Reining in America’s Regulatory Leviathan: America Gets a Second Chance
From Liberate to Stimulate: A Bipartisan Agenda to Restore Limited Government and Revive America's Economy
We at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) have spent 26 years raising the saliency of regulations on our economy. Taxes and spending receive plenty of public scrutiny, which makes regulation an increasingly attractive option for those who favor greater political intervention in the economy. Our goal is to ensure that regulations are subject to the same degree of oversight as taxes, spending, and legislation in general. The Tea Party movement’s success in the recent elections suggests that awareness of these burdens is growing. Thus, we are more hopeful that economic liberty and regulatory reform will make some significant headway in 2011. To further that goal, CEI is unveiling a Liberate to Stimulate deregulatory agenda, which is summarized in this document.
My grandmother used to tell me, “It doesn’t matter whether your socks are red or blue, you should change them frequently.” Americans did just that recently. To change metaphors, voters have chosen many new horses to run on the political race track. So far, this new team seems promising. They have killed the House climatechange subcommittee and refused to increase taxes. Yet the Washington race track still veers left. Our challenge is to pull the reins of these new entries toward limited government.