Elections have consequences; that is what the winners keep reminding us. Today we learned one of the consequences of the last two elections. The Obama administration has proposed nearly 6,000 new regulations in the last ninety days. In other words, since last August, when the reelection of President Obama was beginning to look chancy, his executive powers started working in overdrive. The regulations were put in a holding pattern until Obama's reelection was assured. Once Obama won, the tsunami of regulations was released (see Breitbart.com.)
Not only is this a direct contradiction to the candidate's promise to decrease business-stifling regulation, it turns out the President has also reneged on his claim that his administration would be open for public examination. The executive has also shortened the mandatory public comment window on proposed regulations from sixty to forty-five days. Since many of the new regs run into thousands of pages each, the likelihood of any real examination in that time is small. Foreshortening the comment period also contradicts Obama's previous call in an executive order released on January 18, 2011, for, "comment periods to last for at least 60 days." This must be another of the changes Obama was talking about in the 2008 campaign.
According to FactCheck.org, it is normal for Presidents to increase the pace of their executive creations in the final years of their term in office; it is called the Cinderella Effect. When the clock is about to strike the midnight of their power, they rush to make the most of their last minutes. What Obama has done is far in excess of any of his predecessors, however. According to Town Hall, Obama averaged over 17,000 new regulations in each of his first two years. This number outstrips all previous administrations. Although his administration's 2012 rate of regulations is down, the number will explode when the 6,000 new rules he has held back hit the pipeline.
Besides all this, according to Senator Jim Inhofe, President Obama has failed to follow the rules regarding his regulatory agenda. Inhofe charges that the Obama administration has failed, "to comply with the law by refusing to publish its regulatory agenda." The purpose of providing such an agenda is to allow the effected parties enough time to practice due diligence and provide meaningful commentary during the public comment period. By refusing to publish the agenda and shortening the comment period, Obama has effectively shut off any real evaluation of his new proposals.
Back in 1773 the cry was "no taxation without representation." The new Tea Party should be chanting, "no regulation without representation." President Obama is achieving by fiat what he cannot by due legislative process. In his first two years, he had both houses of Congress, so they were able to ram Obamacare down our throats by legislative force. Since 2010 when the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives, the tactic has been to use the power of the judiciary and executive, even at the expense of violating standard rules and practices.
Barak Obama is as President what he was back in his Chicago days: an arrogant, unprincipled ideologue. He believes he knows what is best for America, and he intends to make it happen any way he can. He appears not to mind bending the rules to the breaking point if it suits his purpose. Sadly, there are plenty of people in this country who have no more respect for rules than he does, so they applaud his bold style.
The Bible says that in the last days things will get worse and worse before the end comes. It predicts that men will behave badly and be proud of it. When I see the shameless depravity of our politicians, or think of the debauchery that is standard fare for Hollywood and television, or witness the audacity of the LGBT movement with their claims of legitimacy, or recoil at the flagrant violation of all that is fiscally responsible in Washington D.C., or mourn the millions of unborn children slaughtered since Roe v. Wade, I can't imagine a more striking fulfillment of those Bible words. Scripture also says there will be some in the last days who will remain righteous and "be mighty and do exploits." It's beginning to look like people just doing right will be the mighty exploit. The only exploit common in Washington these days seems to be those exploiting their public trust.
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