA may increase sugar quotas
The Wall Street Journal reported today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture may increase the import quotas for sugar to address a tightening supply…
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A salute to coal mining
In today’s Investor’s Business Daily, CEI’s Iain Murray tells about his first-hand experience with coal-mining and salutes the miners and the mine owners…
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U.S. avoids Brazil’s retaliatory tariffs — for now
With Brazil poised to retaliate against the U.S. for its cotton subsidies that were deemed unfair by the World Trade Organization, the two countries…
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Washington Post website today had December 30, 2009 news
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Menthol cigarettes aren’t cool to the FDA
In what could be one of its most paternalistic moves, the Food and Drug Administration is considering banning menthol in cigarettes – not because…
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Gaia’s creator in The Guardian — science scandals, skeptics, and “a more authoritarian world”
In a lengthy interview in The Guardian yesterday, James Lovelock, scientist and inventor, prominent global warming advocate, and originator of the Gaia theory,…
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Trade still has some support
Some politicians haven’t yet abandoned free trade, even in the face of widespread demagoging on the issue. As Scott Lincicome notes, five Republican Members…
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Tea Party antipathy
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USDA should increase sugar quota, says Washington Post
In an editorial today, the Washington Post attacks U.S. sugar policy, with its price supports and import restrictions that raise the cost of sugar…
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Some U.K. government ads on global warming too scary
“Is global warming the new apocalypse?” asks The Times of London in an article focusing on children’s fears about global warming in the context…
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Increase sugar imports and reduce prices
Today the front page of the Wall Street Journal published an article (subscription required) focusing on the current fight to increase the amount of…
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An even sweeter deal for United States Sugar
Big Sugar, in the guise of United States Sugar, is featured in a New York Times investigative article today that exposes the…
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Banks trying to recoup from bad loans and inadequate reserves urged to lend
There’s a juxtaposition in a Washington Post article today that deserves a “Wha?” The article focuses on the huge drop in bank lending in…
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Bhagwati on climate change — please, no
In today’s Financial Times, noted trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati strays again into the climate change debate – and he doesn’t apply his usually sharp…
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CEA’s Annual Report: Trade is good, but we need to make sure it’s good for everyone
While snowstorms were raging in the D.C. area, the White House released…
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Ronald Coase — a recent video
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Who dat claiming they own “Who dat”?
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“Big, bad banks” — a “faux-populist” response
Uh-oh. It was speculation yesterday, but reality today – President Obama and the Democrats have the banking industry in their sights with their trigger…
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Populism, jobs and the economy — where do we go from here?
Scott Brown’s decisive victory in the Massachusetts Senate race has upturned the Democrats’ Progressive agenda. Brown, “the people’s seat” senator, had a resonant message…
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A French Kiwi wine? New Zealand and Australia say “non”
Nice article in the Wall Street Journal today by Anne Jolis on a trademark brouhaha between France and Australia that highlights some…
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“We the People” on Obamacare
Somehow I missed this during the holiday season – singer, songwriter, comedian Ray Stevens’ “We the People.” It’s a country western singing-video about…
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Bastardi: Today’s frigid weather similar to 1970s when Ice Age was alarm
Accuweather’s meteorologist Joe Bastardi has a new video titled “Worldwide Cold not Seen Since 70s…
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Bringing on the clowns at Copenhagen
I was intrigued with a reference in Wes Pruden’s Washington Times column today that the Copenhagen COP15 delegate from Tuvalu, weeping while pleading for…
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Climategate and consensus nonsense
Cato’s Pat Michaels, one of the scientists attacked in the Climategate emails, has an excellent editorial in the Wall Street Journal today with examples…
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Chavez (and Marx) a hit at Copenhagen
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez couldn’t resist another opportunity to bash capitalism — and the COP15 Copenhagen Conference on global warming gave him a perfect…
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Utopia and totalitarianism — Revel’s new book
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Lots of vituperative comments to Palin’s WaPo op-ed
Sarah Palin’s op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday on ClimateGate and the Copenhagen conference has spawned a blizzard of comments from Post readers. Almost…
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GW alarmists continue their exploitation of children
This, I think, has to go down as one of the creepiest “editorials” written by global warming alarmists recently. Clive Hamilton, ABC News in…
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PCAOB case in the WSJ — Kazman quoted
CEI’s Sam Kazman has a great quote on the PCAOB case in James Freeman’s article today in the Wall Street Journal. Although the case,…
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ClimateGate gets even more bizarre
ClimateGate is serious. When prominent climate scientists fudge results, refuse FOIA requests, take steps to restrict publication of dissident views, etc., it’s serious business,…
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Following the scientific method: an example
Experiments in science that don’t reinforce scientists’ hypotheses can be vitally important in understanding complex systems. Serious scientists don’t fudge the results or hide…
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Friedman embraces “E.T.” as solution to energy problems
Thomas L. Friedman’s op-ed in the NYT today could have been written by Paul Krugman. And that’s not a compliment. Friedman, like…
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England’s “migrant children; US “orphan trains”
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Mixing trade and global warming — a recipe for disaster
Oh dear! Staunch trade proponent Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute is in bed with radical trade opponent Lori Wallach of Public Citizen in…
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Don’t go “lite,” shrink the state, says Smith
CEI’s president Fred Smith is featured today in a video interview with InstaPundit’s Glenn Reynolds – now appearing on Reason’s blog. Fred talks about…
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Get more doctors — get rid of H-1B visa cap
CEI’s champion of letter-writing, Alex Nowrasteh, has a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal today advocating removing the cap on H-1B…
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Baucus wants border measures in climate bill
Uh-oh. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) is raising the stakes on a U.S. climate bill by endorsing the idea of some sort of tariff on…
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Politics and . . . pizza
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Smith: Ayn Rand Redux
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Halloween treat: Top ten scariest movies
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Labeling food for their CO2 emissions — Sweden tries it out
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Surprising comments on NYT article on climate treaty
Today’s New York Times carries an article, “Hopes fade for comprehensive climate treaty.” It’s not that important an article about the lead-up to Copenhagen. …
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SuperFreakonomics generates heat on global warming
Even before publication, the book SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance is the topic of hot debate…
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WashPost buries coldest day in 138 years
It’s got a good lede that should have won at least a front-page Metro slot. Instead, buried in Saturday’s Washington Post’s Metro Section amid…
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Defending free trade: the pending FTAs
The pending U.S. Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia are languishing in limbo, despite the fact that all three agreements will improve…
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Taking the heat and defending free enterprise
It’s about time that business groups started defending free enterprise, and the U. S. Chamber of Commerce is off to a good start – a…
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Best article on Obama’s Nobel — Wash Post’s Cohen
Here’s Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen’s take this morning on the Nobel Prize announcement. It’s too good to excerpt: In a stunning announcement,…
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CBO report: new taxes will balance Baucus health care bill
Those pushing the Senate health care bill were ecstatic when the Congressional Budget Office reported that the bill “would result in a net…
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WaPo on CEI’s FOIA release – biasing by innuendo
Today the Washington Post carried a follow-up article on CEI’s release of Treasury’s estimates — through a FOIA request — on the cost of…
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Another Hoover on trade?
President Obama’s slapping of tariffs on tires imported from China is the latest in a series of protectionist moves by the U.S. that threaten the…
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Sugar on the table again
Sugar got front-page notice from the Wall Street Journal today. The article focused on a letter sent to the Secretary of Agriculture to increase the…
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More alternatives to Obamacare
Lots of commonsense suggestions to rein in health care costs that won’t bankrupt the country in John Mackey’s op-ed in the Wall…
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Krugman: Town Hall mobsters are probably racists and “birthers”
“The Town Hall Mob.” That’s the title of Paul Krugman’s opinion piece in the New York Times today – and it’s a doozy. In…
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Movement on the U.S.-Korea FTA?
It looks like things may be moving – slowly — on the trade front. The U. S. Trade Representative has published a notice in…
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Put it in quotes: health care “reform”
Robert J. Samuelson has a hard-hitting column in today’s Washington Post on the non-reform elements of the health care reform package. He points out…
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If you like FEMA, you’ll love federal health care, says Jindal
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal providing a succinct critique of the Democrats’ health care plan and offering…
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“Farming” for dollars in the EU
Most of us knew that the European Union’s system of farm subsidies, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) gives out huge amounts to farmers in the…
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Health care taxes — devastating effects for NYC
Lead headline on the Drudge Report today – “Terrifying 57% tax looms for biggest earners in NYC.” It links to a…
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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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Lesson: don’t mix real and virtual worlds
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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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“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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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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“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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Steve Forbes celebrates CEI’s 25th year
Steve Forbes in the Washington Times today has a very nice tribute to CEI on its 25th Anniversary. Forbes points out some of CEI’s…
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Confiscating wealth in the name of fairness
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NYT: “Buy American” angers allies, loses jobs
The New York Times opined today that the so-called stimulus bill’s “Buy American” provisions are having some unintended consequences –…