‘Staggering’ Regulatory Burden, ‘Disappointing’ Job Creation

Obama Bureaucrats ‘In The Bowels Of Federal Agencies’ Busily Burying Job Creators Under A ‘Flurry Of Regulations’
“[President Obama’s] legacy is a Washington leviathan atop a private economy that grows increasingly less able to support it… The regulatory burden is staggering for the economy and for all who live and work within it.” (“So Many Rules, So Few Opportunities,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/6/16)

• “A wave of regulation coincides with weak hiring and growth. Friday’s jobs report from the Labor Department brought the latest reminder that the U.S. economy isn’t creating opportunities like it used to. A separate report released this week goes a long way toward explaining why.” (“So Many Rules, So Few Opportunities,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/6/16)

JOBS: ‘Employment Numbers Disappoint,’ ‘The Unsugar-Coated Truth Was That Today’s Report Was Pretty Lousy’
“Employment Numbers Disappoint in Latest Report” (“Employment Numbers Disappoint in Latest Report,” U.S. News, 5/6/16)

“Why the disappointing numbers? The April jobs report was well below Wall Street’s expectations. …disappointing April employment report… ” (“Why The Disappointing Jobs Report?” Huffington Post’s ‘The Blog,’ 5/8/16)

• “Revisions to payroll counts from February and March also disappointing.” (“Jobs Report,” Forbes, 5/6/16)

“The disappointing jobs report is even worse than you think … Spring may have sprung, but somebody forgot to tell the job market.” (“The Disappointing Jobs Report Is Even Worse Than You Think,” Fortune, 5/6/16)

• “…the unsugar-coated truth was that today’s report was pretty lousy, and it is in fact worse than you probably think. That’s because … the labor force participation rate fell from March to April…” (“The Disappointing Jobs Report Is Even Worse Than You Think,” Fortune, 5/6/16)
• “The civilian labor force ultimately contracted as well, while the number of individuals not counted in the labor force, either because they retired, lost their jobs or simply gave up looking for work, ballooned by 562,000 people.” (“Employment Numbers Disappoint in Latest Report,” U.S. News, 5/6/16)

GDP: ‘U.S. Economy Sputtered In The First Quarter’
“The U.S. economy sputtered in the first quarter, expanding at the slowest pace in two years as business slashed investment by the steepest amount since the Great Recession. Gross domestic product, the sum of a nation’s economy, slowed to a 0.5% annual growth rate in the first three months of 2016, the government said Thursday.” (“GDP Report Shows Economy Grew In First Quarter At Slowest Pace In Two Years,” Marketwatch, 4/28/16)

• “The American economy edged further into the slow lane last quarter…” (“U.S. Economy Grew 0.5% in First Quarter, Slowest Pace in 2 Years,” The New York Times, 4/28/16)

THE REGULATORY TAX: $1.95 Trillion In Annual Costs
“The estimated cost of regulation is equivalent to half the level of federal spending itself, which was $3.687 trillion in 2015. Regulatory costs of $1.88 trillion amount to 11 percent of U.S. GDP, which was estimated at $17.9 trillion in 2015 by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.2, 5/4/16)

• “If it were a country, U.S. regulation would be the ninth-largest economy, ranking behind India and ahead of Russia.” (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.3, 5/4/16)
• The Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., jointly estimate that agencies spent $63 billion in 2015 to administer and police the regulatory enterprise. Adding the $1.885 trillion in off-budget compliance costs brings the total reckoned regulatory enterprise to about $1.948 trillion.” (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.2, 5/4/16)

“The costs of the regulatory hidden tax surpass federal individual and corporate income tax receipts, which total $1.82 trillion combined.” (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.3, 5/4/16)

• “If one assumed that all costs of federal regulation and intervention flowed all the way down to households, U.S. households would ‘pay’ $14,842 annually on average in a regulatory hidden tax. That payment amounts to 22 percent of the average income of $66,877 and 28 percent of the expenditure budget of $53,495. The ‘tax’ exceeds every item in the budget except housing.” (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.3, 5/4/16)

‘30 rules were issued for every law enacted last year’ “In 2015, 114 laws were enacted by Congress during the calendar year, while 3,410 rules were issued by agencies. Thus, 30 rules were issued for every law enacted last year.” (“Ten Thousand Commandments,” Competitive Enterprise Institute, P.2, 5/4/16)

23,000 FORMS: ‘An Almost Incomprehensible Amount Of Paperwork’
“…an almost incomprehensible amount of paperwork. The federal government[’s] …68 federal agencies impose more than 23,000 forms.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

“These forms help to generate more than 11.4 billion hours of paperwork annually. That’s the equivalent of 35 hours for every person in the nation.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

“…a large percentage somehow cannot be submitted electronically. For example, according to OIRA, 447 of HHS’s forms cannot be submitted electronically. ... Likewise, there are more than 1,000 Treasury forms that cannot be submitted online, as well as more than 1,400 Agriculture forms. In the year 2016, it’s discouraging that such a large percentage (28 percent) of supposedly vital private information must be mailed back to the federal government.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

HHS “…the runaway leader in federal paperwork. ... Anyone who has ever spent an hour filling out forms before a doctor’s appointment can attest to the weight of HHS paperwork.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

• “HHS’s lead in forms has nothing to do with Medicare, Medicaid, or the Affordable Care Act. … [For example, one] HHS [paperwork] leader, ‘Evaluation of Dating Matters,’ collects 60 forms on everything from discussing ‘the possibility of misinterpreting feelings through text messages and/or emails’ among sixth graders.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

“The Department of Agriculture, somehow, imposes more than 3,700 forms… A review of the data reveals a collection for ‘Vegetable and Specialty Crops’ contains 334 associated forms, far more than even the Individual Income Tax (200). It appears this collection, at just 24,000 aggregate hours, contains a federal form for every item of produce imaginable: nominations to the ‘Vidalia Onion Committee,’ nominations to the ‘Hazelnut Marketing Board,’ a report of inventory for ‘High Moisture Content Prunes,’ and an application to ship Florida tomatoes for relief or charity.” (“How Many Federal Forms are There?” American Action Forum, 4/21/16)

GALLUP: ‘Half … Say Gov't Regulates Business Too Much’
GALLUP: ‘Half Still Say Gov't Regulates Business Too Much’ “…a sturdy 49% of Americans say the government regulates business too much…” (“In U.S., Half Still Say Gov't Regulates Business Too Much,” Gallup, 9/18/15)

Americans’ Overall Perceptions on government Regulation of Business
In general, do you think there is too much, too little or about the right amount
of government regulation of business and industry?

(“In U.S., Half Still Say Gov't Regulates Business Too Much,” Gallup, 9/18/15)
‘Obama Administration … Racing To Make Final A Flurry Of Regulations’
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “I plan on doing everything I can with every minute of every day that I have left as President…” (President Obama, Press Conference, 12/18/15)

• WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF DENIS McDONOUGH: “We’ll do audacious executive action throughout the course of the year — I’m confident about that.” (“President Obama May Require Federal Contractors To List Campaign Gifts,” The New York Times, 1/19/16)

“The Obama administration is racing to make final a flurry of regulations affecting broad swaths of the economy, further riling U.S. businesses…” (“Obama Readies Flurry of Regulations,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/7/16)

• “Much of this work will be carried out in the coming months by career bureaucrats working in the bowels of federal agencies, but the cumulative effect adds up to something larger: A final-year sprint by a president intent on using executive power… in many instances over loud objections from the businesses that will have to pay for it.” (“Obama Pushing Thousands Of New Regulations In Year 8,” Politico, 1/4/16)
• “Nearly 4,000 regulations are squirming their way through the federal bureaucracy in the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency — many costing industry more than $100 million — in a mad dash by the White House to push through government actions affecting everything from furnaces to gun sales to Guantánamo.” (“Obama Pushing Thousands Of New Regulations In Year 8,” Politico, 1/4/16)
• “In his first seven years, Mr. Obama issued 392 regulations deemed ‘major,’ meaning each carries an expected economic effect exceeding $100 million annually. Forty-seven more sat on the drawing board for this year.” (“Obama Readies Flurry of Regulations,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/7/16)

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