Friday Regulation Roundup

Posted on May 7, 2010 | Comments Off on Friday Regulation Roundup

Some of the stranger governmental goings-on I’ve dug up recently:

-Since 1960, it has been illegal to fly a kite in Schaumburg, Illinois.

-If you are a tree in need of help, the federal government has a Tree Assistance Program.

–$18,881 of stimulus money spent on a single sign in Wyoming.

-Concerned about your fecundity? Consult the federal government’s Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee.

-Northern Arizona University spends $75,000 in stimulus funds to install electronic sensors to see if students skip class.  (hat tip to The Wall Street Journal‘s Kim Schatz)

-In Alabama, it is against the law to sell artificially colored potatoes.

-Need help with your math homework? Consult the government’s North American Numbering Council.

-In Yukon, Oklahoma, it is illegal for a patient to pull a dentist’s tooth.

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Let Your Voice Be Heard

Posted on May 7, 2010 | Comments Off on Let Your Voice Be Heard

Today’s Daily Caller features an article from me about CEI’s entry in the EPA’s YouTube video contest on regulations, expertly produced by my colleagues Drew Tidwell and Nicole Ciandella.

The theme of the video contest is “Let your voice be heard.” The problem is that over-regulation drowns out your voice in a cacophony of commands and controls from the minute you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night. The Code of Federal Regulations is 157,000 pages long. And it’s still growing. Enough is enough.

Hopefully CEI’s video isn’t the only entry that makes that important point.

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Posted in Publications, regulation

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The EPA’s Regulation Video Contest

Posted on May 6, 2010 | Comments Off on The EPA’s Regulation Video Contest

The EPA ($10,500,000,000 budget, 17,000+ employees) is holding a YouTube video contest where entrants make videos about how great regulations are, and why we need more of them. The winner gets $2,500 of taxpayers’ money.

CEI decided to enter the contest. Our view of regulation is less sanguine, as you can see below.

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Federal Register Hits 25,000 Pages

Posted on May 6, 2010 | Comments Off on Federal Register Hits 25,000 Pages

This morning, the 2010 Federal Register passed the 25,000 page mark with an “Issuance of Order for Implementation of Additional Security Measures and Fingerprinting for Unescorted Access to Florida Power and Light Company” from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

After 87 working days, the Federal Register stands at 25,098 pages. That’s an average of 288 pages every single day of proposed rules, final rules, notices, and other federal doings.

Assuming 250 working days in a year, the Register is on pace for 72,121 pages, a slight increase over 2009’s 69,676 pages.

Back in January, it was on pace for a mere 63,187 pages. The pace has been accelerating since.

Can President Obama top President Bush’s final Federal Register, which ran to 79,435 pages? We shall see what the coming months bring.

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Department of Redundancy Department

Posted on May 6, 2010 | Comments Off on Department of Redundancy Department

Fun fact: the federal government has both an International Trade Administration and an International Trade Commission.

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Dueling Headlines

Posted on May 5, 2010 | Comments Off on Dueling Headlines

Reid: Republicans ‘making love’ to Wall Street (Politico)

Goldman Sachs was top Obama donor (CNN)

Truth is, both parties are about equally corrupt. Sen. Reid is right, but it’s not just the GOP’s problem.

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Posted in Political Animals, The Partisan Mind

The Correct Capital Gains Tax Rate Is Zero

Posted on May 4, 2010 | Comments Off on The Correct Capital Gains Tax Rate Is Zero

Cato’s Dan Mitchell gives a quick primer on the capital gains tax in the latest short video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity.

President Obama wants to raise the rate from 15 percent to 20 percent. Dan gives six reasons why he should lower it to zero:

-Taxing saving and investment more means there will be less of it.

-Entrepreneurs will take fewer risks since higher capital gains taxes lower their return on investment. Why bother to innovate?

-America’s high capital gains tax rate makes us less competitive than other countries that have a lower tax rate – or no tax at all.

-IRS busybodies nosing around in our investment portfolios is hardly conducive to protecting privacy.

-Investment creates jobs. The capital gains tax lowers investment, and therefore job creation.

-A capital gains tax is inherently unfair. Tax laws should not penalize people based on how they earn, spend, or save their income. Taxes should be as neutral as possible.

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Posted in Economics, Taxation

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How to Stand up to Terrorists

Posted on May 4, 2010 | 3 comments

Fear of terrorism is literally irrational. You are 20 times more likely to be struck by lightning than fall victim to a terrorist attack. 200 times more Americans are killed by car wrecks than by terrorists. Yet people seem to be at least 200 times more scared of terrorists than of cars. This makes no logical sense.

In an article in the new issue of the CEI Planet (on page 7), I make the case that this is due to black swan bias, an inborn cognitive bias in the human brain that makes us pay undue attention to rare, catastrophic events and ignore everyday dangers.

Terrorism thrives on black swan bias. Terrorists are so few in number that fear is their only weapon. Every time people submit to new security theater measures, every time we trade away our freedom for the illusion of security, the terrorists win. The way to fight back is to not be scared. Fortunately, the facts give us plenty of reasons to drop our irrational fears.

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Regulation of the Day 136: Off the Record

Posted on April 30, 2010 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 136: Off the Record

If you work for the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a regulation requires you to keep records of your off-the-record communications.

Which means off-the-record communications aren’t really off the record.

In fact, 18 CFR 385.2201(b) requires FERC to post a notice in the Federal Register whenever this happens. There was one today, for example. It’s public!

Which brings up the following conundrum: if FERC policy is that off-the-record communications are actually on the record, then there are no off-the-record communications. Therefore, regulations applying to off-the-record communications are at best redundant , because there are no off-the-record comments.

Oh, never mind.

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On the Radio – Regulation

Posted on April 29, 2010 | Comments Off on On the Radio – Regulation

On Saturday at 4:30 EST, I will appear on “Main Street Talks Back” on KTNF 950 AM in Minnesota. We’ll be talking about federal regulations, how they sometimes interfere with state regulations, and how regulation affects consumers.

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Posted in Media Appearances