Why is it that every time there is a problem, our elected officials decide they can fix it by passing more laws or throwing money at a problem and hiring more bureaucrats? They never seem to think that all of their predecessor's actions are the problem. Why don't they remove at least one law for every new law they create?

A landmark new study from the George Mason University's Mercatum Center think tank concludes that U.S. manufacturers spent an average of $2.2 million per firm to comply with federal regulations in 2000. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, whose members participated in the survey, that works out to roughly $1,700 per worker—equivalent to a 1.6% excise tax on products manufactured in the US Workplace rules cost manufacturing $32 billion in 2000—exceeding previous estimates by at least 75%.

Enron and many other large companies pay NO taxes. The tax codes are so complicated that Enron was spending a million dollars a month for advice on how to avoid paying taxes. They got their money's worth.

To be sure, all of the people now taking the Fifth Amendment need to be prosecuted. But no amount of additional regulations or regulators can prevent the fraud and abuse that occurs when dishonest lawyers and accountants are determined to use over 700 offshore companies to hide and obfuscate the real profits and losses of a company.

Both Republicans and Democrats have benefited from Enron's largess. Even journalists were on the payroll. As one of the largest companies in America, Enron participated in the political process but they did not always get their way.

Adding more laws and regulations and hiring more regulators will never stop dishonest business people. In fact, the more complicated it gets, the easier it is for people to hide what they are doing.

Steve Forbes ran for President on the platform of simplifying the seven foot long tax code down to the point where everybody could do their taxes on a postcard. It will never happen because too many lawyers and accountants depend on exploiting the special loopholes in the system.

Government regulations are by their very nature overly complicated. Lawyers create the regulations and lawyers are needed to interpret them. Our laws are formed by committees who have opposite agendas and many times have no interest at all in the problem they are trying to fix.

Other laws have many unintended consequences. The government is trying to increase the mileage that vehicles get for a gallon of gas. They want us to have cleaner air. Everybody wants cleaner air. The government is particularly interested in increasing the miles per gallon (mpg) that trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) get. They want more people in smaller, lighter cars.

The problem is that we have other regulations that say that children need to be in safety seats in the back seat. If you have two children, you cannot carpool or take along a relative besides Mom and Dad unless you have a van or SUV.

Families often need larger vehicles and if we make vehicles more fuel efficient, families will be forced to buy more expensive vehicles. They will drive their older, inefficient vehicles longer until they can afford a more expensive new car that gets better mileage. They will drive more miles, further polluting the environment and undercutting exactly what the regulators are trying to accomplish.

Seventy-five percent of Americans do not itemize their tax deductions and thus have little incentive to donate to charities. By adding a $400 deduction to non-itemizers, government hopes that everybody will begin to give to charity. Many people already give to their church or local charities—now everybody will get a deduction.

The best thing government can do is get out of the way and help the private non-profits do their jobs.

March 11, 2002