JOBS & THE ECONOMY

TIME TO COMPETE
An American Jobs Plan

Regulatory Reform

The current Administration has overseen an unprecedented expansion of regulatory regimes which are creating uncertainty, choking off investment and hindering our ability to compete in the 21st Century economy.

Governor Huntsman's regulatory reform consists of three objectives: (1) rolling back President Obama's health care overhaul and financial regulation reform, (2) reining in the Environmental Protection Agency's job-killing regulations, and (3) dramatically improving the cost-benefit analysis of future regulations and the discipline of federal regulatory agencies – particularly independent agencies like the National Labor Relations Board – which have avoided White House oversight for political reasons, not legal ones.

REGULATORY REFORM PROPOSALS

Rolling Back Existing Regulations

Repeal President Obama's Unconstitutional and Unaffordable Health Care Plan
Gov. Huntsman opposes the President's health care overhaul, which includes $1 trillion in new spending and an onslaught of mandates on small businesses. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Obamacare includes "more than 40 provisions ... that require, permit, or contemplate rulemaking by federal agencies." The CRS further found that Obamacare establishes "dozens of new governmental organizations or advisory boards," although the law is so vague the full tally of such new entities is "unknowable." Rather than analyzing each piece of red tape, Gov. Huntsman supports a full repeal.

Repeal Dodd-Frank
Dodd-Frank created several new "independent" entities, and vested them with effectively unlimited power. Furthermore, it called on new and existing agencies to undertake 243 new rulemakings – something too complicated for them to handle. After Dodd-Frank's first anniversary, the agencies had failed to satisfy 80 percent of the law's deadlines. The vast majority of these rules are unnecessary, create uncertainty and hinder growth in the marketplace.

Moreover, Dodd-Frank perpetuates "too big to fail" by codifying a regime that incentivizes companies to become too big to fail, guaranteeing slow credit and slow productivity gains for the near future. Gov. Huntsman supports a complete repeal of Dodd-Frank, followed by an assessment of which parts may need to be reinstated to address "too big to fail" and other structural problems with financial oversight.

Streamline the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Approval Process
The FDA's dilatory approval process puts American biotech and health sciences sectors at a comparative disadvantage to foreign competitors by increasing development costs and unnecessarily delaying the approval process. Ultimately, the FDA's process damages health care outcomes and reduces profits.

Enact Comprehensive Patent Reform
The considerable backlog at the U.S. Patent Office hurts innovation. The approval process needs to be streamlined to foster innovation and weed out rent-seeking.

Repeal Sarbanes/Oxley
This hastily written law has only added a massive compliance tax on companies without providing any real measures to prevent corporate fraud, which is still rampant. The law did nothing to avoid today's financial difficulties, and has caused unintended consequences by driving companies elsewhere or into the private market.

End the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Gross Regulatory Overreach
The EPA has overplayed its hand. While the nation struggles to recover from economic turmoil, the EPA has imposed vast new rules on the nation's energy producers, crippling one of the most critically important components of economic recovery: energy supply. The following are examples of the many rules Gov. Huntsman will oppose and/or roll-back:

Ozone Standard Revision – This rule promises no clear benefits yet threatens to hinder job growth in the form of what is effectively a nationwide construction ban that benefits no one more than China.

Joint Fuel-Efficiency Rules – This rule, approved by the EPA and Department of Transportation, will bar heavy-duty vehicles from converting to natural gas, which America has an abundance of. Astonishingly, this was enacted even after the agencies concluded that "more alternative-fueled vehicles on the road would arguably displace petroleum-fueled vehicles, and thereby increase both U.S. energy and national security by reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil."

Expedite the Environmental Permitting Process
Gov. Huntsman is committed to streamlining the process for developing new energy supplies and bringing them to market.

Implement A Cultural Change In Regulatory Agencies
Gov. Huntsman will demand a change in the culture of regulatory agencies that ensure businesses and citizens are treated like customers. The White House will provide accountability and measurements to ensure that timelines for approval are met, citizens are treated fairly and government doesn't hinder growth through delay.

Curb The Excesses of "Independent" Agencies

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
President Obama refused to even comment on the NLRB's attempt to block Boeing from relocating and creating jobs in South Carolina, a policy that will encourage American manufacturers to move to China and other low-cost nations, rather than to right-to-work states here in America. The NLRB's policy is a reckless assault upon our nation's free-market system. Gov. Huntsman will immediately instruct the NLRB to stop pursuing this politically-motivated attack on free enterprise, and if they fail to do so, he will replace them.

Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC)
In exercising its vast new Dodd-Frank authority over derivatives markets, the CFTC refuses to seriously examine whether the costs of the regulations outweigh their benefits. For example, the CFTC proposes to impose strict regulations on non-financial companies that use derivatives as part of their ordinary business operations. Those regulations would have a massive impact on agriculture, energy, and credit markets – sidelining trillions of dollars of capital.

The CFTC's regulations also contradict Congress' clear instruction that "end users" of derivatives not be subject to such heavy regulation. As President, Gov. Huntsman will demand the CFTC undertake serious cost-benefit analysis before implementing any regulations.

Privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
We must wind down so-called Government Sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Today, the White House continues to use these institutions to perpetuate a failed intervention in the housing market, which costs taxpayers billions of dollars and prevents a natural stabilization. As President, Gov. Huntsman will scale back homeownership subsidies and privatize Fannie and Freddie.

Mandate Cost-Benefit Fundamentals at Agencies
The White House should demand that all government agencies, including the "independent" ones, adhere to a fundamental framework of applying cost-benefit analysis prior to imposing potentially harmful and costly regulations. Gov. Huntsman will require agency administrators to follow this policy.