There are more combatants in the ongoing immigration debate than the usual progressives and conservatives. Immigration Policy Analyst David Bier recently wrote for USA Today about a third side in the debate: population control advocates who oppose immigration altogether.
Podcast
The results of Italy’s general election were announced this week, setting markets on edge across the Eurozone. For all intents and purposes, Italy is without a government. There is no clear majority in the parliament’s upper house, and former comedian Beppe Grillo’s populist Five Star Movement captured a quarter of the vote. Warren Brookes Fellow Matthew Melchiorre finds the outcome surprising, as well as troubling.
CEI and the Adam Smith Institute have teamed up to publish a U.S. edition of Christopher Snowdon’s study “The Wages of Sin Taxes.” He argues that sin taxes are an ineffective way to treat the harmful effects of drinking, smoking, and obesity. Fellow in Consumer Policy Studies Michelle Minton wrote the foreword.
CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman discusses a lawsuit in which CEI, the 60 Plus Association, and the State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas argue that parts of the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill are unconstitutional. Both the bill’s grant of Orderly Liquidation Authority to the Treasury secretary and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s unaccountability fail to pass constitutional muster. The plaintiffs are joined by 11 states.
William Yeatman, Assistant Director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment, looks at former Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s record in office, who might succeed him, and what lies ahead in energy policy.
Federal judges recently struck down four recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the Senate was in pro forma session when President Obama made the appointments. Senior Fellow Matt Patterson talks about the case and its far-reaching consequences for the labor market, as well as the separation of powers.
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell recently released a headline-grabbing plan for the state’s transportation funding that would abolish the state’s gasoline tax and raise other taxes to make up the difference. Fellow in Land-use and Transportation Studies Marc Scribner is critical of the plan, and prefers policies that fit the user-pays, user-benefits principle.
Lawyers are clever creatures, but they rarely use their powers for good. CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman is an exception to the rule. He is involved in a lawsuit, Kazman v. Frontier Oil, that could set a needed precedent for reining in outrageous attorney fees in groundless class action suits.
CEI has a new president, and his name is Lawson Bader. He comes to us from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where he was vice president. He is here to introduce himself and talk about what the future holds for CEI.
Congress made an unsatisfying compromise deal this week to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff. But Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews thinks this is just the tip of the costberg, and Congress should tackle a more fundamental issue: the $1.8 trillion regulatory state.
RSS Updates 
RSS E-Mail Updates 
Twitter 
Facebook 
CEI.org 
GlobalWarming.org 
WorkPlaceChoice.org 
DriveInnovation.org 
CEI On Demand Video 
Liberty Week Podcast 