In May, June, and July, I posted about an EPA video contest called “Rulemaking Matters!” in which contestants could send in videos explaining why federal regulations are important.
Here’s the winning video —
The winner in the Rulemaking Matters contest was a good entry. There are two things worth nothing, however.
First, one of the winning video’s creators was Toby Fey, a legal aid attorney from Ohio. That’s good and hard work, but it’s also work with an out-of-the-ordinary approach to regulations.
Representing the poor often involves citing regulations to prevent an agency from taking action against a client who has little means other than what the regulatory environment offers. For the poor, attorneys can cite — legitimately and necessarily — regulations to prevent denial of benefits, for example. Those who have little are a small number, overall, and while their reliance on regulations is a necessity, it’s also atypical.
For most people, I’d say, regulations are an inhibition to free exercise of opportunities for which they have private means.
Second, the video presents agency rulemaking in the most favorable light possible. Agency regulations are hardly the wise consequence of simple, objective interpretation and implemention of statutes. Additionally, there are few people who believe that rulemaking offers adequate citizen comment. Most people only learn about regulations after they’re imposed.
The libertarians at Reason.tv submitted their own videos, explaining how burdensome federal regulations were, and now bureaucrats typically care little about ordinary Americans. See Reason.tv: Federal Regulations and You – Partners in Democracy and Reason.tv: Rulemaking Matters!
For example: