Etch-a-Sketch: Obama Cuts Back Regulations in Month Before Election

President Barack Obama has approved only four “economically significant” regulations in the month leading up to Election Day to keep the issue off voters’ minds. 

A report from Americans for Limited Government (ALG) details how Obama in his first term has averaged more than 40 regulations per month deemed to have an economic impact of at least $100 million. Uncharacteristically, the administration suddenly stopped issuing burdensome regulations in October. 

The only previous month in which the Obama administration approved a “a single-digit number of economically significant regulations was his first month in office in 2009,” when eight such regulations were approved. 

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviews regulations that could be “economically significant.” The report notes “there has never been an October where so few have been approved! The October with the next lowest number of OIRA-approved regulations was 2006 when the Bush Administration approved 33.”

Reports indicate that the Obama administration has regulations on tap — especially concerning coal — for immediate implementation after the election; they have not been enacted yet because they could hurt the President’s re-election chances. 

The ALG report “suggests that the reason the Obama administration has held off on issuing ‘economically significant’ regulations in the month before the election is because the president is trying to give the impression he doesn’t have a big government agenda.”