Canada Has More Economic Freedom Than US

[LongBlade]

and too few are much worse than anything

I don't think anyone will accuse us of have to few regulations.

"According to the Office of the Federal Register, in 1998, the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the official listing of all regulations in effect, contained a total of 134,723 pages in 201 volumes that claimed 19 feet of shelf space. In 1970, the CFR totaled only 54,834 pages.

The General Accountability Office (GAO) reports that in the four fiscal years from 1996 to 1999, a total of 15,286 new federal regulations went into effect. Of these, 222 were classified as "major" rules, each one having an annual effect on the economy of at least $100 million."

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/fedregulations_2.htm

In the last 90 days alone there have been over 6000 new regulations issued by the Obama administration.

[Centurion40]

Any of the make any sense, or are they all bullshit political posturing?

[Smuckatelli]

Any of the make any sense, or are they all bullshit political posturing?

That is just under 70 a day.........there is no way to know what they do until the regulations are enforced.....

Just like Obamacare......now we have ObamaregU!

[Longdan]

This is balderdash!! How can we be more free when we labour under
the grinding tyranny of dreaded socialism?  When we must help out
the bloodsucking freeloader?  When we decline to defend ourselves credibly
against our only credible military threat?  Nope.  That is just plain WRONG!
I can feel the oppression by just going outside.  It feels cold and shivery.

Please excuse my ignorance but what military threat is Canada facing?

The only credible military threat to Canada has been good old USA.
After they went home to sulk in 1814 we decided to let them come and go
as they please if they leave the guns at home.  It costs way to much to
try and make them stay there and they have more money than us.
In fact many of us came from them (true fact) and many of them came from us.
It usually works out okay.

[LongBlade]

Any of the make any sense, or are they all bullshit political posturing?

That is just under 70 a day.........there is no way to know what they do until the regulations are enforced.....

+1

Difficult to say. Just finding info on it is difficult. Once again, the only people who seem to be paying attention to what is happening are right-of-center news outlets.

In recent days, for example, the EPA posted a proposed rule involving volatile organic compound emissions from architectural coatings: "We are approving a local rule that regulates these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act)," the proposed rule states. "We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action."

Another proposed rule will provide guidance for FDA staff on "enforcement criteria for canned ackee, frozen ackee, and other ackee products that contain hypoglycin A."  (Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica; unripened or inedible portions can be toxic.)

It goes on to say that this would appear to be an initiative to get rid of old, outdated, and unnecessary regulations. In addition Obama promised to get rid of regulations that were bad for the economy. However, as Smuck notes, it won't be until the rubber hits the road and digs into the economy that we'll understand the true impact.

If nothing else, it will create some uncertainty as the rules get changed.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/6125-proposed-regulations-and-notifications-posted-last-90-days-average-68-day

[Windigo]

Yup. Fewer regulations = better economy.

Didn't seem to work so well for your banking industry.

Like Bigs said, I don't think that regulations are necessarily bad, it just depends on what they are.

I agree some regulations are necessary. However, if you look closely, you'll find it was because of bad regulations that our banking industry blew up.

Slowly, relentlessly, from the 1980s on, mostly Democrat-controlled Congresses pushed both quasi-governmental entities to prod banks into ever more liberal loan policies that would allow less and less qualified loan applicants to obtain mortgages and—often for the first time—purchase housing, regardless of whether they were financially able to carry their mortgages.

The problem became acute in the early 2000s as lower and lower down payments and "liar loans"—loans that required little if any substantiating documentation—became the norm. The Bush Administration—along with eventual GOP presidential candidate John McCain—tried to put an end to these practices, but to no avail. Frank, the Democrats, and a substantial number of incredibly stupid Republicans steadfastly opposed legislation geared toward heading off the already-gathering fiscal storm.


Read more: Barney Frank flees the scene of his fiscal crimes | Washington Times Communities
Follow us: @wtcommunities on Twitter

Source: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/prudent-man/2011/nov/29/barney-frank-flees-scene-his-fiscal-crimes/

I'm not convinced Bush II is as innocent as this quote makes him out to be, however, the point is clear: bad regulations caused our problem, not too few.

and too few are much worse than anything

The funny thing is though, everytime there is hiccup, then there is a call for more regulations, which do nothing but help politicians and bureaucrats but don't stop the next hiccup.  If I remeber, there were many economic down turns in the US prior to all of the regulations, and all of  the regulations since then have done nothing to help, except to suck more money out of the economy.

Not all regulations are the same. You can have many good regulations covering an activity(e.g., Canada's banking system), or you can have a few bad ones in the mix that unduly interfere with an activity (certain gun ownership/control laws).

To say fewer regulations are always better is rather simplistic and naive. Better regulations are better, more is not better either... there is a balance.

[LongBlade]

To say fewer regulations are always better is rather simplistic and naive. Better regulations are better, more is not better either... there is a balance.

It's probably a matter of perspective.

We're sitting in the middle of this economic cesspool because a bunch of bleeding hearts in Congress teamed up with the Good Idea Fairy to push house loans on people who couldn't afford them. Shockingly, this caused bad things to happen.

Regulations since then haven't fixed the problem. The economy is stalling, and rightly or wrongly, Obama is perceived as a big-government kind of guy. So the expectation is that on the whole, we'll see more bad regulation than good.

I will share with you that anecdotally, this holiday season looks like sales are not off to a good start.

If you walk into a store on a good holiday year, the shelves are stacked so high it looks like a solar eclipse.

This year? shelves look the same as they do in March. I predict that the next big economic number will show the US heading into another recession.

[OJsDad]

Not all regulations are the same. You can have many good regulations covering an activity(e.g., Canada's banking system), or you can have a few bad ones in the mix that unduly interfere with an activity (certain gun ownership/control laws).

To say fewer regulations are always better is rather simplistic and naive. Better regulations are better, more is not better either... there is a balance.

I'll agree with that.  Unfortunately, our betters in DC don't agree with that. 

[Windigo]

I hope like hell the US doesn't hit another recession. However it will mean that tackling the deficit becomes a do now, rather than a do later.

Although not on this thread discussion point directly, I am pretty excited for you guys to be heading for energy self-sufficiency. This will ease the trade imbalance and help. If the experience here in Alberta is any indication of what will come with tight oil recovery, Texas, North Dakota and California WILL do amazingly well.

As a side note North Dakota is already doing very well 3.1% unemployment (that translates to - they will hire you if you have a pulse)... so get yer asses there as the good times will roll for at least 5-10 years there ... the tight oil reserves in Texas appear to be even richer ... hell even California has a major play.

[LongBlade]

I hope like hell the US doesn't hit another recession. However it will mean that tackling the deficit becomes a do now, rather than a do later.

We made our choice about that a couple of weeks ago. Alea jacta est.

[Smuckatelli]

Not all regulations are the same. You can have many good regulations covering an activity(e.g., Canada's banking system), or you can have a few bad ones in the mix that unduly interfere with an activity (certain gun ownership/control laws).

To say fewer regulations are always better is rather simplistic and naive. Better regulations are better, more is not better either... there is a balance.

The Marine Corps' thoughts on managable leadership is basically 3....not 12....47......or 126....or 6000...just 3.

Not all regulations are the same but there is no way to know which are good or bad with the volume coming out of Washington. Many of the 6,000 in the past 90 days will never see the light of day.....there is a good chance that a lot will see the light of day and be costly to enforce and or prosecute. Worse case and by the nature of the beast highly probable......some of those regulations could be unconstitutional. 

[LongBlade]

some of those regulations could be unconstitutional.

What? You're crazy! No way that can be true!

[Windigo]

Not all regulations are the same. You can have many good regulations covering an activity(e.g., Canada's banking system), or you can have a few bad ones in the mix that unduly interfere with an activity (certain gun ownership/control laws).

To say fewer regulations are always better is rather simplistic and naive. Better regulations are better, more is not better either... there is a balance.

The Marine Corps' thoughts on managable leadership is basically 3....not 12....47......or 126....or 6000...just 3.

Not all regulations are the same but there is no way to know which are good or bad with the volume coming out of Washington. Many of the 6,000 in the past 90 days will never see the light of day.....there is a good chance that a lot will see the light of day and be costly to enforce and or prosecute. Worse case and by the nature of the beast highly probable......some of those regulations could be unconstitutional.

is there no filter or oversight on that spew ?  6000??? thats obscene

[LongBlade]

is there no filter or oversight on that spew ?  6000??? thats obscene

What worries me isn't the size or scope of the regulations - we'll feel that in good time.

What really worries me is that no one outside of Fox and a couple of other lesser known news organizations even care to cover it.

The press has largely abandoned its role as a check against government excess when it comes to left-of-center politics. I don't mind them ferreting out Bush II's sins. But when they don't care and help cover for Obama? That worries me.