Neomi Rao, the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) tells the Pavlovic Today why the Americans should care about deregulation efforts.
In the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Nov 14, President Trump announced that federal agencies beat the goal he set through Executive Order 13771, which had instructed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to remove two government regulations for every new one created.
“I am proud to announce that we beat our goal by a lot,” Trump stated as he recalled the original goals set by his administration in January. “Instead of eliminating two old regulations, for every one new regulation, we have eliminated 22 — that’s a big difference.”
Attributing the country’s economic growth to his deregulatory agenda Trump said, “as a result, the never-ending growth of red tape in America has come to a sudden screeching and beautiful halt.”
Continuing Trump said, “Because of our regulatory and other reforms, the stock market is soaring to new levels.”
The 22:1 ratio that Trump boasts of refers to the 67 deregulatory actions and 3 regulatory actions agencies made through September of 2017.
“For many decades, an ever-growing maze of regulations, rules, restrictions have cost our country trillions and trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, countless American factories, and devastated many industries,” Trump said during his announcement. “But all that has changed the day I took the oath of office, and it’s changed rapidly. You’ve seen what’s happened.”
On the far right side of the Roosevelt room, stood two stacks of white office paper. The one labeled “1960” was around shin high; the other labeled “TODAY” stood at around 6’3”.
President Trump explained that the stacks of paper were a “vivid illustration of the monumental task we face.” Continuing, Trump explained that “in 1960, there were approximately 20,000 pages in the Code of Federal Regulations. Today, there are over 185,000 pages.”
“We’re going to cut a ribbon because we’re getting back below the 1960-level, and we’ll be there fairly quickly,” Trump declared.
Standing in between the two stacks with a pair of golden scissors in hand, Trump led a 1-2-3 count and cut through a line of red tape that hung between the stacks, which represented the excessive red tape that Trump’s administration strives to eradicate through the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.
Tweet showing stacks of paper:
“When Americans are free to thrive, innovate, and prosper, there is no challenge too great, no task too large, and no goal beyond our reach,” Trump stated. “We are a nation of people who work hard, dream big, and who never, ever give up. We are Americans, and the future belongs to us.”
“So together,” the president continued, “let’s cut the red tape. Let’s set free our dreams. And, yes, let’s make America great again.”
Neomi Rao, the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), held a briefing after Trump’s announcement to further elaborate on Trump’s speech and explain the Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.
Rao explained that “when the government is interfering less in people’s lives, they have a greater opportunity to pursue their goals.”
“I also think that what we’re doing here is connected to making government more constitutional,” Rao continued, “which means that we’re working to ensure that agencies stay within the law, that they’re acting consistent with their statutory requirements, their procedural requirements, and we’re helping to promote better accountability in agencies.”
When asked why the average American should care about deregulation efforts, Rao explained to The Pavlovic Today, that she believed that excessive and unnecessary regulations hampered individual liberty.
“It makes it harder to start a business,” Rao continued, “it makes it harder to grow the economy. And that’s true for big regulations; it’s also true for small regulations that may just interfere with some group of small businesses.”
“Having this enormous accumulation of regulatory burdens is a real tax on the American people, and rolling them back promotes greater freedom,” Rao said as she concluded the briefing.
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