WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is calling attention to the effect Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt crisis is having on the millions of Americans who live there and on Congress' struggle to come up with a solution.
Lew is making a one-day trip to Puerto Rico on Monday, part of the Obama administration's campaign to pressure Congress to act. House Republicans are expected to announce new legislation this week to create a control board to help manage the U.S. territory's debt and oversee some debt restructuring. It will be the third draft of the House bill, which has come under fire from some conservatives who worry it would set a precedent for financially ailing states.
A glance at the overall count of rules and regulations leads one to suppose regulatory burdens are decreasing. After all, since Obama took office the total number of rules and regulations appearing annually in the Federal Register has moved from 3,830 in Bush's last calendar year to 3,410 in 2015, as I describe in the new 2016 edition of Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State.
There's a deeper story though, that shows how strategic efforts to avoid traditional regulations have actually increased the burden on taxpayers. Through various tactics such as differing rule burdens, executive orders, guidance documents, and a well-documented strategic delay in unpopular rules during 2012 election cycle, President Obama's regulatory state keeps growing.
