The Competitive Enterprise Institute believes the proper role for government is to provide consumers with accurate, unbiased guidance that informs consumer choice. But, whether it is the substances we prefer, how we entertain ourselves, what dietary habits we maintain, or how we pursue personal health, consumers ought to have the right to make decisions for themselves.
Consumer Freedom Issue Areas
Featured Posts
![21 cents worth of stupid in the Department of Energy’s latest stove proposal](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GettyImages-1332985903-578x324-c-default.jpg)
Blog
21 cents worth of stupid in the Department of Energy’s latest stove proposal
The good news is that the Biden Department of Energy’s (DOE) latest proposed efficiency regulation for residential stoves is considerably less damaging to consumers…
![This week in ridiculous regulations: food hazards and powerline permits](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Power-lines-578x324-c-default.jpg)
Blog
This week in ridiculous regulations: food hazards and powerline permits
Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in his hush money case. Apparently nothing else of note happened all week, since that was the only…
![California’s $20 fast food worker minimum wage a regressive tax](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-688056784-scaled-578x324-c-default.jpg)
Blog
California’s $20 fast food worker minimum wage a regressive tax
California’s new $20 an hour minimum wage for fast food restaurants has turned into a regressive tax on the state’s low-income residents. People who wanted…
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NH Insider
Congress May Roll Dice and Legalize Internet Gambling
CNET
Congress May Roll Dice and Legalize Internet Gambling
CNET
Monday’s SCOTUS Decision Sickening
The Supreme Court has just held that violent juveniles cannot be given a life sentence without the opportunity for parole, unless they succeed in…
News Release
House Eyes Internet Gambling Reform
As the House Ways and Means Committee prepares for a hearing Wednesday on potential revenue from regulated Internet gambling, analysts at the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
Supreme Court Overturns Life Sentences Without Parole for Violent Juveniles, Citing “International Opinion”
The Supreme Court has just held that violent juveniles cannot be given a life sentence without the opportunity for parole, unless they succeed in killing…
Blog
Growing Battle on Anti-Consumer Wine Reguations
Today, the New York Post ran my article on regulations against wine sales in grocery stores. Unfortunately, New York’s silly regulations are just…
Newsletter
Energy Legislation, Facebook Privacy and Wine Regulations
Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) unveil their long-delayed energy bill. Executives at Facebook hold a high-level meeting to…
CNET
New York Needs to Relax on Wine
New York liquor retailers oppose Gov. Pater son’s proposal to let supermarkets sell wine — but it would be a clear winner for everyone…
Blog
Democrats Block Reform of Corrupt Mortgage Giants; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Will Receive Billions More in Bailouts for Government-Sponsored Enterprises
In a party-line, 56-to-43 vote yesterday, Senate Democrats blocked any reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the corrupt, government-backed mortgage giants that…
Blog
ObamaCare Deeply Unpopular: Democratic Congressman Who Voted for Health Care Bill Loses Primary Election
ObamaCare is so unpopular in West Virginia that veteran Democratic Congressman Alan Mollohan lost reelection in yesterday’s Democratic primary to a state senator who…
Newsletter
Free Trade, Chemical Safety and Internet Gambling
A bipartisan letter urges President Obama to pass our stalled free trade agreement with South Korea. Fenton Communications is warning consumers to stay away from…
Blog
The Enviro-Left Machine in Action
Fenton Communications has a long history of work within the left-wing advocacy apparatus. I’m delighted to see a great addition to the blogosphere, the…
Blog
The Toyota Hobgoblin, my piece in today’s Philly Inquirer
‘The whole aim of practical politics,” wrote H.L. Mencken, “is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing…
Blog
Mortgage Giant Seeks Another $8.4 Billion in Bailouts, After Obama Lifts $400 Billion Limit on Bailouts for Government-Sponsored Enterprises
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae is seeking another $8.4 billion in federal bailout money, after the Obama administration earlier lifted a $400 billion limit…
Blog
Friday Regulation Roundup
In Yukon, Oklahoma, it is illegal for a patient to pull a dentist's tooth, plus more.
Blog
General Motors Accused of Fraud Over Misleading Claim That It Paid Back Taxpayers; CEI Files FTC Complaint
The Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a complaint today against General Motors with the Federal Trade Commission, over…
Blog
The NEW reason for fomenting pig flu panic – “Use up those vaccines!”
According to Reuters, the U.S. has 71 million unused H1N1 swine flu vaccine doses. And damned if it isn’t determined to use up every…
Blog
Bogus Financial “Reform” Bill Regulates Internet, Does Nothing About Corrupt Government-Sponsored Mortgage Giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The so-called financial “reform” bill backed by President Obama gives federal bureaucrats new powers over the Internet, while doing nothing about the corrupt government-backed…
Newsletter
Global Warming Endangerment, Free Expression, and the War on Salt
The Senate will soon battle over Lisa Murkowski’s resolution challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s “endangerment finding” on global warming. The Supreme Court overturns a ban…
Blog
Goldman Sachs Endorses Trojan-Horse Financial “Reform” Bill; Bill Has Payoffs for Special Interests
The CEO of Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street firm accused of fraud by the SEC, has endorsed…
Blog
FDA Salt Statement Leaves a “Mistaken Impression”
Some 80 years ago this month, Mahatma Gandhi led tens of thousands on a 240-mile march in protest against a British salt tax, inciting millions…
Blog
ObamaCare Vastly Expands IRS Red Tape and Power, Raises Medical and Insurance Costs, Taxes, and Deficits, and Harms Very Sick People
“Billions of more documents” will be have to be filled out by small businesses for the IRS so that a “spendthrift Congress can shake…
Blog
As financial vote fails in Senate, Florida shows how to really protect consumers from deception
Yesterday, the Senate failed to achive the 60 votes necessary to move forward on the Restoring American Financial Stablity Act. All Republicans present and Sen.
Blog
ObamaCare Will Raise Insurance Premiums and Health Care Costs, Perhaps Bankrupt Hospitals, Federal Officials Admit
“Economic experts from President Obama’s own Health and Human Services Department have released a devastating report noting that Obamacare ‘will increase national health care…
Blog
Michael Specter and The danger of market denial
Michael Specter, a journalist who’s also an excellent speaker, appeared at the last TED conference. Specter is technologically optimistic but has accepted many…
Newsletter
Financial Regulation, Online Gambling and Chewing Tobacco
The Senate is set to vote on Senate Banking Committer Chairman Chris Dodd's bill to extend financial regulation. A new study estimates that the ban…
Blog
Online Gambling Could Have Brought $150 billion and 32,000 jobs to the US
In the past five years since the de facto ban on Internet gambling (congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006) the US…
Blog
Center-Right Coalition Letter Opposes Toxic Provisions in Dodd Bill
Below is a letter sent today to the Senate that was signed by several prominent groups in the Center-Right Coalition expressing “grave concerns about the…
Blog
Obama Uses Phony Rhetoric About Financial ‘Reform’ to Push Bill That Enriches Special Interests and Perpetuates Bailouts
President Obama has collected millions from Wall Street special interests, his administration is chock full of Wall…
Blog
Internet Gambling Catches Second Wind
Pokerati.com reports that Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is working on a new bill (one of many in the past year) to legalize…
Blog
Waxman baseball tobacco ban not worth chewing on
Major League Baseball should ban players from using smokeless tobacco in dugouts and on the field because of its health risks and influence on kids,…
Blog
General Motors Repays Tiny Portion of Taxpayers’ $50 Billion Bailout; Obama Backers Bash Critics of Bailout
President Obama’s tax-cheat treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, is trumpeting the fact that General Motors has paid back…
Blog
“Basic needs” need to be regulated, say Dems
Reason’s Ron Bailey, in an “I told you so” article today, points out that Senate Democrats are poised to support a bill that would…
Blog
Earth Day Agriculture and Sustainable Intensification
What’s the most sustainable way to grow the food we eat? The answer environmentalists give is always "local and organic." But, increasingly, the answer from…
Blog
The End of Anti-Discrimination Discrimination?
Affirmative action proponents face a battle this Monday when the Supreme Court hears Christian Legal Society vs. Martinez. The challenger argues that a…
Blog
Congressional Bill Threatens Direct Shipping of Wine
This week, the National Beer Wholesalers Association members descend on Washington for their annual legislative conference and lobbying visits to Congress. High on…
Blog
Food Fight Over a Living Relic of the Past
There’s an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today on a big new…
Blog
Food Safety Vote Threatens Food Safety
This week, the Senate may vote on an amendment to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act that could undermine the integrity of the U.S. food…
Blog
Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on Depictions of Animal Cruelty
In an 8-to-1 ruling, the Supreme Court has struck down a ban on depictions of animal cruelty as a violation…
Blog
Pennsylvania’s perpetual prohibition
Philadelphians love our beer. Especially our little niche-serving craft-beers. The city of brewerly love has produced some of the countries best-loved brands and…
Newsletter
Salt Police, Pensions and Union Contracts
The FDA is launching a new initiative to limit the amount of salt in processed food. The White House task force on the middle class…
News Release
FDA Salt Initiative Leaves Bitter Aftertaste
Washington, D.C., April 20 – Statement of Daniel Compton, Policy Analyst, on the Food and Drug Administration’s plans to impose legal restrictions on the…
Blog
Hate mail from an M.D. regarding my AOL News piece, “Did WHO Knowingly Hype Swine Flu?”
Dear Mr. Fumento: Well, if you wish to destroy the credibility of the WHO, publishing a few more articles like the most recent one…
Blog
Trojan Horse Financial “Reform” Bill Enriches Goldman Sachs, Rips Off Taxpayers
The Obama administration and Congressional leaders are pushing a trojan-horse financial “reform” bill that would enrich the wealthy and powerful investment bank Goldman Sachs, which…
Newsletter
Stevens’ Legal Legacy, Goldman Sachs and Internet Gambling
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is retiring. The SEC is charging Goldman Sachs with securities fraud. Opponents of internet gambling are circulating a memo…
Blog
Justice Stevens Retires; Left-Wing Law Professor Nominated to Federal Appeals Court
Justice John Paul Stevens, the leader of the Supreme Court’s liberal bloc, is retiring. His most famous ruling is probably the 5-to-4 Kelo decision, which…
Blog
Online gambling opponents play the Abramoff card
Gambling as an activity for fun has been around since the dawn of human civilzation. When man first discovered fire, there were probably cavemen…
Blog
USDA may increase sugar quotas
The Wall Street Journal reported today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture may increase the import quotas for sugar to address a tightening supply…
Blog
Green Thumbs and GMOs
A friend just recommended this op-ed published in the Boston Globe on Sunday. The title and subtitle say it all: "Green Thumbs: Genetically engineered crops…
CNET
Short-Sighted Ban Endangers Food Supply
This week, the Senate may vote on an amendment to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act that could undermine the integrity of the U.S.
Blog
Toyota’s “questionable, evasive, and deceptive legal tactics”
“Toyota has routinely engaged in questionable, evasive and deceptive legal tactics when sued, frequently claiming it does not have information it is required to turn…
Newsletter
Pub Restrictions, Tax Freedom Day and Turmoil in Kyrgyzstan
UK regulators are punishing pub owners for promoting happy hour specials and drinking games. April 9th is Tax Freedom Day, statistically the day Americans have…
Blog
Friday Regulation Roundup
It is illegal in Kentucky for anyone under 18 to play pool without photo ID and written parental consent.
Blog
Fannie and Freddie finally called to Crisis Commission
It is good that the commission, after several months, is finally visiting the role of Government-Sponsored Enterprises, but the setup of today’s hearing is still…
Blog
Rent Seekers Keep it Phony
Why does industry sometimes (all too often) support government regulation? You would think they would prize their freedom. But think again. Many businesses are willing…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 132: Fire Sprinklers
Cries for tax simplification grow every year. How does Congress respond? By introducing legislation to "amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to classify automatic…
Blog
U.S. avoids Brazil’s retaliatory tariffs — for now
With Brazil poised to retaliate against the U.S. for its cotton subsidies that were deemed unfair by the World Trade Organization, the two countries…
Blog
States Expand Gambling as Feds Attack It
Last week the Tax Foundation called attention to state initiatives to expand the lottery system. To cover lost revenues from the recession many states…
Blog
The BPA Myth – continued
I have an article today on both NRO and NPR about the environmental establishment’s continued war on science as it relates to the…
CNET
The BPA Myth
On Thursday, April 1, Time published a list of the “ten most common household toxins,” focused on plastics. It claimed, “Chemicals in plastics and…
Blog
Nanny State Prevails on Maryland Wine Laws
Legislators in Maryland have disappointed the state’s wine lovers yet again by failing to pass a bill that would have allowed residents to receive wine…
Blog
D.C. area poll shows, once again, OTHER Americans are crummy drivers
Why are people killed in Toyotas? Because a huge number of Americans are killed by motor vehicles of all types and Toyota has been the…
Blog
CDC dumping swine flu vaccine – after media dumped the truth
What do you get from a phony flu scare? Among other things, lots of worthless vaccine. “Despite months of dire warnings and millions in taxpayer…
Blog
Car buyers rejecting “Toyota Terror” accusations
“Terror on the Roads: Runaway Toyotas,” was the title of an entry on a prominent Brazilian blog March 31. But today Toyota Motor Sales…
Blog
Menthol cigarettes aren’t cool to the FDA
In what could be one of its most paternalistic moves, the Food and Drug Administration is considering banning menthol in cigarettes – not because…
Blog
Coming Soon: The Auto Purchase Mandate
As threatened, the new CAFE standards have arrived, with the EPA muscling in on territory reserved by statute to the Transportation Department. As Marlo Lewis…
Blog
Regulatory Problem, Regulatory Solution?
A dying patient in the UK's NHS made the news after nurses refused to bring him a glass of water, despite his repeated begging. Had…
Blog
“How a pit bull is like a Prius,” my Philly Inquirer article today
What could pit bulls possibly have in common with Toyotas? Pit bulls, after all, tend to be smaller and furrier. And whatever you do, never…
Blog
Republicans Will Lose Many Seats in Congress Due to Right-Wing Paranoia About the Census
Republicans will lose many seats in Congress due to right-wing paranoia about the census and refusal to fill out Census forms, gloats the liberal…
Blog
Barack Obama and Liberal “Good” vs. Freedom
There's a great op-ed by Shelby Steele in today's Wall Street Journal, called "Barack the Good". In it, Steele argues that "today's liberalism is focused…
Blog
“Are some reporters lying in their Toyota coverage?” my Canadian Free Press article
I’ve shown clearly that reporters are acting with reckless disregard for the truth in the Toyota sudden acceleration feeding frenzy since my Los Angeles…
Blog
Gaia’s creator in The Guardian — science scandals, skeptics, and “a more authoritarian world”
In a lengthy interview in The Guardian yesterday, James Lovelock, scientist and inventor, prominent global warming advocate, and originator of the Gaia theory,…
Blog
On the Hill: Anti-Consumer Wine Shipping Regulations
You may have missed this news item, but recently the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy held hearings on alcohol regulation and the…
Blog
Gene Patents Ruled Invalid
In a pretty remarkable move, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York yesterday held that genes can not be patented…
Blog
Millions of Seniors to be Dumped from Health Plans Due to New Health Care Law
Two million seniors are expected to be dumped onto Medicare from company prescription medication plans, thanks to a poorly-vetted provision of…
Blog
The things I endure to get a story!
If you think I was tough for embedding in Iraq’s meanest city a year after having my guts blown out in another part of…
Blog
“Why Do Toyotas Hate the Elderly? my article in Forbes Online
It was the Camry in a car wash nightmare. With her two grandchildren in the car, Doris Dresner went through the wash in Columbia, Mo.,…
Blog
“How Media Took Us For A Ride In A Prius,” my IBD piece
For three days, James Sikes held America’s highest honor: victim. The nation had been transfixed by his almost half-hour-long 94-mph horror ride in his runaway…
Blog
Attorney Generals Challenge ObamaCare; New Health Care Law Increases State Budget Deficits, Imposes Marriage Penalties
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and a dozen other attorneys general have filed lawsuits challenging the new health care law signed…
New York Times
Calorie Data to Be Posted at Most Chains
Blog
Health Care- Fix middle-class “medicine cabinet tax” in reconciliation
“They won’t be so opposed to it once they see what’s in it.” That’s the rationalization House leaders have given skittish Democrats to get them…
Blog
Health Care Crisis About to Get a Whole Lot Worse
In just a few hours, the House of Representatives will vote on the $940 billion Senate health care bill, followed by a reconciliation package of…
Blog
Media falsely claiming CHP report backs Toyota Prius hoaxer’s claim
Over a week after I exposed the “Toyota Hybrid Horror Hoax” at Forbes. com, the press (as opposed to some TV networks, talk radio,…
Blog
New Taxes on Investors in Obamacare, and Massive Marriage Penalties, Too
The new tax on investors in the health care bill has been increased from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent, but only a few media…
Blog
Health Care Bill Would Vastly Expand IRS Power; CBO Ordered to Base Cost Estimate on False Assumptions
“House health care bill dangerously expands IRS power,” say a tax law professor and GOP leaders. The Washington Examiner says that “16,500 more…
Blog
Breaking the 3-Tier Bureaucracy
This week, Fermentation blogger Tom Wark rightly laments the three tier system that states use to regulate alcohol commerce. He notes: “the three-tier…
Blog
Governors Criticize Health Care Bill for Increasing Unemployment and State Budget Deficits; Tax Increases and Medicare Cuts in Bill Rise
Governors are now criticizing the health care bill backed by the Obama administration, saying it will cause health care costs and state deficits to…
Blog
Is There No Adult Supervision at the Campaign for Liberty?
My colleagues brought to my attention this grossly misinformed, misleading, and error-laden essay on the Campaign for Liberty’s website. The main thrust of the piece…
Blog
Some U.K. government ads on global warming too scary
“Is global warming the new apocalypse?” asks The Times of London in an article focusing on children’s fears about global warming in the context…
Blog
Remember the “cancer cluster” that made Erin Brockovich famous? (And rich?)
Erin Brockovich became “America’s Sweetheart” because “she brought a corporation to its knees.” As the story goes, the energy company PG&E was storing chromium 6,…
Blog
My NYPost piece on “sudden acceleration” as an American phenomenon
“No other country in the world has comparable problems with cars accelerating on their own,” observes one of Germany’s top magazines, Der Spiegel — yet…
Blog
Even Associated Press Says “Beware” of Obama’s Health Care Overhaul; Retired Judge Calls Health Care Tactic Unconstitutional
Even the Associated Press admits that President Obama is not telling the truth about his health care plan and how it would affect health…
Blog
Be Careful What You Wish For…
For many years, the climate alarmist movement pushed the development of corn ethanol as the “fuel of the future” on the grounds that it would…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 127: Landscaping
Angelina and Quan Ha, of Orange, CA, ditched their water-hungry grass lawn in 2008 to save money and water. The city promptly sued them.
Blog
Washington Post spreading more misinformation on Prius hoax
The media are still resisting admitting that James Sikes’s Wild Ride was just another Balloon Boy Hoax, in which they played a vital role. Thus…
Blog
Dodd bill punishes Main Street entrepreneurs, rewards Fannie and other high rollers
With the focus this week on health care’s “home stretch” and concerns about government limiting the ability of ordinary Americans to make choices about medical…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 126: Cheese-Rolling Races
Cheese-rolling races have been held at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester, UK since the 1800s. Until this year, that is. Health and safety regulators shut down…
Blog
Increase sugar imports and reduce prices
Today the front page of the Wall Street Journal published an article (subscription required) focusing on the current fight to increase the amount of…
Newsletter
ObamaCare, Alcohol Taxes, and Insurance Companies
David Brooks, who supported Obama in 2008, talks about the hidden costs of health care. Maryland legislators want to raise the tax on alcohol. Supporters…
Blog
ObamaCare’s Enormous Cost Is Hidden by Dishonest Gimmicks, Says New York Times Columnist Who Supported Obama in 2008
New York Times columnist David Brooks, like other columnists at that staunchly liberal newspaper, supported Obama in the 2008 election. But even he can…