There are two main areas in which Congress can enact meaningful reform. The first is to rein in regulatory guidance documents, which we refer to as “regulatory dark matter,” whereby agencies regulate through Federal Register notices, guidance documents, and other means outside standard rulemaking procedure. The second is to enact a series of reforms to increase agency transparency and accountability of all regulation and guidance. These include annual regulatory report cards for rulemaking agencies and regulatory cost estimates from the Office of Management and Budget for more than just a small subset of rules.
In 2019, President Trump signed two executive orders aimed at stopping the practice of agencies using guidance documents to effectively implement policy without going through the legally required notice and comment process.
Featured Posts
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Consumer protection and free speech with Casey Mattox
In this week’s episode we cover the debt load of state and local governments, advances in nuclear waste storage, and hope…
News Release
Update in CEI’s case against Wisconsin’s unconstitutional rule barring voter participation in prediction markets
Yesterday, a District Court denied CEI’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Wisconsin’s rule denying voters the right to participate in election prediction market…
Blog
The regulatory dark matter beyond Washington’s graveyard of rules: 83,141 ghosts and counting
The clocks have turned back, the days are growing darker, and Washington’s regulatory shadows lengthen. Washington’s policy ghouls are waking up to the fact…
Search Posts
Blog
“Spendulus” conference report has passed the House
But thought you might be interested in one congressman’s last-minute appeal to sanity. You, dear reader, are a person things are done to.
Blog
Who Cares About the Consumer?
Electricity consumers beware! The so-called-stimulus bill includes provision for something called “decoupling.” E&E Daily reports: Also included in the final version is a requirement that…
Blog
Wyeth v. Levine: Policy Arguments Regarding Preemption
The Wyeth v. Levine case presents a narrow set of facts in which the Food and Drug Administration had, for many years, known about the…
Blog
Preemption in Wyeth v. Levine: Broader Implications
The legal arguments of the parties, and the incremental approach typical of the Supreme Court, strongly suggest that the Court will issue a narrow legal…
Blog
Uber-Attorney Bert Rein to Guest Blog on Federal Preemption Case
Back in November, I wrote about the pending Supreme Court case Wyeth v. Levine, the decision in which will have a huge impact on the…
Blog
What unlimited government means to you.
Ran across this excerpt from a Wall Street Journal piece that I thought I’d pass along. And this was before the Anti-Stimulus added…
Blog
Coming to a Pharmacy Near You: One Size Fits All
Tucked away in the stimulus bill is $1.1 billion to fund a new agency modeled after the UK’s NICE, which has repeatedly denied Brits access…
Blog
“Porkulus” has no relation to economic recovery; But other reforms do.
Today CEI and other free-enterprise analysts and advocates are making one last pitch to stop the anti-stimulus package that President Obama is likely to…
Blog
Iain Murray on the Anti-Stimulus
On behalf of my distinguished colleague Iain Murray, who is busy speaking at a very important press conference this morning, let me present his…
Newsletter
Stimulus Upon Us, Lethal Wildfires Down Under and Satellite Radio Takes a Hit
Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress reach a deal to spend $789 billion in taxpayer money on “economic stimulus.” The death toll from wildfires in…
Citation
Property insurance reform in Florida
Florida Real Estate Journal
Property insurance reform in Florida
TMC Net
There Being Little Chance of OFC Opponents Being Swayed by ‘New-and-Improved’ Bill
TMC Net
Critics Hitting U.S. Insurance Regulator Bill Proposal
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Critics Hitting U.S. Insurance Regulator Bill Proposal
Op-Eds
Don’t Punish the Shareholders, Too
In justifying a change of policy on negotiating corporate penalties, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, stressed the…
Blog
Environmental Policies Kill – Again!
One of the main themes of my book, The Really Inconvenient Truths, is that misguided environmental policies often lead to humanitarian and environmental disaster.
Newsletter
Senate Stimulus, Geithner’s Banking Plan and a Florida Insurance Bailout
The Senate passes an $838 billion economic stimulus package. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announces a new plan to revitalize troubled U.S. banks. Florida officials look…
Study
Let Credit Unions Lend More
Eli Lehrer makes the case for expanding credit union business lending, which would unlock otherwise idle capital and thereby help create jobs.
News Release
Public Interest Groups Unite to Oppose Stimulus
Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Iain Murray will join representatives from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), the National Taxpayers Union and several other…
Blog
Sirius XM Bankruptcy: Thank Washington for the Delay
Sirius XM Satellite Radio—the company born from the merger of Sirius Satelllite Radio and XM Satellite Radio—has “been working with advisers to prepare for a…
Blog
Stimulus Package Shrinks Economy, Expands Welfare Rolls
The Stimulus Package passed by the Senate will encourage people to stop working and go on welfare, undermining the 1996 welfare reform…
Blog
Championing Economic Liberty in a Time of Crisis
From CEI’s Agenda for Congress: Fred Smith, President and Founder of CEI on the economic crisis, the threat of bad policies, and the real change…
Blog
Geithner’s “bad bank” is a big bad idea: fix bad mark-to-market accounting instead
The Obama’s administration $1 trillion plus bank bailout plan — on top of the $800 billion stimulus that just passed the Senate — will explode…
Blog
No Florida Insurance Bailout
It seems that the state of Florida has overpromised insurance coverage to its citizens in the case of a catastrophic storm, and now is…
Blog
Book-Banning, 21st Century Style
Remember the fuss when it was revealed that Sarah Palin had enquired about removing books from her town library? It would have been so much…
Newsletter
Stocks Drop, Thrift Stores Threatened and Spending Tobacco Money
Stock values drop as investors await the passage of an economic stimulus bill and the new rules and restrictions that it will come with. New…
News Release
Senate Approves Stimulus, Steps off Economic Cliff
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:"";…
Blog
Dickie Scruggs Back in Court
But, alas, not as a litigator – the role that made him rich and famous – but as a defendant. According to Legal Newsline,…
Blog
Amid Recession, Congress Forces Thrift Stores to Close
According to statements from the National Association of Retail & Thrift Shops and the National Association of Manufacturers, a law designed to protect kids…
Blog
Stimulating Comment
Comment from a friend watching Obama’s Indiana town hall promoting the stimulus: “Some chump just told Obama to mail a check to the people who…
Blog
Tilting at Food Safety Windmills
Unfortunately, as long as the world's food production system continues to be highly decentralized and fragmented, there will continue to be foodborne illness outbreaks like…
Blog
Why “doing nothing” is something really big: Stopping the Anti-Stimulus
Robert Higgs, he of the famous “ratchet effect” theory of government growth (up but never down in answer to a crisis), has…
Newsletter
Stimulus Showdown, New SEC Rules and Obama’s Labor Pains
Aides on Capitol Hill prepare for negotiations between House and Senate versions of the economic stimulus bill. New Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Schapiro…
Blog
Broadband Stimulus Cut
Bloomberg is reporting that an agreement on a stimulus package has been reached in the Senate. Included in the compromise was…
Blog
Should the Anti-Stimulus Package be tan or beige?
President Obama more than once last week called it “inexcusable” for Congress to get “bogged down in distraction, delay or politics as usual” over the…
Blog
Today’s Gift to Big Labor
Even as the nomination of Hilda Solis for Labor Secretary remains stalled due to tax and potential ethics rules troubles, organized labor got a…
Blog
Senate Broad Stimulus & Avoiding Federal “Strings”
Aside from the fact that the Senate lacks the necessary votes to pass its version of the stimulus, the bill does…
Blog
Obama’s New Appliance Efficiency Mandates, Consumers Better Run For Cover
President Obama today announced that he is pressuring the Department of Energy (DoE) to speed up some long-delayed efficiency standards for appliances. His move…
Blog
Support for Stimulus Collapses Internationally
Rasmussen reports that support for the borrow-and-spend plan is falling rapidly: The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 37% favor the…
Letters
Oppose the Federal Stimulus Bill
We the undersigned public interest organizations, representing millions of members and supporters nationwide, hereby call upon you to reject the $819 billion spending bill that…
Blog
Obama’s defense of weatherizing homes as “stimulus” with Anderson Cooper on CNN is priceless
The President actually said: –it puts people to work –it saves families on their energy bill –it reduces dependence on foreign oil.
Op-Eds
Eli Lehrer: “The U.S. government has no business taking over banks.”
Nationalize U.S. Banks: In light of the financial crisis, the U.S. should nationalize banks, taking over the most troubled ones. Pro: The…
Letters
No Midnight Rulemaking
Full Document Avalible in PDF Chairman Steve Cohen 1004 Longworth House Office Building Washington DC 20515 February 3, 2009 Dear Chairman Cohen:…
Blog
The Smart Way to Provide Power
It’s not often I disagree with Ron Bailey, but his article about the “Smart Grid” today glosses over the main reason why electric companies…
Blog
Stimulus Plan Repeats Mistakes That Spawned Great Depression
The European Union is threatening a trade war over provisions in the $800 billion “stimulus” package backed by Obama and Congressional leaders. The Great…
Blog
Appetite for Creative Destruction
Duff McKagan of Guns n’ Roses fame is going to be writing on financial matters at Playboy.com. What makes this more interesting than the…
Blog
Renewable Energy Jobs Will Have To Wait
The porcine stimulus bill passed by the House contains $15 billion in capital investments and loan guarantees for renewable energy projects and new electric transmission…
Newsletter
A Plea for Bottled Water, Stimulus to Nowhere and Al Gore’s Venus Envy
Emergency officials in Kentucky put out the call for volunteers and donations of bottled water. Republicans leaders doubt that the federal stimulus spending bill will…
Blog
Len Nichols of NAF on Incentives in Health Care
12:52pm Len Nichols of the New America Foundation is driving down the same “Middle Road” that the last panel plotted out. So far,…
Blog
Heart Docs & Health Reform: What about Regulation?
I’m listening now to a panel discussion at the America College or Cardiology Health System Reform Summit. The panel’s topic: “Health Care Reform: State Models…
Blog
Increasingly Lost Property Rights
Most people probably think “wetlands” should be wet. But not in the view of federal bureaucrats. Land can be perfectly dry–indeed, never have the slightest…
Blog
FACT Check the Internet’s Future
The Future of American Communications (FACT) working group funded by the Media Democracy Fund released its official report on the 26th of January. The report,…
Blog
We’re Here from the Government to Hurt You (the Toymakers)
That old line about “we’re here from the government to help you” always garners a laugh. But small toymakers are crying. Investigative columnist Timothy…
Blog
Unions Stall on EFCA, Advance Elsewhere
The Democratic Congress’s failure to pounce instantly to pass the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), also known as the “card check” bill, presents a…
Blog
Obama Distorts Ledbetter v. Goodyear Case, In Signing Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
In signing his first bill into law, Obama didn’t let facts get in the way of a good story, or milking a political wedge issue.
Blog
COP, America’s Financial Paper Tiger
The Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) recently issued a report on the TARP. This report represents the second in a monthly series of reports to be…
Blog
That Was Fast: Stimulus Passes House
The House of Representatives has just passed the $800-billion stimulus package which President Obama hopes to make a centerpiece of his administration’s early economic…
Newsletter
Stimulus to Nowhere, Banning Cell Phone Cameras and More Money for Ethanol
Republicans on Capitol Hill attack the $825 billion economic stimulus bill championed by President Obama. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) introduces legislation to ban silent cell…
Blog
DeMint’s Smaller-Government Stimulus
This week, Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), in response to President Obama’s stimulus plan, announced his own alternative stimulus package, which David Weigel, at the Washington…
Blog
Kiss Off to Consumers
The appropriations portion of the House stimulus bill is not the only legislation with bad ideas. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has also marked…
Blog
Green Pork
In addition to tens of billions of dollars in the House stimulus bill for infrastructure and other projects to create jobs, there are also funding…
Blog
Apparent Hold on Solis Nomination
The confirmation of Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) as Labor Secretary has run into an unexpected delay, as an unidentified Republican senator appears to have…
News Release
CEI Unveils Agenda for Congress
Washington, D.C., January 26, 2009—With the incoming Obama administration and the opening of the new Congress, the House and Senate are…
Blog
Consumer Product Safety Law Backfires, Killing Thousands of Jobs
A consumer-product safety law recently passed by Congress will drive up the price of children’s clothes and toys and put thousands of small toymakers…
Blog
Regulating Our Way to Recovery
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Tucked in the massive stimulus bill passed by the House Appropriation Committee is a $4.5 billion appropriation for…
Blog
TV Transition follies: Plaguing consumers then and now.
Looks like the “digital television transition” to abandon analog and make high-definition broadcasts the standard is not going to happen as planned, but is…
Blog
The New Green Economy?
I’ve spent a while crunching the numbers relating to energy and environment spending in the stimulus bill. The bill will spend about $80 billion on…
Blog
Avoiding Political Erectile Dysfunction
According to the Congressional Budget Office, “Bailout to Nowhere” money for the proposed new infrastructure stimulus won’t be spent within the next two years–far too…
Blog
The Not So Good, the Bad, and the Really Ugly
Not all stimulus programs are created equal. If the goal of the latest economic bailout package that Congress is considering is as President Elect Obama…
Newsletter
Full Stop on New Regulations, Infrastructure Confusion and the Problem with ‘Priming the Pump ‘
President Obama orders a halt to implementation of all pending federal regulations. President Obama calls for increased spending on roads, bridges and electrical grids. President…
Blog
New Federal Regulation Hits a Full Stop
According to press reports, President Barack Obama has ordered a full stop to all pending federal regulations. Funny, I didn’t hear anything about that…
Blog
Milton Friedman counters Kennedy inaugural–and Obama’s
Before President Barack Obama gave his inaugural address, it had been reported that he was heavily studying John F. Kennedy’s speech at…
Blog
HIGH NOON PASSES–Global Warming Doesn’t Show Up At The Inaugural
Well, the noon temperature in Washington DC at the President Obama’s swearing-in was 28 degrees F., eight degrees colder than when Bush…
Blog
Barack Obama’s ‘Digital Lines’ to Nowhere
When Barack Obama said in his inaugural address, "We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce…
Blog
Bad Economic Metaphors: Priming the Pump
President Obama faces the immediate challenge of getting funds again flowing through the financial system. And, apparently, his advisors are relying on “pump priming”—pouring…
Blog
Whither Union Transparency?
As Barack Obama is sworn in as the nation’s 44th President today, Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) will likely be the next Secretary of Labor. As…
Blog
HIGH NOON–Inauguration Global Warming Temperature Watch
When President Bush leaves office today, will the capital be warmer or colder than when he was sworn in eight years ago? It’s not scientifically…
Blog
Stimulus Bill Lacks Bold Ideas for Reform
USATODAY.com reports that the stimulus plan has swelled to $850 billion but lacks the bold ideas that are needed for the economy to truly…
Blog
PEOTUS Behavioral Targeted Advertising Adventure
The prevention of regulation and the Rule of Law pounding its mighty fist within a medium or sector of business is generally something that is…
Blog
Telecom Lobbyists in the DTV Henhouse?
With the election of a new president and new Democratic majorities in Congress, the era of corporate influence is over in Washington, D.C. Or, at…
Blog
Regulate First, Think Never?
Twitter can be very useful. Walter Olson of Overlawyered.com sent out a tweet this morning about an Amazon list of toys that…
Letters
Requesting a TARP Disapproval Resolution
Full Document Available in PDF United States Congress Washington, DC 20515 Dear Member of Congress: On behalf…
Blog
The Paycheck Fairness Act: Equal Pay Baloney From the Press
“News” stories on legislation often read like lazy summaries of press releases put out by the bill’s sponsors. That’s particularly true for so-called “equal pay”…
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Geithner’s Nomination
Property and Casualty Insurance News
Why Geithner Is A Bad Choice
Property and Casualty Insurance News
The Embattled Geithner’s Nomination
News Release
Statement on Treasury Secretary Nominee Timothy Geithner’s Failure to Pay Self-Employment Taxes
Treasury Secretary Nominee Timothy Geithner's failure to pay four years’ worth of self-employment taxes for Social Security and Medicare is absolutely astonishing. And as more…
Op-Eds
Bailout Big Three By Cutting Red Tape
Why are we spending $17 billion of taxpayers’ money propping up two Detroit automakers (notably not Ford Motor Co.)? What the auto companies really…
Property and Casualty Insurance News
The Benefits of Deregulation in the Railroad Industry
National Association of Manufacturers
Obama and the Keynesian Revival
The National Association of Manufacturers discusses Iain Murray's National Review article on Obama's Keyenesian revival. Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute makes…
Newsletter
Union Scandal in California, Alternative Energy Promises and Short-Selling on Wall Street
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) finalizes a controversial merger of its California locals into one state-wide “superlocal”. President-Elect Obama promises to double the nation’s…
CNS News
Economists Say Bush ‘Chucked’ Free Market Principles Long Before Financial Crisis
CNS News discusses President George W. Bush's move away from free market principles. However, Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute told CNSNews.com that…
Cafe Hayek
Tranquilizing the Stimulators
Blog
Ecuador’s Mining Law and the 70% WFT
Ecuador, the only Latin American country that lacks large-scale mining operations, is passing a new mining law that will lift a six-month ban on mining…
Blog
The Bureaucratic Mind at Work
In an increasingly rare example of investigative journalism, the UK Times finds a ‘ghost bus’ designed to spare ministers’ blushe. The bus, which is…
Blog
Short-seller praised by Mass. Democrat at Madoff hearing
In the House Financial Services Committee hearing Monday on Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion alleged Ponzi scheme, some good points were raised by Congress members…
Blog
Change Is Coming, To Benefit Trial Lawyers
Obama promised change, and it’s already happening, at the expense of the poor, consumers, and small business. “Regulations set to take effect next month could…
Blog
Massive in Massachusetts
The people of Massachusetts, who until now have been entirely clueless about the fat content of any food, will finally be set free from their…
Blog
Let the Sunstein In
I was cheered this morning by the news that Cass Sunstein of the University of Chicago is to be the next head of…
Staff & Scholars
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government
Sam Kazman
Counsel Emeritus
- Antitrust
- Automobiles and Roads
- Banking and Finance
Marlo Lewis, Jr.
Senior Fellow
- Climate
- Energy
- Energy and Environment