Washington Post: Obama Administration Slowed Red Tape to Avoid 2012 Election Backlash

[Valin]

The Foundry:

James Gattuso

December 17, 2013

 

Last fall, Heritage Foundation analysts noted an eerie silence coming from Obama regulatory agencies. The production of new rules, which until then had been in overdrive, slipped into a lower gear. And the regulatory agenda, which the Administration was required by law to release every spring and fall, did not appear. Noting the odd silence, Heritage research fellow Diane Katz speculated that the rules were being deliberately delayed until after the election year.

 

Obama officials scoffed at such speculation. But, according to a report this weekend in The Washington Post, that is exactly what happened: The motives behind many of the delays were clearly political, as Obamas top aides focused on avoiding controversy before his reelection.

 

This conclusion was buttressed by a study just released by the Administrative Conference of the U.S. (ACUS), a federal advisory council. ACUS found that internal reviews of new rules took longer in 2011 and 2012 because of concerns about the agencies issuing costly or controversial rules prior to the November 2012 election.

 

(Snip)