GOP: Brace for 4,200 more regulations

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Waves of new U.S. federal regulations range from "silly" to "serious" as far as restricting job growth, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in the party address.

Collins said in the Republican weekly media statement the regulatory push that began under the Democrat administration of Barack Obama is "crushing" efforts to create jobs for 14 million unemployed Americans.

"Right now, federal agencies are at work on more than 4,200 new rules, 845 of which affect small businesses, the engine of job creation," the senator said. "More than 100 have an economic impact of more than $100 million each."

She said some of the new regulations "are just plain silly," citing one last year in which the manufacturer of packaged walnuts was told it had to stop telling consumers about health benefits as the nuts were being marketed as a drug.

She criticized a proposed regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency as having far more serious consequences.

"If it went into effect as written, a recent study estimates that this rule, along with other pending regulations, could cause 36 pulp and paper mills across the country to close," Collins said. "That would put more than 20,000 Americans out of work -- 18 percent of that industry's workforce."

She said Republicans are asking Obama to call a "time-out" on new regulations and better study of economic consequences before regulations are enacted.