THE COST OF WAITING TO DRAIN THE SWAMP IS HIGH
“Drain the swamp!” It was the battle cry of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Many Republican members of Congress echoed that call as well, riding it to victory — and control of both legislative chambers.
The American people rallied around the cry because it reinforced their impression of what Washington had become: a swamp infested with special interest groups and power-hungry bureaucrats.
They rallied, too, because it held the promise of getting our country back on track — by reforming the tax code, repealing Obamacare, cutting spending and eliminating the needless red tape that stifles entrepreneurship and innovation.
But nearly five months into the new Congress and the new administration, precious little draining has occurred. The delay in action is not only frustrating, it’s expensive: With the promised reforms, the U.S. could have created as much as $5 billion per day in economic output. If nothing changes, the swamp will end up costing more than 2 million prospective jobs over the next decade.
Elites argue that piles of regulations and special rules keep everyone safe. But most Americans understand that these policies serve mainly to enrich special interests and keep up-start entrepreneurs from gaining a foothold.
All the regulation keeps new businesses from offering innovative goods and services at lower prices.
All too often, these regulatory schemes not only fail to protect consumers — they create problems. Huge problems, like financial crises and housing busts. And then the elites point to the problems as proof of the need for even further governmental intervention.
The bailouts lead to new programs and federal agencies and, of course, even more rules.
But most Americans don’t want more government. Rather, they want relief from big government so that they can make their own decisions and improve their own communities.
There is plenty of evidence that people thrive more under limited government than under a vastly more intrusive government.
Had the U.S. economy simply stayed on the same trend during the Obama years that it had followed over the previous 25 years, gross domestic product per person would be nearly 10 percent higher than it is now.
Instead, after years of ever-expanding government control and regulation, the economy dropped off a cliff in 2008.
Just getting back on the previous trend would be great, but Americans can do much better. At least three major reforms are now possible that can unleash the power of the American economy.
› Repeal Obamacare
› Shrink regulation
› Reform the tax code Repealing Obamacare, rolling back the regulatory state, and implementing progrowth tax reform would be a big shot in the arm to the U.S. economy. Over the next decade, the cumulative effect of making just those three reforms could boost GDP anywhere from $8 trillion to $18 trillion.
That translates to a cost of between roughly $2 billion and $5 billion for each day that Americans are denied these reforms. In terms of lost jobs, waiting costs nearly 1,000 jobs per day.
Some have said that because any legislative action taken this year wouldn’t take effect until at least Jan. 1, 2018, it doesn’t matter if it happens now or in September. False: The sooner investors and entrepreneurs can see the changes on the horizon, the quicker they can begin taking actions that benefit the economy.
A filled swamp is expensive to maintain. The American people are waiting for Congress to drain it. And the American people should expect their elected representatives to stay in Washington and make the real changes they were elected to do.
Ed Feulner is the president of The Heritage Foundation.