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Can McDonald's and Denny’s kill the ethanol mandate?
Timothy P. Carney
Published: Thu, Apr 11, 2013
There’s plenty I don’t like about the lobbying agenda of the National Council of Chain Restaurants. NCCR — which represents the likes of Dunkin' Donuts, Wendy’s, McDonald's, Cracker Barrel, and Denny’s — was among the food giants supporting the Food Safety Modernization...
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The light-bulb law was a matter of public policy profiteering
Timothy P. Carney
Updated: Thu, Apr 11, 2013
“Politics as well as optics have played a part in making LED lighting in general more popular,” notes this thorough Economist article on hi-tech lighting. Among other things, the Energy Independence and Security Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, with...
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Timothy P. Carney: Why is a conservative group opposing spending cuts?
Timothy P. Carney
Published: Wed, Apr 10, 2013
President Obama's budget this week proposed $50 billion in new infrastructure funding. Joining Obama in this fight for more federal infrastructure money will be the American Conservative Union, likely funded by the government contractors who pocket those highway tax dollars. Republicans have...
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Web of government registration requirements leads to arrest, firing
Timothy P. Carney
Updated: Tue, Apr 9, 2013
Six years ago, high school senior Michael Byars briefly dated a freshman girl. They had sex, and so Byers became not only a criminal — guilty of “lascivious acts with a child,” — but also permanently branded as a “sex offender.” Sex-offender registries exist all over the country....
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Subsidized Marlins Park sitting empty
Timothy P. Carney
Published: Tue, Apr 9, 2013
A Florida fan phoned Marlins Park this morning to ask what time tonight’s game is. The stadium official responded, “well, what time can you show up?” That’s an old baseball joke, but that sort of deference would be fitting down in Miami, considering that the taxpayers are the ones who...
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Margaret Thatcher, the Tories, free markets, and populism
Timothy P. Carney
Published: Mon, Apr 8, 2013
When I visited the Tory Party conference in 2011, I spoke with as many Tory politicos, advisors, hangers-on as I could. One Member of Parliament was clearly something of the liaison between David Cameron’s administration and the right wing of the Tory Party. This MP spoke of Cameron’s win...
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Big Tobacco uses Big Government to keep out Small Competitors
Timothy P. Carney
Published: Mon, Apr 8, 2013
As R.J. Reynolds rolls out an e-cigarette, the company is lobbying to keep out small competitors, according to Matthew Bandyk at the Daily Caller: Under the bill, any dealer of vapor products must obtain a license, carrying an annual fee of $250, and agree to purchase only from...
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Tim Carney: Tea Party challenges Obama, K Street on corporate welfare
Timothy P. Carney
Published: Sun, Apr 7, 2013
Congressional Republicans and the Obama White House are headed for another clash over corporate welfare, and once again President Obama is on the side of big business while Senate conservatives are on the side of free markets. The battleground is the Export-Import Bank, a federal agency that...
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Obama admin awards Chamber of Commerce for its 2012 lobbying
Timothy P. Carney
Published: Thu, Apr 4, 2013
OMNI-SHOREHAM HOTEL, WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Obama administration has enjoyed using the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a foil over the past four years. Obama raised money and campaigned for congressional Democrats in 2010 by basically charging the Chamber with funneling Communist Chinese...
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Tim Carney: Nanny Bloomberg's mandates lack supporting data
Timothy P. Carney
Published: Wed, Apr 3, 2013
When liberal nanny-staters infringe on their citizens' freedom to enjoy anything from soft drinks to semi-automatics, they often flatter themselves as being science-based technocrats. But look into the science behind these government intrusions and you'll find little to no evidence justifying...

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