laws

Illinois state representative Camille Lilly recently sponsored a bill to restrict self-service gasoline stations. New Jersey and Oregon already ban self-service gas, although Oregon exempts rural counties. Would creating jobs for gas station attendants be good economics?

Today bigger, supremely powerful global governments are justified by environmental claims.

Donny Kendal and John Nothdurft are back in episode #164 of the In The Tank Podcast. This week’s episode features work from The Heartland Institute, Manhattan Institute, and the Cato Institute.

John Nothdurft and Donny Kendal present episode #109 of the In The Tank Podcast. Today’s podcast features work from Truth in Accounting, the Goldwater Institute, and the Commonwealth Foundation.

John Nothdurft and Donny Kendal present episode #85 of the In The Tank Podcast. Today’s podcast features work from the Tax Foundation, ALEC, the James Madison Institute, and the Goldwater Institute.

John and Donny continue their weekly exploration of think tanks across the country in episode #51 of the In The Tank Podcast. This weekly podcast features (as always) interviews, debates, and roundtable discussions that explore the work of think tanks across the country. The show is available for download as part of the Heartland Daily Podcast every Friday. Today’s podcast features work from the Beacon Center of Tennessee, The Heartland Institute, the National Center For Policy Analysis, and the Foundation for Economic Education.

Washington is out of control. Legislators, judges and unelected bureaucrats want to control our lives, livelihoods and living standards, with no accountability even for major errors, calculated deception, or deliberate, often illegal assaults on our liberties and on citizens who resist the advancing Leviathan.

While Scalia’s time serving on the Supreme Court influenced a wide range of issues, his critical analyses and carefully crafted opinions on environmental issues had an outsized impact on environmental policy and law. Scalia’s vote was often the difference between protecting individual liberty against attempts to expand government power and rulings that would have imposed the misanthropic wishes of radical environmentalists on the public.

In Maine, state lawmakers expanded existing bans on tobacco use in private and public spaces to include e-cigarettes. Many cities and states are likewise considering banning e-cigarette use in public and private spaces, and state governments in Delaware and New York have already banned using e-cigarettes in restaurants and other privately owned spaces.

On Oct. 15, the California Fair Political Practices Commission issued　new regulations on so-called “coordination” between candidates and super political action committees. The new rules are widely considered to be the toughest in the nation. In fact, they’re an outrageous infringement of freedom of speech.

Oreos have been for years made in Chicago, Illinois (and several other American cities). Mondelez International, Inc. – the company that delivers us the chocolatey, spherical goodness – announced they would make their next wave of Oreo manufacturing investment not in Chicago, but in Mexico. This move will reduce – not end – Chicago’s role in production. Jobs in the Windy City will be halved – from 1,200 to 600. (Other cities will continue their current roles.)

There are currently four patent “reform” bills being considered by Congress. Patents are a way innovators protect their ideas – which is how we as a society protect our continued economic viability. If people who invent cool stuff can’t protect their cool stuff from thieves – they’ll stop inventing cool stuff.

Thirty states, including Ohio, have renewable portfolio mandates. These laws require a certain percentage of electricity to be generated from renewable sources, primarily wind and solar power.