Download Regulation without Representation

Regulation without
Representation
Harriet M. Hageman
Hageman & Brighton, P.C.
Current Financial Climate
 Federal Government Debt
 Over $ 15 trillion dollars
 110th Congress (01/07 to 01/09) increased debt by
$1.957 trillion
 111th Congress (01/09to 01/11) added $3.22 trillion to
the overall debt.
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More than the first 100 Congresses combined.
 $10,429.64 new debt per person in US
Three Branches of Government
 Executive (President, Governor)
 Leislative (Congress, State Legislatures)
 Judicial
Executive Branch -- Where
Regulations are Born
 U.S. President
 Governors
 Federal and State Agencies
 What happens once the legislation is
passed?
The “Real Governing Class”
 Congress vs.
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Regulation
In 2009, Congress
passed 125 bills
Over 3,500 Regs
adopted by Federal
Agencies
In 2010, Congress
passed 217 bills
Over 3,500 Regs
adopted
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Congress
Federal Agencies
Regulations – A Primer
 Regulations - Federal
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Endangered Species Act
National Environmental Policy Act
Clean Air Act
Clean Water Act
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Section 404 Permits
 “Waters of the United States”
 “Navigable Waters”
 “Interpretation”
Agency “interpretation” of Statutes
 Limits of Federal Jurisdiction under Clean
Water Act: To “navigable waters of the U.S.”
 EPA interpretation as described by U.S.
Supreme Court in Rapanos v. U.S.
Regulatory Expansion – From Bad to
Worse
 Under a recent federal directive, the number
of health-care reimbursement categories will
soon increase from 18,000 to 140,000,
including 21 separate categories for
“spacecraft accidents” and 12 for bee stings.
 There are over 100,000,000 words of binding
federal statutes and regulations, and states
and municipalities add billions more.
Regulations – Costly and
Contradictory Redundancy
 Federal Regulations - Examples
 Clean Water Act
 Endangered Species Act
 National Forest Management
 State Regulations
 Enforcement of the Clean Water Act
 Game and Fish Regulations
 Management of State Forest Lands
Redundant Redundancy (cont.)
 EPA (federal); DEQ (state)
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Enforcement of CWA, CAA, stormwater runoff,
land quality, etc.
 Dept of Transportation (federal and state)
 Dept of Education (federal and state)
 Recently created by the President – An Office
of the Regulator of Regulators
Examples of Regulatory Overreach –
have we gone crazy?
 Pythagorean Theorem……………………..24 words
 First Amendment to the U.S. Const….......45 words
 Lord’s Prayer ……………………………….66 words
 Archimedes’ Principle……….....................67 words
 10 Commandments …………………….. 179 words
 Gettysburg Address………......................286 words
Have We Gone Crazy cont.
 Declaration of Independence…………….1300 words
 U.S. Govt. Regs on Cabbage Crop
Insurance …………………………………3500 words
 U.S. Constitution (w/ 27 Amend) ………7,818 words
 U.S. Govt. Regs on Special Rules for Experimental
Populations of T and E Wildlife and Plants
……...over 36,000 words
Have We Gone Crazy cont.
 The federal worker-safety laws include some
4,000 rules dictating precisely what
equipment shall be used and how facilities
are built.
 Embarrassingly self-evident: stairways shall
be lit by “natural or artificial illumination.”
Hidden (indirect) Costs and Regulatory
Burdens: The Real Definition of a Crises
 1992- Regulation Costs: $400 billion
 2008- Regulation Costs: $1.75 trillion
 SBA Reports:
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2005 Regulatory Employee Cost: $7,647
2008 Regulatory Employee Cost: $10,585
 2008 Costs do not include
 Obamacare
 Dodd/Frank financial “reform”
 EPA Regulations
Regulatory Costs cont.
 2008 Regulatory Costs – nearly twice as
much as all individual income taxes collected
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2009 Americans paid $ 989 billion in income
taxes
 Income tax rate must be disclosed
 No similar requirement for costs of
regulations
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Unless have an “impact” of $ 100,000,000.00
or more
Regulatory Costs cont.
 Given 2010’s actual Gov’t. spending of
$3.456 trillion dollars, the regulatory “hidden
tax” ($1.75 trillion) stands at an
unprecedented 50.7% of the level of federal
spending itself.
 In absolute terms, the U.S. Gov’t is the
largest government on planet earth.
 Regulations and deficits each exceed $ 1
trillion per year.
Regulatory Costs, cont.
 Regulatory costs exceed all 2008 corporate
pre-tax profits of $ 1.463 trillion.
 Regulatory costs dwarf corporate income
taxes of $ 157 billion.
 Regulatory costs absorb 11.9% of the U.S.
GDP (estimated at $14.649 trillion in 2010)
 Combining regulatory costs with federal FY
2010 outlays of $ 3.456 trillion reveals a
federal gov’t whose share of the entire
economy now reaches 35.5%.
EPA Regulation of Carbon
 Destroy 1.4 million U.S. jobs and cost the economy
up to $141 billion by 2014
 200,000 American manufacturers could lose their
jobs
 Historically, $ 1 billion worth of investment = 15,500
jobs
 2015 to 2026 average annual impact of carbon
regulation would be more than 500,000 jobs, and by
2029 the total economy-wide cost would be close to
$7 trillion (roughly ½ of America’s current GDP)
EPA Regulation of Carbon
 “No significant impact on reducing global
GHG emission growth”
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(American Council for Capital Formation)
Obama’s Executive Order on
Regulations
 Announced in January, 2011: “A government-wide
review of the rules already on the books to remove
outdated regs that stifle job creation and make our
economy less competitive.”
 1 rule repealed last year – spilled milk is no longer
considered an “oil spill.”
 By Nov., 2011, 508 new rules deemed “significant” –
meaning will cost in excess of $ 100 million each
(minimum impact: $50,800,000,000)
 By December 2, 2011, 760 new rules deemed
“significant” (minimum impact: $ 76,000,000,000)
Regulatory Burden 2011 – A Summary
 Pages of regulations published in the Federal
Register (2011)
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53,630 as of 9/10/11
67,036 as of 10/31/11
70,320 as of 11/17/11
75,770 as of 12/2/11
 Million hours of annual paperwork burden
 65.1 million hours as of 9/10/11
 88.2 million hours as of 10/31/11
 116.3 million hours as of 11/17/11
 119.4 million hours as of 12/2/11
2011 Regulations – Administration
Estimates
 Obama Administration’s cost estimate for the
427 proposed or enacted regulations for 2011
was $ 69.1 billion ($69,100,000,000.00)
 Administration announced in August that it is
considering 7 new regulations that will cost
the economy more than $ 1 billion per year.
2011 cont.
 The Administration estimates that one EPA
rule alone will cost the economy between $19
billion and $ 90 billion ($19,000,000,000.00 to
$90,000,000,000.00).
 July, 2011 (during “debt-ceiling” debate) -
Administration proposed 229 new rules and
finalized 379 rules
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Agencies’ Estimated Cost: $ 9.5 billion
Regulatory Burden –
End of January, 2012
 381days since Executive Order on
Regulations
 0 Rules repealed this year
 55 Rules deemed “significant”
 $ 8.3 Billion – cost of regulatory burdens from
new rules this year
 5680 pages in the Federal Register this year
 30.6 million hours of annual paperwork
burden
Regulatory Burden –
February 17, 2012
 395 days since President’s Executive Order
on Regulations
 0 Rules repealed this year
 119 Rules deemed “significant”
 $ 24.3 Billion – cost of regulatory burdens
from new rules this year
 9514 pages in the Federal Register this year
 44.1 million hours of annual paperwork
burden
Regulatory Burden – March 2, 2012
 409 days since President’s Executive Order
on Regulations
 0 Rules repealed this year
 153 Rules deemed “significant”
 $ 24.9 Billion – cost of regulatory burdens
from new rules this year
 12,980 pages in the Federal Register this
year
 46.1 million hours of annual paperwork
burden
February 16, 2012 - EPA
 The EPA published the Utility MACT
(Maximum Achievable Control Technology)
rule on Thursday, February 16, 2012. EPA
estimates the costs of Utility MACT to be
$9.6 billion
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The cost of the rule exceeds the benefits
by between 1,600 and 19,200 to 1.
Rule threatens electric reliability
Costs of Overregulation – Not Just
Monetary
 Destruction of our National Forests
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2001 Roadless Rule
Pine Beetle Outbreak
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Routt National Forest – ground zero
GAO Studies
Balanced Approach is Critical
 If we destroy our economy we cannot protect
our environment
 When the government directs its resources to
doing things it should not be doing, it
becomes incapable of doing those things that
it should
 A government that is closest to the governed
is more responsive and accountable
Real Solutions
 Regulation must be radically simplified
 Individual accountability must replace
bureaucratic micromanagement
 Mandatory sunsets
 Small entities must be regulated differently
Source: Philip K. Howard, Common Good
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
 Harriet M. Hageman
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Wyoming Conservation Alliance
Colorado Resource Alliance
Hageman & Brighton, P.C.
222 East 21st Street
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001
(307) 635-4888
[email protected]