What do you get when you combine the IRS with crony capitalism? @ Campaign for Liberty
Regulations
Food, Legislation, Regulations
Explainer: What You Should Know About GMOs and Mandatory Food Labeling
Labor, Regulations
Oregon’s Minimum Wage Hike
The real problem is not that Oregon’s minimum wages vary relative to each other, but that they vary relative to the rest of the United States. According to the purchasing power index, $1.00 in Oregon is worth about $1.01 in the rest of the country—in other words, roughly average. While higher minimum wages would be less unreasonable in a place such as San Francisco (where a dollar is worth just 83 cents), a sensible public policy would expect Oregon’s minimum wage to be right in line with the national average. Instead, it is one of the highest in the country.
Food, Regulations, State Power
NYC Confiscates, Destroys Perfectly Good Food
Crime, Firearms, Regulations
Gun restrictions increase risks
An analysis conducted by the Heritage Foundation and based on mass shooting data from Stanford suggests that places with federal, state, local and private gun-free policies are more than twice as likely to be targeted by mass shooters.
Via Data: More gun free zones mean more mass shootings @ Personal Liberty®
Poverty, Regulations
How Over-Regulation Hurts the Poor
Cats, Regulations
No Regulation Too Inane
First they want to license your cat. Then they come for your guns.
Seriously there are simply too many laws out there. How can anyone keep track? Also, a law against “unregistered cats?” That borders on insane. Yet this guy spent 3 days in the clink because a feral cat wouldn’t go away. Think about that. He lost 3 days of his liberty because a wild cat kept coming onto his lawn.
I’ve got unlicensed raccoons visiting my trash can all the time. Guess I better check the local regulations….
Via Man Jailed for Unregistered Cat @ AgainstCronyCapitalism.org
Animals, Federal Government, Regulations
Endangered Species
Link
Federal Government, Law, Regulations
Regulatory Expansion
As Epstein made clear, Hayek was a passionate defender of the rule of law. Hayek understood that for a constitutional system to succeed in protecting those whom it governs, there must be both fair and neutral judges and laws that are coherent and understandable by normal citizens–not just lawyers and accountants. The movement away from these principles is where Hayek’s relevance is most-clearly seen today.
While most people are familiar with the congressional gridlock that has gripped America since the 2010 midterm elections, this gridlock has not extended to executive agencies. The gradual, but accelerating, growth in executive agencies’ powers has led to wide-ranging authority for the so-called “administrative state.”
Via America Should Heed Hayek’s Lessons For Faster Growth @ economics21.org.
Food, Liberty, Lifestyle, Regulations
Milk
Libertarianism doesn't assume people are infallible or perfectly rational–just the opposite: http://t.co/iVjEhag7mZ
— Cato On Campus (@CatoOnCampus) October 9, 2015
Free Markets, Medicine, Regulations
Warping the market for health care
The GPO [Group Purchasing Organization] safe harbor is unique in federal law, permitting vendors to pay kickbacks to GPOs who in turn pay kickbacks to hospitals and for-profit hospital executives in return for sole-source contracts. This legalized banana republic corruption warps traditional free market incentives that give us continuously improving products and services at lower cost.
Via Rubens: Drug Prices, Crony Capitalism and Political Reform @ Exeter Patch.
Link
“Nothing laissez-faire going on here.”
EconomicPolicyJournal.com: Uber Execs on Trial in France Face Jail Time, Heavy Fines.
Federal Government, Regulations
Guess who’s supported REAL ID?
Regarding the LRC article today about the REAL ID, I must point out that when it passed in 2005, Bush the Republican was the president and the Republicans controlled both Houses of Congress. Every Republican in the Senate voted for the REAL ID legislation (H.R.1268, PL 109-13). In the House, the Republican vote for the REAL ID legislation was 225-3. Ron Paul, of course, was one of the no votes.
Regulations, Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s anti-dumping laws hurt consumers
“A Michigan-based supermarket trying to expand into Wisconsin has come up against an absurd law against selling products at “unfairly low” prices. As reported by MLive, the Meijer grocery store chain is facing complaints that its grand opening sales violated Wisconsin law for offering products at prices below cost. Why is that bad?” ViaWisconsin’s Unfair…
Business, Cato, Federal Government, Regulations
The SEC’s Thin Entering Wedge
The SEC’s new rule compelling public companies to report ratios of CEO pay to other workers may provide a toehold for further regulation of corporate compensation. Thaya Knight comments.
Economy, Employment, Regulations
A $15 minimum wage as overkill
There are vast swaths of the US where the cost of getting by is relatively reasonable, and where the risk of job losses posed by more than doubling the federal minimum may well outweigh the benefits of giving the remaining workers raises.
Via This map shows why a $15 minimum wage is a terrible idea @ Business Insider
Business, Cats, Regulations
DC Gets a Cat Café (But It Wasn’t Easy)
Food, Regulations, Schools
Demand finds a way
“Kids in a school district in Indiana have created a black market in salt packets, which they trade and sell to help mitigate the disgusting taste of the so-called healthy lunches mandated under federal guidelines. These guidelines were championed by First Lady Michelle Obama. Like so many other clumsy government attempts to make people healthier…
Law, Liberty, Regulations
No Waiting
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) plans to sign two new laws on Wednesday that expand the rights of gun owners by removing a 48-hour waiting period for those looking to purchase a firearm and allowing off-duty or retired police officers to carry concealed weapons at public schools.
Via Scott Walker to sign legislation expanding gun rights in Wisconsin @ The Washington Post.