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Where Did All The Environmental Protection Agency Rules Go?
The Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations has always been squishy and has never bound agencies to issue solely the rules contained within; but the decline…
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Washington’s Liquor Privatization Did Increase Prices, But Also Selection And Availability
Since selling off the state-owned liquor monopoly, many Washington State residents have noticed an unfortunate development; despite what proponents of privatization promised, the cost of…
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The Thievery Of Saints: Liberals Justify Wealth Confiscation In Cloak Of Moral Superiority
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Europe’s Green Building Boondoggle: Benefits By 2064
A report released yesterday by the European Court of Auditors exposed the European Union’s €5 billion boondoggle into increasing “energy efficiency” in public buildings.
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Worthwhile Pension Reform Proposal in the Old Dominion
When trying to get out of a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging. When the hole is a state pension deficit,…
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Obamacare Imposes New Fees, Cost Increases On The Public
Obamacare was sold to the public based on the fallacy that it would cut healthcare costs, but each month brings additional evidence that it…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
52 new regulations, from nematodes to tiltorotors.
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CEI Podcast For January 14, 2013: Meet Lawson Bader
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Mother Tackles Hype About Chemicals On “Stossel”
The Independent Women’s Forum’s Senior Fellow Julie Gunlock takes on hype related to bisphenol A and chemicals in general on Fox Business Network’s…
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Is Liberty Innocent Until Proven Guilty?
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Southwest Airlines drink voucher coupon settlement
Southwest gives away “premium drink” (i.e., “beer”) coupons worth $5 to customers who buy a Business Select ticket. Of course, not everyone drinks, and half…
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Qualified Mortgage Rule Is One Of Many Dodd-Frank Boots To Drop
The first thing that should be said about today's "qualified mortgage" rule is that it is just one of many new regulations the Consumer Financial…
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How About Some Intellectual Diversity At The Labor Department?
As the cabinet turns: Hilda Solis announced this week that she will soon be stepping down from her post as secretary of labor. Solis, a…
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Teaching Self-Esteem Undermines Students’ Academic Achievement
Self-control, not self-esteem, leads to success, researchers have found. Indeed, teaching self-esteem actually harms students' achievement and work ethic. "In one study, university students…
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Getting Buchanan Wrong
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James Buchanan, 1919-2013
Economics has lost one of its greats. James Buchanan has passed away at age 93. Born on a Tennessee farm in 1919, he continued working…
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U.S.-EU Trade Negotiations Will Have Some Sticking Points
A Financial Times article today focuses on possible negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union and some of…
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Guatemalan Children Starve Due To Ethanol Mandates
The New York Times reports that ethanol and biofuel mandates in the U.S. and Europe are fueling rising hunger in Guatemala, which now has the fourth-highest…
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: New Year Edition 2013
With a new year comes a new opportunity to take stock in our past endeavors and renew our goals for the future. While many a…
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Feds Say Hybrid Electric Vehicles Too Quiet, Noisemakers Should Be Mandated
Green paternalists often gush about the great potential for hybrid electric automobiles to reduce negative externalities, or social costs, such as local air pollution and…
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Basel III Cliff May Be Averted, But Dangers Still Loom For Main Street Banks
After numerous criticisms from U.S. community banks and lawmakers of both parties, the international committee in charge of the Basel III bank capital agreement…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
28 new regulations, from the United Soybean Board to synthetic drugs.
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Pearce v. Acosta
A class member contacted me to complain about the settlement in Pearce v. Acosta. At first glance, it seems troubling: as described to me, the…
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Update On D.C.’s Driverless Car Legalization Legislation
In November, I noted in The Washington Post and here on Open Market that a bill introduced in the D.C. Council contained two dangerously flawed provisions and…
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Not So Rosey Facts About Green Schools
It is amazing how public officials will blindly pass mandates even when evidence is abundant to show their policies will prove costly and counterproductive. My…
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Mice Study Questions BPA-Obesity Link
Science is a long-term process that only brings meaning when numerous, scientifically robust studies produce consistent results. But when it comes to politically loaded issues…
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The Constitution And Broad First Amendment Freedoms Are Obsolete, Say Left-Leaning Judges And Constitutional Law Professors
The progressive Georgetown University constitutional law professor Louis Michael Seidman argued Monday in The New York Times that we should just ignore the Constitution and…
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Settlement: FTC Ends Google Antitrust Investigation
Today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared Google of accusations of "Search Bias," and inappropriately harming rivals. The investigation lasted nearly…
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CEI Podcast For January 3, 2013: The Fiscal Cliff Meets The Costberg
Congress made an unsatisfying compromise deal this week to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff. But Vice President for policy Wayne Crews thinks this is…
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Other December doings
In addition to the objection to the Citigroup Securities settlement, we were busy in December: Another bad coupon settlement: …
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New Year, New Laws
More than 400 new laws came into effect today.
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Chicago Voters Reelect Legally Insane Judge
In November, Chicago voters re-elected a legally insane judge charged with a crime of violence. "The Cook County Democratic Party…
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2012’s Year-End Regulatory Report Card
Both 2011 and 2010 finished with over 81,000 pages in the Federal Register, as tallied in Ten Thousand Commandments. These were the highest page counts…
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Southern District of New York assistance?
I’ve filed an objection in the Southern District of New York to an attorney-fee request that is excessive by tens of millions of dollars, and…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
54 new regulations, from handling spearmint oil to drug testing railroad workers.
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Europe 2013: A Primer
As the New Year approaches, many challenges loom for Europe. Here’s a quick list of the toughest hurdles for 2013: 1. Implementing the Single…
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EPA Regulations Cost How Much?!
Over at the Daily Caller, I summarize my recent CEI Regulatory Report Card on the EPA. Recommended if you don't feel like reading the entire…
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Community Reinvestment Act Induced Banks To Take Bad Risks, Economic Study Finds
The Community Reinvestment Act, which "prods banks to make loans in low-income communities,” encouraged banks to make riskier loans, concludes a recent study…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
68 new regulations, from summer flounder fishing to switching contractors.
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GM Stock Sale Doesn’t End Damage Of Government Motors
Below is my statement released today on the government’s planned 15-month sale of its remaining General Motors stock: On Wednesday, the government announced a plan to sell its…
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France’s Anti-Business Orthodoxy
In France, running a productive business is not important. Simply creating jobs -- not wealth or innovation -- is the sole purpose of enterprise. At…
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Fear The Regulatory Cliff, Not The Fiscal Cliff
Economist Bruce Bartlett notes that by cutting the federal budget deficit, the much-feared fiscal cliff will actually increase the size of the economy in the…
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Free Speech, The Disfavored Stepchild Of The Law
In a recent column, George Will discussed how college students have been disciplined for racial or discriminatory "harassment" for constitutionally protected expression, such as…
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The Great California Government Union Swindle
Are government employees overpaid? A six-part Bloomberg report answers that question with a resounding "Yes." It also singles out one state as the biggest spender…
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CEI Podcast For December 19, 2012: The EPA Regulatory Report Card
Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young talks about the need for more transparency in the world of regulation, as well as CEI's new EPA Regulatory…
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Stuck in Time: Italy’s Politics
Things have a way of repeating themselves. This is especially true in Italy, where politics have been stuck in a time loop for the…
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Appeals Court Overturns Dismissal Of Challenge To Obamacare Contraception Mandate By Religious Colleges
According to law professor Jonathan Adler, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit effectively overturned a district court’s dismissal of a challenge…
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Expert On Gun Regulation Says “Assault Weapons” Bans Are Useless
President Obama is backing a revival of the federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, perhaps the leading…
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Path To Transparency: The EPA Regulatory Report Card
Transparency is in short supply in the world of regulation. How many rules does an agency have in the pipeline? How much will they cost?…
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Panel Discussion: The State Of Labor
Michigan's new right-to-work law and the state of organized labor in both the private and public sectors dominated discussion Thursday at "The State of…
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The Regulatory Reduction Commission
In today's Washington Times, Wayne Crews and I write about a reform that has nearly two decades of bipartisan support, has a proven track record…
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Green Building: More Expensive And Less Efficient
Washington, D.C., lawmakers are preparing to pass a tough new “green building” code, which supposedly will make our buildings more energy efficient and save…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
69 new regulations, from Spanish translations of used car buyers guides to shortnose suckers.
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Wheels In Motion To Crush Chemical Innovation
Chemical industry groups say they want to "modernize" the nation's chemical law by applying reasonable reforms that would prevent states from passing a patchwork…
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Regulation Roundup
Montreal mulls requiring dogs to be bilingual, USDA regulates polydactyl cats, plus more.
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PolitiFact Is The Liar Of The Year
PolitiFact falsely depicted Michael Cannon, the director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, as suggesting that state law overrides federal law, erroneously…
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Birthday wishes
Frank Bednarz, who was with CCAF in the early going, and has since moved on to more lucrative intellectual property litigation, wins the Internet…
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CEI Podcast For December 12, 2012: Ending The Beer Monopoly
Fellow in Consumer policy Studies Michelle Minton argues that the beer industry in America is essentially a monopoly. In her new paper "Avoid a Monopoly…
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Right-To-Work Laws Aren’t Perfect, But They’re Better Than The Likely Alternative
On more than one occasion, I’ve heard some libertarians object to right-to-work laws on the grounds that they undermine freedom of contract by barring employers…
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Obama’s Low-Quality College Bailout Will Fuel Skyrocketing Tuition
We wrote earlier about perverse federal financial aid policies that encourage colleges to jack up tuition. Recently, the Obama administration came up with something even worse.
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Sierra Club Transportation Report Unsurprisingly Trashes (Some Bad) Road Projects, Praises Transit And Bike Waste
The Sierra Club's Beyond Oil Campaign recently released a report [PDF] highlighting what the environmentalist group claims to be the 50 best and worst…
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Today’s Links: December 11, 2012
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Obama’s Dangerous Italian Labor Rhetoric
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="260"] President Obama spoke in Detroit on Monday[/caption] President Obama condemned yesterday Michigan’s forthcoming transition to a right-to-work state. He claimed,…
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Big Labor’s Choice: Improve And Evolve, or Perish
Over the past year, the Midwest has had a pro-worker epiphany, a movement now reaching its crescendo with the imminent passage of right-to-work legislation in…
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Big Labor’s Choice: Improve And Evolve, or Perish
Openmarket.org Over the past year, the Midwest has had a pro-worker epiphany, a movement now reaching its crescendo with the imminent passage of right-to-work…
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October and November doings
In addition to our Supreme Court amicus and our MagSafe appellate brief, we’ve kept busy over the last two months. We…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
94 new regulations, from apricots to civilian flights in Iraq.
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Anti-Immigration Group FAIR: Market Is Like “A Mob Without Reason, Irrational and Immoral”
Last week, Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) denounced CEI’s position on immigration. Mehlman argued new foreign workers would degrade wages…
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Catching The Chimera: Right-To-Work In Michigan
Openmarket.org Labor leaders have seen the writing on the wall for their movement for a while now. But that writing just got bolder and more ominous…
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Catching The Chimera: Right-To-Work In Michigan
Labor leaders have seen the writing on the wall for their movement for a while now. But that writing just got bolder and more ominous for…
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Researchers Repudiate BPA Junk Science
The chemical bisphenol A (BPA) -- which is used to make hard, clear plastics and resins that line food containers -- regularly appears in news…
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CEI Podcast For December 6, 2012: Rising Public Sector Pay
Senior Fellow Matt Patterson discusses why public sector workers make substantially more money than their private sector counterparts.
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Union Holds U.S. Ports Hostage
Representatives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 (ILWU) agreed to a labor contract with port operators associated with the Los Angeles/Long…
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When Gridlock Is Good: The Case Of The Toxic Substances Control Act
When it comes to traffic, gridlock is never good. And in politics, it's a big problem when lawmakers can't agree on a plan to rescue…
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Appeals Court Hears Challenge To Obama Administration Power Grab Over NLRB
This morning, the D.C. Circuit heard oral arguments in Noel Canning v. NLRB, which includes a challenge to President Obama's "recess" appointment of two…
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The Temperance Movement Is Alive And Well
Today, Dec. 5, is the day to go out and raise a glass to celebrate the anniversary of the repeal of alcohol prohibition in the United…
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Beyond The Fiscal Cliff, Bipartisan Regulatory Reform
If I'm reading this right, the Progressive Policy Institute wants to roll back some over-regulation. It's not clear how much, but it does seem to…
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Today’s Links: December 5, 2012
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Victory For Small Business: Lawsuit-Spawning Disabilities Rights Treaty Blocked
"By a vote of 61 to 38 with two-thirds needed, the U.S. Senate" Tuesday "failed to ratify the far-reaching Convention on the Rights of Persons…
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Anti-Immigration Group Repudiates Free Market Principles
My last blog post pointed out the anti-immigrant charge that “massive infusions of cheap foreign labor” impoverishes the country is fundamentally anti-people. After all,…
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If You Can’t Beat Him, Join Together
Wisconsin’s largest teachers unions may be joining forces. The WEAC, an affiliate of the National Education Association, and the AFT-Wisconsin, affiliate of the American Federation of…
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What Is Green Chemistry?
Washington's state bureaucrats are soliciting proposals from "public and private sector firms to help create a technically competent and vibrant Green Chemistry Center to help…
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Today’s Links: December 4, 2012
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More Lawsuits Against Doctors, Hospitals Due To Senate Amendment 3215 To NDAA
Earlier, I wrote about a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013, which would dramatically increase lawsuits against schools and…
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Official Time: Officially Outrageous
Would you be upset if you learned that your local tax dollars were funding a rival sports team in another state? Of course, but that, thankfully, is…
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Official Time: Officially Outrageous
Openmarket.org Would you be upset if you learned that your local tax dollars were funding a rival sports team in another state? Of course,…
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Anti-Immigrant? Or Just Anti-People?
What economists call “labor,” most of us just call “people.” Without people, there is no economy -- no producers, no consumers, no supply, and no…
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Today’s Links: December 3, 2012
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American Capitalism Is More Compassionate Than European Socialism
America has not yet become Europe. And that’s a good thing. In Investor’s Business Daily, I empirically show that the American model of greater…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week In Regulation
88 new regulations, from phone bill formatting to food labels.
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Looting The Future: Union Bosses Violate Spirit If Not Letter Of The Law
Openmarket.org Hostess’ union-induced shutdown captures the essence of the modern labor movement–more anti-employer than pro-worker. Workers are taking notice of unions’ negative impact on employers,…
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New Pressure On Schools To Adopt Quotas, Speech Codes, And Low Standards?
Lawsuits against schools and colleges have nothing to do with our troops and their needs. But that didn’t stop Senators from seeking to add a harmful…
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Looting The Future: Union Bosses Violate Spirit If Not Letter Of The Law
Hostess’ union-induced shutdown captures the essence of the modern labor movement–more anti-employer than pro-worker. Workers are taking notice of unions’ negative impact on employers, for…
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Today’s Links: November 30, 2012
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Obama Breaks Pledge Against Middle-Class Tax Hikes By Proposing Tax Increase On Dividends, Capital Gains
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Immigration Reform Is Not A Zero Sum Game
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on Republicans’ first post-election attempt at pro-immigration reform. But their bill, the STEM Jobs Act (H.R. 6429),…
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Today’s Links: November 29, 2012
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L.A. Public Pension Problem A Microcosm Of California’s Financial Woes
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan abandoned efforts this week to gather signatures for a ballot initiative to reform the city’s public pension plan.
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CEI Podcast For November 27, 2012: Rachel Was Wrong
Senior Fellow Angela Angela Logomasini talks about her forthcoming CEI study, "Rachel Was Wrong: Agrochemicals’ Benefits to Human Health and the Environment."…
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Guest Workers Can Help End Illegal Immigration
The debate over immigration reform has focused on its long-term effects on America’s culture as well as its economy. But that obscures the fact that…