Regulator Without Peer: By at least one measure, Obama surpasses all of his predecessors.

Wall Street Journal ^ | 04/17/2014 | The Editors

[SeekAndFind]

Anyone wondering why the U.S. economy can't seem to grow at its usual pace should examine one product category where production is booming: federal regulation.

Washington set a new record in 2013 by issuing final rules consuming 26,417 pages in the Federal Register. While plenty of government employees deserve credit for this milestone, leadership matters. And by this measure President Obama has never been surpassed in the Oval Office.

The latest rule-making tally comes from the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Wayne Crews, who on April 29 will publish his annual review of federal regulation in "Ten Thousand Commandments." This is important work because politicians and the media treat regulation as a largely cost-free public good. Mr. Crews knows better.

Congress may be mired in gridlock, but the federal bureaucracy is busier than ever. In 2013 the Federal Register contained 3,659 "final" rules, which means they now must be obeyed, and 2,594 proposed rules on their way to becoming orders from political headquarters.

The Federal Register finished 2013 at 79,311 pages, the fourth highest total in history. That didn't match President Obama's 2010 all-time record of 81,405 pages. But Mr. Obama can console himself by noting that of the five highest Federal Register page counts, four have occurred on his watch. The other was 79,435 pages under President George W. Bush in 2008.

And the feds aren't letting up. Mr. Crews reports that there are another 3,305 regulations moving through the pipeline on their way to being imposed. One hundred and ninety-one of those are "economically significant" rules, which are defined as having costs of at least $100 million a year. Keep in mind that the feds routinely low-ball their cost estimates so the public will continue to think regulation is free.

[SeekAndFind]

TAKE NOTE OF THIS ONE STATISTIC AND KEEP THIS IN MIND TO APPRECIATE HOW MUCH GOVERNMENT REGULATION IS COSTING THE ECONOMY:

The burden of complying with federal rules costs roughly the annual GDP of Australia, Canada or Italy. Nearly $2 Trillion with a 'T' !!

[ScottinVA]

Well.. he said he was going to transform America. And he “succeeded.” We’re now France.

[cloudmountain]

Obama's campaign rested on the buzz words: HOPE and CHANGE.

Hope: what a laugh.

Change: no change from the typical Democrat garbage: MORE TAXES and HIGHER TAXES.

[Iron Munro]

Obamalism

[SMARTY]

“If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law.” Winston Churchill

[MrB]

Here’s what a sheeperal’s “cost/benefit analysis” looks like:

Cost? Who Cares!
Benefit? I feel good about myself!

[Organic Panic]

Everyone is a criminal. Unless you’re in with the right political crowd.