THE COST OF REGULATION 

How much do you think our federal government is costing us? No, I don't mean in terms of spending, I mean in terms of enforcing the thousands of regulations that it has put in place over the years. These regulations are supposedly to keep businesses honest, but they end up costing you - the consumer - unbelievable amounts of money .. and I do mean you. Remember, businesses don't pay taxes (nor do they end up paying for these regulation), but rather pass those costs on to the consumer. What's even worse, is that small businesses are bearing the brunt of these regulations.

So how bad are we talking? A report in the Wall Street Journal by Nicole Crain and Mark Crain found that one out of every three dollars earned in the US goes towards paying to comply with federal laws and regulations. Obama's latest scheme - ObamaCare and financial reform - will only make it exponentially worse. The report found, "The annual cost of federal regulations in the United States increased to more than $1.75 trillion in 2008, a 3% real increase over five years, to about 14% of U.S. national income. This cost is in addition to the federal tax burden of 21%, for a combined cost of 35% of national income."

Read that again! An astounding 35% of national income is spent on federal tax and compliance costs. And like I said before, small businesses are faring marginally worse. A report from the Office of Advocacy of the US Small Business Administration found that small businesses pay a disproportionately large share of regulatory costs. The initial overall cost in 2008 was $8,086 per employee. But ... "these costs were not borne equally by businesses of all sizes. The regulatory cost per employee for businesses with fewer than 20 employees was $10,585, compared with $7,454 for medium sized firms (employing between 20 and 499 employees), and $7,755 for large firms."

When it comes down to it, the combined average federal burden of regulation and taxes was a remarkable $37,962 per household.