Is the House of Representatives trying to start a trade war in the midst of the worst economy in a generation? Sure seems that way. When the House passed the Energy and Water appropriations bill they included a protectionist provision that is not only misguided, but it is poorly applied. The law states: “None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to purchase passenger motor vehicles other than those manufactured by Ford, General Motors, or Chrysler.” Not only does this bill ban foreign competition, but it …
This month, Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) sent a letter to the Chairman of the FCC and the head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, asking them to investigate cell phone exclusivity agreements. Exclusivity agreements are arrangements between cell phone makers and service providers to allow one carrier the exclusive rights to sell a particular phone for a period of time. One of the major objections by Sen. Kohl and others was that these agreements disproportionately hurt rural Americans, and those who were customers of smaller carriers. Then, last week, Verizon …
No, this is not a post about the Sotomayor hearings. Yesterday there was another widely-attended Senate hearing. Another room was packed, interested parties cramming into every available seat to hear what the nominees had to say. But, what they heard was little, at best. Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Baker, Democratic and Republican respectively, testified before the Senate Commerce Committee. They are nominees to serve as commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission. These issues, net neutrality, the internet, media ownership, and consumer protection, are amongst the most important that the FCC …
The Heritage Foundation is proud to announce that the FCC is the recipient of the First Annual Wanton Abuse of State-funded Technological Elucidation (WASTE) Award. Yes, the name is clunky, but so is their website. If you don’t believe it, see for yourself. The website’s search function leaves much to be desired. Also, as Cynthia Brumfield of IP Democracy has noted, everything on the website is published as a separate file (Word documents, PDF, etc.) to be downloaded by the user. The agency that is responsible for the nation-wide broadband …
In the wake of the General Motors and Chrysler’s bankruptcies, United Auto Workers finds itself in a complicated position. In some sense it has achieved a Marxist ideal: it has gained (at least some) control of its means of production. The UAW owns 55 percent of Chrysler and 17.5 percent of GM. Consequently, however, the UAW is placed in a strange situation when negotiating with Ford.
H-1B visas allow foreigners, who have an undergraduate degree or higher, to work in the United States. Currently only 65,000 visas can be issued each year, a number which is far too low. Yet, when President Obama talks about “comprehensive immigration reform,” the discussion is anything but comprehensive. President Obama has raised the specter of adding another hot button issue into the national debate. At the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast the President said that he is “…committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform…” but he was silent on the matter of …
