By Gov. Mike Rounds, U.S. Senate Candidate
Out of control spending, bureaucratic overreach and a president with far too much power; it’s federal government run amok and it needs to be stopped before it’s too late.
Congress has surrendered its constitutional authority to the White House as well as the bureaucracies under Barack Obama’s control. Congress has the ability to take back that authority, but many members don’t want to do the hard work it takes to restore the balance of power that our Founding Fathers intended.
Some members of congress, including Sen. John Thune and Rep. Kristi Noem are willing to fight for what’s best for all Americans by signing on to the REINS Act and I wholeheartedly support the REINS Act as well.
The full bill title is Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny, but simply put, it gives Congress the ability to stop harmful, job-killing policies before they go into effect. Right now, the president can direct his agencies to make and enforce rules with little or no oversight from the House or Senate.
The REINS Act would require Congress to approve every major rule proposed by the Executive Branch, which has an annual economic impact of $100 million or more.
The facts show 157 separate regulatory burdens were implemented at the direction of the president in his first term alone, adding an estimated $73 billion in new annual costs to the American economy.
The most harmful and most expensive example of this bureaucratic nightmare is Obamacare. Nancy Pelosi’s comment that “we have to pass it to find out what’s in it” is exactly why congress needs to play a greater role in making sure these policies are right for America. The president’s agencies continue to create additional rules and regulations increasing its multi-trillion dollar cost. We have to end Obamacare before it breaks us.
Here in South Dakota, the president has delayed the Keystone XL pipeline, the EPA blocked the Big Stone II coal plant and the IRS is invading our private lives. There’s no doubt that this government overreach is harming our economy, taking money out of our pockets and limiting our freedoms.
This is unacceptable and I believe such wasteful, bureaucratic overreach can be stopped if the REINS Act is put in place.
The REINS Act was passed in the US House but now it's currently sitting in a Senate committee at the direction of Harry Reid where it will likely die. A Republican majority in the US Senate would pass the REINS Act, just as the US House did.
This is another example of why we need more South Dakota common sense in Washington and less Washington in South Dakota.