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12 Ridiculous Regulations
In Texas, computer repair technicians are required to get a private investigator's license, plus more.
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TSA versus America
The TSA doesn’t have very many friends these days. Do they deserve any? In an interview (halfway down on the left sidebar), John…
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Fiscal Commission Should Support Increased Energy Production, Not Increased Energy Taxes
Among the many suggestions in the Fiscal Commission’s draft report is a 15 cents-per-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax. No doubt, this…
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Quantitative Easing Explained (Video Comedy)
Sometimes humor is better at explaining economic concepts than wonkish theory. Below is an interesting video regarding quantitative easing. Although it may place too much…
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Be Thankful for BPA-Lined Canned Goods this Thanksgiving
Well-meaning environmentalist Mindy Pennybacker, author of Do One Green Thing: Saving the Earth Through Simple, Everyday Choices, offers some sagely foolish advice…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: University Begins Reporting All P2P Users to the Police: “Georgia’s Valdosta State University has updated its network with software that can…
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Maryland Considers Privatizing Liquor Sales
The only place residents of Montgomery County, Maryland, can purchase liquor is in county-owned stores, which until recently were only open six days a week.
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Afternoon Links: November 12, 2010
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November 24: National Opt Out Day
OptOutDay.com the website and group is urging air-travelers on November 24 (one of the busiest travel days of the year) to refuse to submit…
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The Market Works as Shop Closes
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CEI Weekly: CEI Asks High Court to Hear Tobacco Case
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Cubans upset at video game that aims to kill Fidel Castro: “Cuba’s state-run media and bloggers are not amused at “Call of…
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Dear Progressives, Wake Up!
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WHO Study on BPA: No Measurable Risks
The American Council on Science and Health has a great post on bisphenol A (BPA), noting yet another study that exonerates the chemical,…
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CEI Podcast – November 11, 2010: Taxing New IRS Regulations
Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young explains how an IRS proposal for mandatory certification of tax preparers would hurt consumers and taxpayers.
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Afternoon Links: November 11, 2010
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Obama’s Labor Department Again Pushes Forced Unionism
You are at work one day and a couple of police vehicles pull up. They go into the administrative office area and the next thing…
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America: Where “High-Speed Rail” is Not High-Speed Rail
Yesterday, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood addressed a crowd of Midwest rail fans, saying, “Twenty-five years from now, because of the president’s vision, we will…
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Product Bans Are More Dangerous than Four Loko
How many people follow up a heavy night of drinking with some coffee? How many restaurants serve coffee and desert right after dinners where diners…
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Honeycomb House: A Fresh Foreclosure Horror
Problems with empty, foreclosed, or otherwise house-poor homes no longer stop at suburban sprawl; now mosquito and wildcat infestations threaten to lower real estate values…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Brumby promises every doctor in public hospitals an iPad: “Victorian Premier, John Brumby, yesterday promised every doctor in the…
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Towards a Goal of Smaller Government
After Republicans swept the House in last Tuesday’s elections, President Obama took “full responsibility” for Democrats’ losses, saying: I’ve got to do a better…
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Joe Biden’s Weak Case for Government Meddling
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The Washington Version of Spending Cuts
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Afternoon Links: November 10, 2010
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Confessions of a Gasoline Call Girl
Marc J. Rauch, Executive Vice President/Co-Publisher of The Auto Channel, posted a lengthy diatribe on the American Petroleum Institute’s recent lawsuit on the EPA’s approval…
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Adam Smith on Lotteries
I didn’t know there were state-run lotteries in 1776, but apparently there were, because Adam Smith explains what a bad deal they are in The…
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How Much Does Government Spending Cost You?
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Regulation of the Day 158: Preparing Taxes
The IRS wants to require all tax preparers to register with them, pass an exam, and take continuing education classes.
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Consumer Leverage and Government Deficits
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Dear Starbucks: The skinny on how you can be a security hero: “The recent hubbub around Firesheep has provided me with a…
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CEI Takes Corrupt Tobacco Deal to Supreme Court
On Monday, CEI took its constitutional challenge to the corrupt 1998 tobacco deal to the US Supreme Court, appealing the case from Fifth Circuit…
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Legalized Internet Gambling in New Jersey?
What does it take to get governments to deregulate? You might think the answer is “a miracle” or maybe “drugs in the water,” both of…
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Afternoon Links: November 9, 2010
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Video Games are More than Just Good for Kids
They will be a primary way that we learn, teach, produce and advance in the future. Jane McGonigal of Institute for the Future has…
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Russia’s Frozen Poulty Ban — Not Likely a Path for WTO Membership
Russia will be banning frozen chicken imports beginning January 1. The reason for the proposed ban? The head of the Russian agency in charge…
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Vincent Vernuccio on Card Check
Watch the interview on YouTube. …
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: LimeWire Resurrected By Secret Dev Team: “Last month, the Gnutella-based file-sharing client LimeWire was effectively outlawed after a U.S. federal judge granted…
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Tea Partiers’ Winning “Contract from America”
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New York Bans Smoking in Central Park
…and all other public outdoor spaces. Soon there will be no smoking in any car-banned area of New York City, including Times Square, Central Park,…
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USDA Puts Fox in Charge of Guarding the Hen House
A proposed new rule from the USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration is one more example of obscure regulatory agencies run amok. What makes…
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Will Trade Be a Winner in the New Congress?
In its Sunday editorial, The Washington Post takes an upbeat post-election look at the prospects for stalled trade agreements, especially the pending U.S.-Korea Free…
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A New Face for High-Fructose Corn Syrup
Via The Huffington Post, an update on Big Corn’s quest to continue fueling our tasty beverages: The makers of high fructose corn syrup want…
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Chris Horner on Overestimation of Emissions
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The United States of Cheese
When I scanned The New York Times website on Sunday, I—like most readers—was immediately distracted by this headline: “While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes…
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NFL Concussion Economics
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Massive Property Tax Increases Coming for Homeowners in Northern Virginia
Homeowners in Northern Virginia may face massive, record-setting property tax increases of 20 percent or more in the upcoming year. One reason is the EPA’s…
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Afternoon Links: November 8, 2010
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Regulation of the Day 157: Unlicensed Barbering
In Orange County, Florida, barbering without a license is illegal. The regulation is being enforced with armed raids.
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Lamebook Sues Facebook Over Trademark Infringement. Wait, What?: “Here’s a head scratcher, at first glance at least: Lamebook , a hilarious advertising-supported…
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An End to Out-of-State Beer?
Would you be steamed if you couldn’t buy Anchor Steam (of San Francisco, CA), or go into a flying rage without Flying Dog (of Maryland)?…
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The Problem With Public-Private Partnerships
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Non-Partisan Victory: Dallas Eliminates “Dry” Areas
Cheers to Dallas voters who supported an initiative to eliminate “dry” areas (aka areas where alcohol was completed banned) of the city, which passed with…
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Afternoon Links: November 5, 2010
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Liquor Privatization Still has Hope in Washington
As my colleague Angela Logomasini wrote in a post earlier today, voters in Washington State vetoed two measures that would have privatized liquor sales in…
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Hillary Clinton Angers Greens
A number of environmental groups asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to remove herself from the decision process in whether or not the TransCanada oil-sands…
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Alcohol Bureaucracy Prevails in Washington State
Washington State voters rejected an initiative that would have re-organized this industry simply to make it more rational, market-based, and fairer. The initiative,…
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Menthol Cigarettes: In or Out?
In 2009, President Obama–a semi-closeted smoker–signed the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.” The law granted the FDA new powers to regulate tobacco advertising.
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Smart Growth Decreases Housing Affordability
Wendell Cox had an interesting article this week on his new findings on land-use regulation and housing prices. Long a critic of smart-growth…
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CEI Weekly: Post-Election Roundup
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Ron Paul to Head Federal Reserve Oversight Subcommittee?
In a bizarre turn of events following Tuesday’s elections, Rep. Ron Paul, the government’s #1 “end or audit the Fed” guy, will likely be in…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: People have “right to be forgotten” online, says EU: “The European Commission wants to strengthen data protection rules to give more power…
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Regulation of the Day 156: Happy Meals
With an 8-3 vote, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors banned the greatest menace facing it or any other city: happy meals.
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An Election-Night Win For Domestic Energy Jobs
Draw up a map of the U.S. and shade in the regions that rely on energy jobs — places like Appalachia, the Rockies, western Gulf…
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CEI Podcast: November 4, 2010 — Election Dissection
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Afternoon Links: November 4, 2010
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Will the NLRB Push Big Labor’s Agenda?
Organized labor expended enormous amounts of resources and effort to give Democrats control of Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008. For this…
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A Crazy Welfare Statistic
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Hayek vs. Keynes LIVE
For those of you who have not seen the Econ Stories production of Hayek vs. Keynes, it is a must see. However, many people…
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Ethanol Mandates Meet Reality
The EPA again lowered its projection in meeting the 2011 “mandate” on cellulosic ethanol. (Is it really a mandate when the end result meets 1.5…
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Feminist Porn Director Supports Freedom of Individual Choice
Porn actress, director, and self-described “kinky feminist,” Madison Young, spoke out in an interview with Salon.com about her feelings in the condom debate that…
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Jobs Saved or Created: Armed Security to Guard Unemployment Offices
Here is a must-read for naysayers ready to indict current regulatory policies’ ability to create or save jobs! With December looms the deadline for folks…
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Art Market Resurgence: A Lesson in Market Rebound
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Afternoon Links: November 3, 2010
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An Optimistic Take on the Election
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Election 2010: Union Losses, Worker Gains
Yesterday’s election results will make it much more difficult for organized labor to advance its agenda in Congress. This is good news for the American…
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A Bizarre Defense of High-Speed Rail
Perhaps “bizarre” is not the appropriate word, as Matthew Yglesias is employed by the Obama administration’s barely unofficial think tank/PR shop Center for American…
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Fascinating Error with U.S. Wages
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Tea Party Express Hands Control of Senate to Democrats?
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Google Buzz class action settlement
Notice went out today, and five separate people have emailed me in the last hour about the Google Buzz settlement, which I’ve been tracking…
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Tea Party Movement: Is it Enough? A Pessimistic Take
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Assaulting Campaign Materials: An American Political Tradition
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Many Republican Campaign Signs Disappear or are Stolen
Enraged Democrats in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District attacked GOP activists and yanked signs for candidate Rob Hurt (R) off of private property. Hurt is…
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Why I Didn’t Vote This Year
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Afternoon Links: November 2, 2010
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Willfull Ignorance from Ethanol Proponents
A study soon to be released by the Department of Energy, titled “Empirical Data and Decomposition Analysis of U.S. Corn Use for Ethanol Production…
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Touting Government Failures As Successes: Chris Zimmerman and Metro
Arlington County Board member Chris Zimmerman is touting “his experience on the Metro Board of Directors, of which he is the longest-serving member.” This…
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Private Liquor in Virginia Off the Menu… For Now
Virginia’s Governor Bob McDonnell announced last Friday he would not be holding a special session in order to act upon his Virginia liquor store…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Amazon’s 3G Kindle leaps ‘Great Firewall of China’: “Amazon’s Kindle 3G e-reader is being snapped up on China’s grey market as it…
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Billboard to Nowhere
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Halloween Roundup
Silly string forbidden in Hollywood on Halloween, man arrested for wearing a mask, plus more.
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Administration Allies Float Trillion Dollar Bailout to Offset Rising Savings Rate
Alarmed by the rising savings rate, which liberal Keynesian economic theory views as potentially bad in a weak economy, intellectuals with close ties to…
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Afternoon Links: November 1, 2010
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Hugo Chavez Plans to Steal Golf Courses
I wrote recently how Hugo Chavez is stealing productive sectors of the Venezuela economy on its ‘Road to Serfdom.’ Now, Chavez has developed a…
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Should Geoengineering be Banned?
Since one day the sun will expand into a red-giant star, humans in the distant multi-millennial future will either have to leave the Earth, geoengineer…
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Regulation of the Day 155: Miniskirts
Police officers would be tasked with paying close attention to women’s hemlines; no doubt many already do. Women who catch an officer’s eye could be…
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Beach House Bummer: State-Run Insurance Fuels Risky Coastal Development
Wouldn’t we all like to have a beach house? A large number of Americans have a dream of living near the sea, but few of…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Captcha adverts capture your attention: “IT IS an online advertiser’s dream. Some ads on the websites you visit could soon be impossible…
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Harvard’s Jeffrey Miron Explains Why the Stimulus Package Failed
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Civil Rights Commission: Administration Lied About Who Dropped Voter Intimidation Case
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has found that political appointees, not career Justice Department lawyers, made the decision to drop a voter intimidation…