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Cutting Corners and Nickel-and-Diming Customers
In macroeconomics, the “circular flow of income” refers to the continuous flow of money between producers and consumers in the economy. Producers provide goods and…
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FTC declares mergers to be union-busting
In a classic case of regulatory creep, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently asserted jurisdiction over labor unions and collective bargaining. The agency is…
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This week in ridiculous regulations: Baby formula waivers and phonorecords
The 2023 Federal Register became the second-largest ever, dating back to 1936. A new CEI study makes the case for reforming administrative law…
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Obama Runs Up Largest Budget Deficit in American History; Monthly Deficit Alone Exceeds Entire Annual Deficit for 2007 Under Bush
“The Obama Administration has run up the largest budget deficit in American history in February of 2010, a whopping total of $220.9 Billion in just…
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Regulation of the Day 125: Salt
Assemblyman Ortiz has introduced legislation that would “make it illegal for restaurants to use salt in the preparation of food. Period.” A $1,000 fine would…
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The Hidden Costs of Health Care Reform: “Obamacare Is A Budgetary Disaster”
The health care bills backed by President Obama will cost $2.3 trillion, not the $900 billion Obama claims, and will be a “…
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Obama’s Policies Will Increase National Debt by $9.7 trillion, Says Congressional Budget Office
“President Obama’s policies would add more than $9.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, congressional budget analysts said Friday. . .The 10-year…
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Regulation of the Day 123: Donating Blood
If you’re gay, you can’t donate blood. It’s illegal. Rather than screening donors for sexual preference, they should be screened for blood-borne diseases. Straight people…
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The Internet as medical diagnostic tool scores again!
I was having extreme itching in my toes that I’ve never experienced before. I reconstructed the circumstances under which it arose, plugged them in, and…
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Conning the can makers regarding bisphenol A
A Washington Post A1 article, “Alternatives to BPA containers not easy for U.S. foodmakers to find,” makes the case very nicely. The plastic hardening…
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Regulation of the Day 117: Hot Dogs
The AAP says hot dogs are a choking hazard for children. According to the data, Little Timmy is literally more likely to be struck by…
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Bisphenol baloney takes another hit
In a provocatively entitled paper in the current issue of the prestigious journal Toxicological Sciences, Richard M. Sharpe asks “Is It Time to End…
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Swine flu and heterosexual AIDS
About 57 million Americans, or something less than a fifth of the population, have contracted swine flu since April, the CDC says, of whom…
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Flu Report Feb. 12 – What Swine Flu ISN’T Doing
As the CDC’s FluView Web site puts it, “During the week of January 31 – February 6, 2010, most key flu indicators remained about…
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A disease cluster scare implodes; a new one is born
Yesterday I wrote that a scare over a scleroderma cluster in South Boston had been resolved when the state department of health found no…
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Regulation of the Day 112: Importing Pork Rinds
The federal government is loosening its restrictions on importing pork rinds from Brazil.
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Another “man-made” disease cluster solved
What man-made pollutants were causing the mysterious cluster of scleroderma in South Boston? Scleroderma is a rare, incurable, sometimes fatal illness that hardens muscles and…
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“Health Care Freedom” Bills Pass Virginia Senate
The Virginia State Senate passed “health care freedom” bills giving citizens the right not to be forced to buy health insurance. This sets…
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Yes, WHO faked a pandemic and is now lying about it, my Forbes article
The World Health Organization has suddenly gone from crying “The sky is falling!” like a cackling Chicken Little to squealing like a stuck pig. The…
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Flu Report Feb. 5 – What Swine Flu ISN’T Doing
Here’s an amazing fact. Traditionally flu season peaks in mid-February. Essentially now. Yet in mid-October CDC labs reported 11,908 positive flu samples. This past week…
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“Killer Cans And Toxic Baby Bottles,” my piece in Investor’s Business Daily
Should we worry about a common chemical almost all of us carry in our bodies that activists claim causes a list of diseases longer…
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John Stossel salutes my swine flu work
[Herewith his blog for Fox Business, titled “Swine Flu Hysteria.” I agree with him about the pharmaceutical companies. As I’ve written elsewhere, in…
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Why scientific arguments don’t go very far anymore
Do vaccines cause autism? Here’s your answer. Jenny McCarthy, by virtue of being a former Playboy Playmate who claims her son had autism but that…
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Flu Update Jan. 29: What Swine Flu ISN’t Doing
Deaths down, hospitalizations down, infections reported to CDC-surveillance labs down. Again the usual disclaimer that this probably represents a time lag in reporting and…
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Brit M.D. who tied MMR vaccine to autism acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly”
The doctor who first suggested a link between MMR vaccinations and autism – and subsequently made rates of measles and other diseases skyrocket – acted…
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WHO swine flu chief caught twice lying about pre-fab pandemic
Even before the World Health Organization declared its phony pandemic last summer, its designated fibber-in-chief has been Keiji Fukuda. Yet I’ve never been able to…
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Flu expert slams WHO pandemic panic-mongering in German magazine interview
I missed this interview when it came out in the German magazine Der Spiegel in July, but it’s still relevant. Unfortunately, even though the…
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“The Hole in the EPA’s Ozone Claims,” my piece in Forbes Online
To the EPA, “safe” is a constantly moving target—and that’s the way it likes it. Always something new to regulate, always a new hobgoblin from…
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WHO squealing like a pig over charges it fabricated the flu “pandemic”
The WHO has suddenly gone from a cackling Chicken Little crying “The Sky is Falling!” to squealing like a stuck pig, in response to charges…
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Regulation of the Day 104: Haggis
Haggis is the national dish of Scotland. It has also been banned in the United States since 1989. Fortunately, the ban may soon be reversed.
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Flu Watch Jan. 24, 2010 – Swine flu appears to be sweeping aside seasonal flu
Reported infections, deaths, hospitalizations all down. Again, though, when adjusted for the time lag they were probably the same as last week. The only…
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Populism, jobs and the economy — where do we go from here?
Scott Brown’s decisive victory in the Massachusetts Senate race has upturned the Democrats’ Progressive agenda. Brown, “the people’s seat” senator, had a resonant message…
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Why does everybody think BPA is safe but us?
Regarding the ubiquitous plastic ingredient bisphenol A (BPA), my colleague Angela Logomasini blogged that “The greens are rejoicing today because the Food and Drug…
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Regulation of the Day 101: Brushing Teeth After Meals
[A]ny child who has a meal in day care or is in care for more than four hours will be required to brush their teeth,…
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More swine flu hysteria apologism – “a stunning public health success”
In response to my Philadelphia Inquirer piece “Swine Flu Epidemic Ends with a Whimper,” predictably public health community members have squealed that the only…
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“Swine Flu Epidemic ends with a Whimper,” my Philly Inquirer piece
Hidden within the latest edition of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s FluView was this sentence: “The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and…
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Flu Watch Jan. 14 – What Swine Flu ISN’T Doing this week
Infections are down, hospitalizations are down and deaths are the same. But given the reporting time lag it should prove that these were…
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Health Insurance and Campaign Contributions
$40 million and change plus some antitrust troubles is a really small price to pay for a legal guarantee of vastly increased business, forever.
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New York Salt-Slashing Op-Ed in NY Post
Here is my op-ed published in the New York Post on January 13th. As-salt on science On Monday, city officials rolled out an initiative…
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Experts Question Enormous Cost and Constitutionality of Healthcare Legislation
The health care legislation backed by the president and congressional leaders will increase Americans’ health care costs by more than $200 billion,…
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Gag me. Public health establishment takes credit for mildness of swine flu season
Inevitably when pandemic doom fails to pan out, whether it be heterosexual AIDS, SARS, avian flu, or anything else the public health establishment that panicked…
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Regulation of the Day 99: Salty New Yorkers
New York City is seeking to regulate how much salt is in peoples' food. Enforcement will prove difficult; most food that New Yorkers eat comes…
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“Homer doughnut. Bacon doughnut. Paradise.”
Thus says Morgan Spurlock in The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special. When I first heard that Spurlock, whose most renowned contribution to film is a leftish…
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Flu Watch Jan. 8 – What Swine Flu ISN’T Doing this week
These things just keep getting briefer and briefer. Infections down, deaths down to only 14, states with widespread activity: just one. Updating you on…
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Nobel Prize Winning Economist Says Obama Policies Delaying Economic Recovery
In the Wall Street Journal, Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker and others explain how President Obama’s policies are delaying and retarding the inevitable economic…
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Regulation of the Day 98: Gastrointestinal Drugs
Did you know that the federal government has a Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee?…
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Positively bad thinking
“Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now,” says George Clooney’s “termination engineer” to just-fired employees in the…
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“Was Swine Flu a False Pandemic?”
No, that’s not Michael Fumento asking. It’s a pharmaceutical industry blog declaring, “That’s the contention by more than a dozen members of the Parliamentary…
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Flu Watch Dec. 30 – What Swine Flu ISN’T Doing
It’s a holiday so we’ll make this quick. Infections have somehow managed to drop again as have deaths and hospitalizations. Just 15 deaths reported…
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Florida Attorney General Questions Constitutionality of Healthcare Bills in Congress
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is questioning whether it is constitutional to force people to buy health insurance, as the health…
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Swine flu also unexceptional in contagiousness
With a massive amount of data indicating swine flu is vastly milder than seasonal flu, a new study in the New England Journal of…
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No, yet again, cell phones do not cause cancer
If you’re getting a headache from spending to much time on your cell phone, it’s probably from yakking too much. But it’s not from brain…
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Is ObamaCare’s “Individual Mandate” Unconstitutional?
The health care bills backed by the President require that individuals buy health insurance if it is not provided by their employer. Is that unconstitutional?…
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Flu Watch Dec. 24 – The U.S. Epidemic is Over
The Big Scare of 2009 is over, folks. The U.S. swine flu epidemic has ended. “The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I)…
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Washington Post Back to Pushing Avian Flu Panic
Remember avian flu? Until swine flu came along, that’s what was going to wipe out mankind.
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Regulation of the Day 82: Veterinarians
Did you know that the federal government is in the veterinary accreditation business? It’s true.
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File this under “Shocked, shocked!”
“Experts predict flu pandemic could be mildest on record” declares the Washington Post headline. Unless, that is, you use the old definition of pandemic…
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“WHO Should Just Give Up on the Flu Scare,” my National Post piece
The folks who dubbed the swine flu piglet a pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO), just won’t let up. “It is too early to say…
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Flu Watch Dec. 4 – What Swine Flu ISN’T Doing this Week
The epidemic has plunged so far that it’s on the borderline of no longer being one. An epidemic, that is. It’s right on the…
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What about a “second wave” of swine flu?
Mr. Fumento, I read your articles religiously. You recently attacked swine flu as hysterical overreaction. Is it really? You talk about a bell curve…
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Regulation of the Day 77: Banning Toys in Happy Meals
Roberto Zabrido, a government official in Spain, is “adamant that the Happy Meal and its ilk pose a risk.” The solution? Legislation!…
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Regulation of the Day 76: Generic Medication for Farm Animals
If you put chlortetracycline powder in your farm animals’ drinking water to prevent disease, please be aware that a new federal rule now allows you…
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“Would ObamaCare Reduce Innovation?”: Health Care Bill Would Cause Preventable Deaths
“Would ObamaCare Kill Medical Innovation?” That’s the question posed by health care expert Michael Cannon. His answer is yes: “President Obama’s…
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Moderates Criticize Health Care Bill As It Advances in Senate; Experts Gave Bill A “Failing Grade”
On Saturday, the Senate voted 60-to-39, along party lines, to press towards passage of a massive health care bill, by blocking a…
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Healthcare Bill Advances in Senate, Despite Receiving Failing Grade from Health Experts; Democrats Block Filibuster in Party-Line Vote
The healthcare bill is on the verge of passing the Senate, despite the fact that it has received a failing grade from healthcare experts like…
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Flu Report Nov. 21 and my piece on the epidemic peak in NRO.
“Swine flu has killed 540 kids, sickened 22 million Americans,” screamed USA Today’s page 1 headline, sub-headed “CDC: Cases, Deaths are Unprecedented.” “Swine flu cases…
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Reid Health Care Bill Adds New Tax Increases, Costs Twice As Much As Promised
The health care “reform” bill drafted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid adds new tax increases, and costs twice as much as its…
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Not sure what DDT does to birds, but I know how it helps people
There’s been much in the news lately about the brown pelican being delisted as an endangered species since its recovery from the effects of…
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Harvard Medical School Dean Gives ObamaCare a “Failing Grade”
"In discussions with dozens of health-care leaders and economists, I find near unanimity of opinion that the final legislation that will emerge from Congress will…
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Senate Committee Rubberstamps Left-Wing Ideologue to Head Powerful OSHA Agency Despite His Anti-Gun and Pro-Junk-Science Views
David Michaels, a left-wing ideologue who supports junk science and seeks to restrict gun possession, has been approved by the Senate Health Committee…
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Oyster Ban Update: Partial Victory!
The ban, due to take effect in 2011, has not been repealed outright. But, in response to public outcry, it has been delayed.
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Health-Care “Reform” Bills Increase Costs, Endanger Access for Millions, Federal Experts Say
The healthcare “reform” bill backed by Obama “would reduce senior care,” and “could jeopardize access to care for millions,” report healthcare…
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Regulation of the Day 72: Brass Toys, Killer of Children
Toymakers presumably choose brass because it is cheap, durable, and better than alternative materials. Now they will have to turn to those second-best materials despite…
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Yes, I will be posting about the new CDC swine flu estimates
At a glance, though, the estimates look okay it’s the spin and the lack of perspective that I have trouble with. And while the media…
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Regulation of the Day 71: Waistlines
In Japan, it is illegal for men to have a waist larger than 33.5 inches. The limit for women is 35.4 inches. Those in violation…
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Insurance Industry Stung By Health Care Deal
The CEO of the National Association of Health Underwriters has an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal whining that a weak individual purchase mandate is…
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Get more doctors — get rid of H-1B visa cap
CEI’s champion of letter-writing, Alex Nowrasteh, has a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal today advocating removing the cap on H-1B…
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Flu Watch Nov. 7 – What Swine Flu Isn’t Doing This Week
Well, what swine flu isn’t doing this week is apparently less than what it wasn’t doing last week. In other words, it appears to have…
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Swine flu “survivor” speaks out on media hysteria
From a letter to the editor of the Washington Post: It is ridiculous that The Post has dedicated so much of the A section…
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Flu Watch Oct. 31 – What swine flu ISN’T doing this week
It’s Halloween, and the monster at the door is swine flu. Or so we’re told. Yet again. And people respond accordingly. “I’ve never seen it…
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NY Guv orders state of panic over swine flu
Emulating the Obama Administration, New York Gov. David Paterson has “declared a state of emergency, saying a recent rise in swine flu cases has created…
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Why did Obama declared a swine flu “emergency” with no emergency?
As I note in my Investor’s Business Daily article, swine flu cases in the last seven months, according to the CDC, equal about four…
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Regulation of the Day 67: Oysters
A new FDA rule requires oysters harvested between April and October to be sterilized before they are eaten. An unintended consequence is that the state…
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“Public Option” Is a Gimmick That Won’t Improve Healthcare
In the Washington Post, Robert J. Samuelson explains in the “Public Plan Mirage” how the so-called “public option” contained in congressional health-care reform bills…
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Obama’s swine flu “emergency” declaration
It’s a bunch of hog droppings. Watch for my upcoming article. In the meantime, read here on why we should not panic.
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Widening a highway is both an environmental AND civil rights issue?
Was a time when “civil rights” meant things like equal opportunities in employment and schooling for racial and ethnic minorities. And “environmental” meant something affecting…
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A Cure Worse than the Disease
As I explain in a new CEI paper, which is out today, most of the alleged cost-cutting measures in the Baucus bill merely shift costs…
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Fumento yells “Sooo-eeeee!” on Liddy
I bent G. Gordon Liddy’s ears back today on his radio show (easy to find them, given his lack of hair) on my current…
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More Hypocrisy Regarding FTC Blog Regulations
Michael Masnick at Techdirt offers up another incidence of government inconsistency in light of the FTC’s blog-watching rules, reminding us that “…
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Banning Bake Sales
The American Enterprise Institute held a panel discussion yesterday on food safety. They discussed congressional proposals aimed at addressing contaminants in our food,…
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Health Insurer Competition and Democratic Saber Rattling
Last week, after the industry association America’s Health Insurance Plans released a study showing that premiums would rise 18 percent under the Senate Finance Committee’s…
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Weekly Flu Watch IV – What swine flu ISN’T doing
Total deaths since Aug. 30 from “Influenza and Pneumonia-Associated” illness are 2,029 reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site…
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“The Pandemic Is Political,” my article in Forbes Online
As evidence continues to mount that swine flu is more of a piglet than a raging razorback, why isn’t curiosity mounting as to why the…
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Regulation Not Worth Its Salt
A recent study by University of California, Davis nutritionists concludes that it may not even be possible to reduce salt intake through regulation.
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Robert Reich Gets It
Some of the consequences of increasing government’s role in health care are easy predict.
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Silencing Criticism through Libel Law
The physicist turned science journalist Simon Singh has been sued in a UK court and, this past summer, found liable for libel for an April…
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Senate Finance Passes Health Reform Bill
Earlier today, Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Me.) announced that she would vote in favor of the health care reform bill authored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman…
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No “Weekly Flu Watch” this week
See instead my article “Swine Flu: the Real Threat Is Panic,” from the New York Post .
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How did the President’s Council swine flu scenario measure up?
Sorta depends on who you ask. The read about the flu in the mainstream media, you would think men are going through the streets with…
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CBO report: new taxes will balance Baucus health care bill
Those pushing the Senate health care bill were ecstatic when the Congressional Budget Office reported that the bill “would result in a net…
News Release
Time to End “Mad Cow” Madness
Washington, D.C., December 1, 2004—The Competitive Enterprise Institute joins President Bush in calling for an end to the unnecessary and harmful ban on importation of…
News Release
The Politics Behind Pesticides and the West Nile Virus
In a new study published by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, author Angela Logomasini exposes how environmental activists are opposing vital efforts to combat the deadly…
Comment
CEI’s Angela Logomasini Testifies Before The Consumer Product Safety Commission On The Use Of Chromated Copper Arsenate In
Comments of Angela Logomasini, Director of Risk and Environmental Policy, Competitive Enterprise Institute Before the Consumer…