Guess What? Those Rules SAVE $$$

From a New York Times editorial of Oct. 1, 2003, titled "Rules that Work":

The Bush administration has spent the better part of three years weakening federal regulations and belittling their value.

Now, from a most unlikely source - the fervently anti-regulatory Office of Management and Budget - comes persuasive evidence that the health and social benefits of these rules greatly outweigh their costs.

In a report issued last week, the budget office said that an examination of 107 major rules finalized over the last 10 years found quantifiable benefits of between $146 billion and $230 billion, compared with costs of $36 billion to $42 billion.

Of particular interest was the finding that just four clean air rules administered by the Environmental Protection Agency - all challenged at one time or another by industry - accounted for a big chunk of the benefits.