Obama shock: Another $6 billion in 'midnight regulations'

Obama shock: Another $6 billion in 'midnight regulations'

By Paul Bedard (@SecretsBedard) • 12/21/16 11:51 AM 

 

President Obama, who this week has issued a flurry of environmental rules, is planning to unleash another set of "midnight regulations" right before he leaves office that will cost Americans $6 billion.

Obama has already broken all past records on creating federal regulations and red tape, and his new adds will boost the overall price tag to over $1 trillion.
The new regulations, according to the watchdog group American Action Forum, include four from the Environmental Protection Agency and one from Interior.
"These five measures alone could impose $5.1 billion in costs and more than 350,000 paperwork burden hours. In addition, three other rules in proposed form could add $898 million in burdens and 146,000 paperwork hours, for a cumulative total of nearly $6 billion in potential midnight costs and nearly 500,000 burden hours from the two agencies. Consider, EPA and Interior have already imposed $349 billion in previous burdens since 2009," said AAF's Sam Batkins.

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He raised concerns that the new environmental rules were rushed to build on Obama's legacy of attacking climate change.
"The magnitude, $5 billion in long-term costs, and timing could raise suspicion in Congress," he said on the AAF website.
President-elect Trump has promised to cut regulations and several House and Senate commmittees are already producing target lists.