The Patriot Post® · 26,417 Pages of Additional Regs

The Federal Register grew astronomically last year – by the tune of 26,417 pages. Meanwhile, businesses are being stifled. As The Wall Street Journal notes, “Anyone wondering why the U.S. economy can’t seem to grow at its usual pace should examine one product category where production is booming: federal regulation.” All told, the Register ended the year with 3,659 rules, or 79,311 pages worth of regulations. “That didn’t match President Obama’s 2010 all-time record of 81,405 pages,” reports the Journal. “But Mr. Obama can console himself by noting that of the five highest Federal Register page counts, four have occurred on his watch. The other was 79,435 pages under President George W. Bush in 2008.” Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Wayne Crews estimates the economic hit at a startling $1.9 trillion per year. “This means that the burden of complying with federal rules costs roughly the annual GDP of Australia, Canada or Italy,” adds the Journal. This doesn’t even take into account the thousands of additional regulations forthcoming.