Cut the Red Tape Before It Strangles Us
It's time for government to get out of the way and let small businesses do what they do best.
As my constituents in Wisconsin know, times are tough for small businesses. Regulations, new taxes, and careless spending have left many small business owners feeling helpless and abandoned.
According to a report released last week by the Associated General Contractors of America, Wisconsin lost the second-highest percentage of construction jobs in the country. There are various factors that go into a frustrating employment number like that, but overly burdensome regulations should not be one of them.
My House colleagues and I last week passed the Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act to provide certainty to the economy. President Obama’s own Jobs Council recommended some of these same reforms.
First off, we need to address the deluge of “economically significant” regulations, meaning they would impose $100 million in costs on the economy, coming out of the Obama Administration.
The president said he would direct “federal agencies to do more to account for — and reduce — the burdens regulations may place on small businesses.” At the same time, according to the administration’s own data, we have seen a 52 percent increase in economically significant regulations.
With that in mind, the House-passed legislation will freeze all significant federal regulations until the unemployment rate is 6 percent or less. This would force federal agencies to think about small businesses and the millions of unemployed Americans, instead of handing down regulations that further restrict their operations.
Additionally, since 1948, administrations of both parties have issued on average 17 percent more “economically significant” regulations during the lame-duck period between Election Day and Inauguration Day than any other time of the year. This legislation stops all future administrations from imposing these last-minute regulations as they leave office.
Second, the House-passed regulatory reform would streamline federal permitting and environmental regulations. Streamlining the federal permit process would allow new businesses to form and existing businesses to expand. This act would provide the stability small business owners need in order to move forward and help restore the economy to full power.
Third, the legislation also ensures that future regulations consider potential economic costs. The legislation requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to run a cost-benefit analysis for each regulation it intends to impose moving forward. These analyses would force the SEC to consider cost to job growth as well as the benefit of the regulation. This was one of the recommendations by the President’s Jobs Council.
The Small Business Administration found that small businesses pay around 36 percent more in regulatory costs than large firms, which is over $10,000 per employee, per year. No wonder the U.S. fell from 4th to 13th in the “Ease of Starting a Business” rankings by the World Bank. It’s now easier to start a business in Georgia, Armenia, and Belarus, which were all Soviet Union republics not long ago, than it is in the U.S.
It’s time we let American businesses do their job. Prosperity will not be achieved through over-regulation.
The future of American small business belongs in the hands of small business owners — not in the hands of Washington bureaucrats.
St. Swithin
8:42 am on Monday, July 30, 2012
So...no details are given on this 'deluge' of regulations. Also, no link for this data that claims a "52 percent increase in economically significant regulations." Just some hand-waving about how awful regulations are to justify another bad bill in Congress. Rep. S - some regulations have a point. I can understand why we might want to get rid of paperwork regulations that create extra work for a small business owner, but I also would like to keep in place regulations such as don't- dump-mercury-into-nearby-streams. If that particular regulation interferes with business then so be it. I also find it interesting that you are trying to further hobble the already lame SEC. It has been clear from previous posts that Rep S. feels the most mistreated small businesses are on Wall Street. Let's totally ignore that lack of regulation of Wall Street led directly to the crash of 2008. Personally I support all regulations on banking and investing.
Bottom line- if you find a particular regulation that is bad, then remove it. Don't pass some vague bill that cripples all regulations.
Oh yeah - Belarus? You are pointing to a dictatorship as an example of a better business environment? On your next taxpayer-sponsored junket why don't you stop in there?
Randy1949
9:31 am on Monday, July 30, 2012
How about some examples of these burdensome regulations so that we'll know what we're trading off? Loosened environmental regulations are going to cost the average citizen more in bottled water and medical bills. I also kind of like the one that says, "Don't hide the hazard sheets from your employees, so they'll at least know the risks of the materials they're working with."
Now, the one that required all employees to show their birth certificates to prove they are US citizens was kind of ridiculous. But wait . . .
Johnny Paycheck
4:27 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
He is talking about removing all those tiresome regulations limiting the number of work visa's his guest worker program brings it. Right now they grand renewable 6 year work visa's at a rate of 220,000 per year in order to replace college educated workers with a cheaper alternative from mexico, india and pakistan. His preference is to remove the cap entirely and let corporations control US immigration policy.
Jerry
10:40 am on Monday, July 30, 2012
JS continues to be a loud "wandering generality" as opposed to being a "meaningful specific". All Obaman Bad! All Republican Good! Ugh! I agree with the need to be very specific in eliminating specific regulations. And, unlike JS, I own a small business. I think he should really focus more on controlling the out of control big businesses where lobbying dollars are used to buy people in Congress. And, by the way, some of them are very expensive. Others are less expensive, but stay around a lot longer. Gentle pressure applied relentlessly will get us there. Now's not the time to pull out that magic wand you apparently have been saving during your first 30 years of "service".
Dave
12:41 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
So do something about it .....Are your House colleagues the ones that put the red tape act into play Just to say it is wrong now?
AWD
2:39 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Obama is a wet blanket laying on top of American business. If America wants to be strong again we need to remove that wet blanket on election day. From day one the Usurper in the White House made American business enemy #1. It's time America takes its country back from the anti-American Progressives that are hurting Americas excellence in the world.
Keith Schmitz
10:24 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Got a factual basis for any of these charges?
Walker
7:22 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Why would a racist ranter want to muddy the waters with facts?
Bernard Forand
12:39 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
AWD THE IGNORANT! James No Sense Brainier is trying to pull the wool over your eyes. Remember he is the one that voted to shut down our USA , if we did not pay the ransom to the elitist and their corporatist institutions that paid no taxes, received tax returns in the $millions and demanded Billions in welfare [subsides] . Have the cronies pay their taxes. Whoa never, never. Its all outsourced anyways. Approximately $23 Trillion at last count. No, no..
Party First of no, no, no leadership. Sent there to do a job and we could have sent a parrot to do his job. Oh by the way the window dressing the republicans have put up with their wasted leadership in the House of 33 Bills, 33, 33 on health care recall. A copying machine could have done that. Now trying to say the very, very, recent 30 jobs bill that economist have already established as false, economically infeasible, toxic to our environment and threatens the health of the Main Street laborer’s . Now this is all he comes back with from a Party of NOTHING.. This guy is a LOSER..
That goes for you to AWD
Greg
12:50 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Too, for you too...
Johnny Paycheck
4:21 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Times are tough because there aren't enough jobs-- a problem that's been exacerbated by Mr. Sensenbrenners staunch support of the h-1b guest worker visa program. Take a walk through GE's big building in Wauwatosa's research park and you'll see that about 1/3 of the several thousand US citizens who used to work there have been replaced with work visa holders from the 3rd world who's sole qualification is that they're cheap. Yet Mr. Sensenbrenner would have us believe that the US citizens had to be replaced because they're not smart enough.
tom sheramn
7:55 pm on Tuesday, August 7, 2012
don't you know sensen has big investments in businesses that profit from illegal immigration despite the fact he constantly complains about same.
$$andSense
9:50 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Rip Jimmy a new one. Others now have the Petri dish to replace him. Ho, hum. SSDD. Who votes over and over for this BS anyway?
Gardenlady
9:07 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
I'll bet the folks whose wells are ruined in Jackson and who live in fear of their homes going up in flames due to benzene fumes are super anti-regulation. Just let the companies police themselves. It's foolproof!
Greg
11:49 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The leak occurred under the mass of current regulations, so your reasoning is flawed. To super regulate, due to an emotional reaction of a few, is foolish.
Bernard Forand
12:50 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Greg; Seems every time you blabber about something you just get lower and lower on the evolutionary chain. DUH Lack of regulations on Wall Street is what caused this mess in the first place. What mass of regulation are you even talking about. Don’t even go to small business stuff as I’m in small business. Only regulations I have to contend with is what keeps the system honest or as best it can. Like licensing, insurance coverage’s, tax accounting. Which one do you suggest we deregulate? Then even the most simpleton amongst your brood will see how they can abuse the consumers and their community while making a profit. Just so much more we could go into on the ignorance of your statement, “BUT”, your evolution indicates you approaching the realm of irrelevance.
Greg
1:17 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Bernard, If you were near me I would show you what you can do with your personal insults.
Do you really think a pipeline is operated without regulations? That is just stupid.
What does tax accounting have to do with the leak? Are you the owner of the pipeline? Then who cares about your small business.
Leaks and other accidents happen, there is no correlation between this leak and a lack of regulation. When did I say anything about deregulation? Wall Street?
I do not think that you are one that should be talking about someones ignorance, evolution or irrelevance. You sir are a moron.
Robert
9:18 pm on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Bernard's realm of irrelevance is his dog walking service if he thinks its just those 3 things.
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