Editor,
I’d like to take a moment to respond to a recent letter that claimed that regulations don’t kill jobs.
It is easy to look at regulations as ensuring that people are not exploited and that human rights are not violated. Regulations that protect child laborers and worker safety are ideas that few could ever be opposed to. The reality, though, is that most regulations go far beyond that noble purpose. There are 103 million words in the Code of Federal Regulations. Are all of those addressing child labor and emergency exits? No, they aren’t.
There are many dumb regulations that make it hard for employers to do business, and this has a direct impact on new business start-ups and hiring. From 1997 to 2012, federal regulation increased 28 percent. The late 1990s are not historically remembered for rampant child labor or a distinct lack of emergency exits.
It is naive to think that all new regulation fits into the life-saving narrative crafted by proponents, and it is irresponsible to ignore the real impact it has on small business owners that don’t have mountains of profits or armies of lawyers to comply with each new regulation put out by the EPA or other faceless, unaccountable government agencies.
Sincerely,
Ryan Ansloan
UNM Young Americans
for Freedom president
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