By REP. MARKWAYNE MULLIN on Sep 7, 2013, at 2:25 AM Updated on 9/07/13 at 4:57 AM
America is a land of opportunity and don't ever forget it.
If you travel through my district you will come across the small town of Oologah, home of the American humorist and cowboy who first spoke those opportunistic words - Will Rogers. Who knew that the notion he warned against decades ago would someday become a reality.
A battle rages within our nation's borders between an increasingly overbearing government and an increasingly burdened country of entrepreneurs.
The struggle between regulation and innovation has tied the hands of many job creators. In his recent testimony before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, Patrick A. McLaughlin, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, notes that when you regulate, you restrict. And that entrepreneurs and innovators play a key role in an economy's stability.
My statements are not just a part of recurring rhetoric. As one of the few members of Congress still actively engaged in their business, I speak from first-hand accounts.
I ran for Congress because I got tired of the federal government being my biggest competitor. Increased regulations lead to increased costs to comply with those regulations. Not to mention that the ever-changing landscape of regulation continues to cause uncertainty among business owners. How can we build stable foundations on shifting sands?
What brings the most frustration is the act of regulating from afar. Too often, agency heads work to implement regulations on a business or entity in a part of the country they have never visited. Perspectives change when real world situations are experienced on the ground and in person.
Housed in the Code of Federal Regulations is more proof of the swell of regulation. The number of pages in the Code of Federal Regulations has steadily grown over the past three decades, according to research from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
While blame can be cast on our current president, who has enacted policy outside of Congress and accelerated regulatory growth through "Obamacare," the issue of regulation versus innovation lies at the feet of both parties.
American history is full of innovators of various political affiliations who undoubtedly changed the world. Increased regulation, according to McLaughlin, has the potential to deter more innovators who hold the key to discoveries that would revolutionize the future. This should be incentive enough to reign in regulation.
It is no secret that Republicans dislike big government and burdensome mandates, like those in "Obamacare." But for the sake of America's future, it is crucial that we look beyond party lines and look at what is best for the country.
It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or Republican, America's future is on the line. I for one refuse to sit back and watch as regulation kills jobs and chokes off innovation and any hope of an economic recovery. My hope is that the American dream will continue to thrive for generations to come.
America is the land of opportunity, and I will never forget it.
Markwayne Mullin, a Republican, is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the Second District of Oklahoma.
Original Print Headline: Defending the American Dream against regulation
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