Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has delivered yet another ominous prediction about Dodd–Frank fallout, telling the Senate Banking Committee last week that government dictates on debit card fees “could result in some smaller banks being less profitable or even failing.” Although not the first to recognize the problem, the Fed …
Rewarding failure is a fundamental precept of The Bureaucratic Code, which helps to explain why government’s regulatory powers grow in spite of its incompetence. Examples are legion, of course, including the recent case of the State Department and passport fraud. The General Accounting Office (GAO) has on several occasions investigated …
A House subcommittee on Wednesday approved legislation to modify the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Spawned by the vast Dodd–Frank financial regulation statute, the CFPB (as originally structured) enjoys sweeping powers over all manner of consumer credit—without adequate accountability. Yesterday’s action is a welcome start to taming the CFPB, …
At the behest of Congress, the Department of Energy (DOE) has “invested” several years and considerable tax dollars in devising restrictions on the amount of electricity it takes to run virtually every household appliance. Alas, a regulator’s work is never done. Having assumed control over the energy we use to …
Lest anyone tell you that the phase-out of (non-toxic) incandescent light bulbs will be hassle-free (other than hugely expensive), here is the directive from the Environmental Protection Agency for ridding your home of toxic vapor in the event you or a loved one (or relative) breaks the mercury-laden compact fluorescent …
Not satisfied with just regulating the design of air conditioners, battery chargers, boilers, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, dryers, freezers, furnaces, heat pumps, light bulbs, refrigerators, toilets, and washers, the U.S. Department of Energy is cracking down on shower heads. In the words of the federal plumbing police: “It has always …
Every business must comply with a mind-boggling range of regulations, but the latest regulatory “guidance” on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may be the last straw—literally. Hotels, restaurants, airlines and the like must now modify “policies, practices, or procedures” to accommodate miniature horses as service animals. The new guidelines, …
You’re too fat, and vending machines are to blame. The government says so and is doing something about it. To temper the snack food cravings we are supposedly incapable of controlling, Congress is forcing vendors to post the calorie counts of vending machine items. Thus, we’ll supposedly pick the healthier …
Microsoft has filed a complaint with the European Commission (EC) alleging unfair business practices by Google. The EC is the very same government body that hounded Microsoft for years on antitrust allegations, culminating in the company’s loss of intellectual property and billions of dollars in fines. That Microsoft now seeks …
Pity the poor librarians. Those gentle custodians of the written word currently find themselves in a regulatory purgatory of sorts wherein compliance with hellish safety standards threatens to defy their hallowed purpose of providing books for all. It is a dilemma borne of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of …
