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Obama Administration Wrongdoing: One Scandal Uncovered, But Others Hidden Because Inspector General Slots Left Vacant?
Via The Washington Post: The chief of the General Services Administration resigned, two of her top deputies were fired and four…
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What Left-Wing Law Professors Really Think About You, and the Role of Lawyers
You're just a lab rat to be socially re-engineered by activist judges and lawyers -- who think they know how to run your life better…
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Pink Slime and the Slimy Tactics of America’s Food Elitists
Last week, the Media Research Center’s Dan Gainor wrote a nice article examining how the mainstream media has been complicit in smearing…
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Economic “Recovery” Is Slow and Weak Due to Obama Administration Policies
Typically, after the economy suffers an unusually severe recession, it bounces back in an unusually rapid recovery -- what some economists and others refer to…
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Regulation of the Day 216: Selling Ice Cream to Kids
A group of parents in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood want to ban ice cream vendors from parks. One parent wrote, “I should not have to…
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Funding Government by the Minute
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
2,191 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 19,487 pages. At this pace, the 2012 Federal Register…
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A Response to Cato’s Tim Lee on “Private” Turnpikes
Cato Institute adjunct scholar Tim Lee has an article up on The Atlantic‘s website, entitled “The Mirage of Free-Market Roads.” In it, he lays out his…
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CEI Weekly: Celebrate Human Achievement Hour Tomorrow!
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Throw Dulles Rail Under the Bus
Openmarket.org Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the Fairfax Board of Supervisors granted the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors a 30-day extension…
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Today’s Links: March 30, 2012
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Will Congress stop NLRB?
CEI Labor Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs and Research Associate Jack Mann Featured in The Washington Examiner Imagine an election in which one candidate may campaign…
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Throw Dulles Rail Under the Bus
Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the Fairfax Board of Supervisors granted the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors a 30-day extension to review…
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TSA Trifecta
First, a TSA manager at Dulles airport has been arrested for running a prostitution ring. Second, two Miami TSA employees were arrested for trashing a…
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Obamacare: Constitutionality Argument Misses the Point Entirely
Conservatives are ebullient over the unexpected hostility and skepticism the government's lawyers faced from the Supreme Court Justices over the three days of hearings on…
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Obama Budget Rejected by House in 414-0 Vote
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CEI Podcast for March 29, 2012: The History of American Immigration in Six Minutes
Immigration Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh talks about the reasons behind the major historical shifts, and suggests reforms that would make today's immigration system fairer and…
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Today’s Links: March 29, 2012
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No to Broccoli Mandate, Yes to Health Insurance Mandate?
Over at the Daily Caller, I go over some possible explanations for the different results and conclude:…
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Obamacare Harms State Finances, Imposes Unfunded Mandates, Drives Up State Budget Deficits; Even Democrats Criticize Provisions
While public attention has focused on Obamacare's unconstitutional "individual mandate," challenged yesterday in oral arguments at the Supreme Court, other parts of the health…
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Today’s Links: March 28, 2012
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March updates
If you listen to one oral argument from March 27, well, I have to say that you need to listen to Paul Clement’s performance in…
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The FCC’s Concern for Competitors, not Competition
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee held a hearing on Verizon Wireless’s proposed purchase of spectrum from Cox Wireless and SpectrumCo. The spectrum…
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Congressional Blowout Over Cosmetics Law Reform
Today, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on cosmetics regulation to consider whether Congress should beef up federal…
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Regulation of the Day 215: TacoCopter
A group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs has found a peaceful use for unmanned attack drones that almost everyone can support: delivering food to hungry people.
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Today’s Links: March 27, 2012
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Rhode Island Pension Reform Shows Boldness Pays
Across the nation, large and growing budget deficits have forced politicians from across the political spectrum, including some Democrats, to seek to bring public employee…
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Supreme Court Begins Hearing Challenges to Unconstitutional Obamacare Provisions
At CNN, George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin explains why Obamacare's requirement that individuals buy health insurance is beyond Congress's power…
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Department of Labor Companionship Rule Doesn’t Comply with Best Practices
Openmarket.org Last Wednesday, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Cass Sunstein sent a memo to executive agency heads concerning the cumulative effects of regulation…
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The $400 Pizza
The reason it cost $400 was not because of restaurant business practices but because of television labor practices.
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Human Achievement of the Day: At-home Brain Scanner
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Department of Labor Companionship Rule Doesn’t Comply with Best Practices
Last Wednesday, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Cass Sunstein sent a memo to executive agency heads concerning the cumulative effects of…
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Today’s Links: March 26, 2012
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
75 new final rules were published last week, up from 72 the previous week. That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and…
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More Space Socialism From Republicans
Over at the Beyond the Black blog, Bob Zimmerman does what I haven't had time to yet --he excoriates the chairman…
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Troubling Provisions Being Added to the Violence Against Women Act: Due Process Rights Threatened
Provisions are being added to the 1994 Violence Against Women Act that could undermine due process on campus and in criminal cases, as civil liberties…
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Twenty Years without Hayek
F.A. Hayek died twenty years ago today. In his long career—his first book was published in 1929, his last in 1988—he made important contributions to…
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Today’s Links: March 23, 2012
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Agricultural Innovation in the 21st Century: CEI on Capitol Hill
On Monday, I’ll be speaking at a Capitol Hill event sponsored by Americans for Choice and Competition in Agriculture, which also…
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CEI Podcast for March 22, 2012: Human Achievement Hour
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Paul Ryan (and Penn Jillette) vs. Entitlements
No sooner had Rep. Paul Ryan unveiled his new budget proposal than liberals were howling in rage and righteous indignation. What was it that infuriated them so?…
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Human Achievement of the Day: Boingy Boingy Suspended Drum Kit
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Today’s Links: March 22, 2012
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Yes, the JOBS Act Will Create Jobs, Wealth, and Investor Freedom
Tomorrow, the Senate is expected to pass the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. The bill achieved cloture today by 76 votes, all but assuring…
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Supreme Court Affirms Right to Challenge Government Power Grabs in Sackett v. EPA; Justice Alito Cites CEI Amicus Brief
Rejecting the arguments of the Obama administration, the Supreme Court has just held that EPA "compliance orders" can be challenged in court if they…
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Some Good News on Pensions, for a Change
Over the last four years, state governments across the nation have been trying to bring their labor costs under control, especially pensions, which are now…
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ThinkProgress’ Schizophrenia on Crowdfunding and the JOBS Act
ThinkProgress, the blogging arm of the liberal Center for American Progress, is usually pretty good on enforcing the political left’s party line. But two of…
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Today’s Links: March 21, 2012
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Deposition fun in the Bluetooth case
It had been a few years since I took a deposition, so it was refreshing to see that I wasn’t as rusty as I was…
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Human Achievement of the Day: Mind-Controlled Prostheses
A breakthrough by researchers at Northwestern University is giving hope to millions of amputees that they might eventually regain some of the ability they…
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National Debt Skyrockets Under Obama, Far Faster Than Under Bush
CBS News finally reports the obvious: the national debt increased more in President Obama’s first three years in office than in the entire eight years of…
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Today’s Links: March 20, 2012
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A Bad Economy’s Silver Lining
The Economist hits the nail on the head — albeit a nail that has been well hit by many in the free market movement already.
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Regulation of the Day 214: Flipping the Bird
Steven Pogue, 64, was cited by police for flipping the bird while driving in Ballwin, Missouri. He was exonerated on free speech grounds, and the…
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Regulation of the Day 213: Dying
Falciano del Massico, a small town in Italy, has banned its 4,000 residents from dying because the local cemetery is completely full.
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Hate Crimes Conviction in Tyler Clementi Case, Which Fueled Anti-Bullying Panic and Assault on Free Speech
A New Jersey jury has convicted Dharun Ravi of hate crimes in the Tyler Clementi case, which created a furor over bullying that led…
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Today’s Links: March 19, 2012
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
The Defense Department is still implementing parts of the Privacy Act of 1974, plus more.
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Consumer Freedom and the Risks of Raw Milk
Earlier today, Nicole Ciandella linked to an essay by the John Locke Foundation's Fergus Hodgson, titled "The Absurdity…
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CEI Weekly: Senate Votes No on “Pickens Payout”
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Today’s Links: March 16, 2012
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EPA’s Toxic “Negotiation”
It's pretty amazing when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can essentially use extortion as a negotiating tool, and industry casts it as a plea…
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Obama Reveals His Own Ignorance of American and World History While Denouncing Others’ Alleged Ignorance
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AFSCME leadership fight will shape public employee union future
Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow Matthew Patterson Featured in The Washington Examiner Unions are salivating at the opportunity to take down their arch-nemesis, Wisconsin’s Gov. Scott…
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CEI Podcast for March 15, 2012: T. Boone Pickens Amendment Fails
The Senate this week voted down a highway bill amendment that would massively financially benefit natural gas mogul T. Boone Pickens. Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis…
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Girl Model Documentary: Exploitation or Opportunity?
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Bill Clinton’s Economic Nationalism
Over at RealClearPolicy, I recently reviewed Bill Clinton’s latest book, Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy. You can…
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Today’s Links: March 15, 2012
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Rhode Island’s Tanning Ban Could Backfire
Last week the Rhode Island Senate approved a measure banning the use of tanning salons for patrons under 18 years old. While I…
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Human Achievement of the Day: “Trekkie” Universal Translator (Almost)
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Government Persecutes the Innocent, Turns Blind Eye to the Guilty, Rewards Corrupt Business Models
The federal government spent years persecuting a company lawyer who dutifully uncovered and disclosed wrongdoing by a company employee, as I discuss below. But…
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House Should Reject Senate Highway Bill, Move for Another SAFETEA-LU Extension
Just before 1pm today, the Senate passed its surface transportation reauthorization bill, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21, S. 1813). MAP-21…
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Two important appellate briefs filed this week
Shareholder derivative suits present interesting conflicts of interest. The suit is purportedly brought on behalf of shareholders, but when the case settles, the corporate defendant—i.e.,…
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Juvenal Delinquents
There are more regulatory reform ideas out there than you can shake a stick at. Some, of course, are better than others.
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Today’s Links: March 14, 2012
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Human Achievement of the Day: Smart Grocery Cart
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Obamacare Costs More Than Twice As Much As Obama Claimed; Stimulus Creates Debt, Not Jobs
As Daniel Foster notes, “When it was being debated, Democrats told you ACA [Obamacare] would cost $940 billion over ten years . . .
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: March 13, 2012
Apparently, "March Madness" has stricken our state legislators who are in high gear introducing and considering proposed alcohol laws. There's so much going on, in…
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IRS Sued for Unfair Labor Practices
A new IRS proposal to require licensing all tax preparers would put a lot of people out of work. So the Institute for Justice is…
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Student Loans: America’s Next Debt Bomb
I understated things earlier when I wrote that the student loan bubble “may” explode in taxpayers’ faces, as law professor Glenn Reynolds pointed…
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School Choice Can Temper Climate Curriculum Dogma
John Stuart Mill once wrote, “There is the greatest difference between presuming an opinion to be true, because, with every opportunity for contesting it, it…
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Today’s Links: March 13, 2012
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Human Achievement of the Day: Earthquake Airbag for Homes
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If PBGC Cannot Go On Taking Over Pensions, It Will Stop
Herbert Stein’s law — “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop” — is being proven right once again. This time, what cannot go…
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Today’s Links: March 12, 2012
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Summer Plans? Apply for IHS Summer Seminars on Liberty
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Human Achievement of the Day: “Cheetah” Breaks Legged-Robot Speed Record
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
64 new final rules were published last week, down from 89 the previous week.
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Higher Education Bubble May Explode in Taxpayers’ Faces
"61 percent of folks with a student loan are not paying," notes Andrew Gillen, Ph.D., of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. Many…
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Downgrading the West
In my column for The Washington Examiner today, I discuss the origins and consequences of our horrific, $15+ trillion debt: For decades, the government has been spending…
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It Gets Better All the Time
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Today’s Links: March 9, 2012
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Human Achievement of the Day: LED Lamp that Lasts 37 Years
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Structural Factors of the Municipal Pension Crisis
Public employee pensions are sinking local governments. Over the last four years, they have even pushed some municipalities into bankruptcy -- from Vallejo, California, to Central…
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CEI Podcast for March 8, 2012: IRS Moves to Fund Foreign Dictators
A new IRS regulation hits the trifecta of enriching foreign dictators, helping them crush dissent, and would raise no revenue for the U.S. government. Vice…
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New IRS Rule Would Benefit Foreign Dictators, Drive $87 Billion Out of U.S. Economy, Could Cause Bank Failures
A new IRS rule would benefit foreign dictators and drive $87 billion out of U.S. economy, as my colleague, Iain Murray, explains in The…
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Today’s Links: March 8, 2012
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JOBS Act would Create More than 10 million Jobs
At long last, some truth in advertising in Congress! Today, the U.S. House of Representative is poised to pass a bipartisan "jobs bill" that will…
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Human Achievement of the Day: Energy Harvesting Street Tiles
Imagine if there was a product that could harness the power of your footsteps and use that energy to power the devices around you?…
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Science Washes Hype about “Toxic” Shampoo Down the Drain
Every now and then, government regulators manage to do something reasonable. Last week, the Canadians made a smart move by accepting hard science over hype…