Dick Durbin’s ‘candy-flavored’ addiction

By Bryant Jackson-Green
04/17/2014
Sen. Dick Durbin, long known for his anti-smoking campaigns, released a new report Monday alleging that e-cigarette companies target youth smokers, and then proposing a new set of Food and Drug Administration regulations for the products. Durbin’s 40-page report urges a slew of restrictions on e-cigarette marketing and sales. Durbin commented upon release of the...

TAGS: Dick Durbin, ecigs, nanny state

Illinois bill would require prescription for cold medicine

By Bryant Jackson-Green
03/14/2014
Should you need a prescription to buy cold medicine? State Sen. Dave Koehler thinks so, and he has introduced a bill that would require just that for medicines you’ve always been allowed to buy over the counter. Senate Bill 3502 would amend the Illinois Controlled Substances Act to categorize ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as “Schedule III”...

TAGS: nanny state

Why are regulators so out of touch?

By Bryant Jackson-Green
03/11/2014
Why are regulators so out of touch? At a Chicago City Council committee hearing on ride-sharing services last week, taxi-industry lobbyist Matthew Daus, president of the International Association of Transportation Regulators, reportedly said that “millennials” were responsible for the rise of companies such as Lyft and Uber because they care more about “cost” than about the public...

TAGS: energy drinks, Lyft, millennials, nanny state, Uber

What Millennials want

By Bryant Jackson-Green
03/08/2014
Why are regulators so out of touch? At a Chicago City Council committee hearing on ride-sharing services last week, taxi-industry lobbyist Matthew Daus, president of the International Association of Transportation Regulators, reportedly said that “millennials” were responsible for the rise of companies such as Lyft and Uber because they care more about “cost” than about...

TAGS: millennials, nanny state

How to stop Chicago from ruining Uber and Lyft

02/18/2014
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed an ordinance that would force the popular ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft to drastically change the way they do business, if not shut down operations in the city entirely. The proposal contains numerous unnecessary provisions that would harm Uber and Lyft drivers as well as consumers and serve no...

TAGS: Chicago, Lyft, nanny state, taxis, Uber

The 7 worst things in Chicago’s proposed Uber ordinance

02/10/2014
Last week, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed an ordinance that would regulate popular ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft in Chicago. Emanuel often claims that he wants Chicago to be friendly to new businesses, innovation and technology. Unfortunately, his proposal is anything but friendly to these “transportation network” services, and would force them to...

TAGS: Chicago, nanny state, Uber

Illinois considers banning drivers from using Google Glass

02/08/2014
You can’t buy Google Glass in Illinois yet, but that’s not stopping lawmakers from trying to ban it from the state’s streets and highways. Senate Bill 2632, currently pending in the Illinois General Assembly, would prohibit drivers from wearing a “mobile computing headset,” defined as a “computing device with a head mounted display that can project visual...

TAGS: google glass, nanny state

Aldermen want to ban horse-drawn carriages in Chicago

By Bryant Jackson-Green
02/08/2014
Following once again in New York City’s tradition of petty nanny statism, a new ordinance proposed by aldermen Edward Burke and Anthony Beale seeks to ban horse-drawn carriages in Chicago. The proposed ordinance would amend the municipal code to prohibit the renewal of carriage licenses, which would bring an end to the industry by the...

TAGS: Chicago, horse carriages, nanny state