Freedom Line Blog

On a recent episode of the Federal Newswire Lunch Hour podcast, CFIF’s Timothy Lee joined host Andrew Langer and Daniel Ikenson, Founder of Ikensonomics Consulting and former Director of Trade and Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, to discuss Federal Trade Commission overreach, so-called “junk fees,” and more.

The conversation focuses on “the FTC’s increasingly aggressive regulatory posture under Chair Lina Khan, highlighting concerns about overreach, economic consequences, and implications for constitutional governance.”

Watch below.

Below is one of the latest cartoons from Michael Ramirez on Vice President Kamala Harris’ price controls:

The bipartisan Direct Capital Access (DCA) Act – recently introduced in both the United States House of Representatives and Senate – aims to reform antiquated legislation from 1966 artificially restricting nonstop flights into and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Since the DCA Act (H.R. 3185, S. 1933) was introduced in the House by Congressmen Burgess Owens (R – Utah) and Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) and in the Senate by Senators Cynthia Lummis (R – Wyoming) and Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia), opponents have lobbed false claims about its impact on regional airports.

Accordingly, it’s time to clear up any confusion and provide the corrective facts.

As background, the DCA Act would make travel to and from the Washington, D.C. region easier and more affordable for Americans by updating a decades-old “perimeter rule” federal regulation. That rule from 1966 limits direct flights to and from Reagan National Airport (DCA) to destinations within a 1,250 mile “perimeter.” The rule is a relic of a bygone era of air travel that only kneecaps modern travelers with fewer direct flight options and higher ticket prices.

As the DCA Act has gained support from lawmakers, several self-interested parties like the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) recently partnered with United Airlines to stop efforts to increase access to the nation’s capital region because the current antiquated restrictions benefit them.

Let’s Set the Record Straight:

MYTH: Groups working with MWAA and United Airlines falsely claim that any changes to the 1966 perimeter rule would harm regional airports and their communities.

FACT: The DCA Act would only add more incoming and outgoing flights, not replace or eliminate any existing flights that currently service regional airports. There are only additional benefits here!

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MYTH: Those who oppose more airline competition and lower ticket prices for their own benefit falsely claim that Reagan National Airport currently operates at maximum capacity, and cannot handle increased traffic from additional flights.

FACT: A recent study released by Capital Access Alliance revealed that not only does Reagan National have the capacity to handle many more flights per day, but also that MWAA’s recent Project Journey $1 billion expansion provided passengers at DCA with more post-security space and a new 14-gate concourse. That created more than what is needed to accommodate higher passenger volumes and more direct flights to Reagan National.

♦

MYTH: Another false claim is that the DCA Act must be opposed in order to strengthen and protect regional airports across America.

FACT: Only a handful of members of the Coalition to Protect America’s Airports, the United Airlines/MWAA-supported group attempting to block the DCA Act, maintain direct flights from Reagan National. What they really advocate is keeping a nearly 60-year-old perimeter rule established by Congress to stifle competition and limit choices that Americans can make on air travel resulting in higher costs.

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The facts are clear. Those who oppose the DCA Act are endorsing protectionist policies that prevent Americans from enjoying more convenience and affordable choices. It’s time to modernize.

Tell Congress to act and support the DCA Act.

In a recent opinion piece published by Breitbart, former Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan discusses how the United States can mitigate the impending disaster at our nation’s Southern border in the aftermath of Title 42’s expiration. When in effect, Title 42 enabled border patrol agents to immediately expel migrants trying to cross the border in the interest of public health during the Covid19 emergency.

A seasoned expert on immigration and border security with nearly five decades of experience in law enforcement, Homan writes that with the enormous backlog of immigration cases and thousands more entering the country illegally each day, ICE must fill every detention bed it has available. Additionally, he emphasizes the need for the Biden administration to increase funding for additional beds at detention facilities and track the non-detained population with GPS technology to ensure compliance with court dates and orders for removal.

Homan writes:

There are over five million illegal immigrants on ICE’s non-detained docket, most of whom face years of court proceedings before a judge determines their immigration fate. This number will continue to balloon after the Biden Administration ended the use of Title 42 deportations on May 11, a COVID-era policy that allowed the U.S. to immediately expel millions of illegal aliens as a threat to public health.

In the run up to the end of the policy this month, daily border encounters soared to historic heights, with over 10,000 per day. On May 11, Border Patrol paroled 6,000 migrants to the streets of the United States with no court date even provided, simply relying on the honor system in the hopes these individuals would proactively check in with ICE at some point in the future. This policy of mass parole has since been put on temporary hold by a Florida judge.

This is open borders policy, any way you look at it. While this is occurring, ICE detention beds, already funded by the taxpayer, still sit empty, to the tune of 10,000 or more. Equally as bad, ICE could be tracking illegal aliens with GPS monitoring, but for some reason is refusing to do so on the necessary scale to deal with the migration surge promoted by Biden’s poor policy decisions.

Read the rest of the piece on Breitbart here.

In an op-ed published today by the Washington Times, CFIF Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs writes:

In our relentlessly expanding regulatory state, where administrative agencies regularly succumb to pressure from hyperpartisan activists, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has historically remained a rare exception above the fray. Unlike such flashpoint agencies as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Environmental Protection Agency, for example, the FERC rarely receives popular focus. More recently, however, climate extremists have targeted the FERC and sought to poison the traditionally uncontroversial but vital federal commission. (emphasis added)

Read the entire op-ed here.

“Today’s thriving video content market offers consumers an endless array of options according to their own needs and tastes. So why do some in Congress seek to dictate which channels appear in your cable package?”

That is the question posed and addressed in a recent op-ed authored by CFIF’s Timothy Lee and published by The Daily Caller.

“Whether it’s discriminatory tax incentives for favored programming, preferential treatment for rural-themed channels, or partisan attempts to de-platform conservative news stations, lawmakers from both parties seem under the illusion that our almost unfathomably competitive video marketplace needs the meddling hand of Congress to fix what isn’t broken,” writes Lee.

As a current example, Lee notes that “some lawmakers openly promote RFD-TV – a pay-TV channel owned by Rural Media Group that mixes agribusiness news content with rural-themed entertainment programming. In previous years, Rural Media Group pushed legislation that would effectively require pay-TV companies to carry RFD on their basic tiers – and to pay for the privilege, ultimately increasing costs for consumers. Although those efforts failed, the company is now back pushing a resolution to artificially impose more rural programming.”

That resolution should be rejected.

Lee goes on to offer a simple solution: “[L]et the free market decide, and get the government out of the discussion altogether.”

Read the entire op-ed here.

The right to vote is one of the most sacred rights we have as Americans. It is critical to our representative form of government and must not be taken for granted.

Here we go again.  House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members want to once again summon oil and gas companies to Capitol Hill. After making a show with energy CEO’s last October, they now want to fill the stage with company Board members, including activist Exxon Mobil Board Member Andy Karsner. Committee leaders are adding to the partisanship by preemptively threatening to subpoena Board members if they don’t show up.

This is just the latest round of political theater from Committee Democrats. The last “Big Oil” hearing featured the same four energy producers for a 6-hour marathon that was more political grandstanding than it was oversight. Their playbook is clear: demonize American energy producers, silence industry input and play to their political base.

We’ve seen this movie before, here’s the trailer:

On August 5, CFIF teamed up with IPWatchdog, Inc. to offer a free webinar conversation to debunk several myths associated with patent thickets and pejorative terms used to denigrate innovators and patent owners.

Watch the full video of the event below.

Throughout its history, the United States has led the world in protecting intellectual property (IP) rights. On that foundation, we’ve also led the world in artistic, commercial and scientific innovation, particularly with lifesaving medicines and vaccines.

Yet patent rights are under increasing assault, with anti-patent activists charging pharmaceutical makers with “antitrust” violations for utilizing and building upon their patents for the greater good. Their rhetoric and false critiques under the guise of “antitrust” typically rely upon an array of misleading and pejorative labels, to the point where they take on a meaning that bears no resemblance to reality.

The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) and IPWatchdog, Inc., have partnered up to offer a free webinar conversation that will debunk the myths associated with patent thickets and pejorative terms used to denigrate innovators and patent owners.

Join us on Thursday, August 5 at 12pm ET.  Register now by clicking here. 

Gene Quinn, President and CEO of IPWatchdog, Inc., will be moderating the discussion. Joining Gene will be…

• Timothy Lee, SVP of Legal and Public Affairs, Center for Individual Freedom
• Chris Israel, Executive Director, The Alliance of U.S. Startups for Inventors and Jobs
• Andrew Spiegel, Executive Director, Global Colon Cancer Association
• Adam Mossoff, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University and Senior Fellow and Chair of the Forum for IP, Hudson Institute

During the webinar the panel will discuss:

• The important role innovators play in the technology economy;
• Why so-called “patent thickets” actually increase innovation;
• Why claims of “product hopping” are not about pharmaceutical coercion but instead are about preventing follow-on pharmaceutical innovation so generics can compete with the drug being sold by brand name pharma companies;
• Why courts have ruled “pay-for-delay settlements” are a valid by-product of a patent holder’s exclusionary rights.

Register here!

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez…

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez…

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez…

In an interview with CFIF, William J. Conti, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Baker & Hostetler, discusses pandemic politics, what the Biden Administration might look like, and a post-election scorecard of the candidates beyond just the races — who helped themselves and who hurt themselves.

Listen to the interview here.

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez…

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez…

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

In an op-ed published last week in The Columbus Dispatch, CFIF’s Timothy Lee argues that regulatory clarity for the cryptocurrency industry is necessary to prevent the United States from losing our losing our leadership position in the technology.

Lee writes:

The growing implementation of digital assets to enable faster payments provides insight into cryptocurrencies and the advantages they offer. The technology holds a range of potential benefits — from speeding up the processing of global remittances to providing financial infrastructure for traditionally unbanked communities. Add to these applications of blockchain technologies the fact that U.S. exchanges handle about 29 percent of global Bitcoin trading, and it’s increasingly clear that the U.S. is poised to be an epicenter for innovation and investment in the cryptocurrency industry.

Before those effects can be fully realized, it’s critical that the U.S. develop a comprehensive regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies. Importantly, any such regulation must include guidance as to how these new digital assets are classified. Legislation is an important start, as are regulatory guidelines like the framework recently released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CDT to 6:00 p.m. CDT (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM/99.1FM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.” Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CDT/5:00 pm EDT: Phil Kerpen, President of American Commitment: Obamacare, Government Run Healthcare and Health Care Choices;

4:15 CDT/5:15 pm EDT: Ilya Shapiro, Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute: SCOTUS Wrap-Up;

4:30 CDT/5:30 pm EDT: Beth Akers, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute: June 2019 Jobs Report and Student Debt;

4:45 CDT/5:45 pm EDT: Rachel Greszler, Research Fellow in Economics, Budge and Entitlements at The Heritage Foundation: $15 Federal Minimum Wage and Salary Gaps in Soccer;

5:00 CDT/6:00 pm EDT: John Strand, CEO of Strand Consult and Co-Creator of ChinaTechThreat.com: Trade Deal with China;

5:15 CDT/6:25 pm EDT: Lance Izumi, Senior Director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute: Breaking the Liberal Monopoly on College Faculties; and

5:30 CDT/6:30 pm EDT: William J. Conti, Attorney at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, DC: Politics Today.

Listen live on the Internet here. Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330.

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez…