Biden regulation agenda costs taxpayers $300 billion

FPI / November 10, 2022

The Competitive Enterprise Institute found that, while in office, President Donald Trump eliminated 3.2 regulations for every new rule. Trump's deregulation agenda ended up saving taxpayers more than $3 million.

That does not seem substantial, until you look at what Team Biden has done.

Since Jan. 20, 2021, Team Biden has reversed Trump's effective policy, issuing 450 new rules through Nov. 4, which required nearly 197 million hours in paperwork for businesses, according to a new study by the American Action Forum.

As a result, taxpayers took a $309 billion hit and inflation was increased, the study said.

“Any time you add costs to something, particularly in an inflationary environment, costs are going to continue to increase,” said Dan Bosch, director of regulatory policy at the American Action Forum. “Some regulations have savings, but the vast majority have costs that can help contribute to inflation.”

At the same point in the Obama administration, the study said, federal regulators had issued 647 rules, costing the economy roughly $205 billion and requiring about 87 million hours of paperwork for businesses.

By comparison, the Trump administration after two years had enacted 504 rules that managed to reduce the regulatory burden and saved the economy $3.4 million and required just 518,940 hours of paperwork, according to the study.

Team Biden imposed some of its new regulations just days before Tuesday's midterm elections. Those 10 new rules cost taxpayers roughly $1 billion.

The most costly of the November rules is an Environmental Protection Agency plan to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, a chemical environmentalists claim contributes to climate change. The rule is expected to cost the economy $740 million while offering just $125 million in climate benefits, according to data from the EPA and American Action Forum.

“It’s sort of rare,” Bosch said of the slew of November rules. “When we see a billion dollars of rules imposed in a week, it sort of pops out and makes us take notice.”

But the November rules were not even close to the most expensive of Team Biden's climate regulations.

An EPA regulation issued last year that imposed tighter pollution standards for cars and trucks is the most expensive measure proposed so far, according to the American Action Forum’s study. The group estimates the regulation will cost the economy $180 billion.

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