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Feature
Not Triangulation but Regulation
Obama’s answer to a GOP Congress.
President Obama already laid down the marker, in early October. His approach to new Republican strength on Capitol Hill, he said, will be nothing but “hand-to-hand combat.” The combat, however, may not take the form of traditional legislative battles. Again and again, news stories in the fall cited Obama officials saying blandly that they will “use executive authority when blocked by Congress.” None of the reports seemed to find these statements remarkable. Yet if officials in the Reagan or Bush administrations had spoken that way, Newsweek would have been warning of “an imperial presidency” and the New York Times would be hyperventilating about a proto-dictatorship. Yet Republican teams’ inclinations run to less regulation rather than more, and the Obama regime favors executive actions far more likely to limit freedom and seriously intrude on daily American life.
Indeed, the Obama team’s disdain for small-r republican norms is breathtaking. Even when enjoying huge Democratic congressional majorities, this president already had pushed rule-by-administrative-fiat to a stunning degree. What awaits, when Obama sees no chance of legislative success, is sure to be an audacious expansion of claimed executive powers — unaccountable, unlimited, and quite arguably unconstitutional. (Whether the courts recognize it as unconstitutional will be a close call, based on how effective Republican senators are at blocking Obama from seeding federal courts with radical leftists.)
It’s not only conservatives who recognize this administration’s aggressiveness. OMB Watch, a respected but decidedly left-leaning nonprofit that tracks regulatory affairs full time, quite approvingly reported this in September: “In stark contrast to the George W. Bush administration, the Obama administration… has been far more active in pursuing its rulemaking responsibilities.” And: “[Environmental Protection Agency] Administrator Lisa Jackson…has set an active agenda.… At the Department of Labor, [there have been] efforts to jumpstart a rulemaking engine….” The NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] engaged in “a minor surge of rulemaking.” And so on.
No wonder an October 26 report by the Heritage Foundation succinctly concluded that “the burden of regulation on Americans increased at an alarming rate in fiscal year 2010. Based on data from the Government Accountability Office, an unprecedented 43 major new regulations were imposed by Washington. And based on reports from government regulators themselves, the total cost of these rules topped $26.5 billion, far more than any other year for which records are available.”
Those costs are just for the new rules. Overall, as Clyde Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) reported, “a very rough extrapolation from an evaluation of the federal regulatory enterprise by economist Mark Crain estimates that annual regulatory compliance costs hit $1.187 trillion in 2009.… Regulatory costs are equivalent to 63 percent of all 2007 corporate pretax profits of $1.89 trillion.… Regulatory costs exceed estimated 2009 individual income taxes of $953 billion by 25 percent.” It’s all so overwhelming, in fact that U.S. Chamber of Commerce president Thomas Donohue in a recent column called it “a regulatory hurricane.”
Of course, not every regulation is more harmful than helpful, and not every new rule is an abuse of power. But when bureaucrats consistently push to and beyond the outer limits of what Congress might possibly have intended, and when an administration implements by fiat what Congress repeatedly has considered and refused to pass, the collective diminution of freedom becomes alarming.
“THIS ADMINISTRATION is unique in the scope of EPA’s overreach,” said Rosario Palmieri, a vice president at the National Association of Manufacturers. “For example, the previous administration finalized a rule on a new ozone standard that was extremely costly. This administration re-opened the rule and decided to make it even more stringent — unnecessarily so — and a new study we’ve commissioned says the new, more stringent ozone rule will cost us 7.3 million jobs by 2020.”
With so many regulatory abuses occurring on so many fronts, it’s hard to pick just a few to focus on. Nevertheless, here are some of the most egregious (some of them by quasi-independent agencies, but controlled by Obama appointees), both already enacted and/or pending:
Oil drilling: This one has been well covered in the wake of the BP oil spill. The moratorium on deep-water drilling, plus the slowdown on drilling permits in all depths of water that continued even after the moratorium was technically lifted, cost Gulf Coast states at least 6,000 direct jobs — a prospect which, by the account of Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, was met with utter nonchalance by Obama himself. “He said, governor, if people lose their jobs because of the moratorium, they can file a BP claim.” Asked what would happen if BP wouldn’t pay, Obama reportedly said: “Don’t worry, governor, they can file an unemployment claim.”
Card Check: Democrats failed miserably in legislative attempts to eliminate the secret ballot in union organizing elections, so now the National Labor Relations Board is poised to accomplish the same thing by other means. Called “remote electronic voting,” it effectively would allow union representatives to descend on a worker and “ask” him to use his personal computer or other device to vote in favor of unionizing his workplace. The NLRB didn’t even allow a normal comment period, but just announced its intention to issue the rule while asking for “vendor” or “industry comments only.” Explains Vincent Vernuccio of CEI: “Not only does this circumvent Congress, but it even circumvents the regular notice-and-comment procedures.” (Even worse, remote electronic voting isn’t safe: when the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics ran a test of its planned remote electronic voting system for municipal elections, a group of college students promptly hacked into it and caused it to play the University of Michigan fight song every time a vote was cast.)
Ethanol: Even most environmentalists now concede that corn-based ethanol use is probably a net-minus ecologically (not to mention what it does to food prices and availability). Yet in October, the EPA issued a new rule allowing/prompting gasoline companies to use a fuel mix of 15 percent ethanol instead of just 10 percent. As the Wall Street Journal explained, this is horrible on numerous levels: “Ethanol is highly corrosive and can damage engines… [and] is more expensive than gas, gets worse mileage than gas, [and] increases carbon emissions more than gas does.”
Biomass industry: Also along the lines of harming the environment in the name of helping it, EPA is proposing strict emissions limits on boilers at wood-burning plants. The Biomass Power Association complains this would “endanger” the “entire renewable energy industry” — exactly the form of industry environmentalists supposedly favor. Congressional opposition to the EPA proposal has been bipartisan, with 45 Democrats joining 61 Republicans signing a strong letter of protest.
Consumer product “safety”: The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, intended to protect American children from Chinese-made toys with dangerous lead levels, already was a nightmare so over-broad as to force mom-and-pop shops to close, harm charity auctions nationwide (because so many utterly safe products can’t be resold), and even shut down entire product lines of motor-scooter companies (as if children are going to ingest lead from gnawing on a scooter frame!). But the Obamaite Consumer Product Safety Commission has repeatedly adopted rules even more burdensome than Congress or common sense would dictate, creating a compliance nightmare that is weighing down the entire economy like… well, like lead.
Ear “safety”: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration understandably requires that workplaces limit their employees’ subjection to dangerous noise levels. For years, OSHA allowed businesses to use the simple expedient of earplugs or earmuffs to help with this problem. Suddenly, as reported by Keith Smith at the Shopfloor blog, OSHA on October 19 announced new rules that will force employers to “make sweeping changes to their workplaces — introduce new workplace practices and install new equipment — to quiet workplaces even if employees are already protected from loud noises with effective earplugs and the like.”
Immigration: A group of Republican senators were enough concerned about a leaked administration memo to write the president a letter last summer warning against a reported “deferred action or parole for a large illegal alien population.” What the administration definitely has done is reinterpret rules so that federal immigration authorities won’t detain or deport illegals who aren’t guilty of any other crimes. And, as reported by Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies, immigrations and Customs Enforcement chief John Morton in August floated a draft policy memo that would prohibit both federal and local officials “from busting illegal aliens who are discovered as a result of traffic violations.”
About the Author
Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @QuinHillyer.
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winterhawk| 12.16.10 @ 6:36AM
He has shown that this regime will stop at nothing in order to further its socialist agenda. His credibility is at zero and he cannot be trusted to do GOOD things for this country.
Alan Brooks| 12.22.10 @ 4:01PM
"MikeD| 12.16.10 @ 7:59AM
I am not yet impressed with the Republicans."
Oh pray tell, why is that, Sirrah? not impressed with the republicans?
Heavens to Betsy.
Heavens to Mergatroid.
Now, what CAN be ailing the GOP? oh dearie dearie me, they in their massive confusion are not going to mess things up even worse than they did before-- are they? NO! that cannot be! say it isn't so, Joe.
LORDY!
martin j smith| 12.16.10 @ 6:48AM
ARE YOU REALLY SURPRISED / I HOPE TH NEW REPUBLICAN CONGRESS COMES IN WITH GLOVES OFF AND READY TO ROLL.
MikeD| 12.16.10 @ 7:59AM
I am not yet impressed with the Republicans. With super RINOS like olympia snow and susan collins, just to name two of the worst, the GOP is already making 'vibes' that indicate they haven't learned anything from the elections. With every passing day it is becoming more evident that nothing will stop the demoncraps from their totalitarian take-over of America.
I wonder how the democommies and the rinos will react when they have finally pushed a critical mass of Americans into an inescapeable corner and the Second American Revolution breaks out.
These are the most dangerous times; and our elected representatives who ignore the reasons they were sent to the cesspool on the Potomac do so at their own peril.
Find www.texassaidno.com to read an account that is so close to the truth it is frightening.
Mikecampbelly2k| 12.16.10 @ 2:50PM
Snowe and Collins should be target number ONE for conservatives/tea-partiers. It's long past time these two gutless RINO's paid a penalty for subverting the conservative agenda. If they are replaced by moderate Democrats what's the difference? We have to punish our enemies and these two have stabbed us in the back enough times to be classified as such.
saleboter| 12.16.10 @ 7:13AM
What part of 'fundamentally transform' do people not undestand. With all these job killers the economy is going nowhere
coal carrier| 12.16.10 @ 7:21AM
In the mind of this president, nothing has changed politically. The Congress could be 100% Republican and he would not care. He has his plan, his czars and his executive order pen. That is all he needs to circumvent the Congress. He will continue to regulate for the next two years and say that he is working with the Republicans and it is all bipartisan. And the Media will praise him.
Ken (Old Texican)| 12.16.10 @ 8:44AM
Quin,
Your list is indeed long...and as you said, not long enough.
I truly worry about your conclusion.
I simply don't know if America as we know it can survive two more years if the Republicans DON'T
defund all the agencies and regulators.
We producers won't "riot" like we are watching in Europe, but either a massive tax revolt to de-fund, or a national sit-down/slow down will have to be utilized to de-fund.
Actually, an interesting, if predictable trend is setting in country wide. Families and close friends are seriously discussing "household amalgamation".
...that is...
sharing the home,
sharing the food budget,
setting up an "internal car-pooling"
setting up "barter circles" for labor sharing.
Quin,
These and a host of other tried and true methods were utilized by our great grandparents..and the effect is to "starve the beast", (the gubmit), from the bottom up.
ie: lower tax revenue due to lower income needs as a "freehold" instead of a "household"; similar to the "freeholds" I envision in www.texassaidno.com
John Navratil| 12.16.10 @ 1:28PM
Ken,
I think there will be new found respect for earmark (designated) spending. The appropriators will need to ensure spending is allocated according to the wishes of the people expressed through their elected representatives, rather than allocated according to the diktats of Obama's ideological bureaucracy.
Perhaps we had better define when an earmark is pork and when it is spending the people actually want. The term is overbroad.
TennesseeVolunteer| 12.16.10 @ 8:51AM
Ken, I have already made plans for a "family bunker" if the snot hits the fan. My younger son, who is a newly completed training air traffic controller is not going to buy a house until I say so purely on this new reality.
I enjoy your posts greatly and wish you and yours a Merry CHRISTmas!
Mitch Angoop| 12.16.10 @ 9:09AM
I read the book. If you read nothing else this year, read this. It is so realistic that you will smoulder to a slow burn as the light begins to go on in your head that THESE PEOPLE WILL STOP AT NOTHING. We are at a turning point in history, like 1848, and 1968; only with much worse consequences. Unless we all stop obama and his dangerous henchmen, we are finished. Go to: www.texassaidno.com and get this.
Ken (Old Texican)| 12.16.10 @ 11:24AM
Mitch,
Thank you. I am furiously writing the sequel: "America Alone Said NO!"
Actually, I am running hard chasing the characters...and taking notes. (smile)
Every time I write something stupid, right off the page, the characters yell at me to get it right, and to watch and learn.
I wanted all of my friends here to "live it" as only fiction can accomplish.
Have a merry Christmas....and buy some bleach.
davelnaf| 12.16.10 @ 9:12AM
People have found it rather hard to believe that this administration has been actively trying to harm the economy—and the country—for some broad ideological endgame. But the irrefutable evidence has been piling up for two years that this has been the case all along. Earth to dems: voters no longer see mitigating factors in the decisions of those who have been aiding and abetting Obama.
If surviving Democrats want to save what is left of their party—and, make no mistake about it, they are going to take another hit in 2012—they need to abandon Obama right now. They will pay for abandoning him in the short term. But it will be a tradeoff they can believe in.
RacerJim| 12.16.10 @ 10:18AM
[We have given you] "A Republic, if you can keep it." -- Benjamin Franklin
"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." -- Thomas Jefferson
Unless/until a controlling legal authority indicts usurper Obama, the military effects a coup, or "We the people..." invade Washington DC en masse...
Petronius| 12.16.10 @ 10:37AM
Government officials have been acting as dictators forever. When my brother got his industrial HVAC certification from the EPA he was told by the shave tail giving the seminar that, "what's in the law doesn't matter. It's whatever I decide to charge you with." And they never get stopped because we eight don't know or cannot find out what the laws really are.
Mimi| 12.16.10 @ 11:21AM
Is it on PURPOSE???...I tried not to belive it...But the signs & symptons have been evident for a long time...kept saying.. .." Naw, that can't be"
The latest outrage is a killer...that purposeful, "get even" Omnious Bill...It's getting...HOTTER than a prairie fire...people are steaming mad to the point of BOIL. It's like they want to annull the Nov. election and still run the show, and destroy way into 2011 when they have no authority...Brazen FOOLS!!!
John Navratil| 12.16.10 @ 1:31PM
Mimi,
Brazen, indeed, but not fools. They are the enemy of the people who are demonstrating, at this very moment, the contempt with which the hold those who grant them their power.
Richard| 12.16.10 @ 11:39AM
All of this means lower standards of living and more unemployment. This is something conservatives have to hammer home.
Dean| 12.16.10 @ 12:54PM
Here is an idea for any potential candidates: Appear on stage standing next to one year's collection of the Federal Register and explain what is in those numerous volumes. The visual of hundreds of thick books would demonstrate very well the extent to which the regulatory state has gone out of control.
Ralph| 12.16.10 @ 2:15PM
Sadly, most Americans are unaware of the growing regulatory burden on the nation. If the nation were informed (and at least somewhat interested) Obama's approval ratings would be single digits and not low 40"s. Ignorance of the masses elected this Marxist and will allow 2 more years of destruction to take place. Since the majority of the media are also Socialists, they will provide ongoing cover for what Obama and his minions are up to. A long, hard, uphill battle awaits. Whether today's America can handle it an return to a nation of liberty is to be determined.
Nathan Bickel | 12.16.10 @ 2:38PM
This power hungry president has continued to disrespect the Constitution and rule of law. It is no surprise that he continues to offer the American people his political 3rd finger. Else how can anyone logically explain his heavy use and insistence on ruling by regulation?
A perfect example of how this president fails in his job to enforce the law is his refusal to secure our country's borders. Instead he continues to make his own laws by opposing the law and regulating existing law, while creating new regulations.
The new GOP controlled House better not deal with this president with kit gloves but with political pitchforks..........
John Navratil| 12.16.10 @ 3:42PM
Second finger! The third one is for wedding rings, and I sure don't want to be married to this guy :P
But you are so right on knowing your enemy and knowing how to fight him. The gloves must come off. Did you notice that it was obstructionism of the Republicans which kept the important bills from passing when the Dems owned the House and had a veto-proof majority in the Senate. It's Orwellian.
Oldefarte| 12.16.10 @ 3:43PM
I attempted to warn voters of this in my October LTE of my hometown paper, but of course we just had to have the FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT, didn't we [and these enumerated cases are the typical result]. Why, oh why were people that stupid as to vote for this person, which a review of his history should have predicted this outcome? If at alll possible, hopefully the new batch of Republicans [with possible help from moderate Democrats terrified of their future re-election prospects] can seriously consider IMPEACHMENT, defunding legislation,etc methods of dealing with this. I blame the stupidity of the American voter for allowing this administration to be elected/established, and sadly the knowledgable/enlighten amoung us could easily see this coming as clear as a bell prior to November 2008. My only hope/prayer is that the American voter has now [as evidenced by the November 2010 elections] finally awakened as to who/what they are faced with from the domestic terrorists now running our government. If not, the last hope will be if they are successful in raising everyone's taxes 1/1/11 and/or passing this trojuned-horsed 2000 page, pork filled budget bill should be the slap in the face [or the kick in the ars] needed to wake up America!!!!!!!!!
martin j smith| 12.16.10 @ 6:12PM
triangulation more like strangulation. He is a straight line pointing to himself. He is the most dangerous president for the American people I have ever seen and experienced . I knew he would be very bad based on a number of factors known to those who kept their eyes wide open before the election. Obama has lived up to his rep and way beyond to our peril. And, let me add this: Thereis no way we can do any deals with him or his musketeers in congress --they are all untrustworthy totally.
jstwndring| 12.17.10 @ 7:22PM
Impeach him. Make it two DemocRats in a row. Embarass him publicly. Bring all this garbage to the attention of the American public. Hold hearings on his appointees. Remove them if possible. Remove his judges. Strip out, or, severely limit the role of the EPA, the FCC, and every other agency the DemocRat party uses to circumnavigate the Constitutional limitations they are required to observe. This jackass of a president needs to go before his term is up.
New car smell| 12.18.10 @ 3:30AM
Tonight, in one of his endless TV appearances, President Oafbama pleaded for us to "refresh" our faith in our leaders. He choked on the word, "refresh". I did, too. To refresh, implies it existed once.
A few years ago I ran over a skunk. He was already such serious roadkill as to be unidentifiable, but his last living act was to stink up half the county. I can tell you, it was impossible to "refresh" the undercarriage of my car. At least I imagined I would never get rid of the smell, no matter how many expensive "detailings". Someone told me tomato juice is the antidote - but I could not find a car wash that featured a tomato juice rinse. So I bought a new car.
That is the only way we are going to refresh our faith in our leaders. We ran over skunk in the last election.
Christian Louboutin | 6.23.11 @ 6:03AM
President Obama already laid down the marker, in early October. His approach to new Republican strength on Capitol Hill, he said, will be nothing but "hand-to-hand combat."