Forget the Ten Commandments, the federal government has 10,000.
Well actually a lot more than that: 81,883 Commandments that thou shalt follow.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute issued its 20th annual snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State called Ten Thousand Commandments 2013. Here’s their report, Full Document Available in PDF, and here’s a summary:
The scope of federal government spending and deficits is sobering. Yet the government’s reach extends well beyond the taxes Washington collects and its deficit spending and borrowing. Federal environmental, safety and health, and economic regulations cost hundreds of billions—perhaps trillions—of dollars every year over and above the costs of the official federal outlays that dominate the policy debate.
Highlights of the report:
- Total costs for Americans to comply with federal regulations reached $1.806 trillion in 2012.
- For the first time, this amounts to more than half of total federal spending.
- It is more than the GDPs of Canada or Mexico.
- This is the 20th anniversary of Ten Thousand Commandments.
- In the 20 years of publication, 81,883 final rules have been issued.
- That’s more than 3,500 per year or about nine per day.
- The Anti-Democracy Index – the ratio of regulations issued to laws passed by Congress and signed by the president – stood at 29 for 2012.
- That’s 127 new laws and 3,708 new rules – or a new rule every 2 ½ hours.
- Regulatory costs amount to $14,678 per family – 23 percent of the average household income of $63,685 and 30 percent of the expenditure budget of $49,705 and more than receipts from corporate and personal income taxes combined.
- Combined with $3.53 trillion in federal spending, Washington’s share of the economy now reaches 34.4 percent.
Wayne Crews – 10,000 Commandments 2013
