Friday, September 24, 2010

Stifling Statism: Regulation Reform? Or Passing the Buck, Again?

It ain't just the laws and taxes.  It's regulation, too.

Maybe some of that's coming to an end, although as usual, Congress is trying to blame the Administration for Congress' own laziness, lack of courage, and desire for re-election through political statements rather than hard-nosed decision-making.

Senate Republicans on Wednesday introduced a bill that would require congressional approval for major regulations issued by federal agencies.

...It would require every major rule proposed by federal agencies to be approved by a joint resolution passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president before it could take effect.

"Major rule" uses $100 million in economic effect as a trigger, or would cause large price increases, or would have 'significant effects' on the economy.

The proposal is more 'hat' than 'cattle;' and there's a reason for that.

Congress typically passes bills which require the regulators/agencies to do the dirty work.  That way, Congressmen get re-elected for their political foofoodust-throwing ability, and citizens get screwed blue and tattooed by "regulators."

There's more to this story, though, which should be highlighted.

Republicans supporting the bill point to a recent report by the Small Business Administration, which said the annual cost of federal regulations in the U.S. increased to more than $1.75 trillion in 2009. According to that report, if every U.S. household had paid an equal share of the federal regulatory burden, each would have owed $15,586 in 2008.

Further, a Heritage Foundation study showed that the Code of Federal Regulations – a compendium of all existing federal rules – hit a record 163,333 pages in 2009, an increase of 22,000 pages since the beginning of the decade.

 Actual Conservatives have a great deal of work to do.  Holding Congresscritters responsible for their legislation would be a gigantic step forward.  

"Regulatory reform" is only a small part of the process.

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