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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…
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Airline Carbon Taxes: The EU vs. the World
On Tuesday and Wednesday, representatives from 23 nations gathered in Moscow to discuss their response to the European Union’s mandatory airline carbon taxes. CEI’s Fran…
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Regulation of the Day 212: Locating Your Newsstand
New York City requires newsstands to be located at least 9 feet, 6 inches away from buildings. Marilyn Louie's newsstand has sat in the same…
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Workers Deserve the Right to Remain Silent
Openmarket.org The California Legislature is considering a “Public Employee Bill of Rights” that (among other things) would restrict the state’s ability to hire outside contractors…
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Workers Deserve the Right to Remain Silent
The California Legislature is considering a “Public Employee Bill of Rights” that (among other things) would restrict the state’s ability to hire outside contractors and…
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Today’s Links: February 22, 2012
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Constitutions and Democracies
It is the height of hubris to claim that one knows how to build a democracy from scratch. But there are a few common themes…
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Regulation of the Day 211: The Color of Buildings
Officials in Calcutta, India definitely have a favorite color: sky blue.
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Today’s Links: February 21, 2012
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Blaming the Drink Is Loko
It’s a tragic story: a 13-year-old boy falls out of a moving car because he is drunk and opens the door to throw up.
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Apple Magsafe class action settlement objection
We’ve objected to the Apple Magsafe class action settlement, which was recently criticized by AtlanticWire. Details at Point of Law.
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Severe Shortage of Skilled Factory Workers As Government Encourages Students to Pursue White-Collar Jobs
The government has encouraged people who once would have become skilled and valuable factory workers to instead go to college and work in white-collar jobs, contributing…
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Taxmageddon Comes Just After the Election
On December 31, shortly after the November election, tax rates will rise across the board in what congressional aides call "Taxmageddon," notes The Washington Post. Not…
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The STOCK Act: A Response to Professor Bainbridge
Professor Stephen Bainbridge recently responded to a National Review Online article by my colleagues John Berlau and David Bier in which they argue…
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Government-Funded Job Training “Might Not Work”: Washington Post
Even a liberal Washington Post writer admits that taxpayer-subsidized job training “might not work,” despite its popularity with politicians, and President Obama’s desire to spend billions more…
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Is the Obama Administration Trying to Expand Federal Collective Bargaining?
An Obama-created board within the federal Office of Personnel Management's recently approved "an outline of a report due to President Obama in May on personnel issues…
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The Economist: Too Much Regulation
Sounds like writers for ?The Economist? have been reading some of CEI's regulatory research. From this week's magazine:…
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Today’s Links: February 17, 2012
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CEI Podcast for February 16, 2012: Washington’s Prescription Drug Shortage
Patients are suffering from a nationwide shortage of more than 260 different prescription drugs, many of them for different types of cancer. Senior Fellow Greg…
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Connecticut Government Focuses on Non-Union Worker Collective Bargaining “Options”
Yesterday, the next step toward Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy completing his scheme to force unionize personal care attendants took place. CTNewsJunkie.com reported: The four-member…
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I Can Succeed, But You Can’t: The Left’s Message to Waitresses
One of the left’s favorite mantras is that government regulations and special interest groups provide the only ways that workers can get ahead. This notion…
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High Unemployment Masked by Exploding Disability Claims that Lead to Permanently-Higher Government Spending
The official unemployment rate is going down, but that's partly because many long-term unemployed people went onto Social Security Disability, citing ailments such as depression. …
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Today’s Links: February 16, 2012
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California Considers “Public Employee Bill of Rights”
Openmarket.org The California State Assembly is considering sweeping legislation aimed at protecting the “rights” of state employees. According to its sponsor, Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento),…
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California Considers “Public Employee Bill of Rights”
The California State Assembly is considering sweeping legislation aimed at protecting the “rights” of state employees. According to its sponsor, Assemblyman Roger Dickinson…
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Regulation of the Day 210: Transgendered Air Travelers
Canada is cracking down on the latest terrorist threat to innocent people everywhere: transgendered people. If their appearance doesn't match their ID's listed gender, they're…
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Congress Seems Intent on Making Drug Shortages Worse
Now that the problem of prescription drug shortages has begun to affect children, members of Congress want to be seen as…
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Regulation, Jobs, and Creating Wealth
Lobbying, politicking, and special favors are part and parcel of the regulatory process. The result is that many regulation-created jobs are not created on the…
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Lame Duck Sen. Herb Kohl Continues Quixotic Battle Against Rail Carriers in Senate Highway Bill
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), who will not be seeking reelection this November, decided that he would make one last-ditch attempt to get his awful piece…
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Today’s Links: February 15, 2012
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Maryland Weighs Discriminatory College Child Support Mandate
Married parents have no obligation to support their adult children, much less pay for their college education. But many Maryland legislators would like to force divorced…
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Today’s Links: February 14, 2012
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Misconceptions about the Obama Administration’s Contraception Mandate for Religious Employers
There are a number of misconceptions about the Obama administration’s recent rule requiring employers’ health insurance policies (including those of religious schools and hospitals) to…
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Regulation of the Day 209: Playing on the Beach
A recent Los Angeles County ordinance made it illegal to throw balls and even Frisbees on the city’s beaches.
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Global Biotech Crop Acreage Up, Plus Clayton Yeutter on the Miracle of American Agriculture
Global planting of biotech crops grew 8 percent last year, to a record high of 395 million total acres, according to…
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Government Thwarts Cancer Cures and Production of Life-Saving Drugs
The federal government thwarted a promising cancer treatment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski on trial twice, saying “it did…
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Today’s Links: February 13, 2012
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Rising Voter Apathy
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$26 Billion Mortgage Settlement Rips Off Investors to Trim Banks’ Massive Costs of Bailing Out Deadbeat Borrowers
The $26 billion mortgage settlement announced yesterday is bad news for “bond investors including pension funds, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Scott Simon,”…
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The STOCK Act’s Muzzle and How to Fix it in Conference (Update)
My colleagues David Bier and Ryan Radia contributed to this post. Per the scenario in a previous post, it’s April 2012. You are a…
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Today’s Links: February 10, 2012
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Principles of Law: Simplicity is Beautiful
Countries across the world have turned to democracy in recent decades. There are still a few monarchies here and there, and plenty of dictatorships. Cuba…
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Time to Pay Your Neighbor’s Mortgage, Again
The Justice Department, state attorneys general, and the biggest banks have reached an agreement to provide at least $26 billion to delinquent mortgage borrowers and…
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CEI Podcast for February 9, 2012: The Immigration Tariff
Alex Nowrasteh proposes scrapping the complex and unfair immigration system and replacing it with a tariff. This is a much more humane approach to immigration,…
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Massive Anti-Bullying Law and Bullying Initiatives Were Based on Misleading Publicity
"It launched a hundred 'anti-bullying' initiatives at all levels of government, but much of what you think you know about" the Tyler Clementi case "is…
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Good News/Bad News On Human Spaceflight Regulation
In a bill passed last week authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration for another year, the moratorium on regulation of the safety of spaceflight participants, in…
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Even Liberal Reporters Sour on Stimulus-Funded California Rail Boondoggle
Even reporters at the famously-liberal Los Angeles Times have soured on California’s $100 billion-plus rail boondoggle, whose cost will far outstrip whatever the state will…
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Today’s Links: February 8, 2012
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Today’s Links: February 7, 2012
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Liberal Tax Fantasies Punctured
Some liberals have the unrealistic fantasy that by increasing taxes on the top one percent of the population, the government can finance a radically…
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Utah Doubles Down on Gambling Prohibition
It’s not news that regulators in Utah are often uncomfortable allowing residents to make their own decisions about how, when, or if they engage…
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Yes, Pensions Did Help Push American Airlines into Bankruptcy
I generally hold John Tamny’s analysis of economic matters in high regard, so I was surprised to find his take on the American Airlines bankruptcy…
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Liberal Justices Complain About American Law Being Too Protective of Civil Liberties and Colorblindness
Recently retired Justice John Paul Stevens, who became the leader of the Supreme Court's liberal bloc in his later years on the Court, complained recently…
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Today’s Links: February 6, 2012
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The STOCK Act’s Muzzle — How “Insider Trading” Bill Could Shut Down Grassroots Communication
It’s April 2012. You are a conscientious congressional staffer who still takes seriously the need to be a steward of taxpayers’ money. (Yes, I know…
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Retaliation Charges Pose Growing Threat to Free Speech
Keeping quiet can seal your fate if you are a professor facing a campus kangaroo court after being wrongly accused of racial or sexual “harassment" based on your…
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U.S. v. Jones and the Future of Privacy
Last week, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in United States v. Jones. The Court held unanimously that because D.C. police entered a…
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More Criticism for Obama State of the Union Proposal on Schools
Syndicated columnist Steve Chapman is criticizing President Obama's proposal in the State of the Union address to require students to attend high school…
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CEI Weekly: CEI Labor Project Inspires Reform in Oklahoma
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Today’s Links: February 3, 2012
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Sixth Circuit brief in Pampers Dry Max class action
Details at Point of Law. Fortunately, Procter & Gamble is not my client, as they will be exceedingly unimpressed that we mortifyingly spelled their…
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CEI Podcast for February 2, 2012: The FDA’s Latest Power Grab
Fellow in Consumer Policy Studies Michelle Minton breaks down the FDA's behind-the-scenes push to regulate dietary supplements nearly as strictly as prescription drugs.
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Facebook Filing Blasts Obama-Bush Overregulation of Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank
In his letter to prospective shareholders in the middle of the 201-page "Form S-1" that Facebook filed yesterday afternoon to launch its much-anticipated initial…
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Regulation of the Day 208: Re-Booking Flights
A new Department of Transportation regulation limiting re-booking fees caused one airline to add a $2 "Department of Transportation Unintended Consequences Fee" on every ticket…
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Nine Years Of Space Policy Disaster
On the ninth anniversary of the loss of the Columbia space shuttle, I have some thoughts on what’s happened since, over at PJMedia: The problem…
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Oklahoma Moves to Keep Big Labor in Check
Openmarket.org Oklahoma taxpayers might be able to breathe a little bit easier this year thanks to two important pieces of legislation making their way through…
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12 More Law Schools Sued for Defrauding Their Students; Many More Class-Action Lawsuits Expected
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that a team of eight law firms have just “sued a dozen more law schools across the country,…
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Oklahoma Moves to Keep Big Labor in Check
Oklahoma taxpayers might be able to breathe a little bit easier this year thanks to two important pieces of legislation making their way through the…
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Today’s Links: Februrary 1, 2012
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States Deliberately Qualify Non-Poor People for Food Stamps to Get Federal Money; Obama Administration Blocks Reforms
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Today’s Links: January 31, 2012
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: January 30, 2012
In national news: Congressman Kurt Schrader of Oregon announced last week that he is withdrawing his support of the CARE Act, the piece of…
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Michigan SEIU Scam the Product of Government Collective Bargaining
Openmarket.org Proponents of government collective bargaining view it as a fundamental human right. The shameful actions of SEIU in Michigan, however, undermine this claim.
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Justice Kagan Should Recuse Herself from Obamacare Case
Only in Bizarro World can you claim someone is your attorney -- and thus shielded by attorney work-product privilege -- and then insist in the…
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Michigan SEIU Scam the Product of Government Collective Bargaining
Proponents of government collective bargaining view it as a fundamental human right. The shameful actions of SEIU in Michigan, however, undermine this claim. In…
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Americans Now Owe $189,000 Each in National Debt and Unfunded Entitlements
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Today’s Links: January 30, 2012
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Romney Pays More Taxes Than He Would in Canada and Many European Countries
As an article in the Financial Post noted, if Mitt Romney were Canadian, he'd pay less tax than he does in America. That’s because most of…
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Newt’s Lunar Base
Over at PJMedia, I discuss the technical, economic and political feasibility of what Newt proposes. But as I note there, the…
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More Bailouts for Speculators and Delinquent Mortgage Borrowers from Obama Administration; More Taxpayer Money for Certain Banks
In his State of the Union address, President Obama, a consistent supporter of bailouts and crony capitalism, hypocritically railed against them, proclaiming, “no…
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CEI Weekly: Obama’s State of the Union Fails to Impress
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Regulation Roundup
A local ordinance in Suffolk, Virginia prohibits driving motorized vehicles under their own power within city limits, plus more.
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Obama Fosters the Skyrocketing Tuition He Criticized in His State of the Union Address
In his State of the Union address, President Obama decried skyrocketing college tuition, attempting to take advantage of public anger over the steadily-worsening…
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Buffett’s Secretary, Romney’s Return, and the Crushing Double Taxation on Investment Income
There has been much waxing in the last few days about how unfair it supposedly is that Mitt Romney was taxed at around 15 percent.
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Today’s Links: January 27, 2012
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Enr1 Goes Belly Up; Yet Another Solyndra
"After spending $55 million of a $118.5 million grant from" the U.S. "Department of Energy, Ener1, an Indianapolis-based maker of batteries," has just "declared…
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CEI Podcast for January 26, 2012: Visa Reforms for Farm Workers
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Obama State of the Union Proposal Could Increase Mortgage Costs, Shrink America’s 401(K)s
AEI's James Pethokoukis says that the mass-refinancing plan proposed by President Obama in his State of the Union address would "result in higher financing…
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Is Bush or Obama the Bigger Regulator?
What the President said on Tuesday is technically correct. But, as with almost all political statements, there is more to the story.
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Today’s Links: January 26, 2012
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The Silver Platypus
Openmarket.org Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced it was considering scrapping the Silver Line stop at Dulles Airport. Though the Silver line was…
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Obama SOTU Proposal Could Increase School Violence and Disorder and Harm Parents, Students, and Teachers
Many soundbites sound good, but have very harmful consequences in the real world. That's the case for President Obama's proposal in his State of the…