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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…
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Millionaire Collects Food Stamps; Food Stamps Cover Far More Than the Cost of Food
A millionaire in Michigan is collecting food stamps after winning the lottery. “Amanda Clayton, a 24-year-old from Lincoln Park, Michigan . . .
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Human Achievement of the Day: Malaria Vaccine
You may remember last year when the Human Achievement Hour blog highlighted mosquito-zapping lasers which selectively kill female, blood sucking mosquitoes and reduces the…
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Ma Bell Is Long Gone, but Her Pension Costs Remain
AT&T is asking the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents a large segment of its workforce, for benefit concessions, as it tries to rein…
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Senate Should Reject Anti-Tolling Highway Bill Amendment
I previously wrote about Sen. Herb Kohl’s (D-Wisc.) terrible amendment to the Senate’s MAP-21 bill that would allow the Department of Justice and Federal…
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Back to Work
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Today’s Links: March 7, 2012
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Bloomberg News: “Boom-Era Property Speculators to Get Foreclosure Aid”
"The Obama administration will extend mortgage assistance . . . to investors who bought multiple homes before the market imploded, helping some speculators who drove…
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Today’s Links: March 6, 2012
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Corporate Welfare for Farmers
In a recent blog post, I describe the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) Beef Promotion and Research "checkoff" program as corporate welfare. The agency’s Public…
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Human Achievement of the Day: A Cure for Every Virus
A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory has created a treatment for viral infections that could effectively treat all…
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European Union Pushes Discriminatory Gender Quotas for Corporate Boards
The European Union (EU) could not keep member states like Greece from cheating on EU budget rules, resulting in Greece's fiscal collapse and the current…
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Today’s Links: March 5, 2012
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Pension Funds are For-Profit
Openmarket.org California’s Constitution clearly states the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s (CalPERS) singular motive is to make profits. I point this out in “Mixing Pensions…
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Human Achievement of the Day: Robot Learns to Sculpt
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Pension Funds are For-Profit
California’s Constitution clearly states the California Public Employees' Retirement System's (CalPERS) singular motive is to make profits. I point this out in “Mixing Pensions with…
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Trey Kovacs: Mixing pensions with politics
Labor Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs Featured in The Orange County Register Who here is better to run a business? In 2011, Apple recorded a net…
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
Just another week in the world of regulation:…
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Human Achievement of the Day: Heart Gel Repairs Damage
Surviving a heart attack is not the end of the story for most people: for many survivors, tissue in the heart is damaged due to…
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Obama Administration Seeks Quotas Based on Disability, Race, and Perhaps Sexual Orientation
The Obama administration is pushing quotas in the workplace and higher education, seeking to force businesses that have federal contracts to hire at least…
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Breitbart the Fusionist Thinker: How the Activist and Tactician Promoted a Key Piece of Conservative Philosophy
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Today’s Links: March 2, 2012
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CEI Podcast for March 1, 2012: A Highway Bill Everyone Can Hate
Land-Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner explains why almost nobody is happy with how this year's highway bill is turning out.
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Human Achievement Hour 2012: March 31, 8:30pm
It’s that time once again to show your support for human achievement by not participating in the World Wildlife Fund’s Dark Ages Hour, where…
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Obamacare: Anyone Have a Plan B?
In just a few week the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments regarding the legal challenges to the administration's controversial health-care overhaul, especially the constitutionality of the so-called "individual mandate" that requires every American to purchase government-approved insurance. The…
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A New Wall of Separation: End Corporate Welfare
In his famous letter to the Danbury Baptists, Thomas Jefferson declared the Constitution erected a “wall of separation between church and state.” The Father of…
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Today’s Links: March 1, 2012
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UAW: Building taxpayer burdens
By Trey Kovacs and F. Vincent Vernuccio, The Washington Times President Obama and United Auto Workers(UAW) President Bob King are touting the “achievement” of the auto…
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Today’s Links: February 29, 2012
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Think of the Children
Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers’ Union, has alleged that Rahm Emanuel privately told her that “25 percent of the students in this…
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CSR: Business’s Shampoo?
To the Editor, Financial Times: Gillian Tett notes the vogue among CEOs for “corporate social responsibility” (When Making Shampoo Becomes a Service to Society).
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Today’s Links: February 28, 2012
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Mazie Slater misquotes a case
In Dewey v. Volkswagen, the parties negotiated and the district court approved a settlement that violates Supreme Court and Third Circuit precedent, which makes…
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: February 27, 2012
National: A Sioux tribe in South Dakota has filed a landmark suit against national beer makers for knowingly contributing the tribe's alcohol…
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Today’s Links: February 27, 2012
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CEI Weekly: Happy Presidents Day!
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How Worrisome is the Race to the Bottom Argument?
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CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation
It may have been a short work week, but it was still a busy one in the world of regulation. Here are the highlights:…
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America Now Has Bigger Welfare State Than Canada, Italy, Denmark, and Austria
America now has a bigger welfare state than most countries, effectively doling out more welfare than Canada, Denmark, Austria, and Italy. As the New York…
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Today’s Links: February 24, 2012
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The Demographics of Politics
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CEI Podcast for February 23, 2012: Global Warming and Mass Movements
In 1841, the Scottish writer Charles Mackay observed, " the cup of life is not bitter enough to our palate, and we distill superfluous poison…