Efforts to blame regulations for the economy have been raging for quite a while in Congress and on the campaign trails. Clearly the rhetoric of “job-killing regulations” has been used by partisans to score political points. And just as clearly small businesses, as seen in most polling, have said regulations are not holding them back from hiring—lack of consumer demand is doing that.
Yet every week in Congress, especially in the House, hearings are held to blame regulations and the agencies that regulate for all our economic problems. Most of what we hear are generalities instead of specific problems. Of course, this makes for generating a lot of heat but little light on the issue.
So the White House has launched a new website that will allow businesses to say what regulations are specifically causing them problems and taking suggestions of what the businesses would like to see changed. Here is the website.
This is the time for regulatory-complainers to step up with clear examples of the problem. We’ll have to wait and see what kind of response the White House will receive but it should be interesting. Hopefully there will be some good responses that can focus on a particular regulatory problem.
But my guess is that the responses will continue to be general in nature preferring to turn up the heat without the providing any light. And that in itself will be enlightening.