ICYMI: MCINTOSH AND LASSMAN OPED – KILL THE NEVER-NEEDED REGULATIONS SLOWING THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY

  |  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Club for Growth President David McIntosh and Competitive Enterprise Institute President Kent Lassman co-authored an Op-Ed today in The Washington Examiner on the importance of getting rid of never needed regulations that slow down our economic recovery.

Op-Ed Excerpts:

Kill the never-needed regulations slowing the economic recovery

By David McIntosh and Kent Lassman, The Washington Examiner, 5/28/20

Amid the tragedy and the singular focus of the moment, we witnessed a landmark moment in government that thrust a rarely discussed topic to the center of attention in power-obsessed Washington, D.C. Last week, President Trump signed an executive order, only a few pages in length, that will fundamentally alter the trajectory of the regulatory state, position the nation for economic recovery, and leave the executive branch with less power in the midst of a global crisis.

The central line is fewer than two dozen words: “Agencies should address this economic emergency by rescinding, modifying, waiving, or providing exemptions from regulations and other requirements that may inhibit economic recovery.”

The complexity and pervasiveness of federal rules and regulations make it impossible for anyone to understand genuinely even a fraction of federal law. And yet, the law governs every aspect of healthcare, and the organization of production facilities, transportation, and communications. There are more than 180 federal employment laws and a cabinet department that produces more than 140 million hours of annual compliance burden affecting both employers and employees. Altogether, we suffocate the economy with nearly $2 trillion of red tape.

One of our organizations, the Club for Growth, recently conducted polling on the question of deregulation. The results demonstrated the potential power of culling regulations as an election issue. More than 65% of likely voters support Congress “giving President Trump the authority to waive costly regulatory requirements on American businesses.” An astounding 74% of likely voters support removing regulatory hurdles to infrastructure projects, including 64% of Democrats.

Trump intuits that support. He understands that the things that people need most in this emergency (medical services, vital supply chains that can deliver food and other essentials, and access to capital) are precisely what are necessary to begin a resurgence in an economy badly knocked on its heels.

Read the full Op-Ed here.