Report: Obama Admin’s Effort to ‘Eliminate Red Tape’ Adds $16 Billion in Costs

President Barack Obama makes a statement in the Oval Office of the White House on the shootings in Chattanooga,Tennessee, that left four Marines dead July 16, 2015 in Washington, DC, USA. Photo by Olivier Douliery/Pool/Sipa USA

The Obama administration’s effort to eliminate red tape added $16 billion in regulatory costs, according to a new report by the American Action Forum obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

“President Obama signed executive orders (13,563 and 13,610) as part of an effort to ‘eliminate red tape.’ Federal agencies were told to ‘modify, streamline expand, or repeal’ existing regulations,” according to the reportreleased by AAF, a center-right nonprofit led by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office.

The American Action Forum has found the reviews consist mostly of recycled regulations by federal agencies that have actually increased regulatory costs.

“The recent ‘retrospective reports’ from the administration reveal that executive agencies have added more than $16 billion in regulatory costs, up from $14.7 billion in the previous update, and 6.5 million paperwork hours,” the report said.

http://freebeacon.com/issues/obama-eliminate-red-tape-16-billion/