CEI Today: Obama postpones regulations, problems with gov't statistics, and HHS secret prescription drug advice

OBAMA REGULATION - JOHN BERLAU

Forbes: President Obama Reverses Course, For Now, and We're Better Off For It

“We’ve come too far to turn back now.” That’s been President Obama’s response, in his weekly address and elsewhere, to the jobs numbers from last month showing the lowest unemployment rate of his presidency. He and his supporters have expressed a similar reaction to other slightly positive economic news of recent — from housing starts to stock market gains.

Yet the President’s actions belie his rhetoric as over the past year, the Obama administration has itself turned back, ever so slightly, from new rules and mandates through waivers, delays, and exemptions. This mini-reversal may have given employers just enough breathing room to create this modest, but better-than-expected, increase in jobs. It’s a slight start, but much more regulatory relief is needed, and even these small measures may be temporary.  > Read the full commentary at Forbes.com

 

> Interview John Berlau

GOV'T STATISTICS - BILL FREZZA Forbes: Distorted Government Statistics Endanger Our Economic Health How big would the federal debt be if it were reported under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)? How about the rate of GDP growth, the number of new housing starts, median household income, the producer price index—and countless other economic indicators—if they were reported without distortions? More and more people are starting to look under the covers and ask, as they find it hard not to notice that the statistics reported by government agencies paint a picture that matches neither common experience nor privately collected and analyzed information. > Read more at Forbes.com > Interview Bill Frezza

"DRUG DETAILING" - HENRY I. MILLER & JEFF STIER Forbes: A Lack of Government Transparency: The Devil In The Detailing Why does the federal government send agents to doctors' offices on a prescription drug PR compaign?  And how come American taxpayers can't know what the government is telling the doctors?  Henry Miller and Jeff Stier discuss a House plan to get rid of this program and detail the program's history of non-transparency. >View the article on Forbes.com > Interview the authors > See also: The Liberal War on Transparency, a new book by Christopher C. Horner

Read more... American Non-Profits Financing Canadian Oil Sands Opposition

COMING NOVEMBER 15... The Competitive Enterprise Institute is proud to announce a new ambitious film project: an animated adaptation of I, Pencil by Leonard Read. > View the I, Pencil trailer

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