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Want higher air fares? Overregulate credit cards
This morning, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Transportation are holding a joint hearing “investigating” airline and credit card reward programs.
Blog
Biden’s veto of joint employer rule CRA a blow to small businesses
President Biden’s veto Friday of a Congressional Review Act (CRA) bill rolling back the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) “joint employer”…
Blog
Subsidy-free capitalism may require a constitutional amendment
Automobiles, electrification, ample consumer goods and mass marketing, a construction boom, and access to credit helped fuel the Roaring Twenties of a century ago.
Search Posts
Op-Eds
Lobsters Should Fear Mother Nature More than Plastics
If you trust the headlines, you might think that the biggest challenge facing the lobster industry in New York and New England is pollution —…
Heartland
Broadcast Spectrum Bill Raises Property Rights Concerns
Heartland
No More Ethanol for America, Please
In “Ethanol for America,” Jim Nussle accuses opponents of subsidized ethanol of misleading the public, while trumpeting ethanol’s alleged success story. As is the case…
Heartland
Casey-Pomeroy Bill Would Bail Out PBGC, Union Pensions
Superior Telegram
Cost of Government Takes Longer to Pay
Superior Telegram
Seeking Food Safety, Getting Human Harm
Congress is set to consider a food-safety bill when it returns from the August recess. But the bill has so far stalled because of…
Cafe Hayek
The Federal Register
All Gov
The Federal Register
All Gov
Visa Fee Hike Will Adversely Impact Indian Companies, Admits US
All Gov
Visa Fee Increase Could Impact Indian Firms: USA
All Gov
Visa Fee Increase Could Impact Indian Firms: USA
All Gov
Visa Fee Increase Could Impact Indian Cos: US
All Gov
Dems Giving Support to Yet Another Union Bailout
The so-called Create Jobs and Save Benefits Act of 2010, introduced by Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.), got a huge boost when Senate Majority Whip Dick…
All Gov
Fannie and Freddie Must Go
After ramming through a “financial reform” bill that increases government controls on such ”ants” (hat tip to House Minority Leader John Boehner’s comments — distorted…
All Gov
Visa Fee Hike Could Impact Indian cos: US
All Gov
Visa Fee Increase Could Impact Indian Companies: US
All Gov
Government watchdog group calls White House Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Summit a “sham”
All Gov
Biotech Beets Banned
Daily Caller
Federal Register Hits 50,000 Pages
On Friday, the 2010 Federal Register eclipsed the 50,000-page mark with a notice from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Dr. Robert F. Hunt, D.O., had…
Daily Caller
Bobby Bailout: Casey to Put Taxpayers on Hook for Teamsters’ Shenanigans
AOL News
The FDA’s Deadly Overcaution
In the past two months, there've been news accounts of two major diagnostic advances in medicine. One involves a far more efficient HIV detection…
AOL News
Ewanick safe under new GM CEO
AOL News
Civil Rights Division Pursues Wacky Radical Agenda (Letter to the Editor)
It was extremely depressing to read that the Obama Justice Department blocked Amazon from selling a talking Kindle reader because its “talk” button doesn’t have…
AOL News
Repealing Birthright Citizenship is a Mistake America Cannot Afford to Make
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and other congressional Republicans are floating the idea of abolishing birthright citizenship, which makes the children of undocumented immigrants automatic citizens,…
AOL News
Illegal Immigration: Virginia Should not try to be Another Arizona
Virginia has been thrust into the center of the immigration debate recently. Del. Robert Marshall asked Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to issue an opinion about…
AOL News
Bailing Out Teachers
Democrats on Capitol Hill are literally taking food out of the mouths of the most needy to pay back their political cronies. Today, the House…
Game Pro
Is Net Neutrality Good for Gaming?
Newsletter
Kagan Confirmed, Ford Motor’s Finances and Critiquing Obama’s Economic Policy
The U.S. Senate confirms Elena Kagan to be the next member of the Supreme Court. President Obama announced a $250 million government loan to Ford…
Game Pro
Obama Cripples Ford’s Funding, Then Subsidizes It
At the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business, President Ronald Reagan offered these famous remarks about politicians’ views on business in the 1970s. Reagan…
Game Pro
Obama Cripples Ford’s Funding, Then Subsidizes It
At the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business, President Ronald Reagan offered these famous remarks about politicians’ views on business in the 1970s. Reagan…
Game Pro
Obama Subsidizes Ford After Blocking Access to Credit
Newsletter
Ethics in Congress, Urban Renewal and the Luxury of Environmentalism
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is facing ethics charges. Elected officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul try to lure suburban residents and shoppers back into the…
Jacob Grier
Markets are for Consumers
Newsletter
The Politics of Booze, Challenging Obamacare and “Paycheck Fairness”
Beer wholesalers have been throwing massive amounts of money at Washington. A federal judge in Virginia allows the state’s lawsuit against Obamacare to proceed. The…
Jacob Grier
Recent Developments in Fair Value Accounting
Jacob Grier
Immigration and SB1070: Arizona Republicans’ Tempest in a Tea Party?
Jacob Grier
Department of Labor Inspector General Nominee: Too Political, Too Controversial
Fresh from the recess appointment of former SEIU lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board, President Obama has nominated another controversial figure to…
Toledo Blade
Digging out of the ditch
The Toledo Blade mentions Wayne Crews's study on the size of the federal regulatory state. Federal regulations cost Americans $1.16 trillion in 2007,…
Newsletter
Online Gambling, Offshore Drilling and the Complexity of Obamacare
The House Financial Services Committee passes the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. Today the House of Representatives will vote on an energy…
Toledo Blade
Why Democrats are Pushing the $165 Billion Union Pension Bailout
Toledo Blade
He Auto Know Better
President Obama is telling people today that the Auto Bailouts worked. He’s claiming that the auto industries are showing a profit and hiring thousands…
Newsletter
The Origins of Environmentalism, a Shady Attorney General and Immigration Lawsuits
The inability of the Democratic majority in Congress to pass a climate change bill causes activists to question the state of the environmental movement. CEI…
Toledo Blade
Elena Kagan’s War on Small Business
Solicitor General Kagan urged against letting a small firm challenge a regulatory agency in court. Would a Justice Kagan do the same? Now that Congress…
E&E News
EPA Rejects 10 Endangerment Findings
Lake County News
Groups Call Alcohol Regulation Bill An Affront to Consumer Freedom’
Lake County News
Arizona’s Immigration Surprises
Arizona’s new anti-immigration law, which goes into effect on July 29, has been a rallying point for many conservatives. It reinvigorated the lackluster administration of…
News Release
Judge’s Injunction on Arizona Immigration Law Doesn’t Stop Law’s Harmful Impact
Washington, D.C., July 28, 2010 — Arizona’s controversial anti-immigration law goes into effect Thursday, despite a partial injunction handed down Wednesday by U.S. District Judge…
Newsletter
Big Labor’s Agenda, the Death of Cap and Trade and the Politics of ‘Mad Men’
Big Labor has been pushing hard to make Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren the new consumer protection czar. Besides the possibility of a lame-duck session, the…
Lake County News
Bill Would Mandate Equal Pay for Unequal Work (Letter to the Editor)
Diana Furchtgott-Roth was right to criticize a bill that would require some people who do unequal work to be paid equal amounts. The perverse “Paycheck…
News Release
Groups Call Alcohol Regulation Bill “An Affront to Consumer Freedom”
Washington, D.C., July 27, 2010 — Today a coalition of nonprofit and consumer groups sent a letter to Congress expressing concerns about H.R. 5034, the…
Newsletter
Online Privacy, Food Safety and Unemployment Benefits
The Senate Commerce Committee prepares for a hearing on consumer online privacy. Environmental groups sue to compel the Food and Drug Administration to ban the…
Lake County News
Obama Administration Made Illegal Race-Based Decisions When Closing GM and Chrysler Dealerships
Lake County News
Financial Overhaul Just Another Case of Government Overreach
Newsletter
Congress’ Confidence Level, Attorneys General Gone Wild and Liberating Wine Sales
A recent poll found that only 11% of Americans have confidence in Congress. CEI releases a report on America’s worst state attorneys general. New York…
Lake County News
Deal for Credit Firm Draws Fire for GM
Newsletter
Cap and Trade, Financial Regulation and Toyotas and the Truth
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) mentions plans to pass a cap-and-trade bill in a post-election “lame duck” session if necessary. President Obama signs the Dodd-Frank financial…
Forbes
Get the Government Out of the Energy Business
Forbes
GM Agrees to Buy Lender AmeriCredit for $3.5 Billion
Newsletter
Elena Kagan’s Nomination, Obama Signs Financial Regulation Bill and Defending the Right to Work
The Senate Judiciary Committee approves the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. Today President Obama will sign recently-passed financial regulation bill into…
Forbes
Obama’s Latest Monstrosity
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill that President Obama will sign today should not be called “financial reform.” Instead the bill, which…
Forbes
Too safe for our own good?
Myths about the risks of various products and activities can themselves be harmful to your health. They include the belief that greater regulation is synonymous…
Cafe Hayek
Ryan Young explains some differences between economists and economics
News Release
Lift Government Barriers to Encourage Competition and Innovation
Washington, D.C., July 21, 2010—Tomorrow the Senate Commerce Committee will mark up the “America COMPETES Act,” possibly adding an amendment that would create a 15-member…
News Release
Extending Unemployment Benefits Will Increase Unemployment, Hurt Economy
Washington, D.C., July 21, 2010—The Senate today approved an extension of federal unemployment benefits to a maximum of 99 weeks. This move is likely to…
American Spectator
Economists vs. Economics
Has the financial crisis ruined economics? Not only did economists fail to predict it, nobody seems to have a clue how to right the…
Study
Union Pensions in Crisis
Full Document Available in PDF Union pensions are in trouble, and financial watchdogs such as Moody’s…
Newsletter
National Security, Federal Red Tape and Private Government in Florida
The Washington Post reports that 854,000 people have top-secret security clearances. The Federal Register for 2010 now exceeds 40,000 pages. Just outside of Florida’s Walt…
American Spectator
Union Hiring Unemployed to Walk Picket Lines
Vincent Vernuccio on Fox Business, Varney and Company http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4285533/unions-hire-unemployed-to-walk-picket-lines/?playlist_id=87060 …
American Spectator
Vincent Vernuccio on Non-Union Union Pickets
Competitive enterprise institute Labor Policy Counsel Vincent Vernuccio explains potential union pension bailouts. …
American Spectator
Have We Really Been Stimulated?
They use the phony statistic ‘saved’ or ‘created.’ To say saved or created, who knows if this job would have been eliminated if you…
American Spectator
Have We Really Been Stimulated
The Lansing State Journal reported last week that the federal stimulus has been working. The White House projects the spending act created or saved between…
Comment
CEI Comments to the FCC in the matter of Framework For Broadband Internet Service
Full Document Available in PDF Reclassifying the transmission component of…
Newsletter
Financial Regulation, the Gulf Oil Spill, and Privacy on Facebook
Congress passes the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill. The New York Times chronicles the economic fallout from the BP oil spill. Pundits argue that Facebook is…
American Spectator
Michigan a Right to Work State?
Oakland County Sherriff Mike Bouchard, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, called for making Michigan a right to work State in a…
American Spectator
Financial Reform Bill: Bureaucratic Absolutism
American Spectator
More Muscle for Big Merchants
It’s usually not that easy for big retail chains to win battles on Capitol Hill — particularly if they are trying to secure a benefit…
American Spectator
Obama’s New Financial Regulation Bill Strangles America’s Economy with Red Tape
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill that passed the Senate 60-39 on Thursday and will be signed by President Obama next week should not…
American Spectator
Who Won Big in the Financial Bill – More Muscle for Big Merchants
It’s usually not that easy for big retail chains to win battles on Capitol Hill — particularly if they are trying to secure a benefit…
American Spectator
Dodd-Frank is not “Financial Reform,” it’s More Big Government Lunacy
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill should not be called “financial reform.” Instead, it should be called what for what it is: pages and pages of…
News Release
Statement by John Berlau on Passage of Dodd-Frank Financial Regulation Bill
The 2,315 page Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill should not be called “financial reform.” Instead, it should be called what for what it is: pages…
Letters
Senate Should Reject Dodd-Frank
Full Document Available in PDF The so-called financial “reform” legislation, agreed to by House and Senate Democrats in Conference, and…
Letters
Double Taxation Working Group
Full Document Available in PDF We are writing to express our appreciation for your efforts to protect Americans from tax increases that…
Newsletter
Financial Regulation, Immigration and Climate Legislation
The Senate prepares to vote on a financial regulation bill. A Heritage Foundation report finds that deportation of undocumented immigrants has fallen during the Obama…
News Release
Privatize American Cities? Learning Lessons from Disney’s Experiment with “Private” Government
Washington, D.C., July 14, 2010 – Would governments do a better job of governing if some were privatized? A new case study by the Competitive…
American Spectator
Let Congress Sweat It Out
Many of the so-called solutions the green movement proposes consist of turning back the clock and relying on technology we left behind decades, even…
American Spectator
With Debt, Deficit Come More Red Tape
Daily Caller
Cell Phones Don’t Cause Cancer
Could your cell phone be killing you? A lot of people seem to think so. Some activists say that talking on your phone for…
Washington Examiner
With Debt, Deficits Comes More Red Tape
The Washington Examiner highlights Wayne Crews's study on the size of the federal regulatory state. But debt and deficits aren't the only monstrously…
Newsletter
A Beer Stimulus, Comcast Merger Questions and Urban Beekeeping
A proposed “Beer Stimulus Bill” would reduce the federal excise tax that small brewers must pay. Yesterday lawmakers conducted a field hearing questioning “Who Benefits?”…
Washington Examiner
The Lady Gaga Economy
The Lady Gaga phenomenon conquered the Today Show this morning, with what must have been the largest crowd they’ve had in their summer…
Denver Daily News
Markets Should Drive Xcel, Not Social Values
Xcel Energy is getting a lot of grief over its new “tiered” rate increase Ń a.k.a., the air-conditioner tax Ń but the criticism is…
Denver Daily News
State Needs New Leadership on Insurance Policies
It’s sometimes hard to picture your insurance company as a caped hero sweeping in to rescue you in times of crisis. Yet, that is what…
New York Times
Facing Tough Economic Realities (Letter to the Editor)
Paul Krugman is at a loss to explain why some people oppose extending unemployment benefits. One reason people hold such an opinion is that…
Newsletter
EPA’s Gangster Style, LibertyWeek Turns 100 and Comparing BP to Enron
The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gain the auto industry’s support for new fuel economy standards. The LibertyWeek podcast records…
New York Times
Bad Immigration Laws Are for Repealing, Not Enforcing
Immigration reform is at a crossroads. When Arizona passed its anti-immigration law in the spring, it said it was doing so because the federal government…
New York Times
Will 2010 be the Year States say Enough is Enough?
For decades, government employees at every level have received steadily increasing compensation—including salary, pensions, and health care benefits—thanks to the political clout of public employee…
News Release
Let Comcast-NBC/Universal Merge
Tomorrow the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet will conduct a field hearing questioning “Who Benefits?” from the proposed…
Newsletter
Federal Spending, Free Trade and the Regulation Round-up
The House of Representatives passes a non-binding resolution to limit government spending. The Obama White House belatedly discovers the virtues of free trade. For those…
New York Times
Regulatory Flights of Fancy
In Washington, D.C., everything old is new again. Keynes is back as the defunct economist our politicians are in thrall to, wind and solar…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: May – June 2010
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the May-June 2010 issue: Collective…
Staff & Scholars
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Richard Morrison
Senior Fellow
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Capitalism and Free Enterprise
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
Ryan Young
Senior Economist
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform