April 3, 2020

Clearing the Regulatory Docket

The Trump administration has done great work, but there’s still a lot more to do.

In the three-plus years since President Trump took office, his administration has taken a well-deserved blowtorch to the Federal Register. In his first few weeks he ordered a two-to-one reduction in regulations through executive action. And, to his credit, the president has actually over-delivered on his pledge, racking up an even more impressive ratio of reduction.

This removal of red tape has held the Trump administration and his Coronavirus Task Force in good stead as they deal with an unanticipated and all-consuming crisis. In a situation calling for nimble and innovative thinking, private-sector Americans have delivered everything from a five-minute test for COVID-19 to increased production of desperately needed medical supplies from the Big Three automakers. Even big-league jerseys are being repurposed as masks and gowns.

The bottleneck, however, has been found in the regulatory state: namely, the lack of good information on the number of cases and the nature of its geographical spread, as cities such as New York, Seattle, and New Orleans have become hotspots while other areas remain relatively virus-free, and as bordering states enact widely varying barriers to movement.

A close second in terms of regulatory frustration is the time and effort necessary for vital testing and the Centers for Disease Control’s role in this costly delay.

On the plus side, of course, is the Trump administration’s out-of-the-box thinking and general openness to trying unique things.

In considering the post-Wuhan world, particularly through an economic lens, perhaps we are learning a lesson in how to get more accomplished despite imposed handicaps. In the interest of accomplishing a goal not unlike putting a man on the moon or winning a two-front war, we have cleared the decks of a lot of economic deadwood as surely as we ramped up our emphasis on science during the 1960s and put a willing workforce of women in the factories as their husbands and brothers beat back the enemy in both Europe and the Pacific.

In the coming months, we should consider how to improve our health as a nation. Our healthcare system was caught flat-footed in large part because of onerous regulations that providers work hard to avoid and that don’t benefit patients. Savings here can be plowed back into improving the lot of front-line medical workers, who’ve done extraordinary work under great duress.

Meanwhile, we could continue to shrink the regulatory state. Ryan Young of the Competitive Enterprise Institute suggests a standing commission, similar to the one that handled military-base closures a couple of decades back, that looks at a portion of the behemoth each year on a rolling 10-year schedule. Another idea is decentralization. For example, last year portions of the Department of Agriculture were relocated more centrally, to Kansas City. With so many federal workers toiling from home thanks to COVID-induced stay-at-home orders, we’re testing the limits of decentralization in real time, thanks to technologies that makes social distancing somewhat more bearable.

Perhaps here we can borrow a philosophy from the Left and use it for real good rather than merely to grow the size of government. Perhaps this truly is a crisis we can’t afford to let go to waste.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.