Tag Archives: red tape

The Deep State’s Regulations Are Not “Science”

To the American Left, bureaucracy and regulations are “scientific” and therefore should govern our lives.

According to them, our lives should be ruled by “experts” who hold progressive opinions.

Hogwash. The claims about “science” boil down to accounting gimmicks and political games. This is at the heart of the Deep State’s grip on America.

As former Speaker Nancy Pelosi framed it:

On almost any subject you can name, science is the answer! Whether it is the climate crisis, the health crisis, whether it is our preeminence in the world in technology. Science, science, science, science.”

This is an excuse from politicians with an almost slavish devotion to big government and to the Nanny State that micromanages our personal lives as well as businesses.

But it’s about power and politics, not science.

The control of everyday life silences opponents by imposing speech codes. It blocks opportunities for anyone not part of a favored identity-based group, explained with the word salad of “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI). The full cost is not yet tallied, but one study shows the Biden Administration spent hundreds of millions in tax dollars to promote the DEI agenda.

How can regulations about social policies and progressive agendas be regarded as scientific? The government funds academic studies by liberal authors to prop up those regulations as though they were scientific.

Even claims about legitimate science are faulty, however. A prime example is the argument that mandatory ethanol is climate-friendly. This has been contradicted by the National Academy of Sciences. Its study concluded that ethanol creates 24% more carbon emissions than gasoline, due to the equipment needed to grow corn and process it into ethanol. That doesn’t even count the higher price of food when 40% of corn is diverted to ethanol, away from food and animal feed. Nor does it consider how ethanol lowers fuel mileage.

A similar debate is ongoing about the full environmental impact of electric vehicles.

The often-suppressed truth is that green energy is far more expensive than fossil fuels, despite hundreds of billions of dollars given away to subsidize “renewable” energy. Even the Associated Press called this “the dirty cost of green energy.”

But the damage of red tape goes beyond social values and environmental regulations; it spills over into business, medicine, consumer appliances and much more.

Federal regulations adopted in 2024 alone created an estimated net cost of a new $1.4-trillion in additional burdens.

That adds to the pre-existing annual cost of $3.079-trillion—equal to 12% of the U.S.’ total GDP, as reported by the National Association of Manufacturers.

            Asserting that it’s all backed by science, proponents often assert, “If it saves just one life, it’s worth it.” Bureaucrats therefore claim net benefits outweigh the enormous costs of red tape.

The core of the “science” is an accounting trick, called VSL, “Value of a Statistical Life.” Using this, an agency’s proposal estimated to cost a mere billion dollars is offset by claiming it will save 1,000 lives each worth $1-million, or perhaps 250 lives each worth $2-million, or 100 lives each worth $10-million.

VSL is a gimmicky tool loved by bureaucrats. The Environmental Protection Agency, on its own website, admits that it has used VSL amounts ranging from $5.5-million in 1999 to $6.6-million in 2006. Today, the EPA recommends using $7.4-million in 2006 dollars, adjusted upward for inflation.

But to keep things confusing, the EPA says it no longer uses “VSL.” They’ve changed the term to “mortality risk reduction benefits” rather than “value of a statistical life.”

Red tape is rarely about science. It’s about power, politics, and control. And campaign cash. The bureaucratic Deep State keeps Americans divided. It assures a constant fight between those who benefit from regulations and those who are hurt by them. And it keeps both sides donating generously to political campaigns.

MONEY WOES: Obamacare premiums will cost $536 per taxpayer household

money-woeThe average 25% Obamacare premium hikes next year are only the tip of an iceberg. Each taxpaying household will bear an average cost of $536 even if they’re not enrolled in Obamacare.

The White House pooh-poohs higher premiums by saying that the insured won’t pay the full amount; subsidies will cover part of it. But subsidies come from tax dollars and from borrowing to increase the national debt.

FOX News reports the additional subsidy cost to taxpayers will rise $8.5-billion next year, on top of the 2016 subsidy costs of $43-billion, raising the annual subsidies to $51.5-billion. The country has about 96-million households that pay federal income taxes, so this averages to $536 per household. Each year. On top of the higher premiums for the insured.

Of course, corporate taxes will cover some of the bill–but those taxes are passed along to consumers via higher prices on goods and services.

Obamacare (mis-named as the Affordable Care Act) is a vast collection of federal red tape, regulations and mandates managed by federal bureaucrats and government-paid agents.

The new premium hikes are a double-whammy: They hit those who have Obamacare coverage AND they hit every taxpayer.

Doctors spend 2 weeks each year on ‘obscene waste’ paperwork

health-costsA bombshell study reveals that doctors waste almost two full work weeks each year explaining to regulators how they practice medicine.

The time spent on this paperwork robs doctors from seeing nine patients each week. One health care CEO labels it an “obscene waste,” especially because multiple reports ask for the same things. Medical staff spend even more time on the paperwork than the doctors themselves. Managing a healthcare facility can be very challenging. You have the option to outsource services from ABA Billing Companies to help make it easier for you to manage your billing documents and insurance claims.

The Health Affairs journal study attributes the red tape to federal Medicaid and Medicare regulations, plus private insurers. But most blame was heaped on federal requirements.

Only quality control reports were studied on pancreatic cancer, not the other massive health care red tape. By themselves, the quality control reports consumed 785 hours per physician, representing $40,000 per doctor in non-productive time each year, totaling $15.4 billion nationwide.

The Physician Foundation financed the study of 394 medical clinics, focusing on cardiology, orthopedics, primary care, and multispecialty practices. The authors agree quality measurement is important, but conclude “the current system is unnecessarily costly.”

Halee Fischer-Wright, president and CEO of the Medical Group Management Association, commented, “On top of the obscene waste of billions of dollars each year on quality measures, the most alarming thing about this study is that nearly three-fourths of the groups reported that the quality measures are not even clinically relevant.”

“This study proves that the current top-down approach has failed,” Fischer-Wright said. “It serves no purpose to have over three thousand competing measures of quality across government and private initiatives. . . . the federal government needs to get out of the business of dictating patient care through wasteful mandates and create simplified systems.”

Red tape messes up our 4th of July fireworks

flag_and_fireworksRed tape abounds during our red, white and blue Independence Day celebrations, especially the fireworks displays.

Not only do federal regulations govern the import, testing, shipping, sales and displays of firecrackers, Roman candles, bottle rockets, fountains, sparklers and all the rest, but bureaucrats consider fireworks to be a dangerous pollutant. The EPA’s new ozone limits threaten to force communities to cancel the holiday extravaganzas.

Already, communities must ask the Environmental Protection Agency to grant an “exceptional event” waiver when smoke from a public fireworks display drifts near an air-quality monitoring station. Without the waiver, the community could be penalized for polluted air. But the in-the-works restrictions on ozone make it worse.

The current rules say only 75 parts per billion of ozone are permitted; that’s being lowered to 65 or 70. Imagine the difficulty of finding and removing a handful of molecules mixed-in with a billion others.

Unsure whether they can get EPA waivers, the promoters may have to drop fireworks shows altogether, lest their town be hit with a loss of highway funds or other punishments for being a “non-attainment” area.

This is just part of the red tape that is messing with our holiday traditions. A spokeswoman for the fireworks industry calls the Obama-esque level of regulations “completely insane.” Read about the rest of the holiday red tape here: This July 4, the rockets’ red glare requires lots of red tape – Washington Times

 

Dishwashers ruined by energy regulations: Prices up $143 but dishes don’t get clean

Dishwashers used to workWho wants a dishwasher that doesn’t work but costs more than ever?

The Department of Energy is completing a second round of regulations dictating the machines must use less water and less energy.

Prices already rose by $44 a unit with their first round in 2012. But add another $99 to the price from the 2015 regulations, spurred by President Obama’s call to “save the planet” by restricting use of energy. These are the government’s official cost projections; industry says the costs are even higher.

No, you won’t get the money back from lower electric bills. Manufacturers say that would take 20 years–twice as long as most dishwashers last.

The kicker: The new units don’t get things clean because water use is restricted and the energy limits prevent use of high-velocity sprayers.

Dishwashers could use 6.5 gallons per cycle until 2012, when that limit was lowered to 5 gallons. The 2015 Department of Energy (DOE) rules will drop that to 3.1 gallons per cycle.

The 2012 regulation restricted energy usage to 307 kWh (kiloWatthour) per year for a standard washer. The 2015 proposal lowers that to 234 kWh/year.

Manufacturers expect to lay off workers, because who wants to pay more and get less. Similar energy restrictions are in the works for other appliances.

cat licks plate

Get ready to work harder as you wash dishes by hand. Unless you have a willing pet to lick your plates clean.

Read more: Plan to wash dishes by hand; red tape makes dishwashers work worse but cost more – Washington Times

Bureaucracy costs lives as well as dollars

VA-ScandalThe terrible Veterans Administration scandals demonstrate how bureaucratic indifference can be fatal, as it was with 40 patients who died. Their appointments were among hundreds never scheduled, to conceal the bureaucratic backlog.

More often, red tape costs financially, as people lose control over their own budgets. Businesses have to shift funds out of productivity and into filing reports which some time can be easier to handle using a fake paystub template.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/30/istook-bureaucracy-doesnt-just-hurt-it-kills/#ixzz3cVbK5CrM

Obama’s Regulatory Reform is Make-Believe

layoff noticeThis is not make-believe: Government regulation is a growth industry, one of very few in America today.

President Obama often claims he is committed to reforming regulations. But the facts tell a different story. His claims belong in Never-Never Land.

Obama’s minions claim their rule changes will “save U.S. businesses billions of dollars in regulatory burdens.” Yet analysis by the Small Business Administration estimated the cost of compliance with federal regulation (as of 2008) to be a staggering $1.75 trillion annually. 

Obama uses endless ploys to deny the facts about his non-imaginary red tape friends.

Due to runaway red tape, companies simply abandon projects that would generate jobs and growth if it weren’t for regulations.

Details from the American Enterprise Institute: Red Tape and Pink Slips: Obama’s Imaginary Regulatory Reform