Free Republic

If you think you had it hard during these past few cold months, you should talk to a local food truck owner. Winter is tough on sales for any outdoor food service operator, and this past season was particularly nasty. Spring will bring relief but even that will be short-lived as the following summer months drive customers back into air-conditioned bricks and mortar restaurants. "You get into this wash, rinse and repeat," says Jeremy Scott, who owns and operates Tutta, a food truck serving freshly baked pizzas loaded with smoked meats. Scott recently looked at his sales through two of...

Periods of industry-redefining regulatory change are hardly new. What is unprecedented is the volume and relentless pace of regulation. Organizations have to ensure they can implement the system code changes and update operating processes to comply with the welter of new legislation, regulatory initiatives and rule amendments. And they have less time in which to react to those changes. To further complicate matters, the regulations are coming from multiple sources, with no consideration of whether the objectives are complementary or conflicting, and what the cumulative impact will be. Two primary objectives are driving the extensive regulatory agenda: a desire for...

The California Department of Motor Vehicles began Tuesday to puzzle through the complex question of how to regulate cars that rely on computers—not people—to drive them. Once the stuff of science fiction, “driverless cars” could be commercially available by decade’s end. Google already has sent its fleet of Priuses and Lexuses, fitted with an array of sensors, hundreds of thousands of miles in California, and major automakers are testing their own models. …

Promises: Vulnerable Democrats think they've found a winning strategy for the November elections: Tell voters they can fix ObamaCare, but Republicans won't let them. It's a con. ObamaCare is unfixable. 'Joe Garcia is working to fix ObamaCare," says an ad for the Florida House Democrat. "He voted to let you keep your existing health plan and took the White House to task for the disastrous health care website." Of course, Garcia fails to mention ObamaCare is the reason millions lost their health plans to begin with. Or that its problems extend well beyond a glitchy website. But this is the...

Even independently of the Obama administration’s policies, the U.S. energy grid has been undergoing some major shifts in the past few years. As the shale revolution has gained steam and natural gas has become more abundant, the proportion of electricity we get from coal has decreased while the role of viable-substitute natural gas has gotten bigger. Many defenders of the Obama administration’s incoming regulations for new and existing coal-fired power plants point to this ongoing market shift as part of their rationale, arguing that the transition to cleaner-burning natural gas is happening anyway and that all these regulations are just...

The Center for American Progress recently held a panel discussion on the topic of executive agency overreach, which several panelists called “regulatory capture.” Their major problem with executive agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and others, is how regulators in these agencies are influenced by the private industries they are supposed to regulate. Princeton political professor Nolan McCarty said the real issue is semantics, adding that regulatory capture should be called “regulatory capacity.” The Princeton professor said, “We can’t really expect regulators to effectively pursue the public interest.” The current system that has “biased” regulators who oversee private industries,...

As two days of hearings on the future of digital currencies – think Bitcoin – wrapped up Wednesday in the New York State Legislature, fans of the cyber-cash were getting both bad and good news. Supporters who are drawn to Bitcoin because it largely functions outside governmental control may have been dismayed at the attempt to corral the currency inside state guidelines for the handling of money. But, at the same time, say experts, the simple act of enacting regulations bestows the legitimacy the digital currency needs to become widely used. “Most of the folks in this market who are...

UPDATE (29th January, 13:14 GMT): Read CoinDesk’s report on yesterday’s hearing here. You can watch the full video here. Stay tuned to CoinDesk for more updates on today’s hearing, and be sure to follow us on Twitter for live tweets on the proceedings.

The New York Department of Financial Services is shortly to begin its hearing about bitcoin and other digital currencies. Taking place in the 4th Floor Boardroom of 90 Church Street, New York, the hearing is set to begin at 11:30 (EST) today (28th January) and the second session will begin tomorrow at 10:00. A live webcast of the hearings can be found here.

The progressive liberal has shown through their actions and ideology that they seek above all else, control. The very thought of individual enterprise or liberty is anathema to them as it goes against their desire for an all-powerful state to which all citizens owe their allegiance and blind faith. Of course, they'll be the ones ruling as they obviously know what is best for us common peasants. How can we expected to make decisions on our own without their benevolent guidance and wisdom? The left has many weapons in their arsenal against freedom, and one of the most potent is...

Last week, I attended the largest gun and outdoors show in the world; the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show. The annual Las Vegas event is so huge that only those who work in the industry are allowed to attend. The show doesn't receive much mainstream news coverage because the left-wing media doesn't want the public to know how many patriotic Americans are in the gun industry. Attendance increases every year, with 67,000 attending this year. There were 1,600 exhibitors, and over 400 companies were waitlisted. Conservatives have been losing ground in virtually every area in politics except the Second...

When government grows too large, dependency replaces achievementWhen I was in high school in Detroit, I had a job as a biology laboratory assistant. I spent a substantial amount of time in the greenhouse, preparing botany experiments. I had acquired some seeds of an interesting plant and was anxious to use them to produce my own crop of these plants. I planted the seeds in a special container and kept enriching the soil and providing plenty of moisture and sunlight to enhance and accelerate the growth. I was very disappointed with the results and eventually abandoned the project, leaving the...

"..........The fundamental nature of environmental thinking, as it has evolved from the efforts of earlier, well-intentioned leaders to reform air and water standards, involves an obsession with regulation and control. A corollary of this controlling mentality is a reflexive opposition to economic growth. Instead of developing our resources and seeing the nation prosper, the modern-day environmental goal is reversion to something resembling the state of nature. It is not only "no growth";it is negative growth, dragging us back to the Stone Age.But it is not just freeing the Earth of the footprint of man--it is the relationship among men that...

One of the most odious aspects of regulation is the fact that it usually comes in a sugar coated package. Typically they are the result of a law that is intended to “help” everyone or “protect” some group or to give an advantage to a group whose members are perceived to be disadvantaged. It’s that sugar coating that makes regulations so difficult to challenge. If you oppose pouring more money into a failed school system you “Don’t care about the children”. If you oppose solar power funding or excessive energy regulation, you “Don’t care about the environment”. If you oppose...

It appears that the Corker-Warner housing finance bill is still leading in the reform derby, despite its obvious problems and omissions (like protecting the property rights of current investors). Anyone remember the beating General Motors bond investors took in the government bailout of GM? Corker-Warner does little to fix any housing market problems that exist. And that is because housing legislation can’t cure what ails the economy: decreasing labor force participation and real median household income. Here is a chart of three economic indicators with clear downward momentum: civilian labor force participation (blue), the US homeownership rate (red) and real...

After a parliamentary inquiry, Germany has clarified its position on Bitcoin. The federal ministry of finance recognized Bitcoins as “units of account”—the cryptocurrency is therefore be considered as “private money”. That’s why, according to Die Welt, the government stated that there wouldn’t be a tax exemption on commercial activities that use Bitcoins. In addition to paying capital gains tax, Bitcoin users should now pay sales tax (VAT) as well. Member of Parliament Frank Schaeffler considers Bitcoin mining as private money creation, and says that the same fiscal and legal rules should apply to Euros and Bitcoins. Yet, it is still...

ALEC’s Center for State Fiscal Reform is proud to announce its newest publication, the 2013 State Tax Cut Roundup. Released this morning, the report has already garnered national media attention from The Washington Post, Politico, and the Washington Examiner. The report highlights the 18 states that cut taxes in the 2013 legislative year. Some states like North Carolina enacted fundamental tax reform, while others made smaller changes. The tax policy changes enacted by states reflect an emphasis on pro-growth reforms that encourage economic expansion and competition.

The feasibility of President Obama’s ad hoc revision of the Affordable Care Act was immediately disputed by leading insurers and state insurance regulators. On the insurance industry side, Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, called the President’s move “unworkable and unfair. There is no way at this late date to implement this latest promise of President Obama. Getting our policy options in line with the requirements of the Affordable Care Act took us close to three years of work. Resurrecting policies that the ACA has outlawed cannot be accomplished within the time remaining before the legislated December 31st...

Maryland’s Carroll County recently received a letter from Assistant Attorney General Paul DeSantis, threatening to fine the county $10,000 for each day that it does not enact a storm water remediation fee, also known as a “Rain Tax.” The infamous Rain Tax bill came as a response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “pollution diet” known as the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load. The “pollution diet” requires reductions in pollutants that are primarily found in drainage run-off and fertilizers. The bill was signed by Governor O’Malley this past April and requires 10 of Maryland’s 24 counties to charge an...

The growing role of big government in our lives presents a continual attack on the cherished and hallmark American values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In no area is this expansion more troubling than the criminal justice system. Actions defined as crimes have proliferated to the point that the average American now inadvertently commits an estimated three felonies a day. This explosion of criminal statutes has little to do with protecting our communities; it is simply another symptom of the expansive reach of big government. While some criminal laws and sanctions are certainly necessary to protect public...