The Regulation President

October 27, 2011

President Obama Has Created Most “Economically Significant” Regulations in Last Decade and Refuses to Rein in the Job-Destroying Rampage

As job creators across America increasingly cite federal regulations as a road block to economic growth, the Obama administration is undertaking a “pushback” campaign on the idea that uncertainty resulting from their flood of new regulations is hurting the economy.
A historical comparison of economically “significant” regulations, however, shows that these job-destroying federal rules have spiked under President Obama. This increase assures President Obama’s place in history as the regulation president.
Democrats have done little to rein in this regulatory rampage. The economic consequences of this commitment to job-destroying policies are all too obvious.

BACKGROUND

As job creators across America increasingly cite federal regulations as a road block to economic growth, the Obama administration is undertaking a “pushback” campaign on the idea that uncertainty resulting from their flood of new regulations is hurting the economy:

OBAMA TREASURY OFFICIAL UNDERTAKING A “PUSHBACK” ON CHARGE THAT “UNCERTAINTY” CAUSED BY THEIR POLICIES IS DESTROYING JOBS: “FIRST LOOK: ‘UNCERTAINTY’ PUSHBACK – Treasury’s Dr. Jan Eberly, recently confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, writes in a blog post going up later this morning that there is NO evidence to support the argument that ‘uncertainty’ over regulatory changes is holding back job growth. The post is the first in what will be a series of ‘deep dives’ into economic data by Treasury officials looking to punch holes in political rhetoric.” (Ben White, Politico’s “Morning Money”, 10/24/2011)

GALLUP: SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS NAME GOVERNMENT REGULATION AS “THE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM FACING THEM TODAY”: “Small-business owners in the United States are most likely to say complying with government regulations (22%) is the most important problem facing them today, followed by consumer confidence in the economy (15%) and lack of consumer demand (12%).”(Dennis Jacobe, “Gov’t Regulations at Top of Small-Business Owners’ Problem List,” Gallup, 10/24/2011)

MORE GALLUP: ONE-THIRD OF SMALL BUSINESSES WORRIED ABOUT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS: “Looking ahead to 2012, approximately one in three small-business owners say they are very or moderately worried about going out of business. About the same number are worried about not being able to compete with large or global competitors, not being able to hire the number of employees they need, and not being able to pay their employees. Thirty percent worry they will have to reduce their number of employees.” (Dennis Jacobe, “Gov’t Regulations at Top of Small-Business Owners’ Problem List,” Gallup, 10/24/2011)

A historical comparison of “economically significant” regulations, however, shows that these job-destroying federal rules have spiked under President Obama. This increase assures President Obama’s place in history as the regulation president:

BLOOMBERG: NUMBER OF “SIGNIFICANT FEDERAL RULES” HIGHER UNDER OBAMA THAN UNDER LAST FOUR PRESIDENTS: “The number of significant federal rules, defined as those costing more than $100 million, has gone up under Obama, with 129 approved so far, compared with 90 for Bush, 115 for President Bill Clinton and 127 for the first President Bush over the same period in their first terms.” (Mark Drajem and Catherine Dodge, “Obama Wrote Fewer Rules than Bush, Cost More,” Bloomberg, 10/25/2011)

AVERAGE ANNUAL COST OF REGULATIONS UNDER OBAMA UP TO $4 BILLION GREATER THAN UNDER BUSH: “In the last 12 months through the end of September, the cost range of new regulations is estimated to be $8 billion to $9 billion, a decrease from 2010, according to non-partisan Government Accountability Office reports analyzed by Bloomberg. That total put the average annual cost of regulations under Obama at about $7 billion to $11 billion, compared with the $6.9 billion average from 1981 through 2008 in current dollars, according to the OMB data.” (Mark Drajem and Catherine Dodge, “Obama Wrote Fewer Rules than Bush, Cost More,” Bloomberg, 10/25/2011)

4,257 NEW REGULATIONS IN THE WORKS, MORE THAN 200 WILL COST OVER $100 MILLION ANNUALLY—15% MORE REGULATIONS THAN LAST YEAR.“Appropriate and responsible regulations play an important policymaking role. Yet the Obama administration has turned rule-making into an assault on American businesses and the jobs they create. Right now, 4,257 new regulations are in the works, 219 of which will cost over $100 million annually — 15 percent more than last year.” (Editorial, “How Obama’s Rules Hold Back Chicago Business,” The Chicago Sun-Times, 8/30/2011)

Democrats have done little to rein in this regulatory rampage. The economic consequences of this commitment to job-destroying policies are all too clear:

GALLUP’S CHIEF ECONOMIST: “A MORATORIUM ON NEW GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS WOULD BE BENEFICIAL” GIVEN “FRAGILITY” OF ECONOMY: ” ‘Given this situation and the fragility of the economy, I think a moratorium on new government regulations would be beneficial,” said chief economist Dennis Jacobe, the author of the study. ‘We can leave arguments about the public benefit of new government regulations versus the cost to business for another –- better – economic situation.'” (Alicia Ciccone, “Small Businesses Want Fewer Regulations, More Customers,” Huffington Post, 10/25/2011)

RETIRING BLUE DOG DEM DENNIS CARDOZA (D-CA): REPUBLICANS “ARE RIGHT” ABOUT OBAMA’S HOSTILE REGULATIONS: “I think he needs to really focus on what’s happening on main street America. He needs to walk up and down the small towns that I represent or towns like mine and talk to shopkeepers and let them tell him how directly difficult it is to do business in America these days and what they think needs to be done. I got to tell you, the regulatory reform issues that my folks tell me about are real. The criticism that the Republicans say about it’s too tough to do business in this country, they are right. We need to figure out how to make it easier on them.” (Remarks from Rep. Dennis Cardoza, MSNBC’S “Daily Rundown,” 10/24/2011)

MEANWHILE, “EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK IN U.S. WORST SINCE 2010: SURVEY”:“U.S. companies’ hiring plans reflect the worst employment outlook since January 2010 as demand slows in the world’s largest economy, a private survey showed. Fewer companies project payrolls to rise in the next six months compared with a July survey, while more plan to cut workers, the National Association for Business Economics said today in Washington. The share of firms planning to raise prices was the smallest in almost two years.” (Shobana Chandra, “Employment Outlook in U.S. Worst Since 2010: Survey,” Bloomberg, 10/24/2011)

“U.S. ‘MISERY INDEX’ RISES HIGHEST SINCE 1983,” A 28-YEAR HIGH: (“U.S. ‘Misery Index’ Rises Highest Since 1983,” CNBC, 10/20/2011)

BUT DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO BUDGE ON THE REGULATIONS STILL IN THE PIPELINE:

NEW STUDY: NEW AND PENDING EPA RULES WILL DESTROY 1.65 MILLLION JOBS: “Over the period from 2012 to 2020, about 183,000 jobs per year are predicted to be lost on net due to the effects of the four regulations. The cumulative effects mean that over the period from 2012 to 2020, about 1.65 million job-years of employment would be lost.” (“Potential Impacts of EPA Air, Coal Combustion Residuals, and Cooling Water Regulations,” NERA Economic Consulting, September 2011)

WHITE HOUSE “STRONGLY OPPOSES” GOP EFFORT TO MAKE EPA STOP DESTROYING JOBS: “The White House Wednesday said it strongly opposes a House bill that would delay several Environmental Protection Agency rules on air pollution, setting up another showdown over Republican-led efforts to postpone the agency’s agenda.” (Ryan Tracy, “White House Opposes House Bill to Delay EPA Rules,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/21/2011)