Cyndi's Two Cents

Ditch many rules

Commentary.

In 1949, the number of pages in the United States Code of Federal Regulations totaled 19,335. By 2011, the book had grown to 169,301 pages. The rate at which the tome expands has sped up in recent years.  As a matter of fact, between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2011, Americans were inflicted with a 7.4 percent increase in regulations. By 2012, the actual number of individual regulations was bumping up against 1,050,000.

At any given moment, I could be breaking a rule I don’t even know exists.  You could, too.  As a matter of fact we are probably all breaking some sort of federal rule right now!

The increased restrictions I have witnessed in my lifetime are monumental. I cannot imagine what it must be like for my parents in their 70′s or my grandpa at 99, to recall the many freedoms that have been taken away from them by out-of-touch and out-of-control lawmakers, elected by an easily influenced and increasingly lazy and selfish society.

There are countless examples every day of the growing pressure to increase regulations in every aspect of an American citizen’s life. They want to take away my right to keep and bear arms, my right to free speech, and my right to pursue the American Dream. Unlike some of our former and current lawmakers, I do not see the American Dream as a “right” but instead, it is my right (according to a little thing called the Constitution) to pursue my own American dream. How the heck do they know what each of us envisions as our American dream and how dare they make that decision for me?

Many people may think that regulatory costs are a business problem, but according to the Heritage Foundation, the costs of regulation are inevitably passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices and limited product choices.

“Basic items, such as toilets, showerheads, light bulbs, mattresses, washing machines, dryers, cars, ovens, refrigerators, television sets, and bicycles, all cost significantly more because of government decrees on energy use, product labeling, and performance standards that go well beyond safety—as well as hundreds of millions of hours of testing and paperwork to document compliance.”

Although it is nearly impossible to get a firm handle on the total cost of regulation in this country, the estimate widely used is $1.75 trillion with every sign of going higher.

Many government agencies in this country are out of control. Instead of listing those that are, I would challenge you to give me an example of one that is not, at some level, in pursuit of regulating, restricting or defining your American dream.

I am not suggesting a country free of man’s laws. We need laws to maintain order. But when I receive hundreds of news releases a year describing restrictions being proposed and/or demanded by lawmakers, organizations and individuals, it is, at the very least, disheartening.

If I were in charge, I’d ditch many of the rules.