Video Roundup: Why we need to cut red tape (and how to do it)

Costly regulations coming out of Washington cause a host of problems nationwide, including record-high inflation. 

In President Biden’s first year in office, he approved regulations that will add more than $200 billion in new regulatory costs—and those costs will inevitably fall to American families when they buy gas, groceries, and other necessities. 

The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) has been talking to workers, business owners, and state leaders. We’ve heard their stories and concerns about inflation and how red tape is strangling our country, suffocating businesses, and driving prices sky high. We’ve also talked to them about solutions available to stem the tide of this regulatory abuse. Here are a few of those conversations:

Nashville: Real Americans are concerned about inflation 

FGA hit the streets in Nashville to talk with locals and tourists about the impact inflation has had on their lives. 

From a retired couple having to weather price increases on a fixed income to people struggling to find affordable housing—inflation isn’t pretty.

Jeff Daugherty: “Recovering Regulator” shares unique perspective on regulations’ impact 

Jeff Daugherty is a self-described “recovering regulator” who now understands the impact his former career has on businesses, construction, and people’s dreams. Here, Daugherty shares an interesting perspective on how overregulation has damaged homebuilding, made it more difficult for landowners to build, and crushed dreams in his home state of Wyoming. In another FGA video, he describes the problem well: In Wyoming, “the definition of an environmentalist is someone who already has their cabin.” 

REINS: Putting a cap on government spending and overreach is the solution 

In just his first year in office, President Biden added several hundred billion dollars in regulations back to the federal code—more than any other modern president. The executive branch frequently makes rule changes or issues policies without the approval of Congress that cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year. 

The solution to this problem of government overreach and big spending is the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. The REINS Act would require legislative approval for costly new regulations, stopping out-of-control bureaucrats from steamrolling the American people with expensive, arbitrary rule changes.  

Kentucky Agricultural Commissioner Ryan Quarles: Farmers want government to get out of the way

Kentucky Agricultural Commissioner Ryan Quarles is a ninth-generation Kentuckian. He and his family have been farming in the state for more than 200 years. And ultimately, Quarles says that “most farmers just want government to get out of the way.” But overregulation makes government bigger, more expensive, and more burdensome. 

Here, Quarles discusses how REINS has the potential to save taxpayer dollars, ease inflation, and promote economic growth.

The REINS Act has the potential to dramatically curb the influx of expensive regulations, one of the leading causes of our sky-high inflation—it’s a commonsense reform.

Read more about REINS here, and check out more of FGA’s recent video projects here.