Mirrored Puget Sound Development is a rare study on Regulatory Approaches

5/11/2015 Conservative writer and columnist, Charles Murray, wrote a poignant Saturday Essay in the Wall Street Journal, arguing for a citizens’ revolt over the increasingly complicated world of governmental oversight. Noting that there are currently over 175,000 pages of regulations on the books, and moving in an upward trend, Murray contrasts the amount of regulation


Dewey and Leboeuf: “Big Law” on Trial

5/10/2015 In a pointed example of a mega-merger gone terribly wrong, jury selection has concluded for the trial of 3 executives from the former New York-based legal powerhouse, Dewey & LeBoeuf. Former Chairman, Steven Davis, former Executive Director, Stephen DiCarmine, and former CFO, Joel Sanders are each facing several charges including fraud, grand larceny, and


What are the “Tougher” TPP Labor and Environmental Standards?

5/8/2015 The new locus for discussing the balance between labor and trade in the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is literally on the feet of millions. President Barack Obama is in Beaverton, Oregon today at the Nike headquarters to deliver a speech promoting the value of the proposed trade deal, especially with regards to imports.


Texas Horse Manure Surplus Reaches Senate Floor

5/7/2015 Just a quick rule of thumb that I tend to go by; when representatives for FIRE industries (Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate), try to tell me that something they are doing is for my benefit, I assume they mean it in the same manner that punching them in the face to keep their sinful


Corinthian Colleges Bankruptcy highlights Disparity between Corporate and Student Debt

5/6/2015 The for-profit college system, Corinthian Colleges, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in Delaware Federal District Court on Monday, May 4th, amid a year-long financial crisis. Corinthian’s system, including Everest Institute and WyoTech, consisted of over 100 campuses nationwide and about 74,000 students and over 10,000 faculty and staff. The system is facing the


EBay Data Breach suit dismissed due to lack of Provable Harm

5/6/2015 On Monday, May 4th, Judge Susie Morgan of the Eastern District of Louisiana dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of millions of American account-holders whose personal information was compromised during the 2014 EBay data breach. The breach, which occurred in late February or early March of last year, exposed passwords, names, mailing addresses,


Potential EPA’s Formaldehyde regulatory Rollback is a case-study in Pressure-Lobbying

Despite recent news that the Justice Department is pursuing criminal charges against Lumber Liquidators, the world’s largest hardwood flooring retailer, over its importation of illegally-sourced Chinese laminate flooring containing extreme levels of formaldehyde, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is facing massive pressure to roll-back its proposed regulation of the substance. Formaldehyde is a common chemical,


Senate joins House’s fight to rein in “Patent-Trolls”

The day may come soon in which patent trolls will join their namesakes in the realm of lore and legend, at least if both houses of congress are able to reconcile dual measures into a single piece of legislation. Although the House of Representatives had already passed “The Innovation Act” in 2013 by an overwhelming


Whistleblower Incentives: the Privatization of Oversight

5/4/2015 Last week, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill that incentivizes whistleblower complaints within the automotive industry. The bill, modeled off of similar measures for the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), allows the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to award up to 30 percent of revenue collected in excess of