SCOTUS - SIGN UP - March 2015

Dysfunction:

On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee held a hearing (more of a grilling) as Mylan’s CEO, Heather Bresch, the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) took to the floor to give a defense of the EpiPen’s price hikes and to receive a verbal smackdown from an assortment of legislators.

When the media and the public think about the term “regulation” they tend to think about official rules issued by agencies after going through the standard multi-year regulatory process. This process, governed by the Administrative Procedure Act, is designed to be transparent and public, allowing potentially affected parties to engage in the development of the rule though comments, hearings, and other less formal discussions. But this formal, open process is not the only way the administrative state regulates. There are huge classes of administrative actions which together create a category of stealth regulation; regulation from the shadows that is difficult to challenge, difficult to keep track of, and often difficult to know how to even comply with.

Recently, Larry Kudlow, news anchor and economic commentator, reminded us that in the 1960’s, then-President John F. Kennedy reduced taxes and our economy flourished. According to Kudlow, the economy increased by “roughly 5 percent yearly for nearly eight years.”