By Susan Duclos
With Private Domestic Income, meaning the private business sector, being one of the only areas showing growth as of the latest report by the St. Louis fed, and nearly three quarters of small businesses say government regulations are taking a toll on their bottom lines, it is noteworthy to mention that according to figures published by the Obama White House, the spending on regulations issued by this administration is nearly double the costs of 16 years under Clinton and Bush.
Via TWS:
In fact, as the chart below shows, the costs of “major” regulations — those estimated to cost at least $100 million in any one year (in 2001 dollars) — issued by the Obama administration in its first three years nearly tripled the cost of those issued by the Clinton administration in its first three years, nearly quintupled the cost of those issued by the George W. Bush administration in its first three years, and nearly doubled the cost of those issued by Bush and Clinton combined. Again, that’s according to the Obama White House’s own tallies.
With the Obama recovery now officially the worst recovery effort ever in US History and yesterday's government report showing the economic GDP growth not only screeching to a halt, but going negative, one would think that anything and everything should be done to induce the private sector, the only sector keeping us afloat, to grow and expand by reducing government regulations, as Obama's own jobs council recommended.
But no.
The Hill, just three days ago, headlined with "Washington and business brace for an Obama wave of regulation."
Lawmakers, lobbyists and policy groups say they are expecting a deluge of new rules from agencies across the federal government.
“They’re going to try to do with regulation what they cannot do with legislation,” said Mike House of Hogan & Lovells, a law and lobbying firm whose clients include businesses and trade groups.
Advocacy groups and liberal lawmakers are drawing up wish lists of new regulations that would cover everything from air pollution to vehicle safety to labor protections. And that doesn’t include a torrent of forthcoming rules required by the healthcare law and the Dodd-Frank financial reform act.
Congressional Republicans and industry groups, meanwhile, are marshaling forces to oppose a regulatory onslaught that they fear will bring the private sector to its knees.
“When you consider all the new rules now pouring through the regulatory pipeline, and those still to come, it is staggering,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue said this month during a speech on the state of American business.
Hold on to your "ass(ets)" folks, the next four years are going to be uglier than the last four have been.
