The Remaining 10 Percent Had Never Heard of Congress, or Are Members

Posted on August 14, 2012 | Comments Off on The Remaining 10 Percent Had Never Heard of Congress, or Are Members

Politico: Congress hits bottom: Only 10 percent approve

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Posted in Political Animals

In Praise of Judicial Activism

Posted on August 14, 2012 | Comments Off on In Praise of Judicial Activism

Judicial activism is a dirty word in politics. It shouldn’t be. Over at The American Spectator, David Deerson and I try to rehabilitate a term that has been sorely missing from a passive judiciary. Judges shouldn’t legislate from the bench, of course. But nor should they let the other branches’ excesses stand:

No matter which party is in power, Congress and the White House often overstep their constitutional authority. From the political speech restrictions in McCain-Feingold to the Washington, D.C., handgun ban, examples of the Supreme Court striking down unconstitutional legislation are not hard to find. That is the kind of judicial activism we need more of.

Of course, we’re not that optimistic about this changing anytime soon:

No president would nominate a judge who might nullify his administration’s signature achievements. No senator would vote to confirm a judge who might strike down an important bill that she wrote. There is a selection bias favoring judges who will defer to the political branches of government. As Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett told The Wall Street Journal, “If I want to bet actual money, I’ll always bet the court upholds anything Congress does.”

Read the whole thing here.

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Posted in Law, Public Choice

CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation

Posted on August 13, 2012 | 1 comment


Just another week in the world of regulation:

  •  68 new final rules were published last week, down from 85 the previous week.
  • That’s the equivalent of a new regulation every 2 hours and 28 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • All in all, 2,366 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
  • If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,883 new rules.
  • 1,443 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 47,967 pages.
  • At its current pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,367 pages.
  • Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 27 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $16.2 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
  • One economically significant rule was published last week.
  • So far, 246 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012.
  • So far this year, 447 final rules affect small business. 63 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

  • Last week’s economically significant rule was part of the health care bill. It sets “Operating Rules for Health Care Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT) and Remittance Advice Transactions.” Its estimated cost is $1.2 billion to $2.7 billion. I have used the lower figure for this year’s running cost tally for economically significant rules.
  • If you deal in highly migratory Atlantic fish, you are now required to electronically submit weekly reports to the federal govermment.
  • If you enjoy flying Glasflugel Gliders, you should be aware of new airworthiness directives from the FAA.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

1 Comment

Posted in regulation

Regulation of the Day 226: Hot Dog Carts

Posted on August 10, 2012 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 226: Hot Dog Carts


Nathan Duszynski is 13 years old and lives in Holland, Michigan. His stepfather has multiple sclerosis. His mother has epilepsy. Neither is able to work.

To help out with his family’s expenses, Nathan started mowing lawns and soon saved up the $1,200 or so that he needed to buy a hot dog cart. That way he could make even more money.

The owner of a local sporting goods store was even kind enough to allow Nathan to set up shop in his store’s parking lot. But regulators shut Nathan down ten minutes after opening up shop for the first time. He had yet to sell his first hot dog. Turns out that food carts are illegal in Holland unless they’re connected to a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Seeing as many cities across the country have unaffiliated food carts and no evidence of consumer harm, there can only be one explanation for Holland’s hot dog cart ban: rent-seeking. Restaurants don’t want to deal with the competition, so they convinced the government to do their dirty work for them.

Because of this rent-seeking, Nathan and his family are now homeless.

Our friends at the Mackinac Center have spoken with the family:

“Nate and I are now in a shelter,” Lynette Johnson said. “Doug can’t stay with us because he takes prescription narcotics to deal with his pain and the shelter does not allow him with those kinds of drugs.”

She said the situation has been stressful on the family. Lynette is afraid to be away from her husband in case she has a seizure.

Nathan has still been working hard. He’s selling hot dogs at private events, which is legal. But according to a local paper, it’s still difficult:

The cart is the only solid income the family can rely on, said Lynette. But the business is in jeopardy due to the family’s financial situation…

The reason, she said, is that each event requires a new health department permit, and the cost varies between West Michigan municipalities. The last event, a private wedding reception on Friday, cost about $200 for the permit.

Coupled with food and supply cost, they barely broke even, she said.

Nathan now has a web site for Nathan’s Hot Dog Hut, where you can make a donation via PayPal. Nathan writes, “If you believe in free enterprise and can help with the costs of my fight with City Hall and the losses we have sustained so far please donate what you can to help us and those others in similar situations by clicking the button below.”

Here’s hoping Nathan wins his fight. Everyone has the right to make an honest living — even if their competitors would rather they didn’t.

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Posted in Public Choice, regulation, Regulation of the Day

The Case for a Repeal Amendment

Posted on August 10, 2012 | Comments Off on The Case for a Repeal Amendment

Nobel-winning economist James Buchanan distinguishes between two kinds of analysis: pre-constitutional and post-constitutional. Pre-constitutional analysis focuses on the rules of the game; post-constitutional analysis focuses on how people behave under those rules once they’re in place. The current rules of America’s political game result in 3,500-plus new regulations every year, trillion-dollar deficits, and other major problems.

The solution isn’t to put different people in charge. The status quo’s incentive structures guarantee that the results will stay about the same, no matter who is in power. Instead, real reform can only happen at the institutional level. Change the rules of the political game in a way that gives politicians an incentive to keep their worst impulses in check. If you want different results, you need different rules.

Over at Real Clear Policy, my colleague David Deerson and do a bit of pre-constitutional analysis on one rule change that could do a lot of good:

[A]dd a repeal amendment to the U.S. Constitution, one that would allow two-thirds of state legislatures to repeal any federal law or regulation they see fit. A repeal amendment would enhance federalism and make democracy more meaningful to citizens by bringing it closer to them.

When most people think of the government’s separation of powers, they think of the three branches of the federal government—executive, judiciary, and legislative. In a federalist system such as ours, the separation of powers between the federal government itself and the states is just as important.

Read the whole thing here.

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Posted in Economics, Public Choice, Publications

CEI Podcast for August 9, 2012: Getting TSA to Follow the Law

Posted on August 9, 2012 | Comments Off on CEI Podcast for August 9, 2012: Getting TSA to Follow the Law


Have a listen here.

When the TSA installed full-body scanners in airports across the country, it did so illegally. More than a year after a court ordered TSA to open up its full-body scanner policy to public comment, the agency has refused to do so. Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner explains how a related lawsuit could force TSA to follow the law, and calls for de-nationalizing airport security.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Law, Security Theater

The Kids Are Alright

Posted on August 9, 2012 | Comments Off on The Kids Are Alright

Interesting article in today’s New York Times. It’s well established that the under-30 crowd is far more tolerant than its elders on social issues such as marriage. It’s a big reason — the main reason, I’d argue, along with image — why young people are overwhelmingly Democratic.

Republicans, faced with losing millions of potential customers, are starting to adapt. Candidates and organizers are actively avoiding talking about social issues, or sometimes even changing their stances on social issues. In short, we are witnessing the slow death of social conservatism. While I do question the younger set’s economic policy acumen, they are doing a world of good by making intolerant people be a little nicer to their fellow man. The kids are alright.

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Posted in Political Animals

There Is Nothing Left to Cut

Posted on August 8, 2012 | Comments Off on There Is Nothing Left to Cut


The federal government has a Davy Crockett Resource Advisory Committee.

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Posted in regulation, Spending

CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation

Posted on August 6, 2012 | Comments Off on CEI’s Battered Business Bureau: The Week in Regulation


Just another week in the world of regulation:

  • 85 new final rules were published last week, down from 86 the previous week.
  • That’s the equivalent of a new regulation precisely every hour and 59 minutes — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • All in all, 2,298 final rules have been published in the Federal Register this year.
  • If this keeps up, the total tally for 2012 will be 3,894 new rules.
  • 3,645 new pages were added to the 2012 Federal Register last week, for a total of 46,524 pages.
  • At its current pace, the 2012 Federal Register will run 77,540 pages.
  • Rules are called “economically significant” if they have costs of $100 million or more in a given year. The 26 such rules published so far in 2012 have compliance costs of at least $14.5 billion. Two of the rules do not have cost estimates, and a third cost estimate does not give a total annual cost. We assume that rules lacking this basic transparency measure cost the bare minimum of $100 million per year. The true cost is almost certainly higher.
  • One economically significant rule was published last week.
  • So far, 240 final rules that meet the broader definition of “significant” have been published in 2012.
  • So far this year, 431 final rules affect small business. 63 of them are significant rules.

Highlights from final rules published last week:

  • Last week’s economically significant rule was an increase in payments the federal government makes to skilled nursing facilities, to the tune of $670 million in FY 2013. Since this cost is in government spending and not compliance costs, I am scoring it as costing zero in this year’s tally of compliance costs.
  • The Federal Reserve System is revising its debit card swipe fee price controls to account for “fraud-prevention costs incurred by merchants.”
  • Organic food enthusiasts might be interested in new changes to the national list of allowed and prohibited substances.
  • The federal government places limits on hunting for the Utah prairie dog.
  • If you use a corporate jet for entertainment purposes, the related expenses are no longer tax deductible.
  • Attention, pro athletes: prostanozol (17β-hydroxy-5α-androstano[3,2-c]pyrazole) and methasterone (2α,17α-dimethyl-5α-androstan-17β-ol-3-one) are now considered anabolic steroids by the DEA and are subject to the Controlled Substances Act.

For more data, go to TenThousandCommandments.com.

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Posted in regulation

CEI Podcast for August 2, 2012: Cybersecurity Bill Fails

Posted on August 2, 2012 | Comments Off on CEI Podcast for August 2, 2012: Cybersecurity Bill Fails


Have a listen here.

Today the Senate shot down a controversial cybersecurity bill that Associate Director of Technology Policy Studies Ryan Radia believes would have been a disaster for freedom of speech, property rights, and freedom of contract.

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Posted in CEI Podcast, Technology