“[I]t is one thing to persuade, another to command; one thing to press with arguments, another with penalties.”

-John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration

Though they are very distant cousins, Barack Obama and Dick Cheney are different individuals. Unfortunately, their preferred privacy and national security policies are similar.

This is why Obama felt compelled to make a public statement that he is not, in fact, the former vice president. If you are forced to say something to that effect for PR reasons, it’s a good indication that you really are being Dick Cheney, at least regarding certain illiberal policies.

This is sad to see. When Obama was elected, I was optimistic that he would roll back some of Bush and Cheney’s post-9/11 excesses regarding civil liberties and privacy violations, security theater, and wars abroad. The last five years have proven me very wrong. Obama’s experience makes me skeptical that the next president, even if he or she campaigns as a civil libertarian, will grow into the office in a more healthy way, regardless of party.

The tragedy of 9/11, contrary to my thoughts at the time, has turned out to be a transformative event in the relationship between government and citizen. That transformation has been almost entirely negative. Despite this post’s unrelenting pessimism, I remain confident that this course will right itself someday. Transparency, and not just of the Edward Snowden variety, is an important first step in that long process.

Politico: Pope Blesses Harley-Davidsons

• Last week, 93 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. This is up from 72 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every  hour and 48 minutes — 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• All in all, 1,592 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2013 will be 3,522 new final rules.
• Last week, 1,536 new pages were added to the 2013 Federal Register, for a total of 36,027 pages.
• At its current pace, the 2013 Federal Register will run 78,320 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. No such rules were published for the third consecutive week, for a total of 13 so far in 2013.
• The total estimated compliance costs of this year’s economically significant regulations ranges from $5.58 billion to $10.19 billion.
• So far, 109 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2013.
• So far this year, 291 final rules affect small business; 26 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• The federal government is altering drawbridge schedules in New York City; Boston; Stillwater, Minnesota; Westport, Connecticut; Stockton, California; Norfolk, Virginia; and Lawrence, New York.
• If you make alcoholic beverages between 18 and 23 percent alcohol by volume and contain artificial coloring, you should be aware of this regulation.
• The Affordable Care Act contains an excise tax on tanning. It came into effect on Tuesday.
• The EPA is revising its “approved motor vehicle emissions budgets” for Lima, Ohio.
• The EPA is also revising its ambient air quality standards for Northern Virginia.
• A new FCC rule takes 7 pages to define “auditory assistance device.”
• Not to be outdone, the FDIC takes 26 pages to define “Predominantly engaged in activities that are financial in nature or incidental thereto.”
• Winemakers may now print a wine’s alcohol content on a label other than the brand label if they wish.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

Deirdre McCloskey, a distinguished economic historian and author of many books, including The Rhetoric of Economics, The Bourgeois Virtues, and Bourgeois Dignity, will receive CEI’s Julian Simon Memorial Award on June 20 at CEI’s annual dinner. CEI Founder and Chairman Fred Smith talks about how McCloskey’s work embodies the same joie de vivre and optimistic spirit that animated Simon’s thought.

• Last week, 72 new final regulations were published in the Federal Register. This is up from 61 new final rules the previous week.
• That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 20 minutes — 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• All in all, 1,499 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
• If this keeps up, the total tally for 2013 will be 3,463 new final rules.
• Last week, 1,563 new pages were added to the 2013 Federal Register, for a total of 34,491 pages.
• At its current pace, the 2013 Federal Register will run 78,389 pages.
• Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. No such rules were published for the second consecutive week, for a total of 13 so far in 2013.
• The total estimated compliance costs of this year’s economically significant regulations ranges from $5.58 billion to $10.19 billion.
• So far, 108 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2013.
• So far this year, 265 final rules affect small business; 23 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

• Non-economists have been pushing Buy-American provisions for years. It turns out there are also non-economists in the Indian Affairs Department, since a new rule requires the government to set aside a certain amount of procurement contracts for Indian-owned businesses.
• There is a drawbridge in Tacoma, Washington that spans the City Waterway. The federal government sets its schedule.
• The federal government sells pecan insurance. A new rule corrects errors made in a previous rule from February.
• The EPA is revising motor vehicle emissions budgets for Cincinnati suburbs in Kentucky.
• More regulations for avoiding collisions at sea.
• The FCC issued new guidelines for safe levels of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

June 7 is National Donut Day. General Counsel Sam Kazman is urging Americans to eat not one but two donuts—one for themselves, and one for their liberty. Contrary to what some regulators and food activists might say, it’s ok to indulge now and then.