Kevin Brady: “working Americans often ask today, ``Why can't we make ends meet like our parents did? Why does it take a two- income…”

“working Americans often ask today, ``Why can't we make ends meet like our parents did? Why does it take a two- income family to provide even a basic quality of life for our families?'' President Ronald Reagan had a clear answer. Government is too big and costs too much. I would add that today we also have a government that regulates too much. Excessive regulation is a hidden tax on families and on our businesses. Compliance costs are estimated to be $6,000 for each American household, $6,000 in costs in regulation for American households. If you couple taxes, if you add to it regulations, the average American worker is working until July 9 to pay all the costs associated with government. Excessive regulation crushes small business, the engine of our job creation, and today one of the most pervasive fears among America's small businessmen is that they will fail to comply with some obscure government regulation and be forced to shut down. In 1995, President Clinton convened a conference on small business, asked them to meet in our capital. More than 1,600 attended. The No. 1 concern that they registered, they were overregulated and had too much government paperwork to comply with.”