08.10.16

Gold Medal For Costly Regulations Goes To… President Obama!

As Part Of A ‘Final-Year Sprint,’ ‘President Obama’s Regulators Have Completed Their 600th Major Rule’

“…all-time presidential record of costly regulation set by the Obama Administration. … The regulatory crush isn’t over.” (“The All-Time Regulation Record,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/6/16)

 

‘President Obama’s Regulators Have Completed Their 600th Major Rule … It Amounts To A Regulatory Tax Of $2,294 On Every American’

“Since President Obama took office in 2009, the federal government has issued 600 major regulations totaling $743 billion, according to a new study…” (“Study: Obama Issued $743B In Regs,” The Hill, 8/8/16)

“…President Obama’s regulators have completed their 600th major rule. A major rule imposes costs of more than $100 million. For those keeping score, that’s an average of 81 big ones a year, or roughly one every three days the government is open. Who says our bureaucracies are inefficient?” (Editorial, “The All-Time Regulation Record,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/6/16)

Part Of ‘A Mad Dash’ Where ‘The Obama Administration Is Shoveling Out Regulations’

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “I plan on doing everything I can with every minute of every day that I have left as President…” (President Obama, Press Conference, 12/18/15)

“The Obama administration is racing to make final a flurry of regulations affecting broad swaths of the economy, further riling U.S. businesses…” (“Obama Readies Flurry of Regulations,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/7/16)

  • “Much of this work will be carried out in the coming months by career bureaucrats working in the bowels of federal agencies, but the cumulative effect adds up to something larger: A final-year sprint by a president intent on using executive power… in many instances over loud objections from the businesses that will have to pay for it.” (“Obama Pushing Thousands Of New Regulations In Year 8,” Politico, 1/4/16)
  • “Nearly 4,000 regulations are squirming their way through the federal bureaucracy in the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency — many costing industry more than $100 million — in a mad dash by the White House to push through government actions affecting everything from furnaces to gun sales to Guantánamo.” (“Obama Pushing Thousands Of New Regulations In Year 8,” Politico, 1/4/16)

“The Obama administration is shoveling out regulations nearly one-third faster in its final year than during the previous three... The whoosh of final rules on everything from e-cigarette use to greenhouse gas emissions exceeds the pace during the same period in the Clinton administration. The goal is to deny [a Republican president] the opportunity to kill those regulations under an expedited process...” (“Obama Rushes Out Rules To Guarantee Legacy,” Politico, 5/18/16)

 

THE REGULATORY TAX: $1.95 Trillion In Annual Costs

“The estimated cost of regulation is equivalent to half the level of federal spending itself, which was $3.687 trillion in 2015. Regulatory costs of $1.88 trillion amount to 11 percent of U.S. GDP, which was estimated at $17.9 trillion in 2015 by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.2, 5/4/16)

  • “The Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., jointly estimate that agencies spent $63 billion in 2015 to administer and police the regulatory enterprise. Adding the $1.885 trillion in off-budget compliance costs brings the total reckoned regulatory enterprise to about $1.948 trillion.” (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.2, 5/4/16)

“The costs of the regulatory hidden tax surpass federal individual and corporate income tax receipts, which total $1.82 trillion combined.” (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.3, 5/4/16)

  • “If one assumed that all costs of federal regulation and intervention flowed all the way down to households, U.S. households would ‘pay’ $14,842 annually on average in a regulatory hidden tax. That payment amounts to 22 percent of the average income of $66,877 and 28 percent of the expenditure budget of $53,495. The ‘tax’ exceeds every item in the budget except housing.” (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.3, 5/4/16)

‘30 rules were issued for every law enacted last year’ “In 2015, 114 laws were enacted by Congress during the calendar year, while 3,410 rules were issued by agencies. Thus, 30 rules were issued for every law enacted last year.” (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.2, 5/4/16)

23,000 FORMS: ‘An Almost Incomprehensible Amount Of Paperwork’

“…an almost incomprehensible amount of paperwork. The federal government[’s] …68 federal agencies impose more than 23,000 forms.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

“These forms help to generate more than 11.4 billion hours of paperwork annually. That’s the equivalent of 35 hours for every person in the nation.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

“…a large percentage somehow cannot be submitted electronically. For example, according to OIRA, 447 of HHS’s forms cannot be submitted electronically. ... Likewise, there are more than 1,000 Treasury forms that cannot be submitted online, as well as more than 1,400 Agriculture forms. In the year 2016, it’s discouraging that such a large percentage (28 percent) of supposedly vital private information must be mailed back to the federal government.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

HHS “…the runaway leader in federal paperwork. ... Anyone who has ever spent an hour filling out forms before a doctor’s appointment can attest to the weight of HHS paperwork.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

  • “HHS’s lead in forms has nothing to do with Medicare, Medicaid, or the Affordable Care Act. … [For example, one] HHS [paperwork] leader, ‘Evaluation of Dating Matters,’ collects 60 forms on everything from discussing ‘the possibility of misinterpreting feelings through text messages and/or emails’ among sixth graders.” (“How Many Federal Forms Are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

“The Department of Agriculture, somehow, imposes more than 3,700 forms… A review of the data reveals a collection for ‘Vegetable and Specialty Crops’ contains 334 associated forms, far more than even the Individual Income Tax (200). It appears this collection, at just 24,000 aggregate hours, contains a federal form for every item of produce imaginable: nominations to the ‘Vidalia Onion Committee,’ nominations to the ‘Hazelnut Marketing Board,’ a report of inventory for ‘High Moisture Content Prunes,’ and an application to ship Florida tomatoes for relief or charity.” (“How Many Federal Forms Are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

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Related Issues: Small Business, Regulations, Economy