Regulation

Washington Post's Marc Fisher devoted his July 22 column, "Law Reinforces Montgomery as a Nanny State" to pooh-poohing a recently-passed bill by the affluent, liberal Maryland county that borders the District of Columbia on its northwest side. Fisher leveled a charge that free-market advocates and conservative Marylanders would cheer regarding the new ordinance mandating that employers of nannies…

Forget the basics of supply and demand, just find someone to blame. As Congress takes new aim at speculators for the high price of gasoline, some media reports seem to be following suit. But as The Biz Flog explains this week, there is considerable debate over whether speculators should be blamed for the high cost of oil. June 23, the same day Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce…

Once again, it appears media and Democrats are on the wrong side of public opinion, as a new poll released Tuesday shows Americans more interested in expanding oil drilling to solve the current energy crisis than additional conservation measures. In fact, "[a]n increasing proportion also says that developing new sources of energy - rather than protecting the environment - is the more important…

Yesterday's edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight included a report from Kitty Pilgrim on product recalls from China and the administration's efforts to reduce importation of unsafe products. "Bush administration officials are going through the charade of tougher enforcement with few results," according to correspondent Pilgrim. Using the term "charade" prepared viewers for where this segment was…

For several months, NewsBusters has been reporting the new horror movie genre "Global Warming's Gonna Kill You!"Entering the fray is M. Night Shyamalan, the writer/director of 1999's smash hit "The Sixth Sense."Set to open coincidentally on Friday, June 13, "The Happening" is Shyamalan's move "to milk global warming for all the terror and despair it's worth."So say USA Today's "Weather Guys" (…

According to the American Fire Safety Council (AFSC), flame-retardant chemicals save a lot of lives. But you would never know that from watching the May 19 "CBS Evening News" because correspondent Wyatt Andrews hyped the danger of such chemicals. Andrews report featured a liberal politician who wants to ban the chemicals in Maine, and has made it one of her pet causes. "You know, it makes me…

In a rare case of balance, Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show" highlighted both sides in the debate over declaring the polar bear an endangered species due to global warming as correspondent Daniel Sieberg declared: "They're at the top of the food chain at the top of the world, but their future is at the center of a political tug-of-war over drilling for oil versus protecting their habitat."Sieberg…

If you're a believer in the Larry Kudlow creed, that "free-market capitalism is the best path to prosperity," then look out, because George Soros is going to make you cringe. A May 13 USA Today article by David J. Lynch profiled the Hungarian billionaire who said he sees traditional free market theory as "flawed." "Of course, real life never matches up exactly with the theory's assumptions.…

How do you get a better air safety record? Try not crashing first. The New York Times reported that outside the United States the Federal Aviation Administration is considered a "role model" and "first-rate regulator," because it has the lowest accident rate in the world. The Times' viewed regulation rather than market based innovation as the solution to accident rates in foreign countries…

Hillary Clinton's tax policy on gas and oil is "pointless" while John McCain's is "evil," according to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. But in explaining the difference, Krugman betrays either his ignorance of the flawed history of the so-called "windfall profits tax" on petroleum or his tacit approval of the tax despite its folly as public policy.From Krugman's April 29 Conscience of a…