Obama wants to shed rules that hurt job growth

Updated on: Wednesday, January 19, 2011

President Barack Obama has ordered a review of federal regulations with an eye toward getting rid of those that stifle job creation and hurt economic growth.
The president said he will sign an executive order telling federal agencies to look for rules that place an unreasonable burden on businesses.

In an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal, the president also said he wants his administration to strike a balance between protecting the public and promoting economic growth.

The move is apparently aimed at patching up the Obama administration's relationship with corporate America, which has been reluctant to make investments and hire more people, in part because of uncertainty over government regulations and tax policies.

The new review, Obama wrote, tells agencies to look for outdated regulations that make the US economy less competitive.

"It's a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties and the influence of special interests in Washington over decades," Obama wrote.

Federal agencies also won't shy away from addressing gaps in regulations, such as new safety rules for infant formula and procedures that stop preventable infections from spreading in hospitals, Obama wrote.

"We are also making it our mission to root out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or that are just plain dumb," the president wrote.

Other regulations, such as the Clean Air Act or child labour laws, are necessary to prevent abuse, he wrote, and "strengthen our country without unduly interfering with the pursuit of progress and the growth of our economy," he wrote.

Obama wants to shed rules that hurt job growth

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