At the risk of causing your head to explode at the amount of money absorbed by the government–assuming that the spending has you on the brink already–I give you this tidbit: The cost of regulatory compliance in the US is $1.75 trillion.  This brings the government’s total share of the economy to 35.5% (when added to spending).

Bruce McQuain lays it all out utilizing research from the Competitive Enterprise Institute at the Q&O blog: The Cost of the Regulatory State.  Must read!  McQ puts it this way:

Take a moment to absorb those numbers.  And ponder, for a moment that final percentage.  35.5% of what our economy produces now is related to government spending or compliance to a government regulatory regime.

Here’s a thought – if the government wants to spur economic growth, create jobs and, most likely, increase revenue for government, perhaps a serious – and I mean very serious- look ought to be taken (along with action, please) at the mountain of costly regulations now imposed by said government and a majority of them rolled back.  Over 81,000 pages of regulations, and I’m sure some bureaucrat out there believes everyone of them is necessary.

UPDATE:  An excellent post by J.E. Dyer at Hot Air: Think Big–It’s Our Only Option