President Barack Obama has imposed hundreds of billions in regulatory burdens on the American people over the course of his presidency, at an average cost of $1,300 for every person in the U.S.
Billion-dollar rules, or mega-rules, are not very common. For instance, the Bush Administration put forth just 1.6 billion-dollar rules per year. Over the course of his eight year presidency, Bush enacted 12 mega-rules that imposed $35 billion in costs.
The Obama Administration puts forth an average of 3.25 mega-rules a year. His administration imposed $42 billion in mega-rules from just 2012 to 2014, managing to exceed Bush’s tenure in just two years, American Action Forum (AAF) reports.
Over the course of Obama’s presidency, his 25 enacted mega-rules have imposed almost $75 billion in annual costs, with a net present value burden of $424 billion, AAF reports. The average cost of $1,300 for every person in the U.S. is the per capita burden from just these 25 mega-rules.
Essentially, the Obama Administration doubled the number of billion-dollar rules in his two-terms.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for nine of the 25 mega-rules under Obama, totaling $44.3 billion. In fact, three of the most expensive and burdensome mega-rules since 2001 come from the Obama Administration’s EPA standards, according to AAF.
President-elect Donald Trump has openly expressed his disdain for the EPA, and the regulations imposed in its favor under the Obama Administration. Trump also instilled an allegedly anti-EPA figure, Myron Ebell, to head his EPA transition team.
Health and Human Services, the department charged with carrying out many aspects of Obamacare, takes the second place spot with four, imposing $7.7 billion of the total cost.
Vice-President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday that Trump’s “focus out of the gate,” will be on “repealing Obamacare.”
If Trump were to repeal Obamacare and restructure or renegotiate the EPA mega-rules, business could see less of a regulatory burden. Members are Congress are also stepping forward to offer their solutions.
Republican Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania is sponsoring the “Review Act,” which requires all proposed measures more than $1 billion in regulatory costs to face judicial review before they are enacted. The only caveat is if no party seeks litigation within 60 days, the rule takes effect.
Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia introduced the “Regulatory Accountability Act,” which defines “high-impact” for mega-rules and makes sure that agencies publish an advanced notice of proposed rule. This is to stop an ongoing problem in the Obama Administration, which has published 64 economically significant measures, without asking for public opinion, AAF reports.
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