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New CEI Release: One Nation, Ungovernable?
Question: What do you get when you combine a $700 billion “stimulus” package, $1.1 trillion in wealth-destroying regulatory compliance costs, a mountainous non-discretionary entitlement obligation,…
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LibertyWeek 66: The War on Commerce
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Nanny State: No End in Sight?
It’s not just bottled water. It’s not just soda taxes. It’s not just fast food. There seems to be a never-ending crusade by…
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“Public Option” Is a Gimmick That Won’t Improve Healthcare
In the Washington Post, Robert J. Samuelson explains in the “Public Plan Mirage” how the so-called “public option” contained in congressional health-care reform bills…
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Sure, just what we need: yet another regulatory government agency
Here’s my letter published in the Oct. 25th edition of the Boston Globe responding to an editorial…
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Competition in Wireless Communication: Android Edition
The New York Times reports that several cell phone manufacturers are turning to Google’s free operating system, Android, to run on their upcoming smartphone…
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Obama’s swine flu “emergency” declaration
It’s a bunch of hog droppings. Watch for my upcoming article. In the meantime, read here on why we should not panic.
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Court strikes down Ameritrade settlement
$1.87 million in attorneys’ fees for a worthless settlement will not be collected; Judge Vaughn Walker denied settlement approval. From the perspective of…
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More Bad Mortgages on the Way, Thanks to Congressional Committee
Expect to see more bad mortgages as a result of a House committee’s vote Thursday to create the so-called “Consumer Financial Protection Agency.” That…
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Sweden’s CO2 Labeling: Deceptive Advertising?
A quick point to add to Fran Smith's post on Sweden's experiment in labeling food and menus with carbon footprints: don't read too much into…
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Kerry-Boxer’s not-so-hidden fangs
Next week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold three hearings on S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power…
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Hate Crimes Bill Passes, Eroding Civil Liberties and Double Jeopardy Safeguards
Yesterday, Congress approved a measure to dramatically expand the existing federal hate crimes law, by adding it to an unrelated defense appropriations bill. The…
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The Solution to the Government-Caused Housing Crisis? More Government!
The mortgage meltdown was caused partly by the government, which created an artificial market for bad mortgages. The Washington Examiner cites a recent study…
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Poll shows belief in man-made warming down, but why?
A new poll shows a sharp decline over the last year in the percentage of Americans who see solid evidence that global temperatures are…
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LibertyWeek 65: Your TV Violates State Law
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People: The Ultimate Resource
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CEI Weekly: Scholars Support Case Against Sarbanes Oxley
CEI weekly is a compilation of articles and blogs from CEI's staff. This week features new "amicus briefs" submitted by legal scholars for the Sarbanes…
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Labeling food for their CO2 emissions — Sweden tries it out
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Widening a highway is both an environmental AND civil rights issue?
Was a time when “civil rights” meant things like equal opportunities in employment and schooling for racial and ethnic minorities. And “environmental” meant something affecting…
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Regulation of the Day 65: Weighing Animals
If you sell poultry or livestock, it’s a good idea to weigh them first. Makes it easier for buyer and seller to agree on a…
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Sen. McCain Introduces Anti-Net Neutrality Bill
Senator John McCain introduced a bill yesterday to combat the FCC’s push for Net Neutrality. The “Internet Freedom Act of 2009” would limit the…
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Net Neutrality at 28 kilobits per second.
Why didn’t the Federal Communications Commission impose net neutrality a decade ago? We don’t need all this multimedia and advanced services. They finally caught…
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Keeping Priorities Straight
Bjørn Lomborg, head of the Copenhagen Consensus, brings some much-needed common sense to the global warming debate. Reporting from Vanuatu, he finds that many locals…
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Shipwrecking Opportunity
Earlier this week, the Financial Times ran a story about a conspiracy between governments, Italian mafia, and industrialists to illegally dump ships containing hazardous…
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Regulation of the Day 64: Starting a Business in Sacramento, California
The human mind is capable of creating limitless, endless wealth. The human mind is nearly as adept at preventing that wealth from being created. Sacramento…
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A Cure Worse than the Disease
As I explain in a new CEI paper, which is out today, most of the alleged cost-cutting measures in the Baucus bill merely shift costs…
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Waxman-Markey: A $3.6 trillion gas tax
Senators Kit Bond (R-MO) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) have just released a report, Climate Change Legislation: A $3.6 Trillion Gas Tax, which estimates…
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Mortgage Meltdown Was Caused by Government Mandates
The mortgage meltdown was caused partly by the government, which created an artificial market for bad mortgages. The Washington Examiner cites a recent study…
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Fumento yells “Sooo-eeeee!” on Liddy
I bent G. Gordon Liddy’s ears back today on his radio show (easy to find them, given his lack of hair) on my current…
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More Hypocrisy Regarding FTC Blog Regulations
Michael Masnick at Techdirt offers up another incidence of government inconsistency in light of the FTC’s blog-watching rules, reminding us that “…
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Obama Accepts “Blasphemy” Exception to Free Speech
In USA Today, liberal law professor Jonathan Turley is criticizing the Obama administration for endorsing a “blasphemy” exception to free speech: “Around the…
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Banning Bake Sales
The American Enterprise Institute held a panel discussion yesterday on food safety. They discussed congressional proposals aimed at addressing contaminants in our food,…
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Science and the Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture
The UK Royal Society's long-awaited study on improving agricultural productivity and increasing food security was released this morning. it suggests that a healthy concern for…
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Data deflates threat-multiplier hype
The new, more 'nuanced' rationale for energy rationing is that global warming will aggravate several pre-existing environmental and health threats that cause or contribute to…
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Is Cognitive Dissonance an Insured Condition?
Rep. Diana DeGette is proposing: 1)That health insurers' antitrust exemption be removed. 2) Require, by law, that people buy health insurance. What one hand giveth,…
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Bank of America to Impose Annual Fees on Some Credit Cardholders, Thanks to New Credit Card Law
Bank of America recently announced that it will impose annual fees on some of its cardholders. This is in response to the CARD Act…
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American Society Now Responsible for Saving Journalism
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Regulation of the Day 63: Sports Agents in New Hampshire
It is illegal to be a sports agent in New Hampshire without a Secretary of State-issued certificate. Don’t forget your biennial renewal!…
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Franken Uses Inflammatory Rape Claim to Destroy Arbitration of Employment Disputes, Including Disputes Totally Unrelated to Rape
Recently, the Senate voted to ban defense contractors — that is, much of American business — from contractually mandating arbitration of employment discrimination disputes. The…
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Hot time in EU
The first half of Fall 2009 was a busy season in European politics. On September 27, the general elections took place in Germany. The results…
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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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Health Insurer Competition and Democratic Saber Rattling
Last week, after the industry association America’s Health Insurance Plans released a study showing that premiums would rise 18 percent under the Senate Finance Committee’s…
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Bill Gates Says Africa Needs GMOs
On Friday, Bill Gates announced at the World Food Summit in Des Moines that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would be redoubling its efforts…
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FTC Sets its Sights on Bloggers
In the past, guidelines have determined the kinds of research claims companies or celebrity endorsers can make about products in advertising. With the recent update,…
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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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Congress Moves to Reinflate the Housing Bubble That Caused the Financial Crisis
Veteran political commentator Michael Barone reports that liberal congressional leaders are pushing policies to “inflate the housing bubble again.”…
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Regulation of the Day 62: Government Employees and Texting while Driving
Executive Order No. 13513 prohibits federal employees and contractors from texting while driving while on duty.
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Weekly Flu Watch IV – What swine flu ISN’T doing
Total deaths since Aug. 30 from “Influenza and Pneumonia-Associated” illness are 2,029 reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site…
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“The Pandemic Is Political,” my article in Forbes Online
As evidence continues to mount that swine flu is more of a piglet than a raging razorback, why isn’t curiosity mounting as to why the…