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Obama Wants a GM Bailout Tax on Bank and Insurance Customers
For all the talk about fairness and equity with the so-called Buffett Rule, there is one sneaky loophole in the Obama revenue proposal that…
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Warren Buffett, Give Your Secretary a Raise!
So it has been decreed -- by Warren Buffett, by President Barack Obama, and by media members going gaga over to so-called Buffett Rule --…
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Obama and Sarbanes-Oxley Review — The One Sentence Worth 4,000 Words for Jobs
In President Obama’s 33-minute-long speech to Congress on job creation last week, one sentence was worth nearly all the rest of his 4,000 words.
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H.R. 1909 Brings Competitive Regulation to Small Loan Market
The Summer of 2011 will likely be remembered as a season that overregulation came to a boiling point -- at all levels of the U.S. government.
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My Fantasy Obama Jobs Speech
The following is my fantasy speech on jobs from Barack Obama. He looks at CEI's websites, realizes his big-government approach has been all wrong, but…
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Fannie-Freddie’s Hypocritical Suit Against Banks Making Loans that GSEs Helped Create
"U.S. is set to sue dozen big banks over mortgages," reads the front-page headline in today's New York Times. The "deck" below the headline…
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Europe’s Woes No Excuse for Abysmal U.S. Growth
Today, once again, the market is crashing largely due to events in the European Union. President Obama and other policy makers wring their collective hands…
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Make S&P like Zagat
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Nominee Richard Cordray Supports Price Controls and Borrower Bailouts
Last Thursday, before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau architect Elizabeth Warren insisted that her priority was not to ban certain…
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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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Dodd-Frank Interchange Fee Price Controls Less Draconian, But Still Destructive
Today, at around 3:30 pm, the Federal Reserve will vote on a final rule that will make price controls from the Durbin Amendment of Dodd-Frank…
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“Uncertainty” Not the Whole Story of our Economic Doldrums
As those engaged in the policy battlefield, our focus is often on taking apart arguments used to advanced proposed solutions we disagree with. But sometimes…
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GOP Durbin Dozen Blocks Dodd-Frank Rollback
Anywhere but the Senate, getting 54 votes out of 100 is a victory. And yesterday, a bipartisan group 0f 54 Senators responded to concerns…
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Delaying Dodd-Frank’s Durbin Price Controls Would Save Retailers From Themselves
Today is the day, as a bipartisan amendment comes to the Senate floor delaying draconian price controls on debit card transaction fees from Dodd-Frank's Durbin Amendment, that the Senate has an…
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Obama’s Chrysler Fiat — Missing Jobs Under the Hood
“So far the auto industry’s added 113,000 jobs over the past two years.” So proclaimed President Obama in a speech at the Chrysler/Fiat plant in…
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AIG Bailout’s True Costs to Taxpayers, Innovation, and Competition
The Treasury Department today is patting itself on the back for finally selling some of the government's shares in American International Group, with Treasury…
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Durbin ‘Swipe Fee’ Price Controls — Bernanke’s Warning and Dean Baker’s Fudge of Fed Data on Costs
Even considering the usually sympathetic audience at the Huffington Post, liberal economist Dean Baker had a tough task of persuasion with his Monday column defending…
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Washington Post’s Royal Class Snobbery Against Middletons
Thanks Iain, for your kind comments on my Wall Street Journal op-ed celebrating the Middleton's entrepreneurship and for the great info on how…
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Obama Tax Plan “Machetes” Small Business and Entrepreneurs
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My Response to Simon Johnson’s Defense of Price Controls Benefiting Big Retailers
Two weeks ago, I wrote a post blasting 17 Republican senators who voted last year for Dodd-Frank's Durbin Amendment, which puts below-cost price controls…
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Interchange — Will 16 Republicans Again Back Durbin’s Price Controls? (Corrected)
Correction: In the original post, I erroneously included Sen. Mike Crapo twice, when I meant to include Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) as one of the pro-price…
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My Statement on the REINS Act Hearing
Here's my full statement on today's House Judiciary Committee hearing on the REINS Act: We commend the House Judiciary Committee for gathering distinguished experts…
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Michigan May Fire Salvo Against Regressive Debit Card Price Controls
In the battle against Obamacare, the shots heard ’round the world were resolutions against the law by state legislatures. These resolutions led to court cases that…
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Put Regulations on a Life-Cycle Budget
Reading through the headlines, the top economic stories are about scrutiny of regulation and spending proposals regarding the federal budget. But the similarities and differences…
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FDIC’s Pay Caps Will Keep Businesses on “Sidelines”
At 11:30, in a much-anticipated speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President Obama used Super Bowl analogies to urge American businesses to “get off the…
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Senate Repeals Obamacare’s 1099 Mandate — OTC Drug Rules Should be Next
Although the U.S. Senate voted along partisan lines to defeat repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare —…
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Suspend Obamacare’s 1099 and OTC Drug Rules Pending Supreme Court Action
Monday’s decision by Florida federal judge Roger Vinson striking down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — in its…
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Repeal Senseless and Job-Destroying Volcker Rule from Dodd-Frank
On Tuesday, the Financial Stability Oversight Council may issue its recommendations for implementing the Volcker Rule, the provision of the Dodd-Frank financial legislation that bans so-called proprietary trading…
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New Year’s Musings: My WSJ Arts Piece on “Cry Me a River” and More on Debit Card Interchange Price Controls
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Interchange Price Controls: Gift to Big Merchants, Lump of Coal for Consumers and Community Financial Institutions
On Thursday, the Federal Reserve — at the direction of Congress in the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank financial “reform” bill — will give…
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Pro-Trade Country Songs — Oak Ridge Boys Beat Brad Paisley
Over at Cato@Liberty, David Boaz points to a post by Chris Cardiff on RootedinProsperity.com praising a song and video of country superstar Brad…
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Obama Includes Toyota, Hyundai and Kia in 75,000 Jobs “Created” by GM Bailout
This post was coauthored by CEI Research Associate Andrew Kwiatkowski As we write, President Obama and Vice President Biden are doing a victory lap…
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GM IPO Date Set for Tomorrow: What’s Good for New GM is Bad for the Rest of America
In his 1953 confirmation hearing for Secretary of Defense in the incoming Eisenhower administration, former General Motors CEO Charles “Engine Charlie” Wilson was asked how…
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The Free Checking Restoration Act of 2011
“Free checking as we know it is ending,” says the lead paragraph of a widely-read and tweeted story this week from the Associated Press.
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GOP “Pledge to America” Includes Constructive Reg Reform
The House Republican “Pledge to America” unveiled today has been criticized by RedState’s Erick Erickson and other center-right pundits for a lack of specifics.
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One Cheer for Obama Tax Plan, with Plenty of Caveats
President Obama’s new economic recovery plan, coming more than a year-and-a-half after an infusion of $1 trillion in big-government spending failed to “stimulate” the moribund economy, deserves…
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GM IPO Buyers Beware: Filing Asserts Exemption from Anti-fraud Laws
General Motors filed paperwork last week to launch its much-anticipated initial public offering. It could be the biggest IPO in U.S. history, raising up to $20 billion,…
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Fannie-Freddie White House Sham Summit Produces Short-Sighted Solutions
After ramming through a “financial reform” bill that increases government controls on such “ants” (hat tip to House Minority Leader John Boehner’s comments–distorted by the press–in full context) as orthodontists…
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Obama subsidizes Ford after blocking its access to credit
At the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business, President Ronald Reagan offered these famous remarks about politicians’ views on business in the 1970s. Reagan…
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In defending Kagan, Media Matters embraces Bush Justice Department
Well, who woulda thunk it?! George W. Bush’s Justice Department is now considered a citadel of wisdom by the legal eagles at the liberal Media…
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Dodd-Frank is not “financial reform,” it’s more Big Government lunacy
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill should not be called “financial reform.” Instead, it should be called what for what it is: pages and…
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CEI’s Supreme Court Oscar Speech
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CEI Statement on Senate Passage of Restoring American Financial Stability Act
The “Restoring American Financial Stability Act,” that passed Congress last night with 39 senators voting “nay,” will hurt Main Street investors and entrepreneurs, and worsen…
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Dodd bill’s unintended consequences for Main Street
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Durbin’s Walgreens Corporate Welfare Amendment
Give Dick Durbin some credit for his chutzpah. It’s not every lawmaker who, in proposing an amendment to a financial reform bill ostensibly aimed at…
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More GM Bailout Lies: Ally (GMAC) Bank’s Deceptions
General Motors’ false advertising that it has paid back its bailout money “in full” has prompted harsh criticism. Yesterday, Competitive Enterprise Institute Attorneys Hans Bader…
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As financial vote fails in Senate, Florida shows how to really protect consumers from deception
Yesterday, the Senate failed to achive the 60 votes necessary to move forward on the Restoring American Financial Stablity Act. All Republicans present and Sen.
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Center-Right Coalition Letter Opposes Toxic Provisions in Dodd Bill
Below is a letter sent today to the Senate that was signed by several prominent groups in the Center-Right Coalition expressing “grave concerns about the…
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Obama-Dodd financial bill would further enrich Goldman Sachs
Today, the SEC charged giant investment bank Goldman Sachs with more than $1 billion worth of securities fraud for its dealings in the subprime mortgage…
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Fannie and Freddie finally called to Crisis Commission
It is good that the commission, after several months, is finally visiting the role of Government-Sponsored Enterprises, but the setup of today’s hearing is still…
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CEI files amicus in Aussie bank case threatening national sovereignty
Headquartered in Melbourne, the second largest city of the land down under, National Australia Bank is firmly attached to its home country. The primary trading…
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Health Care- Fix middle-class “medicine cabinet tax” in reconciliation
“They won’t be so opposed to it once they see what’s in it.” That’s the rationalization House leaders have given skittish Democrats to get them…
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Dodd bill punishes Main Street entrepreneurs, rewards Fannie and other high rollers
With the focus this week on health care’s “home stretch” and concerns about government limiting the ability of ordinary Americans to make choices about medical…
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Credit CARD Act penalizes thrift and entrepreneurship; interchange fee controls would compound harm to consumers
Today, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 goes into effect. While the law, passed last May, is being hailed as…
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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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Obama Bank “Responsibility Fee” Is Destructive, Hypocritical and Likely Unconstitutional
The so-called Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is a tax in search of a target. Today, the President declared, “We want our money back.” Yet his…
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Financial Crisis Hearing is Partisan Sham that Skips Over Fannie and Freddie’s Role
John Berlau, director of CEI’s Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, offers the following thoughts on what’s missing from the first hearing of the Financial Crisis…
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Health care bill’s hidden tax on pain relievers, Pedialyte, and prenatal vitamins
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Obama Summit: President’s goals of more loans and more heavy-handed regulation in conflict
Statement of John Berlau, director, Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, Competitive Enterprise Institute: President Obama’s twin goals of more bank loans and more heavy-handed regulation…
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Tarp the TARP and give small biz relief from Sarbanes-Oxley and other burdensome regs
Statement of John Berlau, Director of CEI’s Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, on extending TARP for small business and on Rep. Barney Frank’s plans to…
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Reps. Maloney and Adler push true bipartisan stimulus — Sarbanes-Oxley relief
After months of talk about solutions that would rev up job growth and the economy, today the House Financial Service Committee may finally adopt a…
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7-Eleven serves up Big Gulp of Big Government to credit card consumers
Tomorrow, 7-Eleven Inc. and other big retail chains will hit Capitol Hill to offer Congress members and their staffs a supersize serving of hypocrisy. Retailers,…
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Obama scolds Wall Street, but targets Main Street with regs
One year after the Wall Street meltdown, President Obama…
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Meryl trash talks Julia on pesticides and fat
In the new movie “Julie & Julia,” Meryl Streep does well portraying the late Julia Child, but one can say Streep also benefits from her subject. …
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Ted Kennedy’s Deregulatory Legacy on Airlines and Trucking
Tributes are pouring in for Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, who lost his battle with brain cancer late Tuesday evening at the age of 77.
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UBS Deal Only a Partial Victory for the Feds
Today, after a long and protracted battle between the U.S. and Swiss government, Swiss bank UBS AG agreed to turn over the names of at…
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UBS-IRS deal — U.S. Constitutional liberties, privacy rights at risk after Obama bullies the Swiss
Lawyers for the U.S. government and the Swiss bank UBS AG have announced that they have reached a deal…
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Bonus pay bill: CBO predicts huge costs to private sector, broad swaths of employees affected
After the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) calculated the enormous costs of an all-encompassing health care scheme with a bloated public option, members of Congress…
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Prof. Gates’ property rights likely violated in arrest — but Obama was wrong to weigh in
Amid all the endless media psychobabble about “national conversations” and “teachable moments” – and we will no doubt here more of this in the reporting of…
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Ex-CEO Hank Greenberg hits home run against AIG and Spitzer
Once again, the team of politicians and corporate bureaucrats pursuing the witchhunt against former American International Group CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg have struck out.
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Goodbye, Mary Lou: Tribute to a great journalist and editor
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Schumer and Cantwell’s deceptive advertising on shareholder “rights.”
If deceptive labeling of bills in Congess were punishable by regulatory agencies, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) would be paying a hefty…
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Cheers for Indiana Treasurer’s halt to Chrysler Bankruptcy
The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock stand up against the Obama administration’s nationalization scheme.
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Bankruptcy judge should put breaks on “Government Motors”
President Obama and his auto task force should respect the role of the bankruptcy court and recognize that its role is not to rubber stamp…
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Sotomayor NOT first Hispanic Justice — Cardozo was
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Chrysler bankruptcy an opportunity to reject Obama nationalization
Is 48 hours enough time to save Chrysler from being nationalized?…
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General Growth Properties (GGP) — Bankruptcy the way it ought to be
On the surface, given the economic turmoil we’ve had, there was nothing that remarkable about the bankruptcy of shopping mall owner General Growth Properties (GGP).
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Obama credit card meeting — should meet with economists instead
Instead of meeting with the executives of credit card issuers and sactimoniously lecturing them about not raising rates, as he is doing…
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Stop Thief! NYT steals Examiner’s AIG scoop with no attribution
One week after Washington Examiner ace investigative reporter Timothy P. Carney broke the blockbuster story reporting that American International Group’s post-bailout CEO Edward Liddy…
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AIG CEO Liddy owns millions in stock in bailout beneficiary Goldman — Tim Carney blockbuster in DC Examiner
Everyone should read the blockbuster exclusive in today's Washington Examiner in which Timothy P. Carney confirms that AIG CEO Edward Liddystill owns more than $3…
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The mark-to-market relief rally
The events leading to the Dow’s climbing over 8000 today can be properly called the Mark-to-Market Relief Rally. More than any expected action of the…
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With or Without You
The Obama administration's ouster of GM CEO Rick Wagoner won't solve the auto giant's problems. It does, however, show the power that government now wields…
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The AIG Tax Trojan Horse
The massive tax hike being voted on in the House today is a Trojan horse that uses the legitimate outrage over the American International…
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Foreclosure and the ‘forgotten man’ in Obama’s SOTU speech
Perhaps with the popular reaction to Rick Santelli’s ‘tea party’, in which the CNBC commentator elicited cheers for saying that the thrifty should not…
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Nationalizing the cars and bikes of rock collectors — Pending Omnibus land bill’s forfeiture provision has broad reach
At the same time there has been so much talk of government nationalization of troubled big banks, a bill quickly snaking through Congress would allow…
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Obama’s Futile Attempts at Foreclosure Avoidance
If the government wants to spend $75 billion to help troubled homeowners, it would be better off giving a tax holiday to families subject to…
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The Birthday of an Entrepreneur
February is an important month in the history of American commerce. In a few days will be the birthday of one of the country’s earliest…
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Geithner’s “bad bank” is a big bad idea: fix bad mark-to-market accounting instead
The Obama’s administration $1 trillion plus bank bailout plan — on top of the $800 billion stimulus that just passed the Senate — will explode…
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SEC penalty policy change could harm innocent investors
In one of her first actions as SEC chairman, Mary Schapiro announced today that she was getting rid of a policy that required SEC officials…
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Springsteen clashes with Obama advisor on Wal-Mart
In between playing at the Lincoln Memorial for Barack Obama’s inaugural concert and performing the half-time show last night at the Super Bowl, Bruce Springsteen…
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Activist Jim Boulet RIP
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Geithner confirmed — but with bipartisan “nays”
The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Timothy F. Geithner tonight, but the vote was closer than expected with more “nays” than any previous nominee of…
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Milton Friedman counters Kennedy inaugural–and Obama’s
Before President Barack Obama gave his inaugural address, it had been reported that he was heavily studying John F. Kennedy’s speech at…
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Geithner should withdraw nomination for failure to pay self-employment taxes
Treasury Secretary Nominee Timothy Geithner’s failure to pay four years’ worth of self-employment taxes for Social Security and Medicare is absolutely astonishing. And as…
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Madoff: Hiding in Plain Sight, Thanks to SEC
Contrary to popular belief, Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme was subject to to a variety of financial regulations, something he actually used as a selling…
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GM-Chrysler Merger Likely Blocked by Antitrust
General Motors & Chrysler could be strengthened by a merger, an option that wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime. But, the idea has been pushed aside,…
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Why Not a Wal-Mart Bank?
Seems like every business these days is becoming what’s called a “bank holding company” — seeking the shelter of the federal government’s deposit insurance and…
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Antitrust Liberalization May Avert Need for Bailouts; Outdated Laws Deter Efficient Mergers
In early 2007, the economy was humming along and General Motors was considered to be in the process of a turnaround. To help stabilize itself,…
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Auto Bailout – Destroying Detroit by ‘saving’ it
In a famous quotation from his 1986 address to the annual White House Conference on Small Business, President Ronald Reagan quipped that “government’s view…
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Claim of consumers’ fear of auto bankruptcy a canard in bailout debate
Eli, in answer to the blog post you phrased as a question, the argument from the individual you heard, echoed by other Big 3…