Regulatory State Watch: Keep Spreading That Wealth Around!
Last week, President Obama ordered all federal agencies to weigh the costs and benefits of federal regulations – and get rid of the ones that fall on the wrong side of the ledger. Huzzah! Fire up the shredders! Right?
Well, not exactly. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out yesterday, in weighing the costs and benefits of regulations, federal agencies must take into account intangible “benefits” such as “equity, human dignity, fairness, and distributive impacts.” There have been cost-benefit reviews since the Reagan administration, but not even Bill Clinton suggested that federal agencies had an independent mandate to redistribute wealth. Obama's order is not - as some have suggested - a step towards more business-friendly policies. It's a decisive step in the other direction: formalizing the adminstration's radical preferences as a matter of administrative law.
What is the Left saying? Over at the Pace Law School “Green Law” blog, Karl Coplan states “So, this executive order will actually be news if EPA announces it is revoking a significant rule based on this review. I am not terribly worried.” Which is why I am.
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Comments :
Dec '10
Re: Regulatory State Watch: Keep Spreading That Wealth Around!
Distribution and redistribution were once called earning and charity. It would be nice to return to such concepts.
Dec '10
Re: Regulatory State Watch: Keep Spreading That Wealth Around!
Forget what they say and watch what they do.
Were a vast cleansing of all bureaucracies being proposed, that might be notable. However, personnel equals policy and the people will mostly remain the same.
Jul '10
Re: Regulatory State Watch: Keep Spreading That Wealth Around!
It's inevitable, if bureaucrats are tasked with reviewing the regulations which are their rasion d'etre, that they will find excellent reasons for defending said regulations.
The Founders intended Congress to exercise oversight and discrimination with regard to regulations promulgated by the executive branch. Congress has largely failed to do so, preferring to let the fox manage the hen house.