"Ten Thousand Commandments" of federal regulation.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute on May 28 released the 2009 edition of their report on the impact of federal regulation. Entitled Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State, the 51-page report delves into the morass of regulation oozing out of Washington.

For fiscal year 2009, the Obama administration projects almost $4 trillion in spending and a deficit of $1.752 trillion. Those headline-making figures deal with the government's tax intake, deficit spending, and borrowing. But the latest Ten Thousand Commandments points out that "federal environmental, safety and health, and economic regulations cost hundreds of billions of dollars every year over and above the costs of the official federal outlays that dominate the policy agenda now." Economist Mark Crain roughly estimates that "regulatory compliance costs hit $1.172 trillion in 2008."

But that is not all. "The Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia jointly estimate that agencies spent $49.1 billion to administer and police the 2008 regulatory enterprise."

Adding that to the estimated $1.172 trillion spent to comply with federal regulations makes the total regulatory burden equal to $1.221 trillion, a total that compares to or exceeds "estimated 2008 individual income taxes of $1.2 trillion."

The report explains how regulation can be compared to taxation. Imagine that the government wants, for example, automobiles to be more fuel efficient. Rather than implementing a tax to pay for this, Washington can merely issue regulations that require a certain miles-per-gallon rating. The president and Congress don't need to risk taking blame for trying to pass a new tax, they can just let automakers pass along the cost of regulatory compliance to the consumer.