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“Here’s a way of paying for things that’s not going to cost you anything.”
Public employee unions, as I’ve noted previously, make up a permanent lobby for bigger government. Now they have a major victory. Oregonians who went…
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Maryland Legislators Seek to Jack Up Child Support Levels, Based on Bogus Inflation Rationale
A bill, SB 252, was just introduced in Maryland to increase child support obligations for households at most income levels–a massive…
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WHO swine flu chief caught twice lying about pre-fab pandemic
Even before the World Health Organization declared its phony pandemic last summer, its designated fibber-in-chief has been Keiji Fukuda. Yet I’ve never been able to…
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Cold, bitter winter is “proof” of global warming
“Winter offered as proof of warming” declares a headline in the print edition of the Washington Post, although perhaps the irony of that later struck…
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State of the Union Live-Blog
Welcome to CEI's live-blog of the 2010 State of the Union address.
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Flu expert slams WHO pandemic panic-mongering in German magazine interview
I missed this interview when it came out in the German magazine Der Spiegel in July, but it’s still relevant. Unfortunately, even though the…
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SEIU and the Shareholder Resolution Weapon
At Biggovernment.com, blogger Mandy/Liberty Chick has a good, concise account of the rise of shareholder resolutions as a favorite tool of organized labor. By…
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Regulation of the Day 106: Clotheslines
Some homeowners' associations ban clotheslines. For people who would like to use clotheslines and aren't allowed to, this presents a problem. Now regulators want to…
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My Two Cents on AmazonGate
Climategate, Himalayagate, Pachaurigate, and now NOAAgate — it’s hard to keep up with all the relevations and allegations buzzing around some of the biggest…
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SEIU Suffers a Major Loss in California
The powerful Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has taken a major hit from a rival union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), which is…
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“The Hole in the EPA’s Ozone Claims,” my piece in Forbes Online
To the EPA, “safe” is a constantly moving target—and that’s the way it likes it. Always something new to regulate, always a new hobgoblin from…
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More Union Members now Work for Governments than for Businesses
For the first time in U.S. history, the majority of the country’s union members work for government, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. For…
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SOTU: Irish Entrepreneurs Put Politics to Productive Use
The Washington Examiner’s David Freddoso reports that Paddy Power, Ireland’s largest bookmaker, is taking bets on President Obama’s State of the Union speech…
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Regulation of the Day 105: Not Driving Your Car
John Delacey of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, received a court summons for keeping a car in his driveway and not driving it.
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Better than Nothing or another Feint?
Seeking to recast himself as a fiscal conservative, Obama is projected to propose a freeze on discretionary spending – NPR, NEA, “green” jobs, “disaster” relief,…
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Environmentalist confessions
A question to Slate‘s “Green Lantern” environmental adviser: Instead of glasses, I wear contact lenses. This means throwing out scraps of plastic (as well…
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WHO squealing like a pig over charges it fabricated the flu “pandemic”
The WHO has suddenly gone from a cackling Chicken Little crying “The Sky is Falling!” to squealing like a stuck pig, in response to charges…
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Murkowski Resolution on Endangerment: Separating the Reality from the Spin
Last Thursday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced a resolution of disapproval, under the Congressional…
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LibertyWeek 78: Obama’s 23% Approval Rating
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Regulation of the Day 104: Haggis
Haggis is the national dish of Scotland. It has also been banned in the United States since 1989. Fortunately, the ban may soon be reversed.
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Insured Buildings in Haiti Still Standing
One could consider it ironic that the buildings in Haiti most likely to receive insurance money are those that experienced the least amount of damage.
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More dirt in the IPCC melting Himalayas scandal
In an update to my blog on the alleged melting of the glaciers atop the Himalayas (and imminent extinction of the yeti), the scientist…
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Flu Watch Jan. 24, 2010 – Swine flu appears to be sweeping aside seasonal flu
Reported infections, deaths, hospitalizations all down. Again, though, when adjusted for the time lag they were probably the same as last week. The only…
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The bright side of flood insurance
Some Michigan residents are boiling mad that their mortgage lenders are forcing them to purchase flood insurance. The notifications were sent out to residents…
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Give Insurers some Credit!
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Regulation of the Day 103: When Products Are on Sale
Two states have regulations for when stores can say their products are on sale.
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Grading Obama’s First Year
CEI released a comprehensive report card this week on the Obama administration's first year in office. My contribution is below; read the full report card…
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Darn! No more “Blessed be the snipers . . .”
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Will Cass Sunstein stick up for small business, or bless EPA’s legal hair splitting?
Today, Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Sam Graves (R-MO), Trent Franks (R-AZ), and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) sent a letter to Office of Information and Regulatory…
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IPCC: “Our bad! Global warming not about to melt Himalayas.
“The glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world and, if the present rate continues, a large number…
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A Good Day for Freedom of Speech
Advocating speech restrictions is a fancy way of saying, "my arguments are too weak to withstand criticism." Get better arguments, then!…
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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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Obama’s Glass-Steagall 2.0 could crash financial system
President Obama’s proposal today to bring back…
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Regulation of the Day 102: The Size of Banks
The White House is expected to propose today a maximum allowable size for banks.
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Trust me, I found it on the Internet!
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Forbes on Redish on class actions
Excellent article in Forbes on liberal professor Martin Redish’s take on class actions. Redish sees similar constitutional difficulties with so-called cy pres (pronounced…
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Rubber stamps for two settlements
Judge Snyder has (all but literally) rubber-stamped the objectionable settlements in the AOL e-mail footer and Yahoo advertising cases. We are likely to…
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An Unintentional Legacy
Now that the health care bill no longer seems likely to pass, the late Ted Kennedy’s election reforms may have unintentionally solidified his own place…
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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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Why does everybody think BPA is safe but us?
Regarding the ubiquitous plastic ingredient bisphenol A (BPA), my colleague Angela Logomasini blogged that “The greens are rejoicing today because the Food and Drug…
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Sorry, no RIP yet for the health care reform legislation
It’s fine to celebrate the Massachusetts victory of Scott Brown. I like how Daily Show host Jon Stewart put it: “The Kennedy legacy goes down…
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Regulation of the Day 101: Brushing Teeth After Meals
[A]ny child who has a meal in day care or is in care for more than four hours will be required to brush their teeth,…
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A Skeptic’s Desultory Philippic (or how I was not Al Gore’d into submission – with apologies to Paul Simon)
A pithy column in Foreign Policy by the Breakthrough Institute’s Ted Nordhaus and Michael Schellenberger says that “twice-fooled” Democrats, who have been “BTUed” by two Democratic administrations,…
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Baby Bottle Politics Trumps Science at FDA
The greens are rejoicing today because the Food and Drug Administration has softened its stance on the safety of Bisphenol A, a…
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LibertyWeek 77: The Future of the Senate
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Steve Forbes: How Capitalism Will Save Us
Steve Forbes gave a very good talk today, on the topic of his new book (co-authored with Elizabeth Ames), How Capitalism Will Save Us:…
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Enron: Lobbyist for both Kyoto and Wind Farm Mandates
Dr. Rob Bradley, CEO of the Institute for Energy Research, documents in Political Capitalism how fraud and corruption at Enron were the inevitable consequence of a business strategy…
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More swine flu hysteria apologism – “a stunning public health success”
In response to my Philadelphia Inquirer piece “Swine Flu Epidemic Ends with a Whimper,” predictably public health community members have squealed that the only…
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Regulation of the Day 100: Posting YouTube Videos
The Italian government is considering making it illegal for its citizens to post videos on the Internet without a license.
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Lonardo v. Travelers Indemnity
A lawsuit against two home insurance companies settled for $8.69/policy year for class members who submit a claim by mail—and $6.6 million for the attorneys.