For the last 35 years, educators and analysts at The Heritage Foundation have been intimately involved in the nation’s great public policy debates. In all that time, we have never encountered legislation with such far-reaching and revolutionary policy implications as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act currently before Congress. And never have we seen a bill more cloaked in secrecy or more withdrawn from open public exposure and honest debate.

In addition to being the single most expensive bill ever proposed, this measure calls for a massive expansion of the federal government’s reach into the day-to-day life of virtually every citizen, business and civic organization in the nation. That, in itself, should be the subject of an extensive public conversation and thoughtful debate. Instead, we have seen Congressional leaders schedule snap votes on a 1,434-page bill that no one — repeat, no one — has had a chance to read in its entirety, much less digest and deliberate.

This bill has been advertised as an economic stimulus bill — despite the fact that the Congressional Budget Office estimates it will actually weaken our nation’s long-term economic growth. While the stimulative utility of the bill is, at best, questionable, it would unquestionably rewrite the social contract between the American people and their government. For example:

• The bill reverses the bipartisan and highly successful welfare reforms of 1996 and drastically expands the welfare state. For instance, it will start rewarding states for adding people to their welfare rolls, rather than for helping them find gainful employment. And contrary to long-established practice, it will entitle able-bodied adults without children to receive cash assistance.
• It does extreme violence to the concept of federalism—bailing out states that have spent irresponsibly at the expense of taxpayers in states that have been fiscally prudent.
• It greatly shifts the responsibility and power over health care delivery and decision making from individuals to government. Among other things, it would create a new federal health board to decide which medical services are “effective” in America, paving the way for government effectively to overrule the clinical decisions of private physicians.
• It deliberately censors religious speech and worship on school campuses by prohibiting use of any “stimulus” funds for facilities that are used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school of divinity.

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President-elect Barack Obama’s advisers have indicated that his administration will impose startling and unprecedented regulations on the economy.

The Obama administration would act quickly to implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed controls on carbon dioxide, which amount to a massive new energy tax. Why do they want to move so quickly? They say their rules are in response to the dangers posed by global warming.

But the truth is that these rules would hurt Americans by driving up gas prices, food prices, transportation costs, and the price of manufactured goods. This greatly outweighs the negligible benefits the regulations might provide the environment.

This intrusive regulation will cost the American economy nearly $7 trillion dollars in lost GDP in just 20 years, and result in massive job losses. Heritage’s respected Center for Data Analysis estimates non-farm employment losses will exceed 800,000 in some years, and manufacturing jobs will plummet. Some industries would lose over half of their jobs. (Some liberals claim that environmental legislation such as this could add “green” jobs, but these new jobs would be offset by larger losses elsewhere.)

Government permits would be needed to expand small businesses and build homes, hospitals and schools. To add insult to injury, foreign competitors will not have to abide by these regulations, leaving American businesses at a disadvantage.

In times of economic uncertainty, the last thing American workers, consumers, and families need is more tedious regulation and costly obstacles engineered to limit and tax American economic growth.

That’s why I’m asking for your help. Visit StopEPA.com today to tell the bureaucrats at the EPA what you think about these disastrous regulations.

The EPA’s deadline for comments is just eight days away on Nov. 28. Your voice for economic freedom will make a real difference in this fight.