PUBLICATIONS BY Andrew M. Grossman
Research
Commentary
2008 Research
July 02, 2008
The ADA Restoration Act: Defining Disability Down
By Andrew M. Grossman and James Sherk
(Legal Memorandum #27)
The ADA Restoration Act would water down the definition of disability, potentially allowing the bulk of American workers to claim disability status and the protections associated with that status for mild and even temporary impairments, such as asthma and tennis elbow. This would harm those who are truly disabled and aided by the current Americans with Disabilities Act.
May 16, 2008
No-Match Immigration Enforcement: Time for Action
By Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #25)
The next Administration is unlikely to take workplace immigration enforcement seriously. Now is the time to put employers on notice that they cannot bury their heads in the sand when they receive no-match letters. Congress should do its part by putting a quick end to anti-enforcement lawsuits and clarifying the legal authorities for the sharing of Social Security no-match data.
May 15, 2008
'Sunshine' Should Not Trump Privacy in Civil Litigation
By Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #24)
The Sunshine in Litigation Act would limit judges' discretion to approve and enforce litigants' confidentiality agreements. In many cases, discovery would grind to a halt as parties, unable to rely on broad protective orders, would be forced to challenge far more requests for evidence. Plaintiffs especially would lose out. Without the ability to offer confidentiality, they could expect to see smaller settlements, higher litigation costs, and even the disclosure of their own personal information.
May 06, 2008
Consumer Product Safety Database Poses Risks
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1915)
The panic over lead-contaminated toys revealed a serious shortcoming in safety efforts: Consumers, particularly parents, lack trusted sources to turn to for detailed information on the safety of the products they have in their homes.
April 04, 2008
Keep Track of Crack Cocaine Facts
By Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1882)
The Department of Justice should collect and regularly publish facts on the effect of new guidelines granting retroactive application of lower prison sentences.
March 14, 2008
National Security Letters: Three Important Facts
By Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1853)
National security letters are an indispensable tool in national security investigations.
March 12, 2008
FISA Modernization Is Not About "Warrantless Wiretapping"
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1847)
Making permanent the authorities of the now-expired Protect America Act has only an incidental relation to Americans' communications.
March 03, 2008
Senate CPSC Bill: A Boon for Trial Lawyers at the Expense of Product Safety
By Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #1831)
Congress should avoid policies that raise the cost of doing business, increase legal uncertainty and risk, and threaten jobs.
February 14, 2008
Human Trafficking Reauthorization Would Undermine Existing Anti-Trafficking Efforts and Constitutional Federalism
By Brian W. Walsh and Andrew M. Grossman
(Legal Memorandum #21)
The current version of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act would undermine accountability by inviting officials at all levels of government to "pass the buck" on enforcement issues, distract and divert federal law enforcement from actual human trafficking and other responsibilities that are inherently federal in nature, and detract from states' ability to function as "laboratories of democracy."
January 31, 2008
Congress Must Stop Playing Politics with FISA and National Security
By James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Robert Alt, and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1791)
Congress's 15-day extension of the Protect America Act puts intelligence-gatherers in an impossible situation.
January 28, 2008
ADA Restoration Act: Undermining the Employer-Employee Relationship
By James Sherk and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1785)
Congress should consider the impact that this legislation would have across the economy and on so many employers and diligent workers.
January 18, 2008
The Federal Government’s Brief in the D.C. Gun Ban Case: A Glass That Is More Than Half Full
By Todd Gaziano and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1775)
The Solicitor General got the big question right: Americans do have a right to keep and bear arms.
2007 Research
June 21, 2007
SCHIP and "Crowd-Out": How Public Program Expansion Reduces Private Coverage
By Andrew M. Grossman and Greg D'Angelo
(WebMemo #1518)
As Congress considers expanding SCHIP up the income ladder, it should recognize that throwing more money into the program will increasingly "crowd out" private funding and coverage while doing less to expand overall coverage.
May 15, 2007
A New Gag Rule: How the Executive Branch Reform Act Violates Civil Liberty
By Brian W. Walsh, Matthew Spalding, and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1456)
The Executive Branch Reform Act would pose grave threats to individual Americans’ rights to free speech and to petition the government, threaten the constitutional separation of powers, and prove unconstitutional in many applications.
March 28, 2007
A Responsible FY 2008 Budget: House Republican Substitute Focuses on Spending and Economic Growth
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1412)
Unlike the House Democrats' budget resolution, the Republican budget substitute embodies a vision of fiscal restraint and economic growth.
2006 Research
December 06, 2006
A Taxpayer Victory Against Wasteful Agricultural Subsidies
By Brian M. Riedl and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1279)
The Senate votes down an $800 million increase in "emergency" agricultural subsidies.
2005 Research
December 14, 2005
Ready for Reconciliation: The Top Five Items No Fiscal Conservative Could Possibly Support
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #939)
Is Congress finally getting serious about federal spending? Here's your scorecard.
November 19, 2005
When Would the President's Tax Cuts Expire?
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #921)
A list of the tax cut provisions and when they would expire.
September 21, 2005
Pelosi Leads the Way on Highway Bill Give-Back
By Andrew M. Grossman and Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #852)
Politics makes strange bedfellows, but apparently hurricanes have far stranger effects.
September 21, 2005
The White House Is Right To Threaten a Veto on Drug Importation
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #855)
Another year, another bill, and another amendment on prescription drug importation. It's still bad policy.
July 18, 2005
Danger of London-Style Terrorist Bombings Justifies Ending Amtrak's Ownership of Key Tunnels
By Joseph Vranich and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #796)
For safety's sake, Congress should divest Amtrak of its Manhattan tunnels.
June 30, 2005
Hispanic Workers Should Back Personal Accounts
By William W. Beach and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #782)
Contrary to a recent report, Hispanics would benefit from personal accounts.
May 06, 2005
Jobs, Growth, and the Washington Connection
By Tim Kane, Ph.D., and Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #739)
April's job numbers were good; Congress can make them better.
April 19, 2005
Reversing the Bush Tax Cuts Would Not Fix Social Security
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and Andrew Grossman
(Backgrounder #1844)
President Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts stimulated investment and expanded employment, adding some strength to the Social Security system in the process. Extending these tax cuts permanently would help to lock in these gains and spur further economic expansion. In contrast, a straightforward repeal of the President's tax cuts would harm both the economy and Social Security.
February 10, 2005
Behind Social Security's Big Numbers
By Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #662)
All these big numbers--what do they mean?
January 13, 2005
The Unacceptable Costs of Raising Payroll Taxes to "Save" Social Security
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., William W. Beach, and Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #639)
Small fixes turn out not to be so small.
2004 Research
October 27, 2004
Pro-Life Policy: Does It Make a Difference?
By Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #598)
Pro-life policies reduce abortion rates. This surprises some.
October 22, 2004
Google v. Microsoft: Trustbusters Not Needed
By Andrew Grossman and James L. Gattuso
(WebMemo #593)
A tale of technology overcoming monopoly without the trustbusters.
October 21, 2004
Scorecard on the Economy: A Guide for Policymakers
By Tim Kane, Ph.D., Andrew Grossman, Rea S. Hederman, Jr., and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #04-10)
More than 1.5 million payroll jobs, and nearly 2 million jobs on the household survey, added over the past year; high output, manufacturing outlook, business confidence, and productivity; markedly improved long-term unemployment and manufacturing employment outlooks; and a poverty rate that is low by historical standards: These are the facts that frame the debate on the economy.
September 21, 2004
Health Savings Accounts and the FEHBP: Perfect Together
By Andrew Grossman and Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #571)
the 'adverse selection' argument doesn't justify opposition to HSAs in the FEHBP.
April 21, 2004
When Would the President's Tax Cuts Expire?
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #486)
Descriptions of all that tax cuts that will expire between 2004 and 2011 unless Congress takes action.
April 15, 2004
Google It: Privacy Advocates Wrong About Regulating Gmail
By Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #479)
Consumers do take privacy seriously, but they want it on their own terms. Government regulation, therefore, would be a mistake.
2008 Commentary
July 07, 2008
State Secrets? Who Needs 'Em?
By Andrew Grossman
If Congress needed a kick in the pants to get moving on intelligence reform, this is it: A San Francisco judge ruled Wednesday that the federal government's program to spy on terrorists and their affiliates is not protected by the "state secrets" privilege. This means that government officials and companies that helped to implement the program may be forced to testify about its structure and operations.
June 30, 2008
An Individual Right Rekindled
By Andrew Grossman
“Assuming that Heller is not disqualified from the exercise of Second Amendment rights [e.g., a felon], the District must permit him to register his handgun and must issue him a license to carry it in his home.” So ordered the Supreme Court this morning.
June 30, 2008
Should Terrorist Detainees Have More Rights Than Americans?
By Charles D. Stimson and Andrew M. Grossman
Last week the Supreme Court ruled that terrorist detainees held by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay can challenge their detention in federal court.
May 14, 2008
DA Faces a Fielder's Choice
By Andrew M. Grossman
Concrete worker Gino Castignoli probably should have to face a few fastballs -- high and inside -- from New York Yankees pitchers Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang. But the district attorney shouldn't be able to throw the book at him.
April 25, 2008
Should poor defendants have the right to counsel in civil cases? No.
By Andrew M. Grossman
In a nation where about one in every 100 workers is a lawyer—where lawyers tout low flat rates in the phonebook and no-risk contingency fees on late-night TV—only the lawyers’ trade association could argue that the government needs to provide free legal representation in civil cases.
April 07, 2008
Keep Track of Crack Facts
By Andrew M. Grossman
A new federal law is letting thousands of federal convicts out of prison early, and no one is tracking who these felons are or what they do as they return to the streets. A belated April Fool's joke? No, it's true, and it's no joke.
April 01, 2008
FISA Foes Fudge the Facts
By Andrew M. Grossman
It seems pretty simple: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is the law that U.S. intelligence experts use to sniff out foreign terrorists. Considering that it became law in 1978 — and that technology has evolved quite a bit in the ensuing three decades — modernizing this essential security tool to fit today's communications networks should be relatively simple.
March 10, 2008
Disorder in the Court
By Andrew M. Grossman
"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," is an old saw, but there’s wisdom in it.
February 26, 2008
Green Light on Terrorism
By Andrew M. Grossman and Robert Alt
Ordinarily, we wouldn't alert international terrorists that the United States is easing its efforts to detect and dismantle their plots. But since Congress has already, in effect, given the terrorists the green light to plot without fear of discovery, calling attention to the House's gross irresponsibility in allowing crucial intelligence-gathering laws to expire probably won't cause further harm.
2007 Commentary
September 03, 2007
S-CHIP expansion is not about 'the children'
By Andrew Grossman and Robert Moffit
Washington's rhetoric often fails to match reality, a truism reaffirmed by Congress' recent move to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), a 10-year-old program created for kids in low-income families.
2006 Commentary
February 10, 2006
Medicare Part "D" For "Disaster"
By Andrew M. Grossman
A rare bit of good news recently trickled out about Medicare's new prescription-drug entitlement. The entitlement will cost $678 billion over 10 years, rather than the $737 billion previously projected. The reason for this "savings"? It's partly that fewer seniors have signed up for the entitlement than the 33 million the government expected. And out of the 24 million now enrolled, only 3.6 million actually "signed up" -- the rest had no choice.
2005 Commentary
June 16, 2005
Workers, Not Employers, Must Control Retirement Funds
By Andrew Grossman
Employees of United Airlines recently got a frightening lesson in the "ownership society." The lesson was: If you don't own and control your retirement assets, they can be slashed or taken away at any time.
May 26, 2005
Defusing the Medicare Time Bomb
By Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D. and Andrew Grossman
Newly hatched deficit hawks in Congress publicly sweat at the thought of supporting personal accounts for Social Security.
February 02, 2005
Beginning of the End of Drug Re-Importation
By Nina Owcharenko and Andrew Grossman
Could this be the beginning of the end of the debate over drug re-importation? Advocates of the practice argue that American consumers, particularly seniors...
2004 Commentary
October 22, 2004
The Flu-Vaccine Shortage: A Second Opinion
By Andrew Grossman and Edmund F. Haislmaier
Sen. Kerry should himself "play straight with the American people" and admit that his plan for buying drugs in Medicare relies on the same factor that caused the vaccine shortage.
August 25, 2004
The jobs numbers that you're not hearing about
By Tim Kane and Andrew Grossman
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently snuck out a telling confession beneath everyone's radar: Its flagship payroll survey is likely undercounting hundreds of thousands of jobs.
