Government Regulatory Octopus Is Strangling Our Economy: We Actually have 4 Branches of the Government

Townhall ^ | 04/18/2023 | Stephen Moore

[SeekAndFind]

Every schoolkid knows -- or used to know -- that the United States has three branches of government. At least that's what the textbooks say.

But really, we have four branches of government.

That's because Congress -- the legislative branch -- has for decades delegated lawmaking authority to the unconstitutional fourth branch of the U.S. government: independent regulatory agencies. By some estimates, there are more than 300 of these agencies sticking their nose into every aspect of American life and business, from what kind of car you can buy to the temperature setting on your thermostat to what you can build on your own private property.

Who are these regulatory czars accountable to? Who elected them?

To his credit, former President Donald Trump tried to rein in the regulatory blob. He promised to rescind two regulations for every new regulation enacted while he was president. He actually repealed about five rules for every new one.

But President Joe Biden LOVES to regulate.

On his first day in office, Biden rescinded the Trump policy, and the ratios have been roughly reversed. He also got rid of stringent cost-benefit analysis for new rules. This was to ensure that the regulation wasn't going to have a price tag far exceeding any societal benefit.

Now we are getting a regulatory explosion with private sector costs as high as $2 trillion a year, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The federal government doesn't abide by the Ten Commandments. Now there are more than 10,000. Biden's latest whopper is an Environmental Protection Agency rule that would effectively ban the production of gas-powered cars within 10 years.

Almost all recent presidents left office with more rules and red tape than when they entered. Ronald Reagan and Trump were two exceptions. Richard Nixon created the EPA, even though states were doing a fine job cleaning air and water. It was the George W. Bush administration that passed an energy bill requiring household appliances like home refrigerators and dishwashers to be "energy-efficient," which in practice meant they didn't work very well.

What can be done to trim the tentacles of the regulatory octopus? How about cutting those budgets and their enormous bureaucratic staffs? Over the last 30 years, the budgets of the regulatory agencies have more than tripled after adjusting for inflation from $25 billion to $75 billion. If Biden has his way, next year the regulatory octopus will exceed $100 billion to arm super-regulators like Lina Khan of the Federal Trade Commission. Khan has tremendous authority over whether businesses should be able to merge. She's never run even a lemonade stand in her whole life.

Congress still has power over the purse. Cutting the regulatory budgets in half would still ensure safety, financial soundness and a clean environment while saving half a trillion dollars over 10 years. The Republicans should start by ensuring that the snoops at the IRS don't get 87,000 more IRS agents to harass citizens and pry into every private transaction we make.

Yes, we want sound regulation. But it shouldn't cost our families and businesses $2 trillion a year.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Every schoolkid knows — or used to know — that the United States has three branches of government.

More like USED TO KNOW.

[No name given]

Good article!

[FlingWingFlyer]

We’ve only got one branch of government and three branches of unemployed lawyer politicians who can’t get jobs because they lack a work ethic. The U.S. is a monarchy now and Jo Jo the pedophile king is running this chicken coop. Everybody else in Washington just sits around on their asses all day eating Mexican food and poking their cell phones.

[Boogieman]

If the bureaucrats get their power from Congress, maybe the bureaucrats need to be fired and have to reapply every 2 years like Congressmen?

[Vaduz]

There are more than 300 of these agencies sticking their nose into every aspect of American life and business.

Wonder who formed them huh Moe.

[dfwgator]

[Amendment10]

Thank you for referencing that article SeekAndFind.

"Government Regulatory Octopus Is Strangling Our Economy: We Actually have 4 Branches of the Government"

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Misguided voters who have too much voting power, evidenced by the ill-conceived 17th Amendment, are strangling the economy.

The definition of insanity is reelecting your state's Constitution-ignoring career state and federal lawmakers and executives over and over again, expecting different results every time.

Voters need to start taking informed responsibility for their voting power, beginning by primarying ALL your beloved, state and federal career lawmakers in 2024 since they've never made a significant difference in government policy.

In fact, regular readers of Free Republic can probably identify better MAGA patriots to run for office than Trump can, Trump arguably not getting the best advice about who to put in office from his institutionally indoctrinated, corrupt political party aligned advisors.

[bitt]

p

[yldstrk]

Administrative law needs to be shut down. It is unfettered and unchecked. Dangerous. Judicial review of its actions is too little too late.

[Bob Ireland]

***Congress -- the legislative branch -- has for decades delegated lawmaking authority to the unconstitutional fourth branch of the U.S. government: independent regulatory agencies***

This is absolutely the issue. For example, the mandate for only electric cars by 2030 SHOULD be passed as law by Congress - but of course they want the mandate but do not want to take the public responsibility so they turn it over to a nameless bureaucrat with a shrug: "What can I do?" These bureaucratic actions have been challenged in SCOTUS and won... but of course someone has to take them to SCOTUS! {Republicans?!}

Carpetbaggers!