Regulatory accountability

Richard Epstein writes at The Hoover Institution,

One of the most vital, but technical, items on the Republican agenda is not likely to get its fair share of public attention. On the first day of the new Congress, Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte of Virginia introduced two pieces of legislation that could fundamentally alter the structure of American administrative law for years to come.

The first bill, H.R. 26, the Regulations From the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, languished in three previous successive Congresses, but it has now cleared the House by a vote of 237-187. If enacted, this bill will give Congress a final say on regulations with an estimated cost over $100 million through a mandatory up-or-down vote before they go into effect. More importantly for the day-to-day operation of administrative law is Goodlatte’s other bill, H.R. 5, the Regulatory Accountability Act, which the congressman claims will “wipe out abusive regulation—freeing Americans to innovate and prosper once more.”

Read more here.

hat tip Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit

Rule by edict, not rule of law

Congress is not in session. Nevertheless 141 new regulations have been posted by federal agencies in the last three days. Allen West writes,

Americans have no idea what rules are being made that affect their lives. We have departed from being a nation of laws passed through a system of representative democracy to being a bureaucratic regulatory state.

The system of checks and balances is being replaced by executive and regulatory fiat — on steroids. There is no concern for the economic impact on the American citizen, only some progressive ideological agenda. This is a dangerous situation for our country because we’re on the path of rule by edict, not rule of law.

Well, I guess we’ll just have to dial up regulations.gov in order to find out what the Obama administration is up to. And to think this was supposed to be “the most transparent administration in the history of America.” Yeah, right.