Trillion Dollar Rules

The Washington Times features Wayne Crews's study on the size of the federal regulatory state. 

As a fitting finale for tax season, keep in mind that the dutiful nation spends $1.75 trillion to comply with myriad federal regulations, this according to findings released Monday by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

“Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State” by analyst Wayne Crews reveals that the Federal Register – the official source of federal rules and regulations – now weighs in at an all-time record-high 81,405 pages. And there’s underpinnings, too: in 2010, federal agencies also issued 3,573 final rules while Congress passed and the president signed into law 217 bills. Translation? Lawmaking power migrates to unelected bureaucrats, the study says.

“Trillion-dollar deficits and regulatory costs approaching $2 trillion annually are both unsettling new developments for America. Every year, the federal government blows past previous deficit, debt, and regulatory burdens with no end in sight. No wonder Americans are fed up with Washington,” observes Mr. Crews.

Wait, there’s more. Regulatory costs “tower” over the nation’s estimated 2010 individual income taxes of $936 billion by 87 percent – and absorb 11.9 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.

Read the full article at the Washington Times