WASHINGTON-President Barack Obama, in another move to smooth frayed ties with corporate America, ordered a far-reaching review of federal regulations Tuesday with the goal of weeding out rules that hurt job growth and creation. Republicans and business groups welcomed the step but suggested he do even more. Business groups have bitterly complained that new regulations carrying out health care and financial overhaul, among others, are holding back hiring and economic growth.
Despite Obama's directive, there was no indication that the White House will pull back from the biggest regulatory fights ahead: the Environmental Protection Agency's plans to regulate greenhouse gases and rules carrying out Obama's health care overhaul. Obama said his executive order would "strike the right balance" between economic growth and regulations protecting the environment and public health and safety. Agencies have 120 days to submit a plan for how they intend to review existing regulations.
The move was the latest outreach by the president to repair relations with the business community after last November's midterm congressional elections, in which Republicans gained control of the House and increased their numbers in the Senate. Some of Obama's critics have accused him of overstepping his federal power via rules and regulations and of being anti-business. The president announced the regulatory review in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal. Sometimes rules and regulations "have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs," Obama wrote.
"Regulations do have costs; often as a country, we have to make tough decisions about whether those costs are necessary. But what is clear is that we can strike the right balance." The executive order instructed federal agencies to scour their books for rules that place an unreasonable burden on businesses. Specifically, Obama said regulations must reduce uncertainty, be written in plain language, be built upon public participation, and identify the "least burdensome tools" for achieving the goals of the new government rules.
Still, the executive order, similar to one former President Bill Clinton signed in 1993, doesn't cover independent agencies, including those that oversee the financial services industry such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve. (AP)