That number means nothing to me. There is no context.

And I've decided that keeping my 2012 New Year's resolution will be easier simply by declaring it! How awesome is that?!

Of course they're getting faster at it, they've had time to practice.

Also, this man scoffs at how long it takes you to do paperwork:

MyRandomName: Sabyen91: That number means nothing to me. There is no context.

Obama made the following statement, that he wanted to help in"getting rid of absurd and unnecessary paperwork requirements that waste time and money." (Stated in article)

Obama has not followed his own statement. In fact, regulatory burden has increased under his watch:

"Overall, from the beginning of the Obama Administration to mid-fiscal year (FY) 2011, regulators have imposed $38 billion in new costs on the American people, more than any comparable period on record." (Source (new window), yes, Liberals will simply Ad hominem the attack, you are free to support your own data sets if you have them)

So in order to look like he is keeping his promise, he had his regulators simply declare the same paperwork burden from last year to simply be easier this year and take less time. There was no analysis for this change in estimated time to complete other than the federal government saying so. This is what the article is hinting at.

When was the last time regulatory burden actually went down? Obama stated he would work to help it decrease, but the truth is the opposite. If it was a politifact article they would more than likely rule his statement on decreasing unneeded regulations as Pants on Fire.

Sorry, you are going to have to come up with a different link because my computer laughs itself to death when I click on the Heritage Foundation.

GilRuiz1: Had it been Bush: "WE KNEW CHIMPIE MCHITLERBOT WAS A LYING LIAR WHO DOES NOTHING BUT LIE!!!!!"

Since it's Obama: "Yawn, non-story; nothing to see here."

Yes, an overwrought editorial that just states things without any actual references always gets my blood a-boilin'

GilRuiz1: Had it been Bush: "WE KNEW CHIMPIE MCHITLERBOT WAS A LYING LIAR WHO DOES NOTHING BUT LIE!!!!!"

Since it's Obama: "Yawn, non-story; nothing to see here."

MyRandomName: Obama has not followed his own statement. In fact, regulatory burden has increased under his watch:

"Overall, from the beginning of the Obama Administration to mid-fiscal year (FY) 2011, regulators have imposed $38 billion in new costs on the American people, more than any comparable period on record." (Source (new window), yes, Liberals will simply Ad hominem the attack, you are free to support your own data sets if you have them)


Color me shocked - SHOCKED- that the Heritage Foundation, which supplies "research" and "analysis" to support the "model legislation" that is pushed on states and localities by ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Counsel). From your link, for example:

"There are things Congress can do to protect Americans and the economy against the regulatory tide: require congressional approval of new major rules promulgated by agencies, create a Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis to review proposed and existing rules independently, and establish a sunset date for federal regulations."


This is EXACTLY the model legislation that ALEC pushed on its members in the past few years, and it's already been enacted in certain states. Take Florida as an example: the Governor's first executive order upon swearing in was to establish the Office of Fiscal Accountability and Regulatory Reform (OFARR). This "office" was actually just one person, and this one person was tasked with reviewing every single agency rule proposed in the state before it could proceed.

At the same time, the 2010 Florida legislature had introduced a bill to require certain rulemaking to require legislative ratification before going into effect. This was vetoed by Gov. Crist, who properly noted that it would basically bring rulemaking to a halt and defeat the purpose of giving agencies rulemaking authority in the first place.

The legislature overrode that veto. Not surprising, considering the bill was based on ALEC model language and that a huge number of Florida legislators have ties to ALEC.

Of course, this isn't really about getting rid of burdensome or unnecessary regulations and all about allowing corporations with connected lobbyists to make more money by skirting consumer regulations. It also allows the Executive branch to usurp some legislative power. Since executive agency rulemaking is delegated by the legislature, to allow the Executive branch to establish a door through which those agencies must cross before exercising that authority is quite arguably a violation of the separation of powers (state and federal level).

HairBolus: What would he prefer? That every time someone compiles Federal paperwork they are required to keep track of the time spent on that and submit it with the forms? And that a new agency be set up to monitor this data to determine how accurate it is?

Of course; they are the party of small government.... and family values.... and personal responsibility...

Truly, history's greatest monster. I'm gonna go out and vote for Michele Bachman stat.

Well you know, don't you, that when the Big Boss says "get rid of unnecessary paperwork" that all the bureaucrats will figure out how to lower their estimate of how much paperwork there is. This is the natural order of bureaucracy. No matter what the BB intends, even if it's a good intention, it is going to be administered by the bureaucracy. This goes for businesses, too.

GilRuiz1: Had it been Bush: "WE KNEW CHIMPIE MCHITLERBOT WAS A LYING LIAR WHO DOES NOTHING BUT LIE!!!!!"

Since it's Obama: "Yawn, non-story; nothing to see here."

It's almost 2012 and the B-b-b-b-ut Bush still gets trotted out? Wow, I feel sorry for you, man.

Snake Vargas: You guys are really disappointing as of late. I think you need a new alt. Start fresh for the new year, ya know?

I suggest tenpoundsofsantorum for a nice touch of full disclosure.

LoneWolf343: DarwiOdrade: GilRuiz1: Had it been Bush: "WE KNEW CHIMPIE MCHITLERBOT WAS A LYING LIAR WHO DOES NOTHING BUT LIE!!!!!"

Since it's Obama: "Yawn, non-story; nothing to see here."

[3.bp.blogspot.com image 400x300]

That's going to be a new meme, isn't it?

New? Not sure if serious.

TheGreatGazoo: I wonder how long my income tax form will be this year? Last year it was something like 15 or 18 pages with a 55 pdf I 'printed' for my records. That was just the Federal, the state was 6 I think. Half of that was to calculate the taxes on less than about $500 in income.

It should be a little shorter this year because I didn't sell any stock this year.

You should quit your job and go off the grid. You will be in good shape then.

Sabyen91: That number means nothing to me. There is no context.

And even if there were, how is spending a "mere" 8.8 BILLION hours on irrelevant paperwork a good thing? That's 220 MILLION full-time jobs! Just doing paperwork! Holy Bob Cratchit!