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those enable government to grow out of public view, Yet, it seems we need it now more than ever.
beyond the spending so many free marketers focus Todays regulatory costs are greater than all
on. Even if we were to balance the federal budget federal spending in the early1990s, and exceed
tomorrow, wed still have the weight of regulation current personal and corporate income tax receipts
upon us. combined. The days of ignoring the matter are over.
As the federal government moves into more Sure, we can measure costs better, but get-
economic sectors, the saliency of regulation as the ting Congress on the record for regulation is what
real barrier to growth and individual liberty has matters. In 2014, Congress passed and President
become clearer, bringing greater attention to CEIs Obama signed 224 bills into law, while thou-
work. Regulation is discussed on Capitol Hill with sands of bureaucrats issued 3,554 rules and
far more frequencyand urgencynow, and by regulations. That means there were 16 rules for
far more members, both Republican and Democrat. every law passed last yeara ratio I call the
The last time the energy for getting things undone Unconstitutionality Index. As it shows, unelected
was this visible was in the 1990s, when unfunded regulators and bureaucrats do the bulk of lawmak-
mandates reform and the Congressional Review Act ing in America.
were enacted. Congress likes to blame agencies for excesses
The modern regulatory states continued advance like the Waters of the United States rule, but
shows these efforts werent enough, and policy Congress delegated that power, and has failed to
makers know it. Accordingly, there is now a bipar- restrain it. In addition to approving future agency
tisan proposal for a regulatory reduction commis- rules on the record, Congress must change the
sion. Ideas like one in, one out get discussed. The underlying statutes driving the regulatory flow.
Regulatory Accountability Act, to require more scru- Even Ten Thousand Commandments cannot
tiny of agency rules, has passed the House, and the adequately capture the presidents pen and phone
Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny approach to policy making. We can count regula-
(REINS) Act, to require congressional affirmation of tions, but guidance documents, notices, executive
all major agency regulations, is expected to pass orders, agency and presidential memos, and even
both houses of Congress this summer. blog posts and press releases all can set the tone for
This is President Obamas year of the veto, so policy making now. These can easily outnumber the
addressing overregulation remains difficult. But major rules issued by the agencies. This regulatory
address it we must. Based on federal government dark matter is something to which future editions
data, past reports, and contemporary studies, the of Ten Thousand Commandments and the policy
2015 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments making world in general needs to pay more atten-
estimates regulatory costs of $1.88 trillion annually tion. Stay tuned.
R.M.
about each drugs risks and benefits and make fully informed
decisions.
Patients would have to allow their doctors to submit anony-
mous treatment reports describing their diagnoses, health status,
physical characteristics, and experience with the treatment
FREEDMAN
both effectiveness and side effects. This continuously updated
collection of data would provide additional information for other
SOCI ET Y
patients, and it would give the developer and other researchers
a way to study the drugs performance in a real-world setting.
This would prove a valuable complement to standard clinical Help the Competitive
testing. One shortcoming of clinical trials is that patients are
selected to be as similar as possible in characteristics such as
Enterprise Institute
health status, disease progression, and other factors, to make carry on its work for
statistical analysis more reliable. But we often cannot spot generations by joining the
certain benefits or side effects until after a drug is approved and
prescribed to tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dissimilar
R.M. Freedman society.
patients.
Giving a wide range of patients the ability to choose for In 2013, CEI established the R.M. Freedman
themselves might sacrifice some statistical purity, but we would Society in honor of Robert M. Freedman,
gain a better picture of a drugs real-world effects. One could a business owner from West Bloomfield,
even envision an alternative FDA approval process that uses Michigan, who placed CEI in his estate
this observational data for assessments. Either way, medical and, in 2009, sadly passed on and gave
researchers would get a treasure trove of information that could CEI its first legacy gift. We named the
improve how scientists spend their research dollars, leading to society in appreciation of his generosity.
faster, more efficient innovation. Many of CEIs extended family choose to
Of course, not all manufacturers would want to sell their include CEI in their estate plans through:
products in a Free to Choose Medicine system, preferring
instead to pursue only the conventional FDA-monitored trials. Bequests,
And some patients may be unwilling to try treatments that have Charitable Remainder Trusts,
not been tested further and fully vetted by the FDA. But enacting Charitable Lead Trusts, or as a
the proposal into law would make available additional treat-
ment options to many patients who now have few or no alter- Life insurance beneficiary.
natives. When faced with life-or-death illnesses, more patients
should have this choice. If you make the decision to include CEI in
your estate plans, please reach out and let
us know.
Bartley J. Madden is a founder of the Tomorrows Cures Today
Foundation and author of Free to Choose Medicine: Better Drugs,
While these sorts of decisions should be
Sooner at Lower Cost. Gregory Conko (greg.conko@cei.org) is undertaken with the help of an estate
Executive Director of CEI. planner, Lauren Avey and Al Canata of
CEI can be a resource to you. You can
reach them anytime at 202-331-1010.
On May 7, the U.S. Court of A March report from CEI reveals an In late April, the National Research
Appeals for the Second Circuit appalling lack of transparency in Council published a comprehen-
struck down the National Security how Missouris government agencies sive review of the Federal Aviation
Administrations (NSA) domestic tele- account for taxpayer dollars going Administrations (FAA) bungled rollout
phone surveillance program, which to labor union coffers. Public records of the multi-billion dollar update of
for years had collected millions of requests made by CEI aimed to find the nations air traffic control system,
Americans phone records. The Court out how much Missouri taxpayers known as NextGen. In the lengthy
ruled the NSA program was illegal were paying for union release time, report, the authors harshly criticized
because it exceeds the scope of a practice that allows public employ- the FAA for its incompetence, noting
congressional authorization. CEI ees to conduct union business during that, among other issues, Not all
Vice President for Policy Wayne work time without loss of pay. But only parts of the original vision will be
Crews applauded the ruling, saying, a small minority of Missouri govern- achieved in the foreseeable future,
This ruling affirms the wisdom of the ment agencies provided satisfactory NextGen, as currently executed, is
citizenrys watching and regulating responses to CEIs requests. At a time not broadly transformational, and
secret government activities rather when taxpayer dollars are stretched NextGen has become a misnomer.
than passively being the target of thin in Missouri and other states, CEI Fellow Marc Scribner called the
such. The federal government clearly the government should stop fund- report a wake-up call for Congress,
expects us to give up our liberties for ing activities that only serve special urging lawmakers to remove air traffic
its centralized vision of our security, interests and do not advance a public control responsibilities from the FAA in
when there are less brittle and inva- purpose, said CEI Policy Analyst Trey the forthcoming reauthorization due
sive alternatives. Worse is when we Kovacs, who authored the report and this fall. CEI supports the creation
give up our liberties to an unaccount- filed the public records requests. of a non-governmental, nonprofit air
able government whose very phi- navigation service provider, said
losophy and approach undermines Scribner. This would be similar to
genuine security and cybersecurity. NavCanada, which we believe would
speed the deployment of new tech-
nologies, improve service and safety,
and reduce costs.
...END NOTES
Feds: Puerto Ricans Disabled Because They Speak Toyota Prius Batteries Good for the Planet, Great
Spanishin Puerto Rico for Thieves
In April, the Office of Inspector General for the Social In May, a San Francisco TV station reported on a rash
Security Administration (SSA) issued an audit report that of battery thefts from Toyota Prius vehicles. According to
found the SSA had approved hundreds of disability requests the investigation, thieves are able to remove the batteries
for Puerto Ricans because they didnt speak fluent English. in approximately 20 minutes. The batteries, which gener-
The rules SSA relied upon were intended to grant disability ally retail for $2,500, are then often sold on Craigslist
status to illiterate Americans. The government of Puerto Rico, for approximately $1,000. Reporters found that thieves
and most commercial ventures, conduct the vast majority smashed the cars windows, cut through the connecting
of business in Spanish. SSA managers at various disability wires, and then pulled out the 150-pound battery pack.
decision levels stated Social Security is a national program, Technology news website Ars Technica recommended that
and the grids must be applied to the national economy, if youre a Prius owner who wants to mitigate against theft,
regardless of local conditions, the audit said. Spanish is you should replace the batterys existing 12mm bolts with
spoken by 95 percent of Puerto Ricans. We found the tamper-proof bolts. Presumably that wont stop the thieves
Agency did not make exceptions regarding the English- from first smashing your windows and damaging your
language grid rules for claimants who reside in Puerto Rico, upholstery, only to find out the battery cant be removed,
even though Spanish is the predominant language spoken in however.
the local economy, the OIG said.
Colorado School Seizes Cookies from Parent-
Burnt Food Evacuates Iowa CapitolTwice Packed Lunches
In late April, the Iowa Capitol was evacuated after a A school in the Denver, Colorado, suburb of Aurora
staffer burned macaroni and cheese in a microwave near gave a preschooler a rude lunch surprise. When preschooler
the Senate chamber. The incident occurred at around 11am, Natalee Pearson arrived home from school one day, she
according to the Associated Press, and the evacuation order told her mother that the cookies she had packed for dessert
was soon lifted. But just three weeks later, the Capitol was were deemed unacceptable by school officials. Instead, she
again evacuated after cafeteria smoke alarms were set off handed her mother Leeza a note from the school stating that
by burning food. The culprit in the second incident was a only healthy snacks were permitted on premises. Natalees
pizza crust. In both cases, there were no injuries or property mother was disturbed by the intervention and insult, telling
damage. The Iowa Department of Administrative Services is reporters that officials had taken their zealousness too far.
reportedly investigating Capitol Building cooking practices. Aurora Public Schools officials released a statement saying
that Natalee had received a healthy alternative after her
cookies had been seized.