Obama announces review of government regulations

[cali]

Reuters



WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he would order a government-wide review of regulations with the goal of eliminating those that hurt job creation and make the U.S. economy less competitive.

In an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, Obama said some government regulations have placed "unreasonable burdens on business -- burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs."

He said he would require that in the future government agencies "ensure that regulations protect our safety, health and environment while promoting economic growth."
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The president has recently ratcheted up efforts to soothe relations with the business community, after alienating corporate America through rhetorical attacks against Wall Street and an agenda heavy on regulation.

Business leaders say government regulations, including those being written for the healthcare overall and financial reform, have hurt job creation at a time of high unemployment.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110118/pl_nm/us_obama_regulations

[Skittles]

1. sounds like repuke bullshit

more stuff that will get Dick Cheney's approval :thumbsdown:

[cali]

2. depressing.

[Skittles]

3. not surprising though

[Le Taz Hot]

4. Could he BE any more Republican?

STILL think Nader was wrong in his assessment?

[cali]

6. yes, of course he could.

and yes, I still think Nader was wrong.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

5. As a federal government employee, there are indeed regulations that hurt

the economy. For instance, there are age-old regulations at HUD that subsidize urban sprawl by allowing people to move way out in the suburbs; or, that have "exclusionary" effects, actually increasing race and class segregation. There are unintended consequences stemming from regulations that were put into place decades ago with the intent on promoting homeownership but that had the opposite effect. Some business regulations, from Commerce, for example, failed in terms so luring investment into the cities. (For example, "Model Cities" programs weren't given enough time to work before Nixon came in and defunded the programs. Some SBA programs were also not expanded to incentivize investments in cities, so we've witnessed the decline of cities like Detroit and Flint. Had some regulations been correctly configured and/or strengthened, we may have seen greater economic incentives, more tax credits, more homeownership in the cities, better transportation systems.)

And working with other federal agencies, we have uncovered a long list of outdated or unnecessary regulations that actually end up hurting low- and middle-income families in terms of improving their livelihood. Either those regulations need to be rewritten or done away with altogether.

[tyne]

7. Exactly.

Obama's on the correct path with this.

[mmonk]

14. But that is not what they are talking about in general . Businesses claim

regulations and taxes are the cause for economic problems and are too burdensome on the economy. The economic downturn you're currently living in is due to the opposite. It's a Reagan/Milton Friedman/"big guvmint" disciple talking point.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

23. You're right about this. n/t

[NightWatcher]

8. By all means let's kiss Wall Street's ass somemore and drop those pesky regulations

that keep them from completely running amok.

Let's allow the corporations to run wild, pollute, abuse, exploit.... Cause heaven forbid they be held accountable for anything, and we wouldn't want to be seen as "Job Killers"- the new term that will have Dems soiling their britches for the next two years

[quaker bill]

9. There is a vast sea of regulation

As a regulator, I can assure you of this. Some could be done away without harm to the environment or any increase in abuse or exploitation. Regulations can be 100 years old and have no meaningful purpose in the current economy. There is reason to believe that some streamlining of regulatory processes could assist the economy without discernable impacts to consumer or environmental protection.

I would wait to see the proposals before offering criticism.

Heck, Bush wrote lots of regulations, I would likely be happy to see most of them go into the trash bin.

[NightWatcher]

10. I hope it's for a reasonable review, but based on the Wall St insiders at the WH...

How does the saying go, you can hope in one hand and crap in the other.

As a regulator you know that silly, archaic regulations are just forgotten and stop being enforced over time.

[quaker bill]

25. Sometimes

business leaders have good ideas too. As they say in the South, the sun will shine on every dog's backside once in a while, or, even a broken watch is right twice a day.

Archaic regulations are often not enforced vigorously, heck, even fresh regulations are occasionally not enforced vigorously. However, useless forms never die of natural causes, they must be taken out and shot, shredded, incinerated, and then the ashes burried in a lead lined crypt to prevent resurrection. I am and have constantly been tasked to collect forms that the agency has no beneficial use for. It is a task on my list of things to do that I rarely find the time to get around to.

Here is the essential problem with archaic and redundant regulation, they are no longer enforced but: Honest folks make every attempt to comply with them anyway and bear the cost of doing so, but the fly by night operators figure correctly that they aren't ever going to be caught and cut corners to save money. This creates an uneven playing field that favors those who cut corners and ignore regulations. Once in the habit of doing so and not being caught, these folks expand their practice into ignoring regulations that are actually necessary and enforced.

I have been enforcing regulations for almost 20 years, I know the pattern. Folks who cut corners around the rules I have the authority to enforce are usually cutting corners everywhere else.

On the regulatory front, as pretty much everywhere else, it is important to say what you mean and mean what you say.

[asjr]

11. "job-killers" is the name for the corporations

that outsourced to other countries. We can't create jobs out of thin air. Maybe we can't force those companies to bring back the workforce but at least we need to stop the outpouring of jobs Americans can and will do. I hope it is not too late but I really for for all of us.

[BlueJac]

12. We don't need no stinkin' regulations........

WTF, how far right can this man go???


People are suffering in the gulf from the oil spill still, and we need to reduce regulations. What planet is this man on?

[BzaDem]

13. His oil spill commission's report called for an increase in regulations. You should probably wait to

see exactly what regulations they are looking at removing before you jump to conclusions.

[somone]

15. "Well, there you go again"

"Government is the problem"

[DaveinJapan]

16. An agenda heavy on regulation?? WTF!!??

Anyone able to cite some examples of this "heavy regulation"?

I sure haven't heard about it.

EDIT...regulations initiated in the past TWO years, I mean. Not antiquated ones, or ones Bush imposed or any of that.

The article specifies the OBAMA administration as "heavy on regulation", and I'd like to see some evidence if anyone's got any.

[BzaDem]

17. I think the problem is that if anyone cited regulations, you would just say they were weak or

appeasement or something like that (as opposed to good and strong). Plenty of people back in FDR's time said his regulations were woefully inadequate. Usually, reality doesn't force itself into these kind of debates until years later.

[DaveinJapan]

19. In any case, I'd still like to see some examples from the past 2 years. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Obama. Our Republican president.

I guess this is easier than actually starting public work programs.

[dionysus]

20. knee jerk much?

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. I've seen these legislative "clean ups" turn into something else.

For example, the Florida legislature made a move to clean up the wordage of Florida law, promising it was just cutting out duplication. In the process they deleted recreational property set aside requirements. So ever since then, the cities in Florida have been combining wetlands with recreational land, as if they were one and the same.

So incredibly stupid. So incredibly Florida. So incredibly calculated.

[TheKentuckian]

21. gag

[ProSense]

24. The actual op-ed

posted here.