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Obama's secret (and illegal) regulatory bomb

Growing Media Attention on Obama Admin. Violating the Law By Failing to Publish Regulatory Agenda



More and more in the media are following Senator Inhofe's lead and putting the spotlight on the Obama administration's failure to comply with the law by refusing to publish its regulatory agenda. The latest to join the scrutiny is the National Journal, who published an online story Friday night noting, "The administration has also failed to release a required regulatory outlook document, describing its regulatory agenda. Such documents are supposed to be published every six months; the most recent one was published in January, making this the longest lag between outlooks since the deadline schedule was created in 1994." The article further notes that, "Sources in regular contact with agencies say they've been told that new rules won't resume until after the election, and many expect an avalanche of new major rules shortly afterward." As has been the case with every publication tracking this growing story, the Obama administration refused to comment.
The following articles are the latest from the media over the weekend examining the failure of the administration to meet its obligation under the law, as well as speculation on what a second term agenda might look like:

National Journal: "Many Expect Avalanche of New Major Rules" After Election:

The Obama administration roared into office four years ago with an openly ambitious regulatory agenda, releasing a higher-than-usual number of major regulations in the first two years. In 2012, the number of new regulations has plummeted in a year in which the president's regulatory policies have emerged as a major campaign theme. Federal agencies are sitting on a pile of major health, environmental, and financial regulations that lobbyists, congressional staffers, and former administration officials say are being held back to avoid providing ammunition to Mitt Romney and other Republican critics... The administration has also failed to release a required regulatory outlook document, describing its regulatory agenda. Such documents are supposed to be published every six months; the most recent one was published in January, making this the longest lag between outlooks since the deadline schedule was created in 1994.

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The slowdown comes in an election year in which government regulation has exploded as a hot campaign theme. Romney has assailed the president for costly overregulation, often slamming specific rules: He describes EPA regulations of power-plant pollution as a "war on coal," and a rule requiring employers to cover contraception in their health insurance plans triggered a firestorm over a "war on women." Sources in regular contact with agencies say they've been told that new rules won't resume until after the election, and many expect an avalanche of new major rules shortly afterward..."There are at least a half-dozen other examples like that throughout the agency," said William Becker, executive director for the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. "And that's why administrations will do everything they can to avoid putting these rules out during an election year. But all that ends after the election. Then it's a mad rush to see who gets the rules out the door first."

Washington Examiner - Conn Carroll - November surprise: EPA planning major post-election anti-coal regulation:

President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency has devoted an unprecedented number of bureaucrats to finalizing new anti-coal regulations that are set to be released at the end of November, according to a source inside the EPA. More than 50 EPA staff are now crashing to finish greenhouse gas emission standards that would essentially ban all construction of new coal-fired power plants. Never before have so many EPA resources been devoted to a single regulation. The independent and non-partisan Manhattan Institute estimates that the EPA's greenhouse gas coal regulation will cost the U.S. economy $700 billion. The rush is a major sign of panic by environmentalists inside the Obama administration. If Obama wins, the EPA would have another four full years to implement their anti-fossil fuel agenda. But if Romney wins, regulators will have a very narrow window to enact a select few costly regulations that would then be very hard for a President Romney to undo. Environmentalists at the EPA pulled this trick before in 2000 when the Clinton administration rushed out a finding that Mercury emissions from power plants were a growing public health threat pursuant to the Clean Air Act. That finding did not regulate power plants itself, but it did force the Bush administration to begin a lengthy regulatory process. The Obama EPA has estimated that this regulation alone will cost the U.S. economy $10.9 billion a year. http://washingtonexaminer.com/november-surprise-epa-planning-major-post-election-anti-coal-regulation/article/2512538#.UJfbYWe1V5o

PoliticoPro: EPA Rushing To Finalize New Power Plant Rule, Report Says:

EPA has dedicated a remarkable 50 staff members to finalize the new greenhouse gas emissions rule for new power plants - the one critics say will stop all new coal plants from being built, Conn Carroll, a columnist at the conservative Washington Examiner, writes, citing "a source inside the EPA." Carroll adds: "The rush is a major sign of panic by environmentalists inside the Obama administration. If Obama wins, the EPA would have another four full years to implement their anti-fossil fuel agenda. But if Romney wins, regulators will have a very narrow window to enact a select few costly regulations that would then be very hard for a President Romney to undo." ME reached out to EPA for comment but didn't hear back as of deadline. http://bit.ly/UtcURb">Washington Examiner:

Hot Air: Obama EPA second term agenda revealed:

Coal miners and coal powered plants already have a big problem, as we have pointed out repeatedly. But it looks like those problems may grow by several orders of magnitude in the coming months if the current White House occupant remains in office. The President has already been seen to bristle at criticism from his own Left flank over how he hasn't done enough for the environmentalists who can't understand why the oil companies are still in business four years later. Unrestrained by the need to win another election - having a lot more "flexibility," as you might hear from Vladimir - these folks can really run amok. http://hotair.com/archives/2012/11/04/obama-epa-second-term-agenda-revealed/

CNSNEWS: Business Owners Warn Of 4,100 New Regs And The Administration's Secrecy About Them

: The nation's small business owners are warning of the effects of 4,100 new regulations and the administration's refusal to produce a legally-required report explaining them. Every administration is legally required to publish a report each April and October in the Federal Register to inform Congress and the public of the administration's regulatory agenda and its potential economic impact. The requirement is part of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980. The Obama administration has missed its second straight legal deadline for disclosing its regulatory plans and their economic impact to Congress and the American public. No previous administration has ever failed to produce the report even once. The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), a 350,000 member trade group expressed concern, warning of the dangers of the Obama administration's "lack of transparency" and failure to comply with a law requiring it to disclose its plans to burden them with 4,100 new regulations. NFIB's Manager, Regulatory Policy Dan Bosch tells the "Right Views": "It is concerning that the Obama administration has failed to produce its regulatory plan as required. We know from its previous plan in January that there are more than 4,100 regulations in the pipeline. "Failing to publish a plan adds considerable uncertainty to small business owners worried that this lack of transparency could indicate significantly more regulations are poised to follow in the months and years ahead." http://cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/business-owners-warn-4100-new-regs-and-administrations-secrecy-about-them

FoxNews: Inhofe: Obama won't release regulatory agenda because of 'terrible' impact on jobs:

President Obama will not comply with a federal law requiring him to release his regulatory agenda because he doesn't want Americans voters to know the "terrible cost" it would have on the economy should he win re-election -- include the loss an estimated 887,000 jobs annually, says Sen. James Inhofe, ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Inhofe cites the Regulatory Flexibility Act that requires federal agencies to assess the impact of their regulations on small businesses. He says Obama failed to comply with the law twice over the past year -specifically the April and October deadlines. "President Obama is refusing to comply with the law that requires him to publish forthcoming regulations because he doesn't want the American public to know the terrible cost of the regulatory barrage he plans to unleash in a second term," Inhofe said. "So instead of being honest with the American people about what's in store if he wins, he's been trying to hide the fact that he intends to move forward with a slew of rules that will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and dramatically raise the cost of energy on American families." The Oklahoma senator sent a letter to the president Sunday asking him to publish the administration's agenda before Oct. 31. "Businesses and communities need to understand the future regulatory landscape," he wrote. The projected loss of 887,000 jobs annually is from a National Economic Research Associates report last month. The international economic firm in its 129-page report that states the coal industry would be hit hard and the job losses would continue through 2034. Inhofe, also last month, released a report stating the Environmental Protection Agency has delayed action or "punted" on numerous regulations while Obama tries to "earn votes" for a second term. The 14-page report states when the agency approves the roughly one dozen regulations next year in 2013, they will "spell doom" for jobs and economic growth. The report cites pending regulations on a wide range of environmental-economic issues including those on power plant emissions and hydraulic fracturing and concludes pending, overall regulations on greenhouse gases if enacted would cost $300 billion to $400 billion annual and significantly increase the price of gasoline and home heating. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/03/inhofe-obama-wont-release-regulator-agenda-because-terrible-impact-as-job/

CNS NEWS - Phil Kerpen - Obama's secret (and illegal) regulatory bomb:

Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) last week politely asked President Obama to follow the law: "I request you comply with the law and publish the federal government's regulatory calendar this month. Businesses and communities need to understand the future regulatory landscape in order to properly plan and invest in the economy." The reply? None. October came and went with no response and no legally required regulatory agenda report. That's because complying with the law would tell the American people how much economic pain the Obama administration has stored up for a potential second term. We don't know exactly how big the regulatory bomb is going to be because of Obama's illegal secrecy, but an estimate from the National Federation of Independent Business of some of the known rules clocks in at over $515 billion in economic costs. That estimate doesn't even include an expected ban on coal-fired power plants whose costs could run into the trillions. That rule is slippery because it would purport to effectively ban new coal-fired plants, with a stated cost of zero because natural gas is presently so cheap that new coal capacity isn't being built. But it would also create the predicate for litigation that would shut down existing coal plants, cementing as Obama's legacy his promise to bankrupt coal and make electricity prices skyrocket. http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/02/obamas-secret-and-illegal-regulatory-bomb/?print=1 Forbes - Larry Bell - EPA's Insanely Ambitious Agenda If Obama Is Reelected: If you think the Obama administration's Enterprise Prevention Agenda has been wildly aggressive during the past four years, believe me, we really ain't seen nothin' yet. A new report released by the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Minority Committee enumerates a slew of planned EPA regulations that have been delayed or punted on until after the election that will destroy millions of American jobs and cause energy prices to skyrocket even more. Titled "A Look Ahead to EPA Regulations for 2013: Numerous Obama EPA Rules Placed on Hold Until After the Election Spell Doom For Jobs and Economic Growth", it lists and describes new rules concocted over the past year ranging from additional restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, tougher water guidelines and tightening of the ozone standard. Taken together, they will further drive up pump prices, impose construction bans on local communities, and cripple oil, natural gas and coal production. http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/11/04/epas-insanely-ambitious-agenda-if-obama-is-reelected/

Read More About Senator Inhofe's Efforts To Expose President Obama's Regulatory Agenda:

Media Round Up from Week of October 28 Inhofe Blasts Obama Administration For Failing To Comply with Law, Hiding Costly Regulatory Agenda Inhofe-EPW Senate Report Reveals Economic Pain of Obama-EPA Regulations Put on Hold Until After the Election WATCH: Inhofe on Fox News: Obama Failing to Comply With Law on Regulation Transparency EPA Silent on Inhofe Senate Report Showing EPA Punted on Costly Regs Past Election


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