The business community is praising President Obama's new regulatory initiative, while retaining a degree of skepticism that meaningful change will come.
Obama rolled out a plan this morning to minimize the burdens of regulation on businesses, introducing it in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Obama said the administration will seek input from businesses, and he issued a memo and executive order requiring executive agencies to review existing regulations and make compliance info searchable online.
"We welcome President Obama's intention to issue an executive order today restoring balance to government regulations," said Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's most prominent business group.
"While a positive first step, a robust and globally competitive economy requires fundamental reform of our broken regulatory system. Congress should reclaim some of the authority it has delegated to the agencies and implement effective checks and balances on agency power," Donohue continued, in a statement issued by the group.
Health care and financial reform should be examined as well, Donohue said: "No major rule or regulation should be exempted from the review, including the recently enacted health care and financial reform laws."