When they strut about how against it they are now, rank and file Republicans need to recall the truth. Like the Civil Rights Act, the ADA is an affirmative action measure, creating government privileges for one group at the expense of others. Syndicated columnist Samuel Francis in The Houston Post, Feb. 28, 1995. Regulation One of the biggest challenges facing lawmakers who genuinely wish to reduce the size of government is the tangled thicket of federal regulation that has for many years crippled economic initiative throughout the country and that now leaves virtually no sector of American life untouched. Instead of worrying that the new Congress may go too far in reducing the amount of government regulation, Americans should be concerned that Congress's Contract with America may not go far enough in unraveling the red tape that binds virtually every aspect of our lives.
Governmental regulations are an enormous hidden tax on our economy.
This is a striking illustration of how bureaucracy has metastasized to the point where it now is larger than many of the industries it regulates. The reams of regulations that spew forth from Washington hurt our productivity and reduce job opportunities. The Small Business Administration estimates that small-business owners, who are the chief job creators in this country, spend 1 billion hours each year filling out government forms. All that paperwork has a chilling effect on the willingness and ability of business owners to expand their work forces. We need to take a good, hard look at the impact of government regulations and loosen the stranglehold that red tape has on our economy.