Regulations are imposing increased costs to manufacturers, a report by the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation said today.
According to the report, a major federal regulation is one for which compliance costs more than $100 million per year. Using cost estimates from the federal government, which the Washington Post calls conservative, Clinton averaged 27 major regulations per year, Bush 35 per year, and Obama has averaged 44 per year in his first three years.
The costs of these regulations on manufacturers, whom many Americans wish could afford to keep jobs in the USA, have doubled over years 2001-2011 from $80 billion to $164 billion.
Regulations are meant to keep us safe and should increase the quality and competitiveness of American products. Yet when compliance costs $164 billion per year, it is appropriate to question the role of regulations and whether or not 44 regulations per year costing over $100 million really make sense. We should also note that these regulations tend to come from federal agencies and are divorced from Congress, the body responsible for writing the laws guiding our nation and affecting Americans.
We must hold Congress accountable for letting this system and regulatory overreach continue.
Passing the buck to regulators is becoming a Congressional tradition. We should not stand for it and must recognize that if job creation is a top consideration this election, then regulatory reform must be a priority.
Have you seen an impact of regulations on the cost of products or quality thereof? Leave me a comment below.