GOP rep rips Obama’s ‘regulatory onslaught’

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) says President Obama stifled the economy with an unprecedented avalanche of federal regulations.

“You know, over the last eight years, President Obama has led a regulatory onslaught the likes of which we have never seen,” he said in the GOP’s weekly address Saturday.

{mosads}“In fact, this administration is on pace to make this the ‘busiest regulatory year in history,’ and it won’t even be close,” Cramer added. “In the works are everything from regulating overtime pay to retirement planning. 

“And what do we have to show for this? This has been the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression. People are working longer hours for less. We are not bouncing back because big government is in our way.”

Cramer said Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) economic agenda would cut through the thicket of existing federal regulations.

“Our plan is based on the notion that the best way to restore our prosperity is to tap into the talents and aspirations of our people and then get out of their way and let them be successful,” he said. “We will cut down on needless regulations.

“To do this, we want to want to require a vote in Congress before any major regulation can take effect,” Cramer added.

“Unelected bureaucrats should not have the final say – the people and their representatives should.  And we believe that there should be a cap on the amount of regulatory costs Washington can impose every year.”

Cramer said freeing the nation’s energy industry from regulatory obstacles remains a central focus of the House GOP’s plans.

“Our plan promotes reliable and affordable American energy, enhancing our global competitiveness,” he said at the University of North Dakota’s College of Engineering and Mining’s dedication of a new energy research complex in Grand Forks, N.D. 

“Our state’s ‘all of the above’ energy policy has elevated North Dakota’s economy to the top in the nation. And with this same approach, other states can achieve North Dakota’s economic success.”