Get ready for flood of regulations after election

Get ready for flood of regulations after election

book3 CassSunstein Obama2012 Regulation

A soft freeze just means that these regulations are piling up.

But now Obama’s making it tougher to put costly new rules in place. His enforcer: Cass Sunstein, an old buddy from their University of Chicago days whose friendship with the president gives him more clout in the West Wing than many advisers of higher rank. Sunstein has imposed what is essentially a soft freeze on new regulations.
Even though that’s not official policy, the administration has been increasingly frugal in issuing regulations, according to a POLITICO review of government data and more than two dozen interviews with current and former administration officials, lawmakers in both parties, business leaders and liberal activists. The analysis of the federal rule-making database shows Obama as of Tuesday had issued 1,004 final regulations since arriving in office. That’s fewer than his two immediate predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. This year, Obama is also on pace to put out the fewest “economically significant” regulations of any year in his presidency.
In classic Washington fashion, the administration’s slowdown of new rules is making liberals mad and winning Obama no credit from Republicans or the business community — especially not in an election year in which the over-regulator meme is so prevalent. . . .

UPDATE: The National Federation of Independent Businesses surely gets it (see stopthetidalwave.org).

Glenn Beck on some of the revolutionaries in the Obama Government

Glenn Beck on some of the revolutionaries in the Obama Government

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Cass Sunstein proposes getting rid of term marriage in law

Cass Sunstein proposes getting rid of term marriage in law

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So the push to allow civil unions for homosexuals would put them on the same level as heterosexuals. My question for Cass would be this: Why limit civil unions to two people?

The U.S. government should abolish its sanctioning of marriage, argued Cass Sunstein, President Obama's regulatory czar.

Sunstein proposed that the concept of marriage should become privatized, with the state only granting civil union contracts to couples wishing to enter into an agreement.

Sunstein explained marriage licensing is unnecessary, pointing out people stay committed to organizations like country clubs and homeowner associations without any government interference.

"Under our proposal, the word marriage would no longer appear in any laws, and marriage licenses would no longer be offered or recognized by any level of government," wrote Sunstein and co-author Richard Thaler in their 2008 book, "Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness."

In the book – obtained and reviewed by WND – Sunstein explains his approach would ensure that "the only legal status states would confer on couples would be a civil union, which would be a domestic partnership agreement between any two people." . . .

p. 225: "what is the balance sheet for official marriage? Its benefits are surprisingly low; in many ways it is an anachronism. The most that can be said is that official marriage might contribute to a kind of commitment that benefits both couples and children. On the cost side, official marriage does not do a great deal of harm. But it does produce unnecessary polarization . . . . the most obvious difficulty is that religious organizations insist that they should be permitted to define marriage as they like, while same-sex couples insist that they should be able to make long-term commitments without having a second-class status as a matter of law."

Note also: “The administration believes the Defense of Marriage Act is discriminatory and should be repealed,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler.

Last Friday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder delivered a lecture at the University of Maine where he told students of President Obama's intent to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

Cass Sunstein on whether people have a right to keep and bear arms

Cass Sunstein on whether people have a right to keep and bear arms

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Glenn Beck on Cass Sunstein

Glenn Beck on Cass Sunstein

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Update on Cass Sunstein's nomination

Update on Cass Sunstein's nomination

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From the Washington Times:

President Obama's choice to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs had Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, so upset that he blocked it - a move that puts only a temporary hold on the appointment. Now the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, a hunter advocacy group, says American sportsmen need to step in to make sure the block stays in place.

According to the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, Cass Sunstein supports animal rights. This is an important office that has the authority to block rules, including those that protect hunting and conservation. The pro-hunting organization says Sunstein has mentioned the possibility that hunting could be banned altogether if its sole purpose is human recreation.

There's no way of knowing how Maryland's senators, Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin, both Democrats and normally supportive of the president's appointees, will react to Sunstein's nomination. The same holds for Virginia's two senators, Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner, also Democrats. But it probably wouldn't hurt to let them and your house representatives know how you feel about having an animal rightist in a position to seriously affect hunting and massive conservation programs funded by recreational hunters.

Cass Sunstein's nomination for Regulatory Czar being held up

Cass Sunstein's nomination for Regulatory Czar being held up

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Fox News has this:

WASHINGTON -- President Obama's nominee for "regulatory czar" has hit a new snag in his Senate confirmation process -- a "hold" by Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who's says he's not convinced that Harvard professor Cass Sunstein won't push a radical animal rights agenda, including new restrictions on agriculture and even hunting. . . . .

"Progressives" attacking Cass Sunstein's appointment from the Left

"Progressives" attacking Cass Sunstein's appointment from the Left

CassSunstein Regulation

Cass is a true academic in that he is open minded and willing to discuss issues. I might not agree with him, but he is smart and willing to discuss any issue. My guess is that these progressives are unlikely to find anyone who could champion many of their views as well as Cass can. Cass probably agrees with them on a lot more issues than they realize, but they have so little understanding of what cost-benefit involves they think that anyone who is willing to consider both the costs and benefits from regulation is their enemy. Possibly that tells us something about how small they think the benefits from the regulations are. Anyway, here is something today from Bloomberg.

Cass Sunstein, the new president’s choice to oversee rules for everything from global warming to workplace safety, may be a regulatory sheep in wolf’s clothing.

Sunstein’s support for cost-benefit analysis, balancing the costs of proposed federal rules against their benefits, makes him look more like an industry-friendly Bush appointee than a crusader for reining in corporations, some supporters of President Barack Obama say.

As head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Sunstein, a Harvard Law School professor, would be the arbiter of debates on rules for auto safety, environmental protection, union organizing and dozens of other issues. Some critics question his commitment to imposing tougher standards on companies. . . .