Mark YorklyFederal Regulations
Current federal regulations on small business and corporations cost American businesses hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
In September of 2011, President Obama sent the Speaker of the House, John Boehner a letter that detailed a list of at least 7 new regulations that total 1 billion dollars annually.
The U.S. Small Business Administration reported that the average regulatory cost burden of U.S. firms of any size was approximately $161.000, not including the costs that are passed on to consumers for the goods and services that are rendered.
President Obama’s regulatory proposal alone includes four rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) alone and three from the Department of Transportation (DOT). New air-quality standards and rules alone could cost between $19 billion and $90 billion per year for the U.S. economy.
Furthermore, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market think tank, conducted its own study on regulations in the United States and identified 339 “economically significant” rules (i.e., those costing at least $100 million) during the last two years under Bush, compared to 408 such rules in the first two years under Obama. Hundreds of more rules will be streaming through the pipeline, as a flood of new regulatory burdens stems from the EPA, Obama – Care, the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, and the Department of Labor. A rule to regulate ozone levels is projected to cost nearly $1 trillion, which according to Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wy.), is the “single most expensive environmental regulation in history.”
We all agree clean air is important and safety is important, but when regulations become the noose around free enterprise and free enterprise moves off shore, then America loses and the American worker goes without a job.
In short, Federal Regulations exist because of a bureaucracy that is far too large and far too invasive. Federal Agencies that circumvent Congressional authority in policy that becomes law is something that just shouldn’t be allowed to happen.
As your Representative, I would vote to eliminate many of the costly regulations that prohibit business expansion, free enterprise and the ability for business to hire. I would work toward a balance. However, I would favor job creation over what any government bureaucracy mandates.
Today, Foreign Policy matters have an impact in every facet of American life. It is the responsibility of any member of congress to review the facts, review the issues, and become educated and probe when necessary. As a United States Congressman I will support and defend the Constitution. I will support the President, and the Commander in Chief but I will ensure that the information that solicits support is complete and in order by legal standards and economic standards.
I believe in an even-handed foreign policy approach and do understand that certain actions require specific actions when they occur. I support developing a strong relationship with our allies and will develop personal relationships in the capacity of what a U.S. Congressional Representative is allowed to do ethically and by law.
Each President has the Constitutional authority to conduct foreign policy. The responsibility of conducting a robust, well understood and respected foreign policy rests with the President. Congress can act as a support to the President’s agenda and it can also act as a critic of the President’s agenda.
The Congress has many responsibilities and duties that the Founding Fathers gave to the body in matters of foreign policy. The first is that Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war.
The Constitution grants the president three powers as to foreign policy. First of all, the President is the Commander in Chief of all the armed forces. He is also the head of the national security establishment. This power gives him the right to direct the military, as well as the intelligence community and to appoint all high-level officials. The President can also issue executive orders that have an effect on both. The President is the Constitutional head of State and the Government. For instance, when the President is on trips overseas he speaks for the country. The President has the power to make treaties with other nations, but he must present it to the Senate for ratification. However, the Senate has the authority to pass or not to pass the treaty, just as the President has the authority to veto any bill the Congress passes.
The Congress has immense power with its budget authority. For instance, the President’s foreign policy expenditures have to be accounted for by law. The Congress can exercise its foreign policy power in using each of their legislative staffs to probe the Executive Branch of government and its actions as well as using the information they find in oversight hearings on foreign policy from the President.
Congress and the President play many important roles in the foreign policy of the United States. The Constitution grants both branches of government specific powers and also has areas where they need to work together. Both the legislative and executive branches have informal powers that each can use and exploit for political gain. Congress and the President share the foreign policy role by the Principle of Co-determination.
The role of Congress is not to be taken lightly and I will be accountable for the decisions that I am asked to make.