“The White House said those changes alone would eliminate more than 1.9 million annual hours of “redundant reporting requirements” for employers, saving more than $40 million a year in costs.”
As if that really is a big solution.Most assuredly, the Leviathan (Government) has grown larger and larger; the 2012 version of “Ten Thousand Commandments” is now out. From the post over at The Corner, a few “highlights”:
- Estimated regulatory costs, while “off budget,” are equivalent to over 48 percent of the level of federal spending itself.
- The 2011 Federal Register finished at 81,247 pages, just shy of 2010’s all-time record-high 81,405 pages.
- Regulatory compliance costs dwarf corporate-income taxes of $198 billion, and exceed individual income taxes and even pre-tax corporate profits.
- Agencies issued 3,807 final rules in 2011, a 6.5 percent increase over 3,573 in 2010.
- Of the 4,128 regulations in the works at year-end 2011, 212 were “economically significant,” meaning they generally wield at least $100 million in economic impact.
- 822 of those 4,128 regulations in the works would affect small businesses.
- The total number of economically significant rules finalized in 2011 was 79, down slightly from 2010 but up 92.7 percent over five years, and 108 percent over ten years.
- Recent costly federal agency initiatives include the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule and the Department of Transportation’s Fuel Economy Standards.
“are equivalent to over 48 percent of the level of federal spending” – that would be $1.8 Trillion / year; that’s how much it costs consumers in (often) unnecessary pricing. That’s why I scoff at the $40 million at the top.
And you wonder why I always ask Politicians and Candidates what they are going to do about regulations? Too many times, these are knee-jerk reactions in order to be seen as “doing something”, at best, it can be self-justification for a job as in “we’d better be seen doing something” or proposing solutions to problems that either really don’t exist, exist rather seldom, or can be handled in far different ways.
(H/T: The Corner)
