Eric Boehm

Reporter

Eric Boehm is a reporter for Reason. He lives in Culpeper, Virginia.

His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, The Freeman Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The American Spectator, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Signal, FoxNews.com, and elsewhere. He was a national regulatory reporter for Watchdog.org and bureau chief of the (now-defunct) Pennsylvania Independent in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

He has also lived in St. Paul, Minnesota; Rochester, New York; and Brussels, Belgium.

He received a bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University in 2009.

When he steps away from the computer, he enjoys drinking craft beer and good gin, cheering for an eclectic mix of favorite sports teams (mostly based in Philadelphia), updating his list of TV shows he intended to watch but never did, reading and traveling to new places. He was once featured in a Buzzfeed listicle about the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Latest from Eric Boehm

Cuba

The Case for Beaming Internet Into Cuba

The technological hurdles might be too difficult to overcome, but it's worth trying.

Eric Boehm | 7.27.2021 10:40 AM

Reason Roundup

More Mask Mandates Could Be Coming Even Though Vaccination Is Key to Curbing COVID-19

Plus: Adam Smith invented the social software for modern liberalism, the U.K. invites more skilled immigrants, and more...

Eric Boehm | 7.26.2021 9:32 AM

Reason Roundup

Klobuchar's Plan To Combat Vaccine 'Misinformation' Would Have HHS Decide What You Can Post Online

Plus: A possible breakthrough in cheap battery technology, a primer on inflation, the SCOTUS showdown over abortion, and more....

Eric Boehm | 7.23.2021 9:30 AM

Coronavirus

Biden Says CDC 'Probably' Will Recommend Kids Under 12 Wear Masks to School

Plus: Biden says killing the filibuster would throw Congress into chaos, AOC is wrong about Bezos in space, and more....

Eric Boehm | 7.22.2021 9:30 AM

Reason Roundup

Senators Aim To Curtail Presidential Power Over War, Arms Sales, Emergency Declarations

Plus: The FBI had at least a dozen informants helping put together the plot to kidnap Michigan's governor, price controls fail again, and more.

Eric Boehm | 7.21.2021 9:30 AM

Government Spending

Senate Could Pass a $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill This Week, Even Though There's No Agreement on How To Pay for It

Plus: Strip clubs help reduce crime rates, tariffs fail to achieve their primary political purposes, Jeff Bezos goes to space, and more.

Eric Boehm | 7.20.2021 9:30 AM

Free Trade

More Tariffs Won't End Pollution or Solve Global Warming. They'll Just Make Stuff More Expensive.

Taxing Americans to punish other countries for having lax environmental rules would be a logistical and bureaucratic nightmare. Democrats are trying to do it anyway.

Eric Boehm | 7.16.2021 11:10 AM

Cuba

The Trade Embargo Allows Cuba's Regime To Blame the U.S. for Communism's Failings

President Joe Biden says America "stands firmly" with the people of Cuba who oppose the country's oppressive regime. But he can do more than offer words of support.

Eric Boehm | 7.13.2021 1:35 PM

USPS

The Post Office Pension Ponzi Scheme

The USPS has overpromised and undersaved for its employees' retirements—all while losing nearly $9.2 billion last year.

Eric Boehm | 7.11.2021 6:00 AM

Olympics

With Spectators Banned, Tokyo Olympics Look Like an Even Bigger Money Pit

More than 30 venues, some of which predate the Olympics but many of which were purpose-built at public expense, will be occupied solely by coaches, athletes, and judges.

Eric Boehm | 7.9.2021 5:10 PM

Free Trade

You Can Now Read the Secret Trump Administration Report That Claimed Your Toyota Is a National Security Threat

The never-released Trump administration report is a reminder that "national security" is usually a bogus reason to impose tariffs

Eric Boehm | 7.7.2021 1:45 PM

Sports

If Sha'Carri Richardson Can Get High and Still Outrun Everybody, She Should Be Allowed To Do It

Banning the American sprinter from the Olympics for using marijuana is completely ridiculous.

Eric Boehm | 7.2.2021 4:00 PM

Coronavirus

Broadway Hit Hamilton Could Get Up to $50 Million Federal Bailout

It must be nice to have Washington's pile of taxpayer cash on your side.

Eric Boehm | 6.30.2021 4:30 PM

Obituaries

RIP Mike Gravel, Unapologetic Opponent of War and Star of Absurdist Presidential Campaign Ads

A heterodox hero and committed antiwar activist, Gravel put the Pentagon Papers in the public record.

Eric Boehm | 6.30.2021 12:00 PM

Unemployment Benefits

California, New York Have the Most To Gain From Ending Bonus Unemployment Benefits. They Probably Won't.

States that already had lower unemployment rates in May are more likely to have announced plans for ending the bonus unemployment payments.

Eric Boehm | 6.29.2021 12:10 PM

Unemployment

More Than 500,000 Possibly Fraudulent Unemployment Claims Have Been Filed in Maryland Since May 1

Unemployment is falling but fraudulent jobless claims are still skyrocketing in some places.

Eric Boehm | 6.25.2021 12:40 PM

Federal Courts

Judge Orders FBI To Halt Forfeiture of Cash, Jewelry From Safe Deposit Boxes

The FBI provided "no factual basis for the seizure," Judge R. Gary Klausner wrote.

Eric Boehm | 6.24.2021 12:30 PM

Elections

Federalizing Elections Doesn't Make Much Sense and Won't Save Democracy

The "For The People Act" was a flawed package that would have solved some problems while creating new headaches.

Eric Boehm | 6.23.2021 3:50 PM

Senate

The Filibuster Will Survive Because a Few Democrats Are Smart Enough Not To Kill It

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is right: Democrats have more to lose by ending the filibuster than by putting up with it.

Eric Boehm | 6.22.2021 1:30 PM

Supreme Court

NCAA Can't Ban Colleges From Compensating Athletes, Supreme Court Says

"The NCAA is not above the law," wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh in a fiery concurring opinion.

Eric Boehm | 6.21.2021 4:00 PM

Civil Rights

Juneteenth Is a Good Holiday. Of Course the Government Is Screwing It Up.

Yet more evidence that we are ruled by incompetents.

Eric Boehm | 6.18.2021 9:55 AM

Labor Unions

The PRO Act Empowers Union Bosses, Not Workers

If workers were as eager to join unions as President Joe Biden seems to think, they wouldn't need a more powerful NLRB to encourage that outcome.

Eric Boehm | 6.16.2021 3:15 PM

Taxes

Biden's Tax Plan Means 60 Percent of Taxpayers Will Pay More

And as many as 75 percent of middle income households face a tax increase under Biden's plan, even though the highest-earning households will pay the vast majority of the costs.

Eric Boehm | 6.16.2021 8:00 AM

Government Spending

The $1.9 Trillion American Recovery Act Could Have Huge Implications for State Tax Policies

Six different states are already suing over a broad prohibition on tax cuts that was slipped into March's $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill.

Eric Boehm | 6.14.2021 3:50 PM

Movies

Rose Island

The new film never wavers in its appreciation for these seasteading heroes as they piss off all the right people in pursuit of their slice of utopia.

Eric Boehm | 6.11.2021 6:30 AM

Free Trade

The Senate's Industrial Policy Bill Is a Debt-Financed Corporate Giveaway That Lobbyists Love

The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act is a lobbyist-crafted proposal that funnels emergency spending to politically connected special interests.

Eric Boehm | 6.8.2021 10:20 AM

Taxes

Elizabeth Warren's Plan To Close the 'Tax Gap' Doesn't Add Up

But it would triple the IRS budget and give the tax cops a lot more power to make life miserable for individuals and businesses.

Eric Boehm | 6.7.2021 3:30 PM

Alcohol

New York Will Put To-Go Cocktails on Ice

Special interests are trying to stuff newfound alcohol freedom back in the bottle as the pandemic ends.

Eric Boehm | 6.4.2021 11:30 AM

Immigration

Abolish ICE? Actually, Biden's Budget Proposal Hikes Spending on America's Immigration Cops.

More spending on more intrusive government is the Biden agenda all the way down.

Eric Boehm | 6.3.2021 10:30 AM

Free Trade

Lumber Is Crazy Expensive Right Now. Biden Is About To Make It Worse.

The Commerce Department is planning to hike tariffs on Canadian lumber from about 9 percent to more than 18 percent.

Eric Boehm | 6.2.2021 11:00 AM

Regulation

Sports Betting Pays Off

The first major intersection of college basketball and legal sports betting seems to have been a completely clean affair.

Eric Boehm | 6.1.2021 6:00 AM

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Fourth Amendment

The FBI Took Their Safe Deposit Box and Everything Inside It. Two Months Later, They're Still Waiting for It To Be Returned.

"When you've done nothing wrong, you shouldn't be subjected to an investigation," says Paul Snitko, whose box was seized in a March 22 FBI raid of a Beverly Hills business.

Eric Boehm | 5.28.2021 4:45 PM

Joe Biden

Joe Biden's $6 Trillion Budget Proposal Will Hike Spending, Keep Deficits Near Record Highs

In Biden's plan, the government would consume a historically large share of the economy—and those taxes still wouldn't be enough to pay for everything

Eric Boehm | 5.27.2021 3:30 PM

Free Trade

America's Semiconductor Industry Doesn't Need $52 Billion in New Subsidies To Stay Ahead of China

Industrial policy is the wrong answer to a problem that mostly doesn't exist.

Eric Boehm | 5.27.2021 11:40 AM

Politics

An $86 Billion Moral Hazard

Nestled in the $1.9 trillion emergency spending bill passed in March was a bailout for unions' private pension funds.

Eric Boehm | 5.27.2021 6:00 AM

FBI

See the FBI Dig Through an Innocent Woman's Safe Deposit Box

In a lawsuit, attorneys for the box's owner allege that federal agents conducted an illegal search that may have resulted in the loss of some valuable gold coins.

Eric Boehm | 5.26.2021 12:35 PM

Free Trade

China Is Paying Less Than 8 Percent of Tariff Costs. Americans Are Paying the Rest.

American consumers are bearing nearly 93 percent of the costs of the tariffs applied to Chinese goods, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Eric Boehm | 5.24.2021 1:15 PM

Coronavirus

Pennsylvanians Voted To Limit Their Governor's Emergency Powers

Voters in Pittsburgh banned no-knock police raids and solitary confinement too.

Eric Boehm | 5.19.2021 1:35 PM

Coronavirus

States With Post-Pandemic Surpluses Are Still Getting Huge Federal Bailouts

California has a $75 billion budget surplus, but federal taxpayers are about to send the state $27 billion in additional aid.

Eric Boehm | 5.18.2021 5:30 PM

Free Trade

Trump's Trade War With Europe Is Biden's Trade War Now

Monday's announcement of a truce in the conflict is good. Peace would be better. Biden should drop Trump's steel tariffs.

Eric Boehm | 5.17.2021 3:55 PM

Coronavirus

New York's Nonsensical COVID Rules Force Theaters To Operate at 33 Percent. Unless They Host Church Services.

If hosting a religious service or a performance that includes food service, theaters can open to 50 percent capacity. But plays and other performances are still capped at 33 percent.

Eric Boehm | 5.14.2021 11:20 AM

Occupational Licensing

How Congress Could Cement State-Level Progress on Occupational Licensing Reform

The Restoring Board Immunity Act would give states yet another reason to rein in overzealous licensing authorities.

Eric Boehm | 5.13.2021 4:15 PM

Gas Stations

Laws Against Price Gouging Won't Fix the Long Lines at the Gas Station

Don't punish businesses for raising prices during a crisis.

Eric Boehm | 5.12.2021 11:30 AM

Taxes

Bernie Sanders Is (Mostly) Right About the SALT Deduction

The state and local tax deduction overwhelmingly benefits rich households in high-tax states while shifting their federal tax burden to everyone else.

Eric Boehm | 5.11.2021 1:45 PM