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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…
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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…