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William Lind’s Absurd “Conservative Case” for More Transit [Waste]
Over at enviro-blog Grist, conservative William Lind is interviewed on the subject of transit. Lind is an anomaly of sorts in the center-right transportation camp in…
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Ray LaHood’s Smoke and Mirrors
This morning, The Wall Street Journal‘s Washington Wire quoted me “disapproving” of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s TIGER II grant picks. LaHood “countered” critics of…
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Building Height Restrictions: Where I Agree with Matthew Yglesias
Matthew Yglesias of the Center for American Progress links to a Washington Post article that notes that office rents in downtown D.C. are now…
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Ben Lieberman on Consumer Costs of Regulations
Watch the interview on YouTube. …
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“Livability” versus Mobility: TIGER II
Since the early 1990s when advocates of so-called Smart Growth took control of federal transportation infrastructure policy, we have increasingly heard transportation projects described as…
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Vincent Vernuccio on Public Sector Unions
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYSkSxWFWo8 285 234]…
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Ben Lieberman on Government Regulations
Watch the video on YouTube…
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Status Quo Elitist Attacks Contrarians for Being Elitist Members of the Status Quo
Michael Lewyn, a law professor and anti-“sprawl” activist, has a post on Planetizen about how he and his ilk are supposedly unfairly maligned as…
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Our Driverless Future?
Google has been making headlines after the company revealed over the weekend that its driverless cars have logged nearly 140,000 miles on public roads…
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How Not to Tackle Congestion
The Transport Politic’s Yonah Freemark today posted an article praising the anti-automobile policies of Paris’ Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoë and delivering what he seems to believe…
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Vincent Vernuccio on Union Shutting Down GM Plant
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31i-rRUnMc8 285 234]…
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Sharing Isn’t Caring
Late last month, Washington, D.C. launched its Capital Bikeshare (“CaBi” to its groupies) program to much acclaim from the usual suspects — New Urbanists and…
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Distracted Driving Kills, But What About Dysfunctional Policy?
The Obama administration, having succeeded in bringing about economic recovery and having nation-built a democratic Afghanistan, has set its sights on another pressing…
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Unions hire non-union protesters?
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqm5RRBCmiw 285 234]…
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The Dangerous Minds of Urban Planners
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo v. New London decision, significant attention has been paid to the way government interacts in the property…
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Minneapolis’ Block E: The Failure Continues
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New Jersey’s Not-So-Palatial Xanadu
The retail and entertainment development formerly known as Xanadu Meadowlands—recently renamed The Meadowlands—has been plagued with problems since the planning stage. The East…
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In Defense of Urban Beekeeping
Beekeeping is an ancient human practice, with some anthropological evidence suggesting that primitive forms of honey bee domestication go back more than 4,000 years. Apiarists…
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Five Years After Kelo
Today–this June 23–marks the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s wrongheaded ruling in Kelo v. New London. Here’s my piece on Kelo+5 in…
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Concessions Can Bridge Budget Gaps
In 1958, Chicago opened the 7.8-mile Chicago Skyway, an elevated tollway linking the downtown Chicago Loop with the Indiana Toll Road. Due to poor…
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California: Leading the Way in Failure
As one might expect of California, successful transportation public-private partnerships (P3s) face many government hurdles. In the early 1990s, the California Department of Transportation…
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The Increasing Role of Road Concessions
Increasing private sector involvement in transportation should be seen as a positive development. However, there are right ways to involve private firms, and…
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D.C. Rail Fetishists Propose “Free” Trolleys
If you believe the “city of northern charm and southern efficiency” is geared solely toward imposing stupid, expensive directives on the rest of the country,…
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ObamaRail: Great for Railfans, Bad for Transportation
In 2000, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment (the “Monorail Initiative“) authorizing the creation of a high-speed intercity rail network. However, as the economy…
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“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”
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The Private Provision of Surface Transportation Infrastructure in the United States
Private sector involvement in surface transportation infrastructure is not new. Public and private turnpikes—roads that require the payment of a toll for passage—have existed for…
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The Case Against Subsidized High-Speed Rail
President Obama’s stimulus package set aside $8 billion in subsidies for high-speed rail projects in the United States (known as the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail…
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The Social Evolution of Markets
Socialists and other collectivists frequently argue that markets are inherently “inhumane” and “unjust,” among other things. Free-market advocates generally dismiss these claims on their face…
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Property Rights Under Siege
Since the Supreme Court’s poorly-reasoned majority opinion in 2005’s Kelo case, Americans have been aware of the grave threats facing their homes, businesses, and…
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How I Was Not Al Gored Into Submission
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Why Can’t We Have a “Three Strikes” Policy for Public Financing?
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Anti-Takings Abuse Bill Introduced in the House
The Strengthening the Ownership of Private Property Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Stephanie Sandlin (D-SD), would prevent any federal economic development funding from being…
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Property Owner Fights Nashville Land Grab
Yesterday, Tower Investments filed a motion to dismiss the Nashville-chartered Metropolitan Housing and Development Agency’s Petition for Condemnation of the company’s 5.6-acre downtown property.
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Pfizer to Close Facility Behind Kelo Case
Yesterday, Pfizer announced it was closing its research and development facility in New London, Connecticut. This is the same complex that was at the…
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Greider: $1.4 Trillion Deficit Isn’t Enough!
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Fighting Eminent Domain Abuse
Popular outrage over eminent domain abuse may have waned a bit since the Supreme Court’s poorly-reasoned Kelo ruling in 2005, but economic development takings remain…
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Eminent Domain Abuse in New York (Upstate Edition)
The court found that the mall was not liable because the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency condemned the property through eminent domain, which stripped all rights…
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It’s Complicated
Journalists have a tendency to present overly-simple explanations of current events that often turn out to be false. Part of it is due to the…
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ACORN Tied to Brooklyn Land-grabber
The multi-billion dollar Atlantic Yards development project in Brooklyn, New York--subsidized to the tune of $1.6 billion by New York taxpayers--is facing new scrutiny after…
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Matt Taibbi versus Sensible Health Care
In a blog post at Rolling Stone, Journalist In Name Only Matt Taibbi accuses the media of “help[ing] sandbag health care reform.” In the…
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Land Grabbers Attack Free Speech
In this morning’s Washington Post, columnist George Will brings to light a particularly egregious example of politically-connected developers abusing the legal system to silence…
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A Not-So-Surprising “Clunklusion”
CEI Editorial Director Ivan Osorio discussed the true economic costs of the Obama administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program, calling it “a costly boondoggle that…
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The Truth About Town Hall Meetings
Yesterday, the Obama administration distanced itself from some of the more outrageous comments made by congressional Democrats, including one made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…
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“Millions of jobs are at stake on both sides of the border”
So says British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell. At a meeting of Canada’s provincial premiers held in Regina, Saskatchewan, last week, slapping retaliatory tariffs on…
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Brooklyn Land Grab Opponents Allege Government Corruption
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), a group opposed to the taxpayer-financed development project Atlantic Yards, filed a motion with the New York Court of…
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Union Bosses Say the Darndest Things
As described in an OpenMarket post by CEI’s Ivan Osorio a couple weeks ago, the Teamsters union and UPS are currently lobbying Congress to…
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Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing!
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Stimulus Surrealism
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Obama’s Anti-Science Czar
Last week, Michelle Malkin posted on the disturbing past of Obama’s Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House…
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Documentary Highlights Jersey Shore Eminent Domain Abuse
While the public outrage over eminent domain abuse following the 2005 Kelo ruling has waned to some degree, the controversy surrounding private property takings for…