|
Townhall...
Obama Isn't Fooling
Anyone
By David Harsanyi
President Barack Obama penned a witty Wall Street Journal op-ed this
week, titled "Toward a 21st-Century Regulatory System."
In it, he extolled the virtues of a free market system. And to prove
that his admiration of capitalism has nothing to do with naked
political expediency, Obama signed an executive order that will "root
out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or that are
just plain dumb."
Sounds rather subjective, though, don't you think? How do we gauge
excessive regulation in the Age of Obama? I can't recall a single
federal program, piece of legislation or proposal in the past two years
that was initiated to ease the burden on consumers or businesses. (If
you know of any, please send specifics to
sorry(at)dowelooklikesuckers.com.)
Obama doesn't have to look far, if he's serious. Nor does he need an
executive order. Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency is
drafting carbon rules to force on states, even though a similarly
torturous 2,000 pages on a cap-and-trade scheme intending to make power
more expensive was rejected. Maybe there's something in that pile of
paper to mine.
Also, the Federal Communications Commission is shoving network
neutrality in the pipeline -- again, bypassing Congress -- so
government can regulate the Internet for the first time in history,
though the commissioners themselves admit that as of now, any need for
rules are based on the what-ifs of their imaginations.
There exists no legislation more burdensome and expensive than the
job-crushing (not "job-killing," because, naturally, we can't stand for
that kind of imagery) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
formerly known as Obamacare and presently being symbolically repealed
by House Republicans.
That's for starters.
But, of course, there will be no tangible regulatory relief. The
Federal Register is a codex of moral well-being, after all. Regulatory
schemes are how we make life fairer, the sick healthy, the economy
recession-proof and green energy a reality. It's how we stop the rich
from acting selfishly and the weak from stuffing fat kids with Sno
Balls.
Last May, a New York Times story, "With Obama, Regulations Are Back in
Fashion," laid out how the administration had "pressed forward on
hundreds of new mandates." In it, we have what seems like half the
White House championing the pettiest of regulations as an ethical
imperative.
Our bureaucratic agencies have nearly infinite power to do good via
rule-making -- once they are in, that is. Keep in mind that the rule
allowing "end-of-life" counseling paid for by Medicare was inserted
into Obamacare after passage and only nixed after an ensuing outcry.
It, like thousands of other additions, will return.
A Small Business Administration study says total regulatory costs that
businesses (and thus consumers) pay amount to about $1.75 trillion --
more than all collected personal income taxes. The Competitive
Enterprise Institute found in this past year that the appearance of new
rules -- including "major" rules that cost more than $100 million
annually -- had dramatically accelerated.
Which isn't surprising.
When Obama was in a place of political comfort, the free market was a
place of unhinged self-interest, unfairness and misery. Nearly all of
our troubles were portrayed as a case of regulatory neglect -- and
nearly every dilemma was met accordingly.
Nothing's changed but the political conditions.
Townhall.com
|
|
|
|
