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The plural of anecdote, of course, is not data. So here are some data: In its
first three years the Obama administration imposed more than 100 economically
significant regulations — those costing $100 million or more. That's roughly
four times as many as the Bush administration did during a similar period,
according to the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Liberal outfits insist Heritage is wrong. But even by their Obama-friendly
accounting, the current president has been issuing major rules at a rate 24
percent faster than Bush. Despite the lip service he often pays to the free
market, the president has overseen massive regulatory expansions. See, e.g., the
banking industry; vehicle mileage standards; Obamacare's seemingly endless new
rules; carbon emission limits on coal-fired power plants; energy-efficiency
standards for home appliances; and dozens more.
According to a report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform, "The published regulatory burden for 2012 [alone] could exceed $105
billion. . . . Since January 1, the federal government has imposed $56.6 billion
in compliance costs and more than 114 million annual paperwork burden
hours."
Ask Jones about paperwork. Buckingham Slate is overseen by an alphabet soup
of federal and state agencies, and "each one of them wants something from us all
the time that is costing us money" — spill-prevention plans that require hiring
an engineer; pre-shift inspections; dust monitoring; and more. Jones estimates
that five of his 45 employees spend 20 percent of their time simply filling out
paperwork.