Yesterday, the lead editorial in The Wall Street Journal discusses "the Obama Hiatus", where the current Administration is apparently postponing some of its more damaging regulatory actions until, perhaps, after the next election.
Many of the examples cited by the Journal involve the EPA. Unfortunately, mere delay is not enough. Building or refurbishing a power plant typically represents a 30- to 50-year investment decision. Delaying the onset of new regulations by 18 months is not going to jump start new investment. Investors and developers need to have some idea what the rules are going to be--and some assurance of future stability--before they commit millions or billions of dollars to new projects.
If anything, however, we seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Mentioning the 1,300+ Obamacare waivers, the Journal writes,
"By the way, this waiver process isn't in the law's statutory language. HHS has simply created it via regulation. In other words, the health bureaucracy knew the rules they were writing would be destructive and have created a political safety valve."
Good news for those receiving the waivers. But bad news for the rule of law. If our future depends on those who are skilled in the politics of obtaining a waiver, rather than engineering know how and financial acumen in creating wealth, our future looks bleaker by the day.
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