Rural Issues: The good sense of common sense

In 1949, the number of pages in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations totaled 19,335. By 2011, the book had grown to 169,301 pages.

The rate at which the tome expands has sped up in recent years. From Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2011, Americans were inflicted with a 7.4% increase in regulations. There are now more than 200,000 pages.

CFR Title 7 contains the principal set of rules and regulations issued by federal agencies regarding agriculture. The number of regulations within Title 7 can vary over time due to updates and revisions.

Currently, there are thousands of regulations encompassed within Title 7, covering a wide range of topics related to agriculture, including farming, food safety, nutrition programs, rural development and more.

Agriculture is just one of 50 titles included in the CFR. Each title can contain hundreds or even thousands of individual regulations.

We, the citizenry of these United States of America, are subject to too many regulations at the federal, state and local level.

At any given moment, I could be breaking a rule I don’t even know exists. You could, too. In fact, we are all probably breaking some sort of rule or regulation right now.

Some rules and regulations are necessary. I get that. But the total cost of regulations in our country is out of control.

The cost businesses and individuals incur to comply with regulatory requirements includes, but is not limited to fees, administrative costs and last, but certainly not least, the cost of implementing the necessary changes.

Regulations impact economic activity by driving investment decisions, productivity and competition. There is also a social cost associated with many regulations — higher consumer prices, reduced innovation and jobs lost.

Let us not forget the cost of enforcement. Monitoring and inspecting takes an investment in technology and manpower.

So many regulations have been established that are not being enforced because there is no one to do the enforcing.

A recent report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute suggests that “agencies go well beyond the bounds of the law by using ambiguities and any discretion afforded to them in existing law to promulgate rules that Congress never authorized.”

“Congress did not tell the EPA to issue rules that would reduce the number of gas-powered cars or the CDC to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium — the agencies made these policy decisions themselves,” said study author Daren Bakst, director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment.

We will elect a president in November. There are also 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 Senate seats up for election.

We need to elect lawmakers who will do the job and not allow the ridiculous and excessive bureaucratic overreach to continue.

The increased restrictions I have witnessed in my lifetime are monumental. I cannot imagine what it must be like for my parents in their 80s to recall the many freedoms that have been taken away from them.

Bring back common sense!