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    Just in Time for Thanksgiving: Bloomberg Puts Homeless on a Diet

    Thinking of giving food to the homeless this Thanksgiving? Well, if you’re in New York City, that food had better comply with new nutrition standards issued by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Health Department. As of October 31, shelters, soup kitchens, and the like are barred from accepting food donations unless packaged … More

    Thankless Regulations an Affront to Pilgrims

    After 66 days of turbulent sailing across the Atlantic, the Pilgrims were understandably eager to touch land at Plymouth Rock. But before allowing themselves to alight, they gathered to sign the “Mayflower Compact,” by which they pledged to “combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering … More

    The Right Time for a Carbon Tax Is Never

    Once the electorate was made to realize that cap-and-trade bills (Lieberman-Warner, Waxman-Markey, etc.) were actually taxes on fossil energy, cap and trade became political poison. So it is surprising that an explicit tax on fossil energy is now being pushed in Washington. The hope among carbon-tax proponents is that they … More

    Cybersecurity Act of 2012 Defeated, but a Similarly Flawed Executive Order Is Around the Corner

    Last night, the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (CSA) failed to pass the U.S. Senate. The vote is already being portrayed as Republican obstructionism, even though five Democrats voted against the bill and four Republicans voted for it. Such rhetoric is being used to justify a cybersecurity executive order that mimics … More

    Morning Bell: Do You Trust the Government with Your Computer?

    Do you trust the federal government to keep your personal data safe? What about your business’s records and trade secrets? If you answered “no,” you have good reason—the federal government has had 13 breaches and failures of its own cybersecurity just in the last six months. Yet the President and … More

    Cybersecurity Act of 2012 Is Back, but Same Problems and Questions Remain

    Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D–NV) has vowed to bring the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (CSA) up for a vote in the lame-duck session, and it looks as though the vote could take place this week. The CSA uses a standards and regulatory approach to cybersecurity, but many troubling questions … More

    Morning Bell: The Threats of a Lame Duck Congress

    The lame-duck session begins today, with retiring and defeated Members of Congress coming back to Washington to make their last legislative decisions. Because of the lack of accountability to voters, the lame-duck period brings heightened scrutiny. Congress has 16 working days scheduled between now and the end of the year, … More

    Green-Energy Projects Face Opposition From Green Groups

    “We need green energy. Just not here.” Do those words sound familiar? That’s quite often the case with so-called proponents of green energy. The acronym NIMBY (not in my back yard) should really be replaced with BANANA (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything), according to Ryan Yonk, coauthor of a … More

    Cybersecurity Executive Order Touts More Regulation as the Solution

    As if the flood of regulations coming after the election weren’t bad enough, a draft of the newest cybersecurity executive order obtained by Heritage reveals that even more regulations are coming. This draft executive order is similar to the failed Cybersecurity Act of 2012 in that it proposes additional regulations … More

    Morning Bell: Unemployment Rate Inches Back Up

    The October jobs report essentially agrees with the rest of the current data on the economy—the economy is growing slowly, too slowly to bring down unemployment rapidly. In fact, the unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in October and the economy created about 171,000 jobs, roughly equal to the usual … More