Free Republic

Does Missaukee County, Michigan, really have a dangerous air pollution problem? The 574-square-mile region, nestled in the northwestern part of the state's lower peninsula, is home to all of 15,000 people. Its economy consists mainly of Christmas tree, dairy and livestock farms, and summer vacationers. The nearest "cities" are Cadillac to the west (population 10,281), and Grayling to the northeast (population 1,863). Yet new smog rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday would treat this little county like Los Angeles...

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson warned that he will hold off on many of his company's capital investment plans if uncertainty persists over how the US government will regulate the Internet. "It's prudent to pause," he said at an investor conference Wednesday. "We want to make sure we have line of sight on this process and where these rules could land, and then re-evaluate." The comments come two days after President Obama threw his support behind the idea that broadband services providers should be regulated under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, which would treat Internet service providers more like utilities...

Whatever the FCC's charter might be, and whatever its intentions, its rules and regulations over the past 70 years have often stifled competition, thwarted innovation and curtailed investment in the nation's communications networks. Here are five prime examples:

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota cities have circled the wagons in a controversial property rights case that pits municipal authorities against homeowners who are challenging the constitutionality of Winona’s rental ban before the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer is turning to actor Woody Harrelson and director Darren Aronofsky in a new ad urging voters to “take the fight against climate change to the ballot box.” The 30-second ad buy, narrated by Harrelson, and directed by Aronofsky, declares the climate fight is one people “will win,” but voting on Election Day is key. “They told us the world was flat and insisted it was the center of the universe,” Harrelson states in the ad as images of the earth in black and white flicker on the screen. “[They] said that cigarettes were harmless.” “Now they...

Environmental groups are on track to spend more than $85 million on key races this year, more than ever before, according to an internal memo. The record spending comes as green groups are worried about the fate of the Senate and the future of President Obama’s climate agenda, which they say is crucial to helping the U.S. and other nations curb greenhouse gas emissions and stave off disastrous climate impacts. A memo circulated among five of the nation’s top environmental organizations, and provided to The Hill, summarizes in detail the plan hatched by the groups to put climate change on...

Dealing with federal, state and local taxes and regulations is already an incredibly burdensome task on startups and small businesses. But beyond complying with onerous regulations from the jurisdiction where businesses operate, there is a little talked about potential tax change that could make it much more difficult for small businesses to expand into the online marketplace. This complication is known as the Marketplace Fairness Act or MFA. Right now, traditional “brick-and-mortar” stores are required by states and localities to collect sales taxes from customers and remit those back to the states. This is because they have a physical presence...

The Environmental Protection Agency took the first step toward regulating a chemical in the country’s drinking water on Monday. The EPA issued a preliminary determination to regulate the chemical called strontium, which is a naturally occurring element. At elevated levels strontium can impact bone strength in people who don’t consume enough calcium, the EPA said. Strontium has been found in roughly 99 percent of the public water systems in the U.S..

One of the chief concerns about the EPA’s recently proposed Clean Power Plan is the effect that the regulation would have on electric grid reliability. We’ve written before about the roughly 50 gigawatts of installed baseload capacity that the EPA itself acknowledges will be retired by 2020 directly as a result of the proposed rule, as well as the 70 gigawatts slated for retirement as a result of other EPA regulations. Stakeholders and policymakers can see for themselves which generating stations in their state the EPA includes in their estimates by using the interactive map on our website. Altogether, these...

"You'll never meet anyone who says, 'I want to be a millionaire. I think I'll start a winery,'" owner Bill Smyth tells me from his small office over the tasting room of Westover Vineyards, nestled in Palomares Canyon. Smyth has worked in a number of fields. He made some money. He bought the vineyard property when he was young. His ex-wife bought him a kit to make wine, and his labor of love turned into a small business. Now, thanks to heavy-handed California regulators, he's selling off his ports and boutique wines and turning his winery back into a home....

Tyler Durden 09/05/2014 Just weeks after defaulting (yet again) on its debt (whether technically or not), and shortly after raising the minimum wage by 31% (to $523 a month) amid runaway inflation, it appears Argentina has gone full-Venezuela. As WSJ reports, the great minds that 'run' Argentina have decided to pass legislation (dubbed "the supply law") letting the government regulate private-sector prices, profit margins and production levels. The opposition is up in arms, "this is absolutely ridiculous. It's part of a very primitive ideology that says government officials should decide what people should make, how much they should make and...

On August 29, ALEC CEO Lisa Nelson and twenty state legislators sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). They called on the FCC to respect principles of constitutional federalism regarding states’ authority over their local governments. State constitutions or state legislatures create and define the powers of county, city and public utility districts. But the FCC is now weighing whether to eliminate the laws of some twenty states that restrict their respective local governments from going into the business of providing broadband Internet services. As a matter of public policy, ALEC believes that private sector investment, innovation and...

Police officials in the beautiful and historic South Carolina city of Charleston have identified a major new public safety menace requiring their immediate attention. This latest threat -- being met by the authorities with an aggressive public awareness campaign and “sting” operations coupled with hefty fines in excess of $1,000 -- is not drugs, gangs, or illegal immigration. The threat posed the good citizens of Charleston is: Uber! Uber is a fast-growing, popular digital app for smart phones that provides consumers in Charleston and many cities across the country and around the world with an alternative to traditional taxi services....

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is trying to ban smoking… Everywhere. Well, at least everywhere someone might be working, so I guess that’s not as many places as you might think. (Hat tip to Obamanomics.) The CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has suggested banning all tobacco consumption at every work place in the nation… Because, ya know, the nanny-state can never be too big, right?The ban would apply to not only office buildings, restaurants, and retail stores, but it would also apply to any outdoor location (such as construction sites, landscaping work, and...

President Obama doesn't have the authority to simply stop the companies he calls “corporate deserters” from taking up legal residency in low-tax countries. The Obama administration began examining its ability to take executive action to address corporate inversions without Congress because it lacks the support of Republicans. "Unless the U.S. corporate tax rate is reduced to 10 percent or less," Harvey told the Examiner, "it will still be beneficial for U.S. [multinational corporations] to invert."

Chances are, you’ve never thought of having to pay a tax to check your Email or your Facebook account. That’s because the Internet Tax Freedom Act has prevented local, state, and federal governments from taxing Internet access. Widespread adoption of the Internet has been due, in no small part, to the absence of tax barriers to access. But now, taxes loom on the Internet’s horizon as Congress nears the sunset of the law. The affordability and accessibility of the Web will be in jeopardy if Congress fails to do something before the moratorium expires on November 1. There are a...

The idea of universal Internet access is a noble one, but taxpayers shouldn’t be strapped with sustaining failing businesses in order to reach that ideal. Innovation and investment by private broadband providers in the free market has put universal access within reach. Private enterprise avoids the risks to taxpayers when municipal government-owned broadband networks go bust. State and local governments have a critical role to play in ensuring universal access to broadband Internet. By ensuring economic conditions favorable to marketplace innovation and investment, states can do more to advance broadband access than risky muni broadband projects.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is suing Wisconsin Plastics, Inc. of Green Bay, Wisconsin for discriminating against non-native persons by insisting that employees must be conversant in English in order to hold jobs with the company. Jacqueline Berrien, EEOC Chairperson dismissed the possibility that some minimal competence in the English language might be a legitimate skill required of an employee. "Whether an employee understands English is a matter of convenience for the business,":Berrien explained. "Granted, conducting business in a single language might be more efficient. But the individual's right to speak whatever language he chooses is a human right....

"Crisis" may be a little hyperbolic. But shale production of oil and gas in America suddenly got a lot riskier this week. That's because of a landmark decision from one of the highest state courts in the land. Upholding the right of individual towns to regulate shale drilling, trumping state or federal regulatory regimes. The ruling came down yesterday in New York. Where the State Court of Appeals voted 5-2 to reject challenges to fracking rules imposed on the oil and gas industry by two municipalities in the state: Dryden and Middlefield. The saga started in 2011. When the two...

I don’t mean to be (entirely) dismissive… But does Sandra Fluke actually still matter to anyone? I mean, you would think that even Democrats might eventually grow tired of listening to a 30-something year old college student whine about wanting free birth-control. But, I guess you would be wrong. Sandra is at it again, ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Hobby Lobby case. Hobby Lobby has been fighting for the religious liberty of its owners before the Supreme Court. Today, SCOTUS is expected to release its ruling on the matter – determining whether or not the Obamacare contraception...