Category Archives: CEI Podcast

CEI Podcast for February 16, 2012: Washington’s Prescription Drug Shortage

Posted on February 16, 2012 | Leave a comment


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Patients are suffering from a nationwide shortage of more than 260 different prescription drugs, many of them for different types of cancer. Senior Fellow Greg Conko explains why the biggest culprit for the drug shortage is Washington. DEA and FDA regulations make it difficult to ramp up supply, or to change prices to more accurately reflect demand.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Economics, Health Care

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CEI Podcast for February 9, 2012: The Immigration Tariff

Posted on February 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Immigration law is second in complexity only to the income tax. In a new CEI paper, Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh proposes scrapping the whole thing and replacing it with a tariff. This is a much more humane approach to immigration, and in many cases will be less expensive for immigrants than the lawyers and fees they currently have to pay while they live in legal limbo. A tariff would also reduce illegal immigration by eliminating black markets. Money that currently goes to illegal smugglers and human traffickers could instead go to the U.S. Treasury. The idea can appeal to both the left and the right.

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Posted in Immigration, CEI Podcast

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CEI Podcast for February 2, 2012: The FDA’s Latest Power Grab

Posted on February 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Fellow in Consumer Policy Studies Michelle Minton breaks down the FDA’s behind-the-scenes push to regulate dietary supplements nearly as strictly as prescription drugs.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Health Care, regulation

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CEI Podcast for January 26, 2012: Visa Reforms for Farm Workers

Posted on January 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

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The state of Georgia recently passed strict new requirements for immigrant farm workers. Immigration Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh looks at the results of a new report released by the state. Workers are fleeing to other states, causing a labor shortage. Some farmers find they lose less money by actually letting their crops rot in the fields rather than comply with state and federal rules.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Immigration

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CEI Podcast for January 18, 2012: Dropping the SOPA

Posted on January 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Wikipedia, Reddit, and other popular websites all went black today to protest SOPA and PIPA, two bills currently before Congress. Critics charge that the bills could potentially shut down the Internet as we know it. Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia explains how the bills would work, and how they would indeed stifle free speech.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Free Speech

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CEI Podcast for January 12, 2012: Mistaken Deportations

Posted on January 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Immigration Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh tells Jakadrien Turner‘s story and explains what it means for the immigration reform debate. Turner is a 14-year old girl from Texas who was mistakenly deported to Colombia. Turner is not Hispanic, does not speak Spanish, and has no connections to Colombia whatsoever. It took six months of pleading and legal maneuvering before authorities allowed her to return home. This was not an isolated incident. The way to prevent future cases like this, Nowrasteh argues, is radically simplifying our overly complex immigration and citizenship laws.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Immigration, International

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CEI Podcast for January 5, 2012: The Iowa Caucuses

Posted on January 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Associate Director of Technology Policy Studies and Iowa native Ryan Radia takes a look at how the different strains of Republican voters are deciding on their party’s presidential nominee. In the years to come, Radia believes that the GOP will need to reinvent itself ideologically if it is to remain politically relevant.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Elections, Political Animals

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CEI Podcast for December 29, 2011: A Record Year for Regulation

Posted on December 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews talks about why 2011 was a record year for both new regulations and their cost. He also talks about his efforts to make the opaque regulatory state more transparent. Besides his annual “Ten Thousand Commandments” report, Wayne has started a new TenThousandCommandments.com website to update regulatory data in real time. There is a also a 10KC Twitter account and a Facebook page to make it as easy as possible to keep an eye on what regulatory agencies are up to.

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CEI Podcast for December 22, 2011: The Keystone XL Pipeline

Posted on December 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Politicians usually love infrastructure projects. But politics has delayed the privately owned Keystone XL pipeline’s construction for three years now. Research Associate David Bier explains the reasons behind the delay, and points out that the pipeline’s real benefit isn’t the jobs it would create; it’s the wealth and value it would create.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Political Animals

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CEI Podcast for December 15, 2011: Drilling for Roads

Posted on December 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner looks at House Republicans’ “drilling for roads” proposal and finds it wanting. Under this proposal, the federal government would allow more fossil fuel extraction from federally owned lands, as well as offshore. Some of the revenues would go into the federal Highway Trust Fund. This would politicize transportation even more than it already is, and would lead to adverse consequences.

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