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Regulation of the Day 222: Macaroni
According to federal regulations, you may not, in fact, stick a feather in your hat and call it macaroni.
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Court’s Obamacare Decision — What Would John Locke Say?
Richard Epstein of the Hoover Institution and the University of Chicago Law School gives the Chief Justice some tough love in “What Was Roberts…
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How Restricted Borders Replaced Free Migration
By the late 19th century, liberalism had essentially defeated mercantilism as the West's dominant economic philosophy. With its ascent, state attempts to control trade and travel…
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D.C. To End Sunday Liquor Ban?
In D.C. politics, one month can make all the difference. At the end of April, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham said that he opposed…
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The State of American Manufacturing
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The Good, the Bad, and the Broccoli
Most people thought that the health care decision would hinge on the Court’s interpretation of the Commerce Clause. That’s why I wrote the first three…
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Unexceptional Ruling on Lead Paint
Homeowners seeking to do renovations on pre-1978-built homes will continue to pay extra because of the EPA's lead paint rule -- and a federal court…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
101 new final regulations, covering everything from Costa Rican flowers to tanning.
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Highway Bill Passes Congress, WSJ Blasts “Fiscal Accounting Hocus Pocus”
This afternoon, both the House and Senate approved the conference report of the largely Senate-crafted MAP-21 surface transportation reauthorization. The bill, which is expected…
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Obamacare Lives. So, Now What?
Former CEI scholar Tom Miller (now with AEI) has some thoughts on the Obamacare decision in today's…
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Soda Pop, States’ Interests, and the General Welfare
Michael Bloomberg is as notorious as any American politician of our time. The New York Mayor’s recently proposed ban on “sugary drinks” larger than 18 ounces is the…
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Pension Reform: Could Michigan Be A Model State?
Appalled by the $22.4 billion fiscal millstone that the public teacher pension fund (MPSERS) has become, Michigan lawmakers hope to make long-overdue structural reforms.
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Today’s Links: June 29, 2012
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CEI Podcast: June 28, 2012: The Obamacare Decision
General Counsel Sam Kazman shares his thoughts on the Supreme Court's health care decision, the Commerce Clause, Congress' taxation power, and more.
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Supreme Court Concocts New “Rational (Tax) Basis” Test in Upholding Health Law
In a move that seems to have surprised many observers, the Supreme Court today upheld nearly all of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act…
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Obamacare Upheld, 5-to-4: A Perverse Decision That Undermines Political Accountability
Today, in a really perverse ruling, the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare's individual mandate as a tax in a 5-to-4 decision, even though Obamacare's supporters…
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Union Bosses: Are They Con Men?
The definition of a con man is “a dishonest person who uses clever means to cheat others out of something of value.” Nowadays, a fitting…
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Quick Thoughts on the Health Care Ruling
The Supreme Court upheld the health care bill, as you've no doubt heard by now. Over at the Daily Caller, I offer a few quick…
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Regulation of the Day 221: Miniature Golf Courses
The federal government regulates the slopes of miniature golf courses.
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A Political Climate that Discourages Setting Up a Small Business
The EEOC has punished a cafe owner for not selecting a hearing- and speech-impaired applicant for a cashier’s position, even though such impairments obviously…
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The Good-Citizen Economist
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Former GAO Auditor: Public Pension Underfunding Worse than Pew Estimates
This week, GASB approved new standards that would require state pensions that are less than 80 percent funded to base income projections on lower — more…
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Highway Bill Would Continue Pension Underfunding Shell Game
As if the Senate Highway Bill (S. 1813) could not become more of a lumbering monster, along comes its Section 40312, which allows "pension…
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Today’s Links: June 27, 2012
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Georgia Offers “Amnesty” to Businesses From Its Tough Immigration Law
More amnesty from immigration laws by prosecutorial discretion! No, not the president’s order to defer deportation for certain children of undocumented immigrants, but the decision…
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The Highway Bill’s Sleeper Funding Provision: Pension Smoothing
Things appear to have turned around for the stalled surface transportation reauthorization talks. Conference committee members worked over the weekend trying to come to a…
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Today’s Links: June 26, 2012
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The Growing Threat of a PBGC Bailout
Everyone hates a bailout. Or at least that's what everyone says, until circumstances force some business leaders to seek them and politicians to grant them…
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Will New GASB Rules End States’ Fuzzy Pension Math?
Today, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) voted to approve new government accounting standards that will provide a clearer picture of the liabilities taxpayers across the…
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Globalization Has Been Happening for a Long Time
Our innate tendency to truck and barter, as Adam Smith put it, is very strong indeed.
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Supreme Court Limits Arizona’s Anti-Immigration Law
The Supreme Court has struck down portions of Arizona’s SB 1070 — the controversial immigration law that targets undocumented migrant workers. The Court ruled that…
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Supreme Court Strikes Down Mandatory Life Sentences Without Parole for Teenagers, But Does Not Cite “International Norms”
The Supreme Court has just ruled 5-to-4 that states cannot mandate life sentences without the possibility of parole for murderers under age 18, no matter…
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A History of Interstate Commerce Part 3: The Expansion
The seminal event in expanding the commerce clause’s interpretation was the 1937 Supreme Court case National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
77 new final rules and 1,633 Federal Register pages, covering everything from prison rape to airport concession workers.
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Who’s the Outsourcer-in-Chief? Obama
Earlier, after discussing all the jobs that have been sent overseas by the Obama administration using taxpayer subsidies, I dubbed President Obama the “…
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The Myopia of “Green” Business at Rio+20
If cliches carry a grain of truth, the saying, “No good deed goes unpunished,” carries a silo in the business world. One of the sorriest…
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Bailouts Won’t Save Europe, Only Reform Will
As European leaders panic over bailouts for Southern Europe, they miss an important reality. Comprehensive structural reform is the only long-term solution for recovery. Perversely, bailouts…
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The Gift Clause: Big Government Kryptonite
Gov. Scott Walker’s recall election victory and California ballot measures garnered the bulk of headlines this month. The results indicate voters are fed up with…
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Supreme Court Ruling in FCC v. Fox Television Stations Undermines Vague Regulations at SEC, EEOC, and NLRB
In its ruling yesterday in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, the Supreme Court overturned the FCC’s finding that Fox Television was guilty of…
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Today’s Links: June 22, 2012
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A History of Interstate Commerce Part 2: Rebels Without a Clause
The Articles of Confederation, which preceded the Constitution, lacked a Commerce Clause. The federal government had no power to regulate commerce among the states. That…
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States should use gift clauses to control government spending
Deseret News Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker seems to understand what his recall victory really means. “It was a triumph more than anything for middle-class…
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CEI Podcast for June 21, 2012: Free Speech for Me, and for Thee
Labor Policy Counsel Vinnie Vernuccio explains why today's 7-2 Supreme Court decision in the Knox v. SEIU case is an important victory for free speech.
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Government Unions Stall San Diego Pension Reform
Openmarket.org Collective bargaining privileges are facilitating the San Diego Municipal Employee Association’s (MEA) ability to wreak havoc over voter-approved pension reform. These privileges elevate union…
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FCC v. Fox Television: Protection Against Vague Laws Applies to Civil Cases and Protects Businesses
Past Supreme Court rulings like FCC v. Pacifica (1978) allow the federal government to ban "indecency" in broadcasting, and give the government a freer…
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Supreme Court Rules against Union Forced Speech
Thomas Jefferson said that, "To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and…
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Government Unions Stall San Diego Pension Reform
Collective bargaining privileges are facilitating the San Diego Municipal Employee Association’s (MEA) ability to wreak havoc over voter-approved pension reform. These privileges elevate union special…
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A History of Interstate Commerce Part 1: Neither Interstate Nor Commerce
The Supreme Court’s impending decision on the constitutionality of the health care bill’s individual mandate presents a golden opportunity to review the history of the…
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President’s Deportation Order Is Legal
"[Immigration enforcement] has prosecutorial discretion and exercises it every day." That was not President Obama defending his administration's decision last week to defer…
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Google and Antitrust: Economic Liberty in the Balance
Way back when the DOJ brought an antitrust suit against Microsoft in 1990s, Milton Friedman had this to say to The Wall Street…
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: Longest Day Edition
Happy summer solstice everyone (it was yesterday, but this is the first full day of summer)! Wherever you are, I hope you're enjoying the maximum…
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Support Rep. Diane Black’s MTI to Halt Misguided Federal Support for “Distracted Driving” Laws
Today, Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) issued a notice of her intent to offer a motion to instruct (MTI) [PDF] highway bill conferees to oppose…
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Read Washington Post’s Sports Section for Great Hit at Justice’s Overreach
Excellent commentary in The Washington Post today on the Justice Department’s overreach. Take note — it appeared in the Sports section in a column…
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Today’s Links: June 20, 2012
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Net Neutrality: Two Concepts of Liberty
Two Concepts of Liberty In December of 2010, the FCC passed a network neutrality order mandating, among other things, that ISPs allow content to…
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Budget Crises and the Rule of Teacher Unions
This last May, a California teacher named Michelle Apperson received a pink slip from the Sacramento City schools. Yet she was not let go because of…
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Next steps
Over the years, we have gotten lots of inquiries about objecting to bad shareholder derivative settlements. We’d largely passed, because we had high hopes for…
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Today’s Links: June 19, 2012
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Norfolk, Virginia, While Abusing Eminent Domain To Seize 78-Year-Old Business, Attempts To Silence Free Speech
I’m a month behind on this story, but something terrible is underway in Norfolk, Virginia, that should disturb all Americans who value property rights…
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Communication Workers of America Remain a Thorn in Verizon’s Side
Communication Workers of America is seeking government intervention in order to protect union jobs at Verizon’s unprofitable wireline industry. If the union’s call for intervention…
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To Reform Public Pensions, Reform GASB Rules
Many public pension plans in the United States make riskier investments than plans in Canada and Europe, according to a new study by researchers…
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Supreme Court Issues 5-to-4 Rulings, But Not On Obamacare
The Supreme Court announced four decisions today, three of them decided by slender 5-to-4 margins, but not the long-awaited ruling about the constitutionality of…
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Bullying and Bailouts — UAW’s Strategy for Continued Existence
The UAW and its President Bob King recently targeted Nissan to be their first union-affiliated foreign automobile factory, despite the fact that Canton, Mississippi, plant…
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Victory in the W.D. Washington: Classmates.com
When attorneys affiliated with CCAF first objected on behalf of Professor Michael Krauss in the Classmates.com settlement, that case paid $52,000 to class members and over…
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Today’s Links: June 18, 2012
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
84 new regulations, covering everything from gopher frogs to cotton gins.
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Sen. Rand Paul Introduces Bills to Dramatically Rein in TSA
Yesterday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced two bills aimed at reducing the power of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). S.3303 would end the TSA’s…
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Department of Homeland Security: Some Undocumented Aliens Who Came As Children Can Stay
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it will begin to grant two-year deportation deferrals for undocumented immigrants up to 30 years old…
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An IRS Trojan Horse
The IRS' proposed real-time tax system is a Trojan horse for a return-free system, in which the IRS would become your tax preparer as well…
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Losing the Universe with LOST
The Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) has been languishing in the Senate for decades, but led by Massachusetts senator John Kerry, there is growing…
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Auto Bailouts Incurred Extra $26 Billion in Unnecessary Expenses Due to Political Favoritism by Obama Administration
In a new report, labor economist James Sherk and bankruptcy-law professor Todd Zywicki found that taxpayers lost billions in the auto bailouts…
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End in Sight for Pennsylvania’s State-Run Liquor Stores
Could it finally happen? After decades of hemming, hawing, and growing public anger over Pennsylvania’s outdated regulations, change may finally be in the cards for…
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Today’s Links: June 15, 2012
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Victory in the Seventh Circuit
As both Daniel Fisher and the Economist documented recently, the percentage of M&A transactions worth over $500 million that result in shareholder derivative suits has…
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China Takes Hard Stance on EU’s Airline Emissions Charges
It looks like it could begin a trade war — in airplanes. China has announced that it may impound European Union airplanes in retaliation if…
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WSJ: Senate May Vote on Needed Sugar Reform Amendment
In today’s Wall Street Journal, an editorial sharply criticizes the U.S. sugar program and urges Congress to vote on amendments that would significantly rein…
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CEI Podcast for June 13, 2012: Smarter Transportation Funding
When the federal government gives out transportation funding to the states, it attaches a lot of strings. The solution, according to Land-use and Transportation Policy…
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Legislators Seek to Create New, Unnecessary Protected Class: Gun Owners
Generally, the Constitution only binds the government, not the private sector. For example, the First Amendment protects speech, and even insults, but that doesn't…
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Jamie Dimon and the “Just Fine” Private Sector
It will be interesting to see how the Big Government punditocracy squares its doubling-down defense of President Obama's comments that "the private sector is…
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Employment Non-Discrimination Act Makes as Little Sense as Chemotherapy for a Cold
American business is quite happy to hire gay and lesbian employees, and needs no federal mandate to do so. Virtually all Fortune 500 companies already…
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Response: Are Unions Necessary?
Derek Thompson from The Atlantic recently wrote an article titled “Are unions necessary?” In this article, he poses the following questions: If our goal is…
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From One Nobel Prize Winner to Another: Vernon Smith on Elinor Ostrom’s Contribution to Economics
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Remembering Elinor Ostrom
Among the individuals with whom I wish I could have greater opportunities to exchange ideas is Elinor Ostrom. She passed away today, and now I…
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The Private Sector Is Not “Doing Fine,” Contrary to Claims by President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Far more people have lost their jobs in the private sector than in the public sector, and the percentage of the economy consumed by…
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Today’s Links: June 12, 2012
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Union Bosses Care More about Collective Bargaining than Students
Openmarket.org In Massachusetts and Louisiana, union bosses’ recent actions indicate collective bargaining privileges and lavish contracts are their number one priority. First in Massachusetts,…
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Stigler on the Regulatory Mindset
"There are only two alternatives to the market: the state, and prayer. It turns out the two were merged in one."…
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Union Bosses Care More about Collective Bargaining than Students
In Massachusetts and Louisiana, union bosses' recent actions indicate collective bargaining privileges and lavish contracts are their number one priority. First in Massachusetts, the AFL-CIO…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
65 new regulations last week, covering everything from substance abuse to the official taxonomy of the endangered African wild ass.
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Regulation of the Day 220: Driver’s Side Mirrors
A math professor has invented a driver's side mirror that eliminates the dreaded blind spot, but regulators won't let car makers use them.
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In New York, a Private/Public Sector Union Rift
The fact that government employee unions have been at the center of budget debates across the nation underscores their outsize influence on state and local…
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Today’s Links: June 8, 2012
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Seasteading for Enterprise on the High Seas
Complete exit from the state has long been a dream of many libertarians. From the defunct Republic of Minerva (perhaps the only nation every to…
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CEI Podcast for June 7, 2012: MACT the Knife
A new EPA regulation is intended to cut mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. Are the costs worth it? Policy Analyst David Bier, co-author of…
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Tapping Space Resources
Over at The Washington Times, Bob Zubrin says that we need space property rights. Gee, I wonder…
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Union Leaders, Not Members, Determine Union Political Donations
Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum dismisses the fact that 38 percent of Wisconsin union households voted to retain Governor Scott Walker as “exactly the…
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Support the Broun Motion to Instruct; Oppose Future Highway Trust Fund Bailouts
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Ten Thousand Commandments and Growing
Over at ?The Washington Times?, Wayne Crews and I praise President Obama's recent regulatory reforms. They're small, but they're better than nothing:…
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Today’s Links: June 7, 2012
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Taxpayers Win as Dulles Rail Drops Pro-Union Contracting Rules
In a win for Old Dominion taxpayers, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) yesterday rescinded a pro-union project labor agreement (PLA) for the building of the Metro…