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W
Three Decades On, CEIs Fight for ith seven state attorneys general and
Economic Freedom Continues Al Gore sharing a New York City
stage, there was no doubt about it: It was
show time for a whodunit. The crime being
investigated? Dissent.
The March 29 news conference
unveiled, according to New York Attorney
of liberty and fight against government barriers to consensus. As with any such challenges, we
economic freedom. hold that the best defense is a good offense. We
One of the greatest threats to that freedom in have launched a counteroffensive, challenging
America is the overreaching administrative state, the subpoena in court, and we are confident we
which has grown unabated, regardless of which will ultimately prevail. The state attorneys general
party has controlled the White House. We will who are waging this political attack are targeting
continue to expose how government overregulation an unpopular, deep-pocketed business, harassing
impedes and displaces personal enterprise and potential allies with overly broad investigations,
economic growth, and show how private alternatives running roughshod over First Amendment
do more to provide individual choices and better protections, and hoping the company caves and
results for all. pays the ransom. That sort of government-led assault
We see the runaway power of the executive cannot be allowed to succeed. Already, prominent
branch in President Obamas signing of the Paris opinion leaders have spoken out against this attack,
climate treaty, which threatens to make energy including George Will and the editorial boards of
more expensive for all Americans. We also see it in The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.
federal labor regulators unilaterally imposing new Its an honor to be entrusted with the leadership
overtime and joint employer mandates on American of a vital organization like CEI. Under the leadership
businesses large and small. These examples merely of Fred L. Smith, Jr. and then Lawson Bader, CEI has
hint at the scope of the problem. gone a long way toward a more reasonable policy
CEI has put forward a series of reforms to restore debate, in Washington and beyond. Yet, for its many
and strengthen some crucial checks and balances, victories, there are more challenges ahead. We have
working with policy makers to implement realistic our work cut out for us. I am eager to take on that
solutions. Just this year, the chairman of the House challenge.
Budget Committee included a proposal for a
regulatory budget, which CEI has long advocated,
in his budget plan. Thats a big deal. And we, along
R.M.
held that such attempts were illegal under the First Amendments right of
association.
You might think that if the law is that clear, we have nothing to worry
about. But fighting a subpoena is incredibly costly and time-consuming,
especially when the attorneys general behind them have promised to use all
FREEDMAN
the tools at their disposal, courtesy of their states taxpayers.
Regardless of where you stand on global warming policy, the notion of a
SOCI ET Y
multi-state campaign to end the debate ought to make you worry. After all,
there are many science-driven policy debates out there, on topics ranging
from genetically modified food to population control. It is not as if the Help the Competitive
government has a sterling reputation when it comes to science. From Galileo
to todays food plate, we know government politicizes science. It ought not
Enterprise Institute
to punish dissent, too. carry on its work for
generations by joining the
Kent Lassman (kent.lassman@cei.org) is President and CEO and Sam Kazman
R.M. Freedman society.
(sam.kazman@cei.org) is General Counsel of CEI. A version of this article origi-
nally appeared in The Washington Post. In 2013, CEI established the R.M. Freedman
Society in honor of Robert M. Freedman,
a business owner from West Bloomfield,
Michigan, who placed CEI in his estate
Bruce Yandle is Dean Emeritus of Clemson Univer- Mary Katharine Ham is a CNN Political Commenta-
sitys College of Business and Behavioral Science, a tor and a Senior Writer at The Federalist. During the
Distinguished Adjunct Professor at the Mercatus 2016 presidential election cycle, she co-moderated a
Center at George Mason University, and a Senior GOP primary debate on ABC. Prior to joining CNN,
Fellow Emeritus at the Property and Environment she was a weekly commentator on Fox News The
Research Center. During his distinguished career, he OReilly Factor. She is the co-author of End of Dis-
served as a senior White House economist during the cussion: How the Lefts Outrage Industry Shuts Down
Ford Administration, Executive Director of the Fed- Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes America Less
eral Trade Commission during the Reagan Adminis- Free (and Fun) and has written for HotAir, The Weekly
tration, and as member and chairman of the South Standard, and The Daily Caller.
Carolina State Board of Economic Advisors.
A fourth-generation journalist, she did a stint cov-
Yandle is best known for his Bootleggers and Bap- ering NASCAR, high school football, and her coun-
tists theory of interest group lobbying. The theory, tys largest legumes before embracing new media
which illuminates how strange-bedfellow alliances and heading to Washington, D.C. Her career goal
promote shared political aims, is now standard in has been to discover the formula for talking about
political science and economic curricula. politics without being a blowhard. She is a Twitter
enthusiast, and a mother of two who hiked Kiliman-
Several of Yandles 17 books, and much of his schol-
jaro on her honeymoon.
arly research, examine how secure property rights
and enforced common law principles lead to better
environmental and natural resource protection than
regulatory restrictions. This work makes him an ideal
recipient of the Julian Simon Memorial Award.
In late April and early May, On March 29, the U.S. Supreme On April 7, CEI denounced a
CEI filed two federal lawsuits Court announced a deadlock, 4 to subpoena from Attorney General
challenging new regulations on 4 decision, in a major case involving Claude E. Walker of the U.S. Virgin
electronic cigarette use on airplanes forced labor union dues, Friedrichs v. Islands that attempts to unearth a
and the Transportation Security California Teachers Association. With decade of CEIs materials and work on
Administrations body scanners. the court gridlocked, government climate change policy. This is the latest
On e-cigarettes, CEI accuses the unions will continue to take dues from effort in an intimidation campaign to
Department of Transportation of non-members, whether they like it criminalize speech and research on
illegally stretching the language or not, said Iain Murray, CEI Vice the climate debate, led by New York
of the anti-smoking law to cover President for Strategy. Four justices Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
e-cigarettes, which do not produce have voted against the free speech and former Vice President Al Gore.
harmful smoke. On the TSAs rights of workers to prop up labor CEI will vigorously fight to quash
body scanners, CEI alleges that union power. CEI Policy Analyst Trey this subpoena. It is an affront to our
the agency failed to consider the Kovacs urged state legislators to use First Amendment rights of free speech
costs of security measures in terms the tools at their disposal to protect and association for Attorney General
of deterred flyers, some of whom government workers rights. State Walker to bring such intimidating
will be injured and die by instead legislatures can take action to help demands against a nonprofit group,
driving on much more dangerous teachers, librarians, bus drivers, and said CEI General Counsel Sam
roads. CEI argues both of the rules a whole host of other state and local Kazman. CEI served Walker with its
should be vacated as arbitrary and public employees, said Kovacs. official response on April 20, detailing
capricious under the Administrative Lawmakers can implement specific 23 legal objections and vowing a
Procedure Act. reforms to increase worker choice or fight if the subpoena was not
allow non-union members to withdrawn. Your demand on CEI
stop paying dues to a union they is offensive, it is un-American, it is
do not want. unlawful, and it will not stand, CEI
wrote in a letter to Walker.
...END NOTES
New York Senate Proposes Criminalizing Machete Film Censors Literally Watch Paint Dry for 10 Hours
Possession British filmmaker Charlie Lyne is well-known to contro-
The nannies in the New York State Senate have found versy and recently decided to exact some revenge on the
another target of their tut-tutting: machetes. Legislation countrys film censors. The British Board of Film Classification
passed in April would criminalize the procession of machetes rates and classifies movies. But unlike the U.S., it is actually
with a penalty of up to a year in jail. The vote was 54-5 illegal to screen or sell an unrated film and the Board has
and now awaits companion legislation from the Assembly. veto power over all movie content. Even worse, the Board
The bill adds machetes to the list of deadly weapons in the forces filmmakers to pay for their censorship, with fees for
state to include switchblades, gravity and ballistic knives, feature films often running more than $1,000. Lyne decided
daggers, metal or plastic knuckles, and billy clubs and to use crowdsourcing website Kickstarter to fund the most
blackjacks. This oversight is surprising given the common boring movie ever made. As the price is based on the films
knowledge that machetes have often been used as weapons runtime, the more money Lyne raised, the longer his pro-
and are actually defined as such in Websters dictionary test film could be. Over a month, 686 backers offered up
Machetea large heavy knife used for cutting sugarcane $8,666 and the film, Paint Drying, is 607 minutes long.
and underbrush and as a weapon, said state Sen. Tony
Avella, a Queens Democrat leading the charge to outlaw TSA Pays $47,400 for Randomizer App that Chooses
the home and garden tool. Left or Right
Frequent travelers are aware of the two screening paths
Mayor Charged with Stealing 111 Road Signs at U.S. airports: very invasive general screening with body
State police say an upstate New York mayor illegally scanners or less invasive PreCheck screening. Those who
provided his village with 111 road signs belonging to the havent enrolled in PreCheck are sometimes surprised to be
state Department of Transportation (DOT). Frank Moracco randomly directed to the quicker lines by TSA personnel.
was charged in April with official misconduct and petit PreCheck enrollees are sometimes surprised, and angered,
larceny. Investigators say Moracco works as a sign shop to be directed to general screening. Thats where the
foreman for the New York DOT. Hes accused of stealing the Randomizer app comes in. The app randomly directs travel-
signs and giving them to the Herkimer County, New York, ers to go left or right, so fliers will not be able to figure out
village of Frankfort. Village clerk Karlee Tamburro told The how to get random checks. However, the Randomizer comes
Observer-Dispatch of Utica that Moracco will continue to at an astonishing cost. According to government documents,
serve as mayor and the Mohawk Valley village isnt com- the TSA paid IBM more than $47,400 to develop the app.
menting on the charges and Moracco did not comment on Programmers know that random number generators are one
the charges. of the easiest applications to code and free coin flip pro-
grams are widely available on the Internet.