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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.
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UAW’s King Aims for Seat on the Board in Ford Negotiations
United States manufacturing growth hits a two-year low. The stock market is fluctuating violently. Not to mention a steady rate of over 9…
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Alien Stimulus
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Morning Media Summary
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Did Spending Cuts Cause the UK Riots?
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Regulation of the Day 195: Fitted Sheets
California’s state legislature is poised to pass SB 432. It would, of all things, make it a crime for hotels to use non-fitted sheets.
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Morning Media Summary
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Obama Ignores even Internal Dissent on Environmentalist Agenda
President Obama will stop at nothing to pursue his war on coal. He won’t even listen to those within his own administration. His…
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EPA-Backed Study: Products Containing BPA Harmless
The US Environmental Protection Agency officially backed a study last week underscores what scientists around the world have been saying for years: BPA is not…
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Alcohol Regulatory Round-up: August 11th 2011
Federal: A proposed bill, Brewer's Employment and Excise Relief Act, would reduce the federal excise taxes for craft brewers in order to help them…
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In Wake of Financial Woes, Staffers Pack Up and Leave for Hawaii
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Morning Media Summary
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Opening brief filed in appeal of Volkswagen class action settlement approval
We filed our opening brief last Friday. Details at Point of Law. It’s still unclear to me why the Third Circuit waited a…
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Canada’s PM praises trade pact with Colombia — a good act for President Obama to follow
Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with his strong defense of Canada’s trade agreement with Colombia, provides a stark contrast with President Obama’s weak-kneed approach…
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Make S&P like Zagat
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More Social Engineering and Failure from Federal Housing Policy
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The War on Lemonade
Besides today's CEI Podcast, Iain Murray and I have a column over at Townhall.com about Lemonade Freedom Day:…
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CEI Podcast for August 11, 2011: Lemonade Freedom Day
Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray talks about the rash of children's lemonade stands being shut down by police, and his plans to celebrate Lemonade…
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Environmental Working Group’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ List Debunked
The Environmental Working Group seems to exist for no other reason than to scare consumers away from the products of modern technology -- and to…
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Massachusetts Reverses “Buy Local” Mandate for Brewers
Public Outcry Forces Rule Reversal for Massachusetts Craft Brewers Despite the recession, one segment of the US market, at least, has been steadily growing. This…
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Morning Media Summary
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Schools Use “Bullying” as a Pretext to Violate Students’ Rights to Free Association and Freedom of Speech
In a small but growing number of schools, you have to invite all the kids in your child's class to her birthday party, even if…
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Higher Education Bubble Leads to Sex-for-Tuition and Kidneys-for-Cash Proposal; Moody’s Questions Value of Liberal Arts Majors
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Just in time for the Debt Super Committee–the new Hello Kitty Federal Budget Calculator
The Hello Kitty Federal Budget Calculator is here to ease tension created by hostile political climate in the wake of the debt-ceiling-increase debates. Yesterday,…
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Regulation of the Day 194: Facebook Friends
Missouri has a new law that bans teachers from becoming Facebook friends with any current or former student. The goal is to prevent inappropriate…
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Record 45.8 Million People Are Now on Food Stamps; Fraud Surges
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Weird Healthcare Regulation of the Day: No Coverage for Men With Breast Cancer
"Disease does not discriminate, but apparently Medicaid coverage does. A 26-year-old South Carolina tile-layer has found himself with breast cancer and out of luck for…
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Morning Media Summary
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Obamacare Costs Additional $50 Billion a Year More Than Predicted, Based on Yet Another False Assumption in Calculating its Costs
“Federal payments required by President Barack Obama’s health care law are being understated by as much as $50 billion per year because official budget forecasts…
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Regulation of the Day 193: Cleaning Up After Riots
This is a different broken window fallacy than the kind one usually sees.
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In Wisconsin Recall, Unions Run to Stay in Place
No matter what the outcome of today’s recall election, nothing substantive will change in Wisconsin. Even if organized labor were to sweep all six recall…
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The “Obama Law” Devastates Impoverished People in the World’s Second Poorest Country, The Congo
People are going hungry, pulling their children out of school due to poverty, and joining criminal gangs to make ends meet in the poorest region…
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The Big Repeal
Congress and the White House have typically been reluctant to repeal any laws or regulations, regardless of which party is in power. The solution? Change…
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Obama’s Uninspiring, Empty Response to the Downgrade of America’s Credit Rating
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down a massive 634 points after Obama gave an uninspiring address in response to the downgrading…
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Morning Media Summary
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How Many Billions to Bail Out Borrowers Who Fraudulently Took Out Liar Loans?
The government is looking into the possibility of bailing out underwater mortgage borrowers, including speculators and McMansion owners. It’s also seeking to…
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Regulation of the Day 192: Fire Extinguishers
Britain has a Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. It isn’t quite living up to its name, though. The group is pressing to ban…
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What Shrinking Government?
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The ugly side of Big Labor
The Baltimore Sun On July 10, three Chicago-area Alderwoods funeral homes were viciously vandalized. All were Dignity Memorial network facilities that had also been targeted…
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Morning Media Summary
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Hoover Didn’t Cut Spending, and Spending Cuts Didn’t Trigger the 1937 Roosevelt Recession
The false left-wing meme of the day is that the modest spending cuts in Sunday's debt limit deal are bad, because spending cuts caused the…
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CEI Weekly: Union Threatens Strike at Ground Zero
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TSA Saves Country from Diabetic, Pregnant Terrorist
They allowed her to take through her needles and syringes. But they confiscated her insulin, claiming it was an explosives risk.
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Morning Media Summary
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Free Trade Agreements: Braking through the Barrier
Finally. It looks like Congress will actually be moving to approve the three pending FTAs after it returns from the summer recess according to a…
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CEI Podcast for August 4, 2011: Liberalizing Trade
Congress is expected to take up stalled free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea when it returns from its August recess. Adjunct Fellow…
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USPS Bailout on the Horizon
Openmarket.org Before we even come close to paying off our current government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) or recoup taxpayer dollars from Federal bailouts (General…
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Time for Cuts at the Pentagon, “The World’s Largest Socialist Economy”?
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USPS Bailout on the Horizon
Before we even come close to paying off our current government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) or recoup taxpayer dollars from Federal bailouts (General Motors…
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TSA Chatterboxes Not as Friendly as they Seem
You may get some extra-special attention from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the near future — but this isn’t just another pat-down or…
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Congress Shall Make No Law…
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Morning Media Summary
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Bloomberg on Energy
Mayor Bloomberg, America’s chief nanny regulator, is moving on to bigger things -- energy! During the recent heat spell he urged New Yorkers to turn down…
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Nutella Wars
In a few weeks, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California will hear arguments in a consumer lawsuit against Ferrero, the maker…
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Welcome to What Recovery?
Today, August 3, 2011, marks the one year anniversary of Treasure Secretary Tim Geithner’s op-ed in The New York Times, ostentatiously titled “Welcome…
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Robert Reich Doesn’t Understand Surface Transportation Funding
Over at Salon, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has a predictably empty article on the debt ceiling deal in which he denounces Republicans for…
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August 20 Is Lemonade Freedom Day
Robert Fernandes, a father of two, has had enough. That's why he has declared August 20, 2011 to be Lemonade Freedom Day.
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Police Shut Down Another Rogue Lemonade Stand
Abigail Krutsinger, 4, never applied for a permit and a health inspection.
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Egregious Abuses by Expert Witnesses and Family Courts
The Seattle Times recently featured a special report about a psychological "expert witness" who destroyed countless lives in the court cases in which…
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Morning Media Summary
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Kicking the Can Farther Down the Road
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Congressman Mike Doyle: $3.5 Trillion in Spending is Too Little for the Government to “Spend Any Money”
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Cohen Rants About the Tea Party — Our Civilization is at Risk
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Morning Media Summary
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License to Rent-Seek
Few regulations are more blatantly anti-competitive than occupational licensing.