Regulation

American joins Delta, United, and Alaska airlines in strictly regulating exotic animals on its flights.

Solar perplexus.

Free markets work through competition. Sellers offer an array of goods and services and buyers tell them what works. So when protectionist legislation favors one group of competitors over another, there’s a problem. That’s what’s happening to E. Glen Porter, who owns a cemetery in New Berlin,…

Plus, why Trey Gowdy hated his time in Congress.

A 12-year-old girl in Baltimore County, Maryland, complained to her teachers, her guidance counselor, and her middle school principal when a boy wouldn't stop harassing her. He leered at her in class, and, she says, touched her out on the playground in a way state law classifies as a sexual…

A series of bills introduced Monday in the Hawaiian state legislature could harbor a new era of regulation of the video game industry. The bills, introduced by state Rep. Chris Lee (D-Oahu), go straight at the most vocal complaint among gamers today: loot boxes.

The national governing body of physician training, the American Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), limits the number of hours doctors in training can work in a given week. Generally speaking, on average, residents can be at the hospital for only 80 hours over a seven-day period. This…

A bill intended to clarify and alter a set of long-delayed Obamacare menu labeling rules passed the House Tuesday, as restaurant owners continue to prepare for a May 7 compliance deadline.

Roll over Ronald Reagan. When President Trump delivers his first State of the Union address, he will do so as the most conservative president of all time. At least, that’s what the Heritage Foundation seems to think.

During the 2016 presidential election, the New York Times alleged that the Trump campaign had offered to make John Kasich “the most powerful vice president in history,” through a novel division of duties: The vice president “would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy.” The president,…

A major theme of the Trump administration lies in its effort to discipline the regulatory state, with the Justice Department playing a key role. In November Attorney General Jeff

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 along party lines Thursday to reverse the Obama-era internet regulations known as “net neutrality,” arguing over dire Democratic warnings that the change would help consumers and promote competition among internet providers.

Today on the Daily Standard Podcast, national correspondent Peter Boyer assesses whether Trump is living up to his claim to be the most deregulating president.

Safe spaces and 'ze' badges. Scottish student Madeleine Kearns writes in the Spectator about her bewildering first year at a U.S. college, where she and other free thinkers felt compelled to create their own unsafe space: "We met in a disused convent in Hell’s Kitchen and discussed campus-censored…

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, Law professor James Cooper talks with Eric Felten about the all together too many jobs that require government permission in the form of occupational licenses.

On a rainy afternoon in late November 2012, Matthew Kelley, a project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, pulled his truck over to the side of a road in Tehama County in northern California.

On May 29, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed a law creating a statewide regulatory framework governing ridesharing services. The impetus for the law was clear—overriding the city of Austin’s onerous ordinances that prompted the sector’s leaders, Uber and Lyft, to stop operating in the state capital…

On May 29, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed a law creating a statewide regulatory framework governing ridesharing services. The impetus for the law was clear—overriding the city of Austin’s onerous ordinances that prompted the sector’s leaders, Uber and Lyft, to stop operating in the state capital…

President Donald Trump on Friday announced plans to streamline and simplify the "dense thicket" of regulatory red tape that drives up costs and slows construction projects to a crawl.

When Laura Campbell heard about new water regulations emanating from President Barack Obama's Environmental Protection Agency a few years back, she started calling up maps on her computer.

Some of the entertainment coming out of California these days is simply outstanding.

Mary Cheh, who represents a leafy, affluent, embassy-filled section of Washington, doesn’t fit anyone’s image of a free-market reformer. A member of the D.C. Council since 2007, the sixty-something’s dress and manner are those of the Harvard-educated law professor she is. Many of her legislative…

Like a bachelor before a date, the Obama administration rushed around during the transition hiding dirty laundry for the incoming administration. And now, almost 100 days in, the Trump team is still working to find and undo a handful of underreported bureaucratic messes left behind.

Sen. Ted Cruz and House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows have called on Republicans to roll back Obamacare's insurance mandates in the American Health Care Act. These include blanket requirements for coverage of those with pre-existing conditions: Insurers are prohibited from denying…

One day in late spring in the early days of the George W. Bush administration, FDA inspectors visited the headquarters of Sargento cheese in Plymouth, Wisconsin—a routine visit as part of the federal government's efforts to ensure the safety of the food we eat. The inspectors took samples of cheese…

In 2007 and 2008 Senator Barack Obama campaigned against the Bush administration’s use of executive power. But for the next eight years President Obama wielded unilateral power energetically: through his administrative agencies and from his own office—via his "pen" and "phone," as he famously put…

Who could be against a rule that requires investment advisers to act in the best interests of their retiree-clients? Donald Trump, the Washington branch of the Goldman Sachs alumni association, the Wall Street Journal, and well-intentioned policy wonks who have never met a regulation they like,…

The Congressional Review Act of 1996 is a “sleeper statute" (aka, a secret weapon) in that its practical application took 20 years to enter the realm of viable possibility. The CRA allows Congress to overturn executive regulations by a simple majority—and this is the moment it's been waiting for.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday, President Donald Trump tied his loosening of energy restrictions with the greater goal of "[putting] the regulation industry… out of business."

Who could be against a rule that requires investment advisers to act in the best interests of their retiree-clients? Donald Trump, the Washington branch of the Goldman Sachs alumni association, the Wall Street Journal, and well-intentioned policy wonks who have never met a regulation they like,…

Last week, the House and Senate voted to repeal one of the last regulations the Obama administration enacted on its way out the door. The regulation, known as the Stream Protection Rule, required coal companies to more aggressively test and monitor waterways. President Trump is expected to finalize…

Regulatory reform appears to be gaining traction in Washington, D.C. The White House directed agencies to halt the issuance of new regulations. Congress also got in the act. In its first week in session, the House of Representatives passed three bills to reduce the proliferation and costs of…

In this episode of THE WEEKLY STANDARD Confab, Alice Lloyd reports on the bitter battle over Betsy DeVos' nomination to be secretary of education. Then, Christopher DeMuth joins host Eric Felten to talk about whether and how Donald Trump will push for deregulation.

A federal judge in West Virginia has given the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) less than seven months to review whether its Obama-era policies directly led to job losses in the coal industry, according to an order issued Wednesday.

The Obama administration finalized a long rulemaking process Monday to tighten regulation of coal mining near streams, drawing pushback from Capitol Hill who questioned the move's necessity and had hoped the government would leave the issue alone before the president departs office next month.

As soon as the surprise wore off that Donald Trump was elected president, attention turned quickly to Washington's favorite parlor game: Who will serve in President-elect Trump's cabinet and White House? But for all of the speculation about Trump's future chief of staff, Attorney General, Secretary…

On a crisp fall day as the scent of burning firewood tickles one's nose, a flock of Canada geese flies through the dusk sky, the birds' trademark honks punctuating the breeze. This could be an encouraging image, because the best part about Canada geese is when they leave.

Representatives of both political parties agree that the current tax laws inadvertently create an incentive for multinational corporations to invest abroad. The high domestic tax rate on corporate income, combined with our worldwide tax system that double-taxes profits made overseas and then…

American government has assumed a new form. The federal executive branch—the president, his political appointees, and the hundreds of agencies that report to them—has come to exercise lawmaking powers that were long the unquestioned preserve of Congress. For decades now, the executive has made law…

Despite the acrimony among the Republicans who ran for the presidency in 2016, there was actually a fair amount of agreement when it came to their policy proposals. For instance, nearly every candidate put together a major tax reform proposal, and none differed terribly much from the others save…

In a little-watched case in the Midwest, the Obama administration's Medicare regulators were dealt an embarrassing blow this week by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In this quarter's volume of National Affairs, attorney Jeff Rosen suggests putting regulatory agencies on a leash by subjecting them to a budget. "It is plainly time to impose the same kind of overall discipline on the regulatory system as is already in place on the fiscal system, however imperfect…

The Little Sisters of the Poor are headed to the Supreme Court this year, seeking escape from the contraception mandates of Obamacare — under which they fall, the government claims, as insurance providers for the employees in their nursing homes. The Justice Department is fighting the Little…

The Washington Post editorialized in November that it was time to regulate how much sugar Americans consume. Sugar causes obesity, which leads to heart disease and diabetes. Government has to pick up much of the tab for treatment, which justifies the feds putting themselves between consumers and…

In his final State of the Union, President Obama declared his belief that "a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy," which he paired with the assertion that "there are outdated regulations that need to be changed and there’s red tape that needs to be cut."

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a rookie who ranks 99th in seniority, gave his maiden speech on the Senate floor in November. Normally, senators use such speeches to discuss why this or that legislation is needed. Sasse, a former college president and a historian by training (Yale Ph.D.) who has…

The American Action Forum (AAF) is out with a new report about the Obama administration's unsuccessful efforts to reduce regulations. The findings are jaw-dropping.

Senator Jeff Sessions is worried that the adoption of the Trans-Pacific Partnership would lead to an "historic international regulatory Commission" that would eoncmpass 90 percent of the world's GDP. He's concerned that it would "[create] a self-governing and self-perpetuating Commission with…

According to an article in the New York Times on Monday, March 2, “a debate . . . has roiled Colorado’s growing yoga world.” (And don’t start thinking about what kind of planet the “yoga world” is.) 

Hillary Clinton took a strong position in support of so-called net neutrality in an appearance yesterday evening in Silicon Valley:

Republican senators Mike Lee, Ben Sasse, and Rand Paul have all been high profile opponents of the Obama administrations current plan to regulate the internet -- in particular, Lee has called the regulation a government "takeover" of the internet and says it amounts to a "a massive tax increase on…

What difference will it make if the Republicans win the Senate and hold the House in November? The House can already block Democratic legislation Republicans do not like, and President Obama would still be able to veto Republican legislation he does not like. The Republicans are talking of a…

Celebrating a fourth birthday and growing nicely. That’s the story of the Dodd-Frank law, designed to end a “too big to fail” banking system that forced taxpayers to bail out bankers who took not only their own banks but the entire financial system to the verge of collapse, and brought on a record…

Conflate two separate issues and you get one policy error. That is what too many opponents of carbon taxes are doing, getting caught up in the argument about climate change, which really has nothing to do with the case for a carbon tax. That case is that such a tax can make growth-inducing tax…

Yesterday, the Virginia DMV sent cease and desist letters to popular ridesharing services Uber and Lyft. In neighboring D.C., Uber has run into trouble with regulatory officials multiple times, but this latest move is surprising because Virginia generally has a much more sane regulatory…

Here's the abstract of a piece from Adam J. White on Congress, regulations, and what he calls "the new administrative state."

"The dinosaurs surviving the crunch” was how Stephen Sondheim described women living an outdated lifestyle and grimly aware that “everybody dies.” If Sondheim had the slightest interest in the less exalted subject of economics, he would apply that descriptive to a host of companies and industries…

The Scrapbook neglected to follow its usual practice last week and had a look at the reader comments under an online New York Times article. The Times piece covered the growing popularity of so-called electronic cigarettes (which Ethan Epstein chronicled in these pages a few weeks back), noting…

The antitrust lawyers I have served as a consultant often have the same complaint: Their clients don’t know when to shut up. This was certainly true of the executives of US Airways and American Airlines as they touted the virtues of their proposed $11 billion merger. US Airways president Scott…

Even if you're Warren Buffett--billionaire investor, founder of Berkshire Hathaway, and Democratic donor--it helps to have friends in high places. Through his holding company MidAmerican Energy, Buffett is currently atttempting to purchase NV Energy, a Nevada-based energy firm, and he's getting…

While not exactly a national monument, the north entrance to the Dupont Circle Metro stop in downtown Washington, D.C., is a pretty impressive edifice. A large circular granite wall is inscribed with a portion of Walt Whitman’s poem “The Wound-Dresser,” which you can ponder as you slowly descend…

When Prohibition ended in 1933, Pennsylvania governor Gifford Pinchot promised to make purchasing alcohol “as inconvenient and expensive as possible.” To this day, Pennsylvania has some of the most stringent—and absurd—liquor laws in the country. Beer and wine can’t be sold in grocery stores, and…

At a Democratic fundraiser in Palo Alto, California, President Barack Obama described himself as a common sense Democrat.

The headline of Jeff Mason's Reuters story this morning reads:

A new report by the Regulatory Studies Center at the George Washington University finds that the cost of regulatory rules in 2012 exceeded the cost of all rules in "the entire first terms of Presidents Bush and Clinton, combined."

As Adam White discusses in detail, there’s nothing moderate or incremental about the increase in federal regulations — and hence in centralized executive power — under President Obama.  To the contrary (as White notes), according to figures published by the Obama White House (see table 2-1), the…

In the Washington Post, Robert Samuelson highlights how Obamacare would needlessly complicate our society, make it more maddeningly litigious, give the I.R.S. more prominence, and make it harder for workers to get employers to give them so much as 30 hours a week. 

A few years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency lost a string of high-profile lawsuits brought by environmentalists challenging the Bush administration's regulations. And in certain circles, it was fashionable to cite those as proof of the Bush EPA's incompetence if not its utter corruption.

[A] regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, explained in 2010 that he understands the EPA policy to be to "crucify" a few oil and gas companies to get the rest of the industry to comply with the laws. So maybe it is better if the bureaucrats spend their time – and our money…

"Independent agencies" occupy an odd corner of American government. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, National Labor Relations Board, Federal Communications Commission, and others are nominally "independent" of the president's control—usually thanks to limits on the president's power to…

Last week, a federal judge in Washington issued a truly extraordinary opinion. Judge Janice Rogers Brown, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, went out of her way to challenge one of bedrock achievements of the 20th Century liberal legal establishment: the de-emphasis of economic…

At Forbes, David Shaywitz has a column on why excess medical regulation is harmful, and it's one of the best things I've read on the topic:

Bloomberg recently ran a great series on the challenges to expanding America's manufacturing sector that's worth reading in light of the president's State of the Union rhetoric on jobs. It opens with this distressing anecdote:

There are a number of pricey regulations that have received attention of late: net neutrality, new ozone standards, countless regulations stemming from the passage of the Dodd-Frank bill. These rules typically garner a mention in the Wall Street Journal, a formal Office of Information and…

CNN: "Obama, Dems drop millionaire surtax to pay for payroll tax cut"

Maria Bartiromo asks Nancy Pelosi a few pointed questions on the oppressive regulatory environment. The minority leader says she has no problem with the National Labor Relations Board's decision to tell Boeing it can't build a factory in South Carolina:

President Obama recently quashed a proposed new EPA ozone standard. Al Gore went so far as to express his disappointment in Obama publicly yesterday, accusing the president of "not "relying on science." But Perhaps Al Gore should learn to rely more on economics -- the proposed ozone standard would…

An op-ed in one of President Obama’s hometown papers, the Chicago Sun-Times, highlights the 4,257 new regulations that his administration currently has in the works (219 of which will cost at least $100 million apiece, annually). The op-ed draws particular attention to one specific regulatory…

Politico: "Rick Perry panic fires up the left"

In the Washington Post, Camden Fine, president and chief executive of the Independent Community Bankers of America, writes, “I was astounded this month when the Federal Reserve announced its intention to keep interest rates at zero percent for at least the next two years. I kept staring at that…

Today, The New York Times weighs in on the challenges the Obama administration EPA faceso — especially with regard to enforcing carbon regulations. It contains this rather revealing bit about the EPA's mindset:

When the Court hears 80 or so cases in a year, not all of them will be interesting.  In fact, some of them will be dreadfully boring.  Those tend to be known as "telecommunications cases."  (The occasional "fleeting expletive" or "wardrobe malfunction" case notwithstanding.)

I wrote a five-part series on Texas's breathtaking economic achievements earlier this year so this didn't come as a surprise to me, but a lot of people will probably find this stunning:

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson was interviewed for a Time magazine piece, "The Republican War on EPA Begins--But Will They Overreach?"   Earlier in the week, I ran my own piece on this topic, "EPA's War on American Industry."  War analogies are common in political discourse, but I would argue that…

A day before the House voted to repeal the worst regulatory nightmare ever conceived on these shores, President Obama claimed in the Wall Street Journal that he's signing an executive order to prevent, among other things, "excessive" regulation. Moreover, Obama claimed, his administration will take…