Free Republic

The Trump administration recently proposed the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule. The proposed rule offers modifications to Obama-era Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards with a “preferred alternative” for model years 2021 through 2026. Without a doubt, the Trump administration’s proposed revision is a welcome victory for consumers’ wallets and for consumer choice. The Obama administration implemented fuel-efficiency mandates that would force auto manufacturers to have a fleetwide fuel-economy average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The new rule’s “preferred” change would maintain the existing fuel-economy mandate through 2020 (increasing to 37 mpg) and keep the level at...

A bill to permit the practice of "unlocking" a cell phone--meaning a consumer could use the same phone on different carriers--was passed by the House of Representatives yesterday and is expected to be signed into law by President Obama. The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act passed with wide bipartisan support and was sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) in the House and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in the Senate. Unlocking a phone without the wireless carrier's permission was legal in the U.S. until a 2012 decision by the U.S. Copyright Office. That decision resulted in a grassroots campaign...

FCC Act would stop federal takeover of the Internet, prevent job losses, protect consumer choice, and promote free market competition. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) joined Senators Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Orrin Hatch (R- Utah), John Ensign (R-Nevada), John Thune (R- South Dakota), Tom Coburn (R- Oklahoma), and Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) in introducing the Freedom for Consumer Choice Act (FCC Act). This legislation, based on language from Sen. DeMint’s 2005 Digital Age Communications Act (DACA), is intended to institute needed, market-based reforms to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) rulemaking authority. Senator Cornyn said, “This bill protects...