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10/22/2004 Archived Entry: "from GDP"

Gordon P. writes, I knew that the "regulatory" function of the Executive Branch was cranking out paper almost as fast as the Treasury Department, but _this_ article presents a factoid that boggles even _my_ cynical mind.

Last year, the Bushcroft Admin averaged 300 new regulations per _business day_ ??? If correct, that means Bushcroft is issuing _about 78,000 new regulations per year_ --- all of which have the force of law, yet none of which have been voted on by Congress, and all of them without any form of meaningful public debate or review!! Moreover, if the earlier figure in the article was correct --- that in an "average" year, previous administrations have only issued about _4500_ regulations per year, then the Bushcroft Admin has been issuing new regulations at _17 TIMES the "normal" rate !!!_ (And this from the party that supposedly believes in "small government" ?!?)

Now, since the author was writing about how requiring that Congress sign off on new regulations before they are consider to be in force and that approving all these regulations would unmanageable increase Congress's workload, it is _barely_ conceivable that the first phrase, "about 4,500 new regulations are issued each year," was a typo, and that the author actually meant "about 4,500 new BILLS are introduced each year," which would seem about right (roughly 2250 from each house, which is order-of-magnitude consistent with the fact that the Senate is currently at least up to the mid-2800's) --- but I doubt it...

_300 new regulations PER BUSINESS DAY_ ?!? Who would even have time to _read_ all of them, let alone understand them ?!? Yet, "Ignorance of the law (or regulation) is no excuse..."