Postcards: 1993 - Part Four - Executive Order 12866

You're cruising for a bruising when you put Al Gore in charge of anything.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]() for more [Postcards: 1993 - Part Four - Executive Order 12866]( You're cruising for a bruising when you put Al Gore in charge of anything. [Garrett {NAME}]( Dec 28   [READ IN APP](   Market Update: Santa Claus is still here, and the S&P 500 continues to hold the line. I am concerned heading into next week from oversold conditions. The Fed releases its minutes next Wednesday, and that could be risky. But for now, enjoy your week and keep holding the line. Everything is green. --------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Fellow Expat: I went to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. In 2000, the school hosted an event on election night. There were about 150 students in attendance, and we checked in with other journalists around the country. When the election was initially called for Al Gore, there was a noticeable cheer from about 145 people. These were America’s future journalists - completely and totally in the bag for Gore. Only David Weigel (Washington Post) and I didn’t care. There were three Bush supporters. I think I voted for Dennis Rodman as a write-in candidate that year. Again, I don’t get caught up. But when they retracted the win for Gore, I watched as 145 future journalists melted into toddlers. The screaming and wailing and crying and destruction of public property were unleashed. I’ll never forget it. I am not a fan of Al Gore. [I wrote a book mocking him.]( I think he is the worst politician since Franklin Roosevelt (and I’m not even telling you how I really feel). He is a hypocrite, and he has used his place in politics to make a small fortune on the back of the climate change movement - though he uses more electricity than most Americans](. So, today, I would like to offer you Part 4. I think 1993’s greatest mistake was crushing the supply side economy - and putting Gore in charge of regulation. America has never recovered. It never will. [Upgrade to paid]( How to Destroy an Economy There are three ways to address inflation and growth. You can use monetary policy (the Fed’s rate policies), fiscal policy (taxes), and supply-side policies. You cut red tape in the latter situation. You drive down costs by getting out of the way. You’ll recall that Ronald Reagan engaged in supply-side economics. People like Al Gore hated him for that. So, what started as a good idea turned into a debacle. In 1993, President Clinton required that any new regulation that is “economically significant” (over $100 million) must have a benefit-cost analysis. At the time, Clinton claimed that this process would "lighten the load for regulated industries and make government regulations that are needed more efficient." It didn’t.  Instead, it allowed regulatory activists to employ their agendas on policy. This neutered the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), part of the critical Office of Management and Budget. That agency was a major factor in limiting agency overreach. The odd provision was that OIRA could only look at " significant " regulations that might cost the economy more than $100 million. But if OIRA didn’t like the provision, and the agency still wanted it, the final vote went to Vice President Al Gore. Al Gore. Al Freaking Gore… You know what happened next. Al Gore became the Regulatory Policy Czar, and regulations immediately increased with less oversight on these orders. That same year, the White House started using executive orders on environmental policy to ignore the Administrative Procedures Act's public notice and comment provisions. We ended up with two serious issues. First, all Presidents have changed regulatory reviews since the Clinton edict, including banning the well-hated centralized review program called the Council of Competitiveness by Dan Quayle. The Obama administration changed Clinton’s order to include language that made it critical for the government to weigh even more under the cost category, including the environment, equity, and everything else under the sun. So… things just get held up. They crush economic growth for Gaia and fairness. This is how you end up with the EPA overreaching on local water runoff, never-ending budgetary increases, and wasteful spending in pursuit of the “common good.” Second, it didn’t streamline good policy. It just grew the government. In 1993, there were 69,688 pages in the U.S. Federal Register. By 2020, there were 87,351. As a result, the regulatory process has made it damn near impossible to get anything done, and the ongoing burden has drastically impacted America’s supply-side potential. We occasionally get some supply-side policy correct - but it’s usually a process of picking winners and losers. The CHIPS Act - which incentivizes semiconductor production in America - is a fine example. But it’s still a pretty loose ship and benefits more prominent players than smaller ones. Micron Technology will make a killing, but the guys selling semiconductors are going out of business in a high-interest-rate economy. One way to address inflation and promote economic growth is to slash bureaucracy and red tape. Yet, we’ve only seen red tape increase – and it’s costly in terms of both man-hours and the cost of government. Consider this. Last year, the National Association of Manufacturers released its Federal Regulations study. It determined that the “total cost of complying with federal regulations in 2022 is an estimated $3.079 trillion (in 2023 dollars), an amount equal to 12% of U.S. GDP and larger than the manufacturing sector's entire economic output.” We can draw a straight line back to this decision in 1993. Editors at Mother Jones will tell you that this executive order streamlined policy. It didn’t. It only streamlined the very bureaucratic policies that progressives love. It only accelerated the process of government picking winners and losers. When Al Gore said in 1996 that the “Era of Big Government is Over,” – it was the lie of the decade, somehow outdoing the OJ Simpson Trial. That is all. Part five comes out on Saturday. Stay positive, Garrett {NAME} Secretary of Defense You're currently a free subscriber to [Postcards from the Florida Republic](. For the full experience, [upgrade your subscription.]( [Upgrade to paid](   [Like]( [Comment]( [Restack](   © 2023 Garrett {NAME} 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 [Unsubscribe]() [Get the app]( writing]()