Here's What Federal Regulations Cost Your Family This Year

Anyone who has ever traveled to Washington, D.C.m knows that as majestic as the White House and the U.S. Capitol are, they are a mere fraction of the federal government. Alphabet soup departments like the EPA, IRS, VA, HHS, DOE, and others most Americans have never heard of take up space in the capital and amount to a hidden regulatory tax on all Americans.

In fact, a new report estimated that if the costs of federal regulation flowed down to U.S. households, the average American family would pay $14,809 annually in a hidden regulatory tax. That's $14,809 in addition to income taxes, state taxes, and Social Security. $14,809 in addition to sales taxes, property taxes, and even estate taxes — where the government taxes you for being dead.

"That amounts to 21 percent of the average income of $69,629 and 26.45 percent of the expenditure budget of $55,978," wrote Clyde Wayne Crews, Jr., vice president for policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in the report "Ten Thousand Commandments" released Wednesday.

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