Stranger Things Happen at Sea
Maybe we're really in the early days of a common sense revolution.
Regulation, Prohibition, and Litigation: Joe Biden's Busy Lame-Duck Period
Reason is right. We should shorten the time between Election Day and Inauguration Day.
‘The Biden administration has come to an end not with a bang, nor a whimper—but with a frenzied rush of new regulations, lawsuits, and executive orders.
‘Some are likely to be quickly reversed when the Trump presidency begins next week. Many ‘others will not.’
Gensler Advocates for More Cryptocurrency Regulation Ahead of His Departure from the SEC
Retail investors also don’t get adequate disclosure from casinos or Draft Kings (who seem to sponsor the NFL officially these days).
Lighten up, Francis.
‘With less than two weeks left in his position, Gensler emphasized the need for continued regulation, especially regarding crypto assets. The outgoing chairman, known for the number of sanctions during his tenure, stated that retail investors still do not receive adequate disclosures or information from digital asset companies.’
HUD Confirmation Hearing Centers on Regulatory Burdens, Affordability and Need for More Housing
More money hasn’t fixed housing in the US. It’s time to tackle regulatory burdens.
We need more housing supply and we needed it yesterday.
‘The need to eliminate excessive regulations — a key NAHB priority — was an overriding theme during yesterday’s Senate confirmation hearing on the nomination of Scott Turner as the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).’
EPA armed raids? WTF?
‘Former Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York said Thursday he believed the Environmental Protection Agency should not be an “armed bureaucracy.”
‘The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) carried out a raid with dozens of armed agents on a mine near Chicken, Alaska, in August 2013, according to Fox News. Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska asked Zeldin, who President-elect Donald Trump nominated to serve as EPA administrator, about the use of armed agents to conduct raids during a Thursday hearing, saying that the Biden administration was conducting armed raids similar to the 2013 raid on “small mechanic shops” in his state.’
How Excessive Regulation Hurts the Economy
US Chamber of Commerce is a believer.
‘One way to think about the costs regulations impose on the economy is to sort them into various categories, such as indirect costs, direct costs and opportunity costs. Consider for example a new federal regulation that requires businesses to upgrade certain boiler systems to meet specific requirements that are considered more efficient and better for the environment. Here is how that specific regulation might impact the economy.’
AI-Generated Regulation: Not Ready for Prime Time (Yet)
AI isn’t at the point where it can write rules.
‘Generative AI models do not appear ready to draft regulations for government agency staff. The policies in AI-drafted rules are overly influenced by the number of comments supporting a particular position, and the reasoning is too cursory.’
Bureaucracy vs. Corruption – Two Sides of the Same Coin
Incompetence or villainy? Does it matter?
‘The terms «bureaucracy» and «corruption» often evoke distinct images. However, upon closer examination, these two phenomena share crucial similarities: they are united by their ability to misallocate resources, distort economic incentives, and erode public trust.’
So Long, Net Neutrality, and Good Riddance
The impoverishment of the net neutrality debate was remarkable.
‘One final lesson from the net neutrality debate has to do with free speech and the term itself. Many advocates continue to be keen to control and regulate the transmission of information across the internet, especially content they deem disinformation. They are essentially calling for a censor to limit the speech of some users. Protestations of “neutrality” rarely favor the actual concept; they may not elevate any speech, but they elevate the role of the censor.’
US defense contractor tells Musk panel that Pentagon bureaucracy is the problem
Water is wet. Procurement bureaucracy is too slow.
‘The CEO of one of the world's biggest defense contractors, L3Harris Technologies, told President-elect Donald Trump's government efficiency panel in a letter on Wednesday that the Pentagon's huge contracting system is too slow and bureaucratic to meet threats posed by China and Iran and needs to be reformed.’
Cashing in from afar: Federal employees in for big workplace change
This is theft, really. Claiming wages for a high-expense region while working in a low-expense region where the same federal workers are paid less.
Put them in prison.
‘One federal Interior Department employee who is supposed to be working in the Washington area lives in sunny Southern California and rarely, if ever, makes it to the nation’s capital.
‘Two others live in Oregon, three live in Colorado, and others are spread across the Southeast and Midwest.
‘The department’s inspector general warned that these employees may be bilking the government of extra pay by claiming enhanced wages while living in lower-cost regions. A memo just before Christmas prodded department officials to finish reviewing dozens of similar cases.’