Saturday marks the anniversary of the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act, which in 1887 created the first federal regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Although those who created the ICC had no intention of establishing the modern administrative state we now have, the creation of the ICC was an inadvertent first step toward the federal leviathan that governs us today. The ICC was originally created to address growing problems created by the expansion of railroads in America. It was the outgrowth of the “Granger” movement, which took hold …
Earlier this year, the Obama Administration trumpeted the recently passed United Nations regular budget as a triumph of fiscal discipline. To some degree, it is justified in that claim. The initial appropriations for the 2012–2013 budget (at $5.15 billion) are $263 million lower than the final expenditures for the 2010–2011 budget, and nearly $44 million lower than the 2012–2013 budget originally proposed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. This is only the third time since 1960 that the initial U.N. regular budget appropriation was lower than the final appropriation for the previous …
President Obama’s choice of a Michigan trial lawyer to serve on the Consumer Product Safety Commission would shift the balance of power at the agency and ensure a pro-regulatory majority through most of 2013, regardless of who is in the White House next year. Last week Obama nominated Marietta S. Robinson to take the seat of Thomas H. Moore, who left the CPSC last fall. The commission is currently operating with four members — two Democrats and two Republicans. If confirmed by the Senate, Robinson would give Democrats a 3-to-2 …
Should the government regulate sugar so that Americans consume less of it? Does Jay Leno need to eat more fruits and vegetables? According to the calorie nannies, both are good ideas – regardless of whether or not we the people – or Leno – want the government dictating our diet. Let’s start with sugar. Laura Schmidt, a coauthor of a “groundbreaking” discovery that too much sugar is bad for the body, yesterday posted an opinion piece on CNN.com advocating for a government crackdown on nature’s sweetener, informing consumers of its …
Today, Senators Jim DeMint (R–SC) and Mike Lee (R–UT) introduced legislation that would move the United States a giant step forward in making our country’s energy market freer by eliminating targeted tax credits for energy sources and technologies. Their legislation, a companion to Representative Mike Pompeo’s (R–KS) bill, would force any tax policy that picks certain industries as winners and losers in the market to expire at the end of the year and expedite sunsets for tax credits extending multiple years. And it goes after all targeted tax credits: oil, …
In his recent commentary in the Financial Times, Kenneth Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard, made a strong case for the importance of education in heading off future crises in capitalism: Societies need to find ways to make adult education, including economic and financial literacy, far more available and far more compelling. If voters are uninformed and easily swayed towards demagogues peddling short-term ill-considered policies, there is little hope for righting the course of capitalist economies. As someone who has spoken to all kinds of people in the wake …
Indiana’s Senate yesterday passed—and Governor Mitch Daniels (R) signed—the state’s long-awaited right-to-work law, making it the 23rd state in the nation and the first state in the union-heavy Rust Belt to give workers the right to choose whether or not to pay union dues. Meanwhile, 1,700 miles away, Arizona is considering a bill that would restore voter control over government by, among other measures, stripping government unions of their collective bargaining power. Indiana’s move is a victory for the state’s workers—and the state’s economy. Now Hoosiers cannot be forced to …
Join us live at Noon Eastern as U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) speaks at The Heritage Foundation Bloggers’ Briefing. Senator DeMint will discuss his book, “Now or Never: Saving America from Economic Collapse.” Watch live streaming video from heritagefoundation at livestream.com
In his State of the Union address, President Obama emphasized, “We don’t begrudge financial success in this country. We admire it.” That may be the case if you make iPods, iPads, and iPhones, but when it is “big oil” (i.e., stockholders, pension funds, and IRAs investing in oil companies) that has a successful quarter, let the public onslaught commence. The most recent attack has been legislatively, when Representative Dennis Kucinich (D–OH) introduced “the Gas Price Spike Act.” The provisions in the bill threaten the entrepreneurial spirit and our system of …
In 22 states in the Union, workers have the freedom under “Right-to-Work” laws to decide whether or not to pay union dues, and now Indiana is poised to become the twenty-third state on that list, bringing the workers there renewed hope in an economy that has seen few glimmers of light. Last week, Indiana’s House and Senate passed a right-to-work bill after weeks of political maneuvering by pro-union politicians hoping to stop the proposal in its tracks. Today, the legislation returns to the state’s Senate for a final vote, and …
