President Obama will bypass Elizabeth Warren to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and instead nominate former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to the post. The White House announcement on Sunday ends months of uncertainty about whether the President would accede to the demands of Warren’s steadfast supporters or …
It’s impossible to imagine that the Founders conceived of America as a place where the federal government regulates compost. Yet here we are. Effective May 9, the use of compost in the production of certified organic foods must comply with precise temperature, moisture, and chemical standards set by the U.S. …
Growing an herb (the legal kind) might seem pretty straightforward. Clear soil; plant seeds; water, fertilize, and harvest. Until the government gets involved, that is. Then we have the likes of Marketing Order No. 985 (7 CFR part 985), as amended. Just as with almonds, apricots, avocados, cherries (both sweet …
It’s been two decades since Congress seized from states the authority to regulate the size of the biggest trucks traveling the highways. But what started as a temporary “freeze” on state rule-making predictably turned into a permanent federal usurpation of state regulation. The now-petrified standards have been rendered largely obsolete …
Tucked into the 232 pages of the May 31 Federal Register—the daily catalog of new regulation—was glaring evidence that the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will exercise nearly unlimited power over how Americans obtain credit and loans and manage their money. That it will do so absent accountability …
In the 1939 movie You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man, W. C. Fields demands to know “What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?!” If asked today, the answer might well be Congress. Dozens of Members are backing legislation that would allow states to prohibit consumers from making interstate …
From the city that has already banned military recruiting, plastic bags, cat declawing, new billboards, ATM fees, citywide phone book delivery, Styrofoam takeout boxes, officials’ travel to Arizona, and fast-food toys, there now comes a ballot measure to outlaw the circumcision of minors. Should the initiative prevail in November, the …
