People have asked why I would vote for Donald Trump, because I’ve been quite clear that I’m not a fan of his personality – I don’t like his tweeting and I certainly don’t like his tendency to call people names. I know I’m not alone, so I’d like to mention some reasons why I’m voting for him anyway. As I wrote up my reasons, I realized that the post became so long that I need to break it up a bit. It’s in three sections, each with a different topic. The first post is about regulatory reform.
Regulatory reform – One month after taking office, President Trump wrote an executive order that required agencies to roll back the heavy regulatory burden on companies. The rule was that for every regulation enacted, the agency had to do away with others. The goal was 2:1, but they were able to sometimes remove as many as 8 regulation for every one that was enacted. No President before had cared enough about the burdens placed on everyday people. President Trump did.
I know someone who worked with agencies to do this, and I asked him for some specific examples. Here they are in his own words (Thank you, Apollo!):
1. Getting permits to harvest burned-out forests. I was told (by just about everyone) that it took between 27-40 months to get a permit to harvest burned out trees from a forest fire…with every day lost, the less usable timber in the land. Just getting the USDA to follow its own regulations, getting a modification to SEPA, changing time limit requirements/etc has made a difference. I have been told that these permits now take 12-15 months (still far too long, but headed in the right direction.) The most important part of that process is that the on-the-ground folks who wanted the process better did it-they brought forward ideas. This had not happened with the federal government before. The president’s 2:1 (which is more like 8:1) in regulations where the new regulation has to be offset by a cost modification in existing regulations so that there is no net increase in cost/burdens to the public. Promise made, promise kept.
2. Hand Sanitizer – it was illegal for distilleries to make hand sanitizer and alcohol-based cleaners. They could use the alcohol to clean the distillery but not to clean a restaurant or even a bathroom in a restaurant at the distillery. That has been changed.
3. Pecan Farms – Instead of filing how many pecans leave a farm every 5 days, the farmers have to do it every 10 days (I wish it were monthly…but I’ll take it). No big deal? That saved about 18,000 hours annually.
4. Previously, if an agency increased burdens or costs to the business, it just did it. “We need you to fill out this form that ‘only’ will take 30 minutes (2 hours)”… But because of President Trump’s direction, if they add this “30 minute” form, they need to find another form (or some similar cost savings) and cut it.
5. Hundreds and hundreds of things. Little things like this all over the country that have saved businesses millions of hours and the revenue that goes along with paying the personnel to fulfill the requirements.
6. If you want to learn more, here are the regulations that were identified and waived to get the resources we needed during COVID – https://bit.ly/3lXzcil
