06-14-2009, 09:44 AM
by the Bush Administration?
Government Implemented Thousands of New Regulations Costing $1.17 Trillion in 2008
Friday, June 12, 2009
By Adam Brickley
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/ar...rcID=49487
(CNSNews.com) - An annual report issued by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) shows that the U.S. government imposed $1.17 trillion in new regulatory costs in 2008. That almost equals the $1.2 trillion generated by individual income taxes, and amounts to $3,849 for every American citizen.
According the 2009 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State, the government issued 3,830 new rules last year, and The Federal Register, where such rules are listed, ballooned to a record 79,435 pages.
“The costs of federal regulations too often exceed the benefits, yet these regulations receive little official scrutiny from Congress,” said CEI Vice President Clyde Wayne Crews, Jr., who wrote the report.
“The U.S. economy lost value in 2008 for the first time since 1990,” Crews said. “Meanwhile, our federal government imposed a $1.17 trillion ‘hidden tax’ on Americans beyond the $3 trillion officially budgeted” through the regulations.
In addition to noting the number and scope of the regulations, the report also detailed their economic effects by noting that federal regulations gobbled up roughly 10 percent of the country’s economic output last year.
In fact, if the regulatory apparatus were its own country, it would have the 15th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the planet,” according to CEI. Furthermore, those regulations that CEI deemed “economically significant” – those costing more than $100 million - increased 13 percent from 2007 to 2008.
As a solution, the report proposed that Congress eliminate many regulations. It also urged the government to make the costs of the regulatory state more transparent, specifically suggesting annual ‘report cards’ for the costs and benefits of regulations.
In addition, the report advocates subjecting significant agency rules to congressional votes before they are enforced.
“Rolling back regulations,” said Crews, “would constitute the deregulatory stimulus that the U.S. economy needs.”
Government Implemented Thousands of New Regulations Costing $1.17 Trillion in 2008
Friday, June 12, 2009
By Adam Brickley
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/ar...rcID=49487
(CNSNews.com) - An annual report issued by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) shows that the U.S. government imposed $1.17 trillion in new regulatory costs in 2008. That almost equals the $1.2 trillion generated by individual income taxes, and amounts to $3,849 for every American citizen.
According the 2009 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State, the government issued 3,830 new rules last year, and The Federal Register, where such rules are listed, ballooned to a record 79,435 pages.
“The costs of federal regulations too often exceed the benefits, yet these regulations receive little official scrutiny from Congress,” said CEI Vice President Clyde Wayne Crews, Jr., who wrote the report.
“The U.S. economy lost value in 2008 for the first time since 1990,” Crews said. “Meanwhile, our federal government imposed a $1.17 trillion ‘hidden tax’ on Americans beyond the $3 trillion officially budgeted” through the regulations.
In addition to noting the number and scope of the regulations, the report also detailed their economic effects by noting that federal regulations gobbled up roughly 10 percent of the country’s economic output last year.
In fact, if the regulatory apparatus were its own country, it would have the 15th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the planet,” according to CEI. Furthermore, those regulations that CEI deemed “economically significant” – those costing more than $100 million - increased 13 percent from 2007 to 2008.
As a solution, the report proposed that Congress eliminate many regulations. It also urged the government to make the costs of the regulatory state more transparent, specifically suggesting annual ‘report cards’ for the costs and benefits of regulations.
In addition, the report advocates subjecting significant agency rules to congressional votes before they are enforced.
“Rolling back regulations,” said Crews, “would constitute the deregulatory stimulus that the U.S. economy needs.”