Here's one thing congress can get to work on.

Posted on: November 16, 2016 at 07:31:35 CT

Gotta say, I have a lot more confidence in Trump now than in congress in doing something beneficial.


Here's How The President and Congress Can 'Rein In' Regulation

President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald J. Trump have something important in common. They both have a chance to help America's job creators out from under the crushing regulatory burden imposed by the federal government. First up, before President Obama leaves office, the Senate should pass the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act and send it to the president to sign.

The REINS Act would make Congress do a better job overseeing the broken regulatory process in this country by forcing a vote on every new regulation costing more than $100 million per year. If the vote fails, so does the regulation. This legislation would help to restore a measure of executive branch transparency and add some accountability to the rule-making process, now sorely lacking. And with about 40 to 50 REINS-size regulations a year, that equates to just four or five extra votes per month — a manageable task.

The problem is urgent because federal regulations are already costing the American economy almost $1.9 trillion, imposing a $15,000 hidden tax on every American household — and more are on the way. Just look at the Federal Register, which compiles incoming regulations: it's likely to top 90,000 pages this year alone, an all-time record.

Meanwhile, economic growth has been anemic for years now, job growth has lagged, and people are hurting. Before the recession of 2007-2008, the economy had been growing at a rate of more than 3% annually, but since the recession that growth slowed to just 1.4%. That means fewer jobs, fewer opportunities for people to build financial security.