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DNC Email Leak Shows Cozy Relationship between Democrats and Unions
The Democratic Party and labor unions are consistently accused of having a quid pro quo relationship, and for good reason. Emails from the DNC email…
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A Disappointing Bipartisan Agreement on Banking Regulation
Last night at the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gave a speech covering a number of controversial campaign issues, focusing in particular on…
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Democratic Party Platform Seeks to Curb Worker Choice and Opportunity
The policies set forth in the Democrat platform are misguided – in order to help American workers really succeed in the 21st century, we should roll…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The big story of the week was the new proposed payday lending regulation, which ate up 356 pages of Friday’s 625-page Federal Register.
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RealClear Radio Hour: Freedom Rising
This week’s RealClear Radio Hour was recorded in Las Vegas at FreedomFest 2016, the trade show for liberty.
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GOP Platform Calls for Fewer Regulations and More Energy Production
The Republican National Convention on 18th July officially adopted their 2016 party platform. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) chaired the platform committee; and the co-chairs were…
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Does Global Warming Policy Increase Summer Swelter?
Supporters of EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) claim the program “mitigates” anthropogenic global warming by substituting biofuels for petroleum products in the nation’s motor fuel…
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Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Net Neutrality
Under the federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA), before an agency may issue a new rule, it must usually publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in…
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Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Secret Rules
Since Obama took office, the EPA’s grossest procedural violation was so outrageous that the agency voluntarily reversed course after it came to light. In the…
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Happy “No Food Is Junk Food” Day 2016!
I can’t stand candy corn. Yes, I’m that person in the office at Halloween.
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Washington Post “Fact Checker” Column Still in Denial over Regulatory Costs
The Washington Post “Fact Checker” column is running its critiques of the Republican convention, and in the process is trying again to rebuff a $15,000…
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Labor Regulators Set Sights on Microsoft
It has almost been one year since the National Labor Relations Board dramatically changed the definition of “joint employer” in Browning-Ferris.
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Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Regulation by Guidance
Federal agencies are to publish a notice of rulemaking and allow the public time to comment on the rule before it becomes final, or legally…
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Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: Good Cause, Bad Faith
For the past seven decades, most federal agency actions must comport with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The APA lays out the basic processes required…
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Worst Procedural Abuses of the Obama Era: The Series
Inspired by our friends at RegBlog, Open Market is publishing a new blog series this week on pressing issues in administrative law and regulatory policy.
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RealClear Radio Hour: U.S. Constitutionalist and Soviet Dissident
In this episode of RealClear Radio Hour, we contrast constitutionalism and socialism.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
New regulations from the past week cover everything from Namibian meat to California raisins.
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The Next President Should Learn from Reagan’s Legacy on Government Reform
My colleague Wayne Crews has a fascinating policy brief out this week, “Channeling Reagan by Executive Order: How the Next President Can Begin Rolling Back…
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House Science Chairman Lamar Smith Subpoenas NY AG Schneiderman, Mass. AG Healey, and Eight Organizations
House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) on 13th July made good on his threat to subpoena state attorneys general and private organizations that appear to…
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Collective Bargaining Increases Inequality
I recently pointed out that minimum wage regulations increase inequality. That’s not what the “Fight-for-15” activists intend, but it is the result they would achieve.
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Politics and Economics Collide with Pokémon Go
It seems strange to think it’s been barely a week since Pokémon Go became the dominant pop culture phenomenon of the summer. Publications better known…
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“Web of Denial” Basher Sen. Schatz Ignores Science on Carbon Dioxide
The core premise of Senate Democrats’ fulminations this week against the “web of climate denial” is that there is no real debate about how dangerous…
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Letter to Congress: Experts Urged House to Reject Mandatory GMO Labeling Bill
In advance of a House vote on July 14 concerning mandatory GMO labeling, myself and other policy experts on biotechnology, consumer, and agricultural policy sent…
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Appropriations Committee Moves to Defund Harmful Labor Regulations
Yesterday, the full House Appropriations Committee held a markup of the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill, which defunds numerous harmful regulations implemented by…
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Understanding the Climate Skeptic Witch Hunt in Congress
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO for short, is a legal method used by the government to go after mob cartels and…
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International Tribunal Gets Its First Big Test
The news that the Permanent Court of Arbitration acting in conjunction with the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) have ruled against…
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Senator “Which Way” Whitehouse Can’t Decide Whether #ExxonKnows
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) on Monday introduced a “Web of Denial” concurrent resolution, which “condemns groups who have misled the…
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Kim Strassel Offers Prescient Look at Political ‘Intimidation Game’
Prescience is an odd quality to attribute to a book-length treatment of recent history. Nonetheless, The Intimidation Game by Kimberly Strassel adheres closely to Antonio’s…
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CEI Supports Defunding Obama’s Joint Employer Standard in House Appropriations Bill
This week, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee will markup the Fiscal Year 2017 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. CEI commends the…
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CEI Commends Rep. King’s Amendment to Halt Enforcement of Davis-Bacon
This week, the House is scheduled to vote on the Fiscal Year 2017 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill (H.R. 5538). CEI commends Rep. Steve King’s…
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New York Times Editorial Board Crashes into Automated Vehicles
In light of Tesla’s foolish decision to rush distraction-causing, low-level automation technology to car consumers, which has resulted in at least one fatality and several…
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How to Hoist Sen. Whitehouse and Rep. Lieu on their own Petards
Nineteen Senators led by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) yesterday launched a series of floor statements denouncing fossil fuel companies and more than 30 conservative and free-market…
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Primer on the Separation of Powers Restoration Act
The House today will vote on H.R. 4768, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA). This bill would direct courts to stop giving controlling respect…
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The Climate Change Debate and the Alarmists’ Addiction to Tobacco Analogies
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Opportunities for the Environmental Entrepreneur
I had the honor to chair a panel and speak at the 10th ICREI conference in France on environmental issues last week. This year’s conference…
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NLRB Overturns Precedent, Makes Organizing Two Workplaces At Once Easier
In a case involving Browning-Ferris Industries, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision overturned longstanding precedent regarding joint employer status—when two employers in a contractual…
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House Judiciary Subcommittee Assesses OMB Review of Federal Regulations
Last week on July 6, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s Sub-Committee Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law conducted a hearing on…
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RealClear Radio Hour: War on Cancer
In this week’s episode of RealClear Radio Hour, we tackle the war on cancer. Disruptive innovators, Stephen Bonner and Paul Davies, confront bureaucracy and big…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short work week due to the Fourth of July holiday, but agencies still managed to issue new rules covering everything from stormwater…
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Obama Officials Spin Paris Treaty as Done Deal
Two prominent Obama administration officials tried to spin the Paris climate treaty as a done deal this week. In an interview with ClimateWire ($) on 5th…
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House Science Committee Presses Climate Inquisitors
House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) on 6th July sent follow-up letters to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Massachusetts AG Maura Healey, and eight…
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House Appropriations Bills Try To Block Obama’s Anti-Energy Climate Agenda
The Interior-EPA appropriations bill, which the House of Representatives is scheduled to consider on the floor next week, contains a number of riders that if enacted…
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Southern Company Power Plant Investigation Misses Larger Policy Scandal
The New York Times this week released the results of an investigation of Southern Company’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) power plant in Kemper, Mississippi.
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The Custody Battle for Your Internet Privacy
Google, Facebook, and YouTube; how do these large websites stay free? Internet advertising is part of a huge economy of $27.5 billion that allows the…
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Bringing Transparency to Union Subsidies
Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) and Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) have co-sponsored legislation this session to ensure reporting of federal employees using “official time,” the practice…
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Dear RegBlog: Special Interests Can Capture Agencies, Too
Regulatory capture occurs when special interests coopt the power of the state in order to advance their narrow interests at the expense of the public…
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The Military and ATC Corporation? No Big Deal
Guest post by Robert Poole Robert Poole is Director of Transportation Policy at Reason Foundation and a member of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) National…
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Another Reporter Revises History of Congressional Climate Policy
Over at BNA Energy and Environment Blog, Dean Scott has an interview with Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). At one point, the discussion turned to a…
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Minimum Wage Increases Inequality, Decreases Labor Force Participation
The minimum wage actually increases inequality. It helps some workers, but only at others’ expense.
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Testimony on Regulatory Budgeting before the House Budget Committee
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee conducted a hearing on An Introduction to Regulatory Budgeting, and I was invited to testify by Chairman…
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Obama Finally Campaigns on Climate Change (for Someone Else)
A theme that I’ve visited frequently in the past is the illegitimacy of President Obama’s climate agenda. To recap, Obama ran away from climate change…
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Food Safety Experts Critical of GMO Labeling Bill
In an open letter released today, several food safety experts warned of the problems with a new Senate bill that would regulate the labeling of…
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My One Agreement with Sen. Warren: Federal Rulemaking Should Be Transparent
In my two previous posts, I picked apart Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s allegation that notice and comment rulemakings are unfairly tilted in the favor of regulated…
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More Wrongheadedness from Sen. Warren on Notice and Comment Rulemakings
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, federal agencies are required to undertake certain procedures when they promulgate rules of general applicability.
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Sen. Warren’s Baseless Criticism of Notice and Comment Rulemaking
In a recent blog post about “regulatory capture,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren claimed that notice and comment rulemaking is unduly biased towards regulated parties.
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Court Rejects Government Transparency Loophole Manufactured by Obama Administration
Do federal agencies have the right to shield their records from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) just by transmitting work-related documents via private email?…
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‘Crexit’ Votes Will Help U.S. Entrepreneurs and Investors
In yet another blow against the Brexit chicken littles, not only have the large British companies comprising the FTSE 100 gained back all the losses…
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Another Anti-Union Conservative Swings at Air Traffic Control Reform and Misses
Most free market and libertarian researchers—at least those familiar with what the House’s AIRR Act (H.R. 4441) actually does and doesn’t do—are…
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RealClear Radio Hour: Jobs, Stats, and Monetary Machinations
This week we go behind the scenes: gathering Federal employment numbers, uncovering the relationship between inflation and jobs, and debating the apparent impotence of central…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Maybe the recently-passed Congressional Review Act deadline we wrote about earlier hasn’t had much effect on midnight regulators.
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Feds Threaten the Independence of Small Business Owners
We value our independence in the country, and not just from imperial foreign governments like the British 240 years ago.
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Five Freedoms We Defend This Fourth
How are you celebrating Independence Day? Whether your plans involve a fireworks display or a barbecue with friends, we hope that this 4th of July…
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Exxon Mobil Is Lobbying for a Carbon Tax
Exxon Mobil has begun pushing actively for a carbon tax on Capitol Hill and with other oil companies, according to a story by Amy Harder and…
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EPA Inserts Central Planning into VW Settlement
EPA on Tuesday announced the final details of its settlement agreement with VW, the automaker that had illegally equipped 11 million diesel cars with software—known…
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Chicago Home-Sharing Rules a Loss for Residents
Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel negotiated an armistice with the sharing economy last week. Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb have promised comply with the new rules, which…
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Congress on the Verge of Lowering Beer Taxes
By today’s standards, the Founding Fathers were outright lushes. Ben Franklin was apocryphally known for his love of beer (although it turns out wine was…
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Senate Gazes at Regulatory Dark Matter
The Senate Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management held a hearing yesterday, Examining the Use of Agency Regulatory Guidance, Part II, featuring testimony from…
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Toward a Regulatory Budget
How much should the U.S. government spend on defense? How much on health care? Or energy, or technology?…
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The Fight for Union Dues Independence
This holiday weekend, we celebrate the birth of our great country. Two hundred and forty years ago, the United States adopted the Declaration of Independence…
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Shake Up in Subpoena Land
This week turned out to be a momentous one in the saga of the climate change subpoenas.
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Will the Sharing Economy Give Us Greater Economic Mobility?
Last night the R Street Institute sponsored a fascinating policy panel here in Washington, D.C., “Boost or Barrier? Upward mobility in the on-demand economy.”…
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Federal Labor Agencies’ Actions Threatens Worker Opportunity
During the course of the Obama administration, federal labor agencies have turned labor and employment policy on its head via a slew of regulations, sub-regulatory…
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Federal Unions’ “Official” Waste of Tax Dollars
While unions representing government employees are still private entities, it is shocking just how much tax dollars they receive for performing union business that does…
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Examining Agency (Over)Use of Regulatory Guidance Documents
Today the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management conducted a hearing on "Examining the Use of Agency…
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Study Finds Non-Greenhouse Role for CO2 in Ice Age Cycles
Ellis and Palmer (2016), a study recently published in Geoscience Frontiers, sheds new light on the role of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in the alternation…
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D.C. Government’s Transgender Guide Pressures Businesses to Violate Free Speech
The District of Columbia is now pressuring businesses to violate free speech in bizarre ways in the name of transgender rights.
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Investors Got into Fiduciary Rule Conversation Months before John Oliver Joined in
“Fiduciary Rule Goes Prime Time,” reads the headline of a recent cover story of the magazine Investment News. The story argues that after political comic…
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Nobel Prize Winners Denounce Greenpeace Opposition to GMOs
For decades, the environmental activist group Greenpeace has been among the most vocal, and oftentimes vicious, opponents of biotechnology and genetically engineered crops.
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Bill Frezza Wins Economic Writing Prize
Bill Frezza, host of RealClear Radio Hour and CEI fellow, was awarded the Foundation for Economic Education’s 2016 Beth Hoffman prize for economic writing for…
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Is Global Warming Killing America’s Oldest Oak Tree?
“The oldest white oak tree in the country is dying—and no one knows why,” proclaims the title of an article in today’s Washington Post. Yet…
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Democrats Block Zika Funding Bill
“Democrats block Zika funding bill, blame GOP,” reports Politico.
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D.C. Scheduling Law Would Have Done More Harm than Good
On Tuesday, D.C.’s City Council will consider scheduling legislation that would force companies to provide schedules at least 14 days in advance.
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Judge Halts Labor Department Persuader Rule for Now
A federal judge in Texas yesterday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing its “persuader rule,”…
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How CEI Is Defending Your Right to Speak Freely
Regardless of your position on any policy issue, the right to voice your opinion is a unique and fundamental element of American democracy.
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RealClear Radio Hour: Innovation Economy & State Fiscal Breakdown
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, guests Garrett Johnson and Eileen Norcross explain the importance of developing a more technologically nimble and fiscally responsible government.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The 2016 Federal Register surpassed 40,000 pages last week, with new rules ranging from lights on farm equipment to grading raisins.
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Brexit and the Paris Treaty
What does the vote by Britons to leave the European Union mean for the Paris Climate Treaty, for green energy subsidies and mandates, and for…
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The True Losers of the Overtime Rule: Small Businesses
On June 23, 2016, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing over the Department of Labor’s new overtime regulation. The tone of the…
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Religious and Economic Liberty Are Intertwined
The massacre in Orlando was a tragic reminder that we’re at war—against hate, against extremism, and against intolerance. Although there are many contributing factors…
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Reps. Jolly, Massie, and Bilirakis Introduce Bill Supporting PFC Modernization
Reps. David Jolly (R-Fla.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) have introduced the Restoring Local Control of Airports Act of 2016 (H.R.
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Supreme Court Upholds Race-Based Social Engineering in Fisher v. University of Texas
Today, the Supreme Court upheld the University of Texas’s race-based admissions policy, which discriminates against white and Asian applicants.
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Groups Urge U.S. House to Nullify Wasteful Catfish Rule
In a coalition letter yesterday, 10 market-oriented groups, including CEI, urged the House leadership to call for a vote on S.J. Res. 28 to nullify…
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Coming Soon: International Mayors for Inconvenient Travel
While we wait to see whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo will sign legislation targeting home-share listings in New York, the governmental response to the sharing economy’s…
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New York Rules DFS a “Game of Skill,” Maintains Ban on Internet Poker
Human beings have been gambling since at least the dawn of recorded history and perhaps one of the most enduring games is poker.
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FAA’s Long-Delayed Drone Certification and Operations Rule Disappoints
This morning, the Federal Aviation Administration released a copy of its final rule on Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which is to…
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Interchange Debate Rears Its Head in Canada
The debate over the effects of interchange fees (the charges a bank levies on a merchant when one its customers uses a credit or debit…
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New York Legislature Piles on Fines for Home-Share Listings
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is currently reviewing legislation recently passed by the state’s Senate and Assembly that would establish new penalties for advertising one’s…
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Climate Change Witch-Hunt Expands to Include More Innocent Victims, As Conservative AGs Object
A climate-change witchhunt is expanding to include conservative groups that have never received a penny from Exxon. Attorney General Maura Healey is part of a…
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Soda Tax Won’t Fix Waste and Corruption in Philly
Last week Philadelphia enacted a 1.5 cent per ounce tax on soda to fund the Mayor’s proposed universal pre-kindergarten system and at the same time…
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New Joint Employer Standard Hurting Business of All Sizes
Recently, the business community aired their grievances about the National Labor Relations Board’s new joint employer standard in the form of briefs from Microsoft and…