David Cay Johnston: “I have been in towns in Louisiana which have been subjected to some of these incredible regulations that would fine them…”

“I have been in towns in Louisiana which have been subjected to some of these incredible regulations that would fine them for doing things which just went contrary to common sense. I would sit there with the mayors of these various towns and wring my hands with them because it was so outrageous sometimes what these regulations provided. However, going from $50 to $100 million does not hurt the small towns or small businesses. It is not that by going down you exempt the smaller people. Rather, you make it possible or feasible for small counties, small towns, small businesses to have their regulations considered at all. In other words, the problem here is agency overload. I have met at some length with Sally Katzen, the head of OIRA. She said You know, one of our problems here is peers. We have peer review, but how can we find enough peers to review hundreds and hundreds of regulations and have cost-benefit ratios and risk assessments, scientific determinations for these hundreds of rules which are going to be simultaneously reviewed? And to do so by the way, in light of a budget which is now being cut in the appropriations process as we speak.”