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Davis-Bacon, the Pork of the American Jobs Act Boondoggle
President Obama observed in his speech that “the millions of Americans who are watching at home right now, they don’t care about politics.” Obama harkened…
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Time To End Apollo Redux
Over at Cosmic Log, the blog of MSNBC science correspondent Alan Boyle, there is an interview with me based on a…
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CEI Podcast for September 8, 2011: The Infrastructure Bank
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Union vs. Union Fight
A band I was in years ago had a song titled, “Sheet Rockers vs. Aluminum Siders,” about a fight our singer saw at work on…
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Obama’s Costly, Unaffordable, Harmful New Stimulus: The “American Jobs Act”
President Obama wants Congress to pass a $447 billion proposal called the "American Jobs Act," a costly set of recycled stimulus plans that contains no new ideas…
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Today’s Links: September 8, 2011
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My Fantasy Obama Jobs Speech
The following is my fantasy speech on jobs from Barack Obama. He looks at CEI's websites, realizes his big-government approach has been all wrong, but…
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The “Overhead Smash” Of ITAR
Over at Beltway Confidential today, Tim Carney asks if one of the unintended (or perhaps not-so-unintended) consequences of Dodd-Frank will be to…
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The Inconsistencies of Food Nannyism: Are Potatoes Worse Than Soda?
The federal government has rejected a proposal from New York’s Mayor to exclude sugar-sweetened drinks from the food stamp program. But the government…
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TSA Agent: Be Quiet About Alleged Sexual Assault, or Pay $500,000
Give some people a badge, and the power goes to their head. A TSA agent has threatened to sue a female traveler who complained…
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Do We Really Need Government-Funded Anti-Piracy Training?
Just introduced by New Jersey Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R), the Piracy Suppression Act of 2011 aims to improve U.S. policy with respect to ocean pirates…
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Borzi’s Fiduciary Burden on Broker-Dealers
Openmarket.org Who ought to have greater fiduciary duties: a consumer-selected, paid adviser whose advice is optional, or an adviser who you legally must pay and…
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Today’s Links: September 7, 2011
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Borzi’s Fiduciary Burden on Broker-Dealers
Who ought to have greater fiduciary duties: a consumer-selected, paid adviser whose advice is optional, or an adviser who you legally must pay and whose…
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NASA’s Costly Risk Aversion
Over at Pajamas Media this past weekend, I describe the current travails of the International Space Station in the wake of…
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Obama Infrastructure Stimulus: Union Payoff Filled with Rail Boondoggles and Pork
Obama's proposed infrastructure stimulus is a payoff to Big Labor, as economist Ronald Utt explains. It "represents tens of billions of dollars in high,…
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Stimulating Language
I’ve argued for a long time that stimulus bills are poorly named; it implies that they stimulate the economy. “Spending bill” is a non-loaded term…
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Today’s Links: September 6, 2011
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Dear Labor, Don’t Fear the Robot
In California, a war is quietly being fought: workers versus technology. And the war has materialized in the form of a bill that seeks…
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Obama’s Ironic, Belated, and Unaffordable Infrastructure “Stimulus”
In a Labor Day speech to an AFL-CIO rally in Detroit, President Obama said that "roads and bridges nationwide need rebuilding and more than…
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Fannie-Freddie’s Hypocritical Suit Against Banks Making Loans that GSEs Helped Create
"U.S. is set to sue dozen big banks over mortgages," reads the front-page headline in today's New York Times. The "deck" below the headline…
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Massive Justice Department Attack on Banks?
A monumentally-destructive Justice Department attack on banks may soon occur. Earlier, I wrote about how the Obama Justice Department is now forcing banks to…
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Regulation Roundup
Burping in church is illegal in Nevada unless it's accidental, plus more.
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Alcohol Regulation Roundup: September 2, 2011
I'm back from the West Coast with another (hoppier) edition of the Alcohol Regulation Roundup, a collection of stories about our nations constantly changing, sometimes…
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More Failed Stimulus Spending: Green Jobs Boondoggles Promoted by Obama Fail, Go Bankrupt, But Obama Wants More
As the stock market sinks today in the face of news that no jobs were created in America last month (even as the number…
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Eminent Domain and Redevelopment: Down in the Dumps
Remember New London, Connecticut, the dying industrial town that threw property rights under the bus thanks to 2005’s notoriously awful Kelo decision? I’m sure your…
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CEI Weekly: CEI Unveils Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index
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More Failed Stimulus Proposals from Obama Administration: Increase Wasteful Education Spending
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A “Condom Mandate” is No Benefit for Adult Film Actors
I heard the news while driving home from work: a California porn star tested positive for HIV, resulting in a voluntary…
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Obama Administration Violated Federal Laws in Operation Fast and Furious, which Led to Killings of Americans and Mexicans
The scandal over Operation Fast and Furious, in which the Obama administration funneled thousands of guns to violent Mexican drug lords in an abortive, mismanaged…
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CEI Podcast for September 1, 2011: The Blocked AT&T-T-Mobile Merger
The Department of Justice sued this week to stop the proposed AT&T-T-Mobile merger. Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia thinks this is a mistake.
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Obama Administration: Time to Pay Your Neighbor’s Mortgage
The Washington Times yesterday had an editorial, "Paying Your Neighbor's Mortgage," about the costly new bailout advocated by political appointees in the Obama administration,…
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Today’s Links: September 1, 2011
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New Texas Satellite TV Taxes Dodged, But Cable Franchise Fee Abuse Persists
In April of this year, my colleague Ryan Radia and I wrote about a proposal making its way through the Texas State House to increase…
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Green Zealots Target Maryland Students
The Maryland State Board of Education passed a new curriculum requirement on June 21, 2011. Instead of gaining competence in math or science, students…
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Free Trade vs. Protectionism
If international trade barriers create wealth, why stop there? Every state should have its own trade barriers against every other state.
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The DOJ’s Antitrust Seers
The philosopher Yogi Berra once said that “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Let’s apply his lesson to the proposed $39 billion…
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Indiana School Vouchers Please Parents, Infuriate Teachers
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Pampers Dry Max class action settlement objection
This week, we objected to a $0 settlement of the Pampers Dry Max class action that proposes paying $2.7 million to the lawyers. More…
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Obama Justice Department Forces Banks to Make Risky Loans, Planting the Seeds of a Future Financial Crisis
The Wall Street Journal today writes about how the Obama administration is repeating the "mistakes of the past by intimidating banks into lending to…
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Today’s Links: August 31, 2011
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Regulation of the Day 196: Babysitting
This bill will result in a lot of unhappy nights at home for frustrated parents – and a lot less income for sitters who have…
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NLRB’s Pro-Big Labor Ruling Trifecta is Bad News for the Economy
Earlier this year, President Obama proudly touted his executive order calling for federal agencies to review regulations on their books and identify obsolete rules for…
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CEI and Crossroads GPS Announce Launch of Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index
With state governments across the country struggling to balance budgets and fund basic services over the demands of big government unions, the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
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Despite D.C. Legalization of Online Poker, Players Leave USA
It is perhaps a little ironic that the most vocal opponents of online poker will soon be the only people in the USA who can…
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Many New Job-Killing Regulations from the Obama Administration
Andrew Stiles describes "Ten Job-Destroying Regulations" from the Obama administration that will wipe out hundreds of thousands of jobs. Another job-killing regulation is the…
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Welch vs. Lee: What About Freight?
Libertarian urbanist -- call him a "market urbanist" -- Timothy B. Lee recently had an article at Forbes.com in which he criticized Matt Welch…
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Today’s Links: August 30, 2011
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Infrastructure Pork versus Infrastructure Investment: In Washington, There is No Difference
The labor theory of value still survives -- at least in politics. Both Democrats and Republicans still believe that "government must create jobs," and if…
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Will the Super Committee Legalize Online Poker?
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Broken Window Fallacy: Hurricane Irene Edition
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More Barriers to Job Creation from Obama Administration: Employers Must Hire Alcoholics as Truck Drivers Despite Liability Risk
The president is full of hollow rhetoric about creating jobs, even though his stimulus package destroyed jobs in our export sector and…
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Scholarships to Study Free-Market Ideas
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AT&T-T-Mobile Merger Delayed
A few months ago, the FCC said it would hand down a decision on whether to allow AT&T and T-Mobile to merge within 180 days.
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Keynesian Policy Does Not Create Growth
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No, the Government Didn’t Cut Spending During the Great Depression, and More Government Spending Won’t Fix the Economy
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Regulation Roundup
Some of the stranger rules I've dug recently:…
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CEI Weekly: Obama Launches Weak Deregulation Initiative
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Morning Media Summary
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The Texas Empire Strikes Back
Well, I made a prediction here yesterday: It will be interesting to see how those in Congress who have been demanding…
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Who’s Afraid of Snuggles the Bear?
As the East Coast braces to be pummeled by Hurricane Irene, a new study in the Journal Air Quality and Atmosphere…
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CEI Podcast for August 25, 2011: Mr. Fuddlesticks
Mr. Fuddlesticks is an anonymous YouTube user who posted embarrassing videos about the Renton, Washington police department. They convinced a judge to let them request…
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The Sidewalks of Madison
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NLRB to Businesses: Tell Employees they Can Unionize
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a new rule “requiring most private-sector employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor…
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Sirius XM settlement approved
Judge Baer approved the $0 Blessing v. Sirius XM settlement and $13 million fee award yesterday. The decision contradicts (and ignores) Bluetooth,…
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Morning Media Summary
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Our Space Policy Chickens Have Come Home To Roost
With the retirement of the Space Shuttle last month, the U.S. and its international partners are now entirely reliant on non-U.S. providers for transportation to…
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Time to Stop Increasing Education Spending?
Even The New York Times is now questioning the massive spending increases on education that have occurred over the last generation in a discussion…
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Eminent Domain, Rick Perry, and the Trans-Texas Corridor
Attorney Alan Ackerman has a post up highlighting and commenting on an article that argues that critics of Texas Governor Rick Perry from the right…
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Morning Media Summary
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Politicization of Justice Department Worsens
If you are a moderate or conservative, don't expect to get a job with the Justice Department during the Obama administration. All 15 of the…
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FCC Repeals 83 Regulations
The repeals will become official upon publication in the Federal Register.
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More Bailouts, Urge Left-Leaning Journalists
Left-leaning journalists are urging more mortgage bailouts to try to increase consumer spending, since they erroneously think that inadequate consumer spending is the principal cause…
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Morning Media Summary
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Classmates.com class action settlement (again)
I’m getting lots of emails about the Classmates.com class action settlement notice. We’re aware of it, because we’re already in the case: we earlier…
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America’s Unsavory WWII Alliances Depicted in Dezenhall Book, “The Devil Inside”
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Deregulate the Practice of Law to Promote Justice and Create Jobs
It's time to deregulate the practice of law, write Clifford Winston and Robert W. Crandall of the Brookings Institution in The Wall Street…
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Today’s Questions for the President
By Peter Kirsanow/National Review Online When you were asked why you didn’t submit your jobs plan before going on vacation, you responded that there was…
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A Letter to the Editor about Natural Rights and the Cuban Economy
In an editorial last week Mary Anastasia O’Grady wrote about a supposed “economic revolution” happening in Cuba. It seems the Cuban government has just liberated…
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Morning Media Summary
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CCAF wins in Ninth Circuit
WASHINGTON, DC – The Center for…
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Georgia investigation into judge’s use of cy pres
I’m quoted in a newspaper’s investigation into a Georgia judge’s seemingly self-serving use of cy pres awards. More details at Point of Law.
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I’m kind of annoyed at the Los Angeles Daily Journal
CCAF, a non-profit project unaffiliated with and unsupported by any corporate funding, does not lobby. But the LA Daily Journal says that they don’t need…
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Lemonade Freedom Day Is Tomorrow
Tomorrow, parents and children across the country will set up lemonade stands in their neighborhoods. And they’re going to do it without getting licensed, inspected,…
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Regulation Roundup
In Delaware, it is a felony to wear a disguise while committing a felony, plus more.
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CEI Weekly: Taxpayers Bear Regulatory Cost Burden
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What the Berlin Wall Represents
In response to Jacob Heilbrunn’s August 12 opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times entitled, “Berlin Wall: A blessing in disguise,” I submitted the…
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Morning Media Summary
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CEI Podcast for August 18, 2011: How the EPA Makes Electricity Less Affordable
The $370 million visibility improvement has a 35 percent chance of being perceptible to the human eye. New Mexican electricity consumers, meanwhile, will be able…
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Europe’s Woes No Excuse for Abysmal U.S. Growth
Today, once again, the market is crashing largely due to events in the European Union. President Obama and other policy makers wring their collective hands…
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“Rules are Rules,” When it Comes to Yard Sales
The City of Salem, Oregon, is cracking down on yard sales — even if they are a citizen’s last option to pay for expensive…
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Growth Won’t Come From More Government Spending
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Tim Carney on Rick Perry: There’s a Difference Between “Pro-Business” and “Pro-Market”
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CEI Joins Coalition to Oppose New Air Travel Taxes
Joining Americans for Tax Reform, National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Prosperity, and others, the Competitive Enterprise Institute signed a letter [PDF]…
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Morning Media Summary
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WEAC Demonstrates that Union Solidarity is a Thing of the Past
Openmarket.org The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), Wisconsin’s paramount teachers union, issued layoff notices to 40 percent of its staff. Union bosses blame Gov. Scott…
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An Illiberal Liberal
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WEAC Demonstrates that Union Solidarity is a Thing of the Past
The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), Wisconsin’s paramount teachers union, issued layoff notices to 40 percent of its staff. Union bosses blame Gov. Scott Walkers…
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Morning Media Summary
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UAW’s King Aims for Seat on the Board in Ford Negotiations
Openmarket.org United States manufacturing growth hits a two-year low. The stock market is fluctuating violently. Not to mention a steady rate of over 9 percent unemployment.