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Moody’s $2 Trillion Public Pension Shortfall Estimate Highlights Need for Better Pension Accounting Practices
In a new report, Moody’s estimates the nation’s largest pension funds face a $2 trillion taken together. That’s a lot of money. But as significant…
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Cyanide, Tylenol and How Free Markets Make You Safer
Today is the anniversary of one of the most significant food and drug related events in recent memory. Often discussed in college business classes these…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
A busy week ended with a flourish, with Friday’s Federal Register alone containing 28 final regulations and 542 pages.
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Study on Artificial Sweeteners Interesting But Flawed
A new study out of Israel on the possible effects of artificial sweeteners is making a lot of headlines this week. Unfortunately (and as usual)…
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Are Consumers Smart Enough to Understand Airline Ancillary Fees?
In May, I criticized the Department of Transportation’s opening of a rulemaking on airline ancillary fees (baggage, seat assignments, etc.), noting that the primary…
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The NLRB Forces CNN to Rehire Workers Terminated Over a Decade Ago
CNN is appealing a recent ruling from the National Labor Relations Board which forces CNN to hire back workers from a temp agency known as…
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CalPERS Abandons “Hail Mary” Investment Strategy – About Time
CalPERS knows when to fold ‘em. The California Public Employee Retirement System, the nation’s largest public pension fund (and one of the world’s largest), announced…
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For Fannie and Freddie Reform, Transparency Is a Must
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
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Victory! Redman v. Radioshack
CCAF won a tremendous victory for class members in Redman v. Radioshack, just eleven days after oral argument! Judge Richard Posner, a legal authority renowned…
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Billionaire Diversity: Foreign vs. Domestic
Brookings Institution scholar Darrell West, whose new book Billionaires: Reflections on the Upper Crust is being released later this week, has another intriguing graphic…
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Lesson from Ex-Im Fight: More Agencies Should Have Sunsets
Congress hasn’t voted just yet on the Continuing Resolution that includes the Export-Import Bank’s reauthorization. But we already know that it will pass this week,…
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STB Reauthorization Bill Threatens Rail Investment
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has scheduled a markup for tomorrow afternoon of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) Reauthorization Act (S.2777). If…
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In Memoriam: Elizabeth Whelan
I was very sad to hear last week that Elizabeth Whelan, founder and president of the American Council on Science and Health, had passed…
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Regulator: True Ridesharing Illegal in California
In the past, I’ve noted that carve-outs for ridesharing providers leaves more innovative and disruptive business models—particularly future automated services—illegal. While self-driving on-demand transportation…
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Will the NLRB’s McDonald’s Decision Destroy Franchise System or Make Companies More Accountable?
That was the question at the center of a September 9 House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee hearing, which was held in response to…
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New Mexico Workers and Industry Would Benefit from Right to Work
Albuquerque Business First reports that New Mexico could become one of the next right-to-work (RTW) battlegrounds depending on upcoming election results, where Republicans could reclaim…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The number of new regulations topped 2,500 on the year, while the Federal Register added 1,853 pages to end the week just shy of the…
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Celebrate Billionaire Diversity
Darrell West, a Vice President at the Brookings Institution, has a new book coming out next week on the political influence of the very wealthy,…
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CDC Study: Kids Eat Same Amount of Sodium as Worldwide Average
It’s not exactly a blood-pressure raising headline, which is probably why the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is actually…
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CEI Awards Pro-Worker Legislators
As we did last Congress, the Competitive Enterprise Institute has produced our Labor and Employment Policy Scorecard for this 113th Congress on our labor website,…
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Dueling Ex-Im Commentary
A vote on the Continuing Resolution, which includes the controversial Export-Import Bank reauthorization was originally scheduled for today, but has been pushed back to next…
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Federal Obamacare Officials Once Recognized the Falsity of Their Current Argument about Tax Credits
The Obama administration has claimed that despite recurring language in the Obamacare law limiting tax credits to people who buy insurance on an “exchange established…
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User Fees Are Not Taxes: The Case for PFCs
I've noted in the past the natural appeal passenger facility charges (PFCs) should have with fiscal conservatives. These are the user fees airports…
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Don’t Tie Ex-Im Renewal to Government Shutdown
It appears Congress will decide the Export-Import Bank’s short-term fate this week. There are several bills with different reauthorization terms, and Rep. Justin Amash and…
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Nationalizing Bitcoin?
The phrase “if you can’t beat them, join them” seems so applicable in light of the Commonwealth of Dominica announcing plans…
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Western Water and California Drought, Part 2: No Need for Malthusian Despair
Well, some good news—it’s raining in Los Angeles. Western droughts combined with questionable water access policies spawn water crises that unfortunately are not unique…
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Redman v. RadioShack, Inc. / oral argument today
As we discussed earlier, class counsel agreed to a settlement over RadioShack credit-card receipt legality that would have paid themselves $1 million, but the…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It was a short week due to the Labor Day holiday, but agencies still managed to issue more than 60 new regulations and push the…
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IRS Plays Favorites
The Daily Caller News Foundation has found an email from Lois Lerner which contrasts her apathy towards misreported political spending by labor unions with her…
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Ted Frank speaking in Trenton September 16
The New Jersey Civil Justice Institute is saying really nice things about my scheduled luncheon talk September 16 in Trenton. Come say hi if…
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You’re a SIFI, Charlie Brown
“Good grief!” That’s what the Charlie Brown, star of comic strip Peanuts and cartoon spokesman for the MetLife insurance firm, might say about the government’s…
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Feds Apply Double Standards against Private Employers
Government contractors could face a financial death sentence over labor law, civil-rights law, or wage-and-hour law violations under a recent Obama executive order I discussed…
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Ex-Im Update
Congress comes back from its annual August recess next week. One of the top items on its agenda is deciding the Export-Import Bank’s fate. Ex-Im…
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Oetting v. Green Jacobson / Oral argument September 10 in 8th Circuit on cy pres
Bank of America settled a nationwide securities class action in the E.D. Mo. for hundreds of millions of dollars. For some reason, the district court…
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Strengthening Executive Branch Review of Federal Regulations
This week marks the due date of public comments on the 2014 edition of the Draft Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
In a week like any other, federal agencies issued regulations for everything from dairy farmers’ profit margins to Canadian apple exports.
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Laguna v. Coverall N.A.
Coverall N.A. settled a class action over janitorial franchises by paying a $1M attorney fee and setting up…
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Professional Associations Raise Workers’ Wages More than Unions
Almost every American knows the feelings of excitement and relief that come from getting that brand new job.
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How to Raise All Worker Wages
With Labor Day approaching, it is a suitable time to examine which public policies promote economic growth that leads to job creation and wage increases.
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Judge: NLRB Acting as “Litigation Arm” of SEIU
A federal judge in Pittsburgh has reprimanded the National Labor Relations Board for its heavy-handed and questionable treatment of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in…
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Taxpayers to Subsidize “Ministry of Truthiness”
The Washington Free Beacon reports: The federal government is spending nearly $1 million to create an online database that will track “misinformation” and…
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Obama “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order Will Punish Firms in Pro-Worker States
Earlier, we discussed President Obama’s recent Executive Order 13,673, which “will allow trial lawyers to extort larger settlements from companies, and enable bureaucratic agencies to extract …
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The Federal Register burst past the 50,000-page mark with Friday’s 878-page effort, which also contained 21 final regulations and four “significant” documents.
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Better Wages and Lower Cost of Living in California Depend on Better Understanding of Economics
A San Francisco teacher’s union is threatening a strike because proposed wage increases won’t be sufficient to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living.
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Cops to Destroy Rare Wine Collection in Pennsylvania
In the fifth century BCE, famous Greek tragedian Euripides supposedly said, “where this no wine there is no love.” This certainly holds true in present day…
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Eric Holder Avenges Investor Fraud by Taking from Defrauded Investors
“Bank of America failed to make accurate and complete disclosure to investors and its illegal conduct kept investors in the dark,” declared a government official…
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Many Unions Put Politics over Representation of Their Members
A few recent stories have shown how unions often value partisan political activities over fair representation of their members.
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Duplicative New Affirmative-Action Rule Drives Up Taxpayer Costs and Restricts Competition
Does it make sense to require a park campground operator that has a few hundred employees at 120 different locations to come up with 120…
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Newsweek’s Cover Story on Internet Gambling Plays Fast and Loose with Facts
Newsweek’s recent cover article on online gambling, “How Washington Opened the Floodgates to Online Poker, Dealing Parents a Bad Hand,” by Leah McGrath Goodman,…
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Voter Ignorance and Political Reform
If you’re a voter in Los Angeles, you just may wind up with an unexpected windfall the next time you cast your ballot. The Los…
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The Not-So-Free Market at Work
In the mail, I recently received a brochure from a firm called Solar Solution LLC, claiming to be the District of Columbia’s #1 solar installer. Included…
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The Impending BitLicense and Premature Regulations
Last month, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced its proposed regulations for businesses engaged in “Virtual Currency Business Activity.”The Department defines these businesses…
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New RegData Site Makes it Easier to Track Regulation
About three years ago, our friends at the Mercatus Center launched a website called RegData that compiles a searchable database on many facets of…
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Red Tapeworm 2014: Are Environmental Protection Agency Regulations Declining? Don’t Bet on It
This is Part 26 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
75 new regulations, from tax delinquents to spectrum auctions.
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Red Tapeworm 2014: The Government Accountability Office Reports More Regulations in Obama Era
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Executive Order Pressures Employers to Capitulate to Baseless Demands and Meritless Claims
A July 31 executive order from President Obama, E.O. 13,673, will make it very costly for employers to challenge dubious allegations of wrongdoing against them,…
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Union President Threatens Opponents of Common Core with Violence
When unions get involved in political debates, it gets ugly fast. For example, the SEIU is known to bus hundreds of protesters to private residences…
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Honeybee Population in Decline—Or Not?
If you read the news about honeybee survival, it’s all very confusing. Some sources sound the alarm by pointing out that the number of honeybee…
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Michael Grunwald’s High-Speed Rail Fantasies
Perhaps the one thing Time magazine's Michael Grunwald loves more than drone assassinations of American citizens and dissident journalists is heavily subsidized passenger rail. This is not the…
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The Ex-Im Bank’s Unilateral Disarmament Fallacy
One of the weakest arguments against free trade is the "unilateral disarmament" fallacy--that a country should refuse to liberalize its trade policies until other countries…
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Red Tapeworm 2014: Tell Us — Which Regulations Hurt Your Business as You Grow?
This is Part 24 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal…
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Due Process Eroded by Bills like CASA That Let Agencies Keep Fines They Impose
Due process is being eroded by recent bills that would authorize agencies to impose massive fines on regulated industries, and then keep those fines for…
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Celebrate National Employee Freedom Week
National Employee Freedom Week, which started August 10 and runs until August 16, is a countrywide effort by 70 groups in 41 states that's goal…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Despite another 47 proposed regulations and 80 final regulations last week, 2014 remains on pace to have the smallest number of new regulations of any…
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The Case for Closing the Export-Import Bank
Over at American Banker’s BankThink blog, I have a piece making the case for closing the Export-Import Bank, mostly on corruption grounds: The…
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Red Tapeworm 2014: Small Businesses Beaten Down by Recordbreaking Federal Regulations
This is Part 23 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal…
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Uber and Regulation: Pro-Business Is Not Pro-Market
“Republicans love Uber. Young urban voters love Uber. And Republicans hope that means young voters can learn to love the GOP.” That was the opening…
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Homecare Workers Freed from Big Labor’s Greed
Homecare workers in three states have finally been liberated from something they should never have experienced in the first place: paying dues to government unions…
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Red Tapeworm 2014: Completed Economically Significant Rules at Record Levels
This is Part 21 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal…
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Public Still Favors Transportation User Fees over Tax Increases
Voters in Missouri yesterday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have imposed a 0.75 percent sales tax to fund transportation, with nearly 60 percent opposing a…
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The Let Me Google That for You Act
When it comes to government transparency, more is better. As a general principle, the government should make public as many of its documents as possible…
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Jefferson Federation of Teachers Proposes Union-Friendly Contract
In the past two years, the Jefferson Federation of Teachers (JFT) and Jefferson Parish public school system have tried, unsuccessfully, to come to terms on…
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Red Tapeworm 2014: Big Dollar Federal Regulations in the Pipeline Highest under Obama
This is Part 21 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Ninety-eight new regulations, from Moroccan blueberries to home furnaces.
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NLRB McDonald’s Decision Hurts Small Businesses, Diminishes Opportunities for Everyday Americans
The NLRB’s General Counsel Richard F. Griffin Jr. found merit in 43 of 181 unfair labor practice complaints made against McDonald’s in the last 20…
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Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Gov. Scott Walker’s Collective Bargaining Reform
Since 2011, Governor Scott Walker’s signature public-sector collective bargaining reform has withstood venomous union protests at the state capitol, fleeing state legislators, and sparked a…
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GMO Row Comes to Kansas Congressional Race
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New Study Estimates around $70 billion in Financial Regulatory Costs
Complying with regulations is part of the cost of doing business. For bigger businesses that can absorb those costs (or rather, pass them on to…
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Federal Official Says Campus Speech Should Be Restricted to Protect Young People’s Brains
U.S. Civil Rights Commission member Michael Yaki says that speech on college campuses should be restricted to protect young people’s developing brains. This is yet…
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Federal Official Says Campus Speech Should Be Restricted to Protect Young People’s Brains
U.S. Civil Rights Commission member Michael Yaki says that speech on college campuses should be restricted to protect young people’s developing brains. This is yet…
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The Case for Repealing the Davis-Bacon Act
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is making the case for repealing the Depression-era Davis-Bacon Act. The law, passed in 1931, bars contractors and subcontractors from paying…
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Study Proves Economic Harm of Collective Bargaining
A new CEI study by economist Lowell Galloway and public policy expert Jonathan Robe demonstrates the harmful economic effects of unionization on a state-by-state basis. Among the…
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House Brings Transparency to Endangered Species Act, Still Needs to Protect Property Rights
Today the House passed H.R. 4315, the 21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act. Unfortunately, it likely has no chance of passing in the Senate and word is…
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New Report Highlights Driverless Car Urban Impact; Takes Techno-Dystopian Stance
Earlier this month, Professor David Begg of Transport Times published a new report on automated transport technology focusing on the potential impacts on London. This is one of…
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Red Tapeworm 2014: Here Are the Federal Agencies that Issue the Most Regulations
This is Part 20 of a series taking a walk through some sections of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State (2014…
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Bitcoin’s Undiscovered Potential
A recent piece in American Banker magazine explores how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can help the underprivileged, particularly the millions of unbanked people who…
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Obama Claim Spurious; Labor Unions Furious; New Ranking Curious
Coauthored with Alex Bolt. President Barack Obama spuriously claimed, "These so-called right-to-work [RTW] laws, they don't have anything to do with economics," when he futilely…
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Kentucky Teachers Union Demands Pay Raise to Perform Union Business
Contract negotiations between Jefferson County Public Schools and its teachers union have hit an impasse. Union officials want more than the state-mandated 1-percent raise, which…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Seventy-four new regulations, from spearmint oil to insurance exchanges.
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Subprime Auto Concerns Caused by Government Intervention
Should we worry about a crisis in subprime auto loans? That question has been asked in the financial media lately. My answer is yes, with…
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House Hearing Highlights Problems in the Fair Labor Standards Act
The Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the House Education and the Workforce Committee held a hearing yesterday that focused on the troubled regulatory structure of…
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Obamacare Architect Admitted in 2012 States without Exchanges Lose Subsidies
This week, an unprecedented circuit split emerged in Halbig v. Burwell and King v. Burwell over whether health insurance premium assistance is available in states…
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Allen v. Dairy Farmers of America
What happens when class counsel wants to settle and the class representatives do not? Rule 23(a)(4) and the Constitution require adequate class representation before individual…
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CEI Podcast for July 24, 2014: Victory in Halbig v. Burwell
General Counsel Sam Kazman talks about what the Halbig decision means for the Affordable Care Act, as well as broader principles such as taxation…
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Fraud Rampant and Unpoliced on Obamacare Health Insurance Exchanges
Almost anyone can fraudulently obtain taxpayer subsidies to cover most of the cost of their health insurance on the Obamacare health insurance exchanges. That’s the…
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Uber, Regulation, and Free Markets
Libertarians are justifiably excited about the prospects of ridesharing companies such as Uber and equally justified in their disgust of regulators intent on preventing the…
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America’s Energy Advantage Dodges the Question
America’s Energy Advantage has responded to my July 1 post criticizing its stance on the Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act. That bill would liberalize…
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Risky Public Pension Plans Unsafe for Taxpayers, Bad for Business Growth
In new analysis published by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, economist Robert Sarvis ranks states based on the severity of their unfunded pension liabilities, and explains…