Bayh, Card to tour U.S. in Chamber campaign against regulations

Former Senator Evan Bayh and former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card will tour the U.S. in a campaign by the Chamber of Commerce urging small businesses to fight regulations they say are stunting job growth.

Bayh, a Democrat from Indiana, and Card, who worked for Republican President George W. Bush, said Wednesday they will visit states including Georgia, Illinois, West Virginia and Wisconsin to showcase pending federal regulations and seek reactions and suggestions.

Since President Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, regulations have been implemented at a rate about 50 percent higher than under his predecessors, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Chamber, the nation’s largest business group.

“As the country emerges from one of the most serious economic downturns in recent history, the last thing we need are more regulations that impose heavy burdens on job creations,” Bayh told reporters in Washington. Bayh and Card are paid representatives, according to the Chamber.

Obama has started an initiative to review existing rules to make sure they aren’t too onerous on businesses. The White House said in May that 30 U.S.agencies will repeal or modify regulations, including those governing vapor recovery systems at gas stations and labeling mandates for hazardous materials.

The Dodd-Frank overhaul of the financial industry has led to more than 500 new regulations, while the new health-care law has given authority to 159 new agencies, commissions and panels that operate without accountability, according to Bruce Josten. the Chamber’s executive vice president for government affairs.

While Josten, Bayh, and Card said they understood the need for regulation, they said adding to the burden, as with the rules for Dodd-Frank, will slow job creation and lead to U.S. industry moving overseas.

“I’m not sure what’s the right number,” Josten said. “But that’s too many.”