Regulation Nation
“Our economy is not a zero-sum game. Regulations do have costs; often, as a country, we have to make tough decisions about whether those costs are necessary.”
—President Obama, Wall Street Journal op-ed, January 18, 2011
Dear Santa,
With the Democrat-controlled Senate’s proposed two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday presenting “a number of complications and costs that would disproportionately affect small businesses,” according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), House Republicans would prefer to lessen the burden on America’s engine of job creation. So here are a few requests:
This year, please deliver regulatory relief to America’s small businesses and job creators from the 79,000 pages of regulations printed in the Federal Register this year.
Also, in the spirit of giving, the American economy needs $230.4 billion to pay for the additional compliance costs added by the Obama administration’s new rules in 2011.
Of course we wish for peace on earth and economic goodwill toward small community banks and credit unions. To that end, surely there is a more economically productive use for the 15,929 jobs required just to comply with the flood of regulations from Democrats’ Dodd-Frank permanent bailout of Wall Street law. We hope that allowing banks to spend time making productive loans to entrepreneurs instead of filling out federal paperwork is not too much to ask.
If you have holiday cheer to spare, we wish you would sprinkle it on Democrats in the Senate to support legislation such as H.R. 10, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which would restore Congressional accountability for the regulatory process requiring Congress to take an up-or-down, stand-alone vote, and for the President to sign-off on all new major rules—those that have an annual economic impact of $100 million or more—before they could be enforced on the American people, job-creating small businesses, or state and local governments. With millions of Americans out of work and millions suffering in the Obama economy, it’s only fair that we rein in the Administration’s 291,676 regulatory elves somewhat.
To save you some effort this year, House Republicans have already stuffed the stockings of Senate Democrats and President Obama with 27 House-passed bipartisan jobs bills. Perhaps you could leave a copy of the House Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators with them as well? After all, a Wall Street Journal editorial said last week, “The evidence is overwhelming that the Obama regulatory surge is one reason the current economic recovery has been so lackluster by historical standards.”
Hopefully yours,
Regulation Nation
What are House Republicans doing?
This week the House disapproved the Senate amendment to the Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act that would punt the problem for two months while adding uncertainty to middle class job creators. The House voted to go to conference with the Senate to negotiate a common sense solution that would help to create thousands of new American jobs while helping Americans struggling with the consequences of President Obama’s failed economic policies. The House-passed bipartisan bill would extend the payroll tax cut, protect Social Security, reform and extend unemployment insurance, and extend pro-growth tax relief for businesses of all sizes – while also advancing several bipartisan measures that will directly support the creation of private-sector jobs, including the Keystone XL energy pipeline.
For additional information, contact:
The House Republican Conference Policy Office
