Government Is Simply Too Big
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary [email protected]
Good for us.
I was happy to see so many people getting involved in the political process. I hope this was only a beginning.
How cool would it be if this activity spawned a bunch of support for a viable third party?
One that would respect and actually follow the U.S. Constitution. One that put the liberty and well-being of its constituents ahead of self-interest and self-perpetuating policies. One that could compete with the Republicans and Democrats in elections.[[In-content Ad]]Wouldn't that be awesome?
Anybody who has read my columns over the years knows that many times I have written about the 10th Amendment. I've noted that while there is significant and meaningful debate about the 1st and 2nd Amendments to the constitution, nobody ever talks about the 10th and I think it's one of the most important.
Our government is so far flung from that amendment these days I bet the founders are spinning in their graves.
The 10th amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
The federal government of today in these United States doesn't even come close to fulfilling the limited role envisioned by the founders.
We - and I say we because we voted for the guys that did it - have created a bureaucratic behemoth unparalleled in the history of modern governance.
Our government regulates virtually everything. I don't mean that as some exaggerated euphemism. I mean everything. Everything from how hot a clothes dryer can be to how we shut off a lawn mower.
The level of government intrusion is staggering. And at what cost?
Well, the Competitive Enterprise Institute tracks this sort of thing.
Each year, it releases a report called Ten Thousand Commandments - An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State.
Here are some excerpts from the 2008 edition:
"President George W. Bush's federal budget for fiscal year (FY) 2009 proposed $3.107 trillion in discretionary, entitlement, and interest spending.
"This was the first-ever $3 trillion budget in the United States. ... The government's reach extends well beyond the taxes that Washington collects and the its deficit spending. Federal environmental, safety and health, and economic regulations cost hundreds of billions of dollars every year over and above the costs of official federal outlays.
"Firms generally pass the costs of some taxes along to consumers. Similarly, some business regulatory-compliance costs trickle down to consumers. Exact regulatory costs can never be fully known; unlike taxes, they are unbudgeted and often indirect. But scattered government and private data exist on scores of regulations and the agencies that issue them, as well as on regulatory costs and benefits, some of which can be compiled to make the regulatory state somewhat more comprehensible.
"That compilation is one purpose of the annual Ten Thousand Commandments report, highlights from which follow.
n An extrapolation from an estimate of the federal regulatory enterprise by economist Mark Crain shows that regulatory compliance costs hit an estimated $1.157 trillion in 2007.
n Given that 2007 government spending stood at $2.73 trillion, the hidden tax of regulation now approaches half the level of federal spending itself.
n Regulation costs more than seven times the $163 billion budget deficit.
n Regulatory costs nearly match 2005 corporate pretax profits of $1.3 trillion.
n Regulatory costs also rival estimated 2007 individual income taxes of $1.17 trillion.
n Regulatory costs dwarf corporate income taxes of $342 billion.
n Regulatory costs of $1.16 trillion absorb 8.5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, which was $13.67 trillion in 2006.
n Combining regulatory costs with federal FY 2007 outlays of $2.73 trillion brings the federal government's share of the economy to 28 percent.
n The Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia jointly estimate that agencies spent $42 billion to administer and police the 2007 regulatory enterprise.
n In 2007, government agencies issued 3,595 final rules, a 3 percent decline from 2006's 3,718 rules.
n In the 2007 Unified Agenda, the 50-plus federal departments, agencies, and commissions detailed 3,882 regulations at various stages of implementation.
n Of the 3,882 regulations now in the pipeline, 159 are "economically significant" rules bearing at least $100 million in economic impact. That number implies a lower boundary of some $15.9 billion yearly in future off-budget regulatory effects.
n "Economically significant" rules increased by 14 percent between 2006 and 2007, from 139 to 159.
n The five most active rule-producing agencies - the departments of Treasury, Commerce, Agriculture, and Homeland Security, along with the Environmental Protection Agency -account for 1,741 rules, or 45 percent of all rules in the Unified Agenda pipeline.
n Of the 3,882 regulations now in the works, 757 affect small business.
OK, this report runs to 50 pages. We're only scratching the surface here. Remember, this was when there was still a good number of alleged conservatives in Congress.
You know, those W-type conservatives who ran up huge deficits and enacted massive new government programs.
And what really irks me is when I have to listen to these very same lawmakers whine about businesses outsourcing jobs or building factories overseas.
These are the lawmakers who are doing their level best to make it impossible to do business in this country.
See, to me, this is what Wednesday's Tea Party was about - reining in a government run amok.
I know most of the mainstream media belittled Tea Party protesters as a bunch of fringy, right-wing nut jobs.
I disagree. I think it's a bunch of people who would like to see a some common sense and frugality in their government.
Who could blame them? They're the ones paying the bills.
Good for us.
I was happy to see so many people getting involved in the political process. I hope this was only a beginning.
How cool would it be if this activity spawned a bunch of support for a viable third party?
One that would respect and actually follow the U.S. Constitution. One that put the liberty and well-being of its constituents ahead of self-interest and self-perpetuating policies. One that could compete with the Republicans and Democrats in elections.[[In-content Ad]]Wouldn't that be awesome?
Anybody who has read my columns over the years knows that many times I have written about the 10th Amendment. I've noted that while there is significant and meaningful debate about the 1st and 2nd Amendments to the constitution, nobody ever talks about the 10th and I think it's one of the most important.
Our government is so far flung from that amendment these days I bet the founders are spinning in their graves.
The 10th amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
The federal government of today in these United States doesn't even come close to fulfilling the limited role envisioned by the founders.
We - and I say we because we voted for the guys that did it - have created a bureaucratic behemoth unparalleled in the history of modern governance.
Our government regulates virtually everything. I don't mean that as some exaggerated euphemism. I mean everything. Everything from how hot a clothes dryer can be to how we shut off a lawn mower.
The level of government intrusion is staggering. And at what cost?
Well, the Competitive Enterprise Institute tracks this sort of thing.
Each year, it releases a report called Ten Thousand Commandments - An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State.
Here are some excerpts from the 2008 edition:
"President George W. Bush's federal budget for fiscal year (FY) 2009 proposed $3.107 trillion in discretionary, entitlement, and interest spending.
"This was the first-ever $3 trillion budget in the United States. ... The government's reach extends well beyond the taxes that Washington collects and the its deficit spending. Federal environmental, safety and health, and economic regulations cost hundreds of billions of dollars every year over and above the costs of official federal outlays.
"Firms generally pass the costs of some taxes along to consumers. Similarly, some business regulatory-compliance costs trickle down to consumers. Exact regulatory costs can never be fully known; unlike taxes, they are unbudgeted and often indirect. But scattered government and private data exist on scores of regulations and the agencies that issue them, as well as on regulatory costs and benefits, some of which can be compiled to make the regulatory state somewhat more comprehensible.
"That compilation is one purpose of the annual Ten Thousand Commandments report, highlights from which follow.
n An extrapolation from an estimate of the federal regulatory enterprise by economist Mark Crain shows that regulatory compliance costs hit an estimated $1.157 trillion in 2007.
n Given that 2007 government spending stood at $2.73 trillion, the hidden tax of regulation now approaches half the level of federal spending itself.
n Regulation costs more than seven times the $163 billion budget deficit.
n Regulatory costs nearly match 2005 corporate pretax profits of $1.3 trillion.
n Regulatory costs also rival estimated 2007 individual income taxes of $1.17 trillion.
n Regulatory costs dwarf corporate income taxes of $342 billion.
n Regulatory costs of $1.16 trillion absorb 8.5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, which was $13.67 trillion in 2006.
n Combining regulatory costs with federal FY 2007 outlays of $2.73 trillion brings the federal government's share of the economy to 28 percent.
n The Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia jointly estimate that agencies spent $42 billion to administer and police the 2007 regulatory enterprise.
n In 2007, government agencies issued 3,595 final rules, a 3 percent decline from 2006's 3,718 rules.
n In the 2007 Unified Agenda, the 50-plus federal departments, agencies, and commissions detailed 3,882 regulations at various stages of implementation.
n Of the 3,882 regulations now in the pipeline, 159 are "economically significant" rules bearing at least $100 million in economic impact. That number implies a lower boundary of some $15.9 billion yearly in future off-budget regulatory effects.
n "Economically significant" rules increased by 14 percent between 2006 and 2007, from 139 to 159.
n The five most active rule-producing agencies - the departments of Treasury, Commerce, Agriculture, and Homeland Security, along with the Environmental Protection Agency -account for 1,741 rules, or 45 percent of all rules in the Unified Agenda pipeline.
n Of the 3,882 regulations now in the works, 757 affect small business.
OK, this report runs to 50 pages. We're only scratching the surface here. Remember, this was when there was still a good number of alleged conservatives in Congress.
You know, those W-type conservatives who ran up huge deficits and enacted massive new government programs.
And what really irks me is when I have to listen to these very same lawmakers whine about businesses outsourcing jobs or building factories overseas.
These are the lawmakers who are doing their level best to make it impossible to do business in this country.
See, to me, this is what Wednesday's Tea Party was about - reining in a government run amok.
I know most of the mainstream media belittled Tea Party protesters as a bunch of fringy, right-wing nut jobs.
I disagree. I think it's a bunch of people who would like to see a some common sense and frugality in their government.
Who could blame them? They're the ones paying the bills.
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