Investor's Business Daily - Our Overregulated Economy: Murder By 1,000 Paper Cuts

Op-Ed

By Sens. Jim Inhofe and John Barasso

Overregulation by President Obama and his administration is crippling our nation's economy.

By the government's own estimation, the annual cost of regulations is $1.75 trillion. Since taking office, the Obama administration has instituted 75 new major regulations, meaning that each has an expected economic impact of at least $100 million per year. Over a 10-year period, these regulations will cost the private-sector over $400 billion.

Keep in mind these are government cost estimates, and we all know how actual costs are often much higher.

Additionally, according to a private study by George Washington University, federal outlays for developing and enforcing regulations are expected to grow by 4%, from $46.9 billion last year to $48.9 billion this year.

Is it any wonder that the unemployment rate is stuck at over 9%? Obama's jobs initiative might best be summed up: growing government and increasing the number of federal regulators.

What's worse, while these regulations cost businesses, the price is ultimately passed along to American families and individuals who are struggling to make ends meet.

All the while, the president offers the same tired "solutions" he advocated over two years ago: expanded government, more deficit spending, a ballooning debt, tax hikes and increased government regulation. None of these so-called solutions has proven successful.

The $800 billion two-year stimulus that Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress passed in 2009 failed to jumpstart the economy and help people get back to work. His new $447 billion proposed second stimulus will likewise fail.

Throwing money at the problem does little more than contribute to our nearly $15 trillion debt, $4.1 trillion of which was added by the president in just the first half of his first term.

To pay for this new government spending, Obama proposes that we raise taxes on small businesses and job creators in the oil and gas industry to the tune of $445 billion over the next 10 years. That's no way to encourage the expansion of small businesses or strengthen the economy.

We can stop this death by a thousand cuts and return to a strong economy. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a good place to start.

To date, the EPA has refused to conduct an analysis examining the total economic impact of its rules on jobs; retail electricity rates and gasoline prices; power plant closures; state and local governments; small businesses; electric reliability and energy-intensive manufacturers. That is unconscionable, especially in this economic climate.

That is why legislation like the Comprehensive Assessment of Regulations on Economy (CARE) Act is so important. The measure would help guide and inform Congress as it decides how best to deal with the unprecedented barrage of rules coming out of the EPA.

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