RULES AND REGULATIONS

From My Perspective - - - 

The Law Librarians of Congress were asked: “How Many Federal Laws Are There?” The reply was given on March 12, 2013. A partial response is: “At the reference desk, we are frequently asked to estimate the number of federal laws in force. However, trying to tally this number is nearly impossible. If you think the answer to this question can be found in the volumes of the Statutes At Large, you are partially correct. The Statutes at Large is a compendium that includes all the federal laws passed by the United States Congress. However, a total count of laws passed does not account for the fact that some laws are completely new; some are passed to amend existing laws; and others completely repeal old laws. Moreover, this set does not include any case law or regulatory provisions that have the force of law.”

The Federal Off ice of Management and Budget categorizes Federal regulations under three primary headings: “(1) Social Regulation: focused on Product Safety; (2) Economic Regulation: prohibits firms from charging prices that might cause harm to other firms or economic groups; and (3) Process Regulations: Paperwork requirements such as income tax, social security, food stamps, or procurement forms.” When the question was posed: How Many Federal Regulations are There?, the response given indicated the following, “…in 1998, the official listing of all regulations in effect, contained a total of 134,723 pages in 201 volumes that claimed 19 feet of shelf space. In 1970, the CFR totaled only 54,834 pages. The General Accountability Office (GAO) reports that in the four fiscal years from 1996 to 1999, a total of 15,286 new federal regulations went into effect. Of these, 222 were classified as "major" rules, each one having an annual effect on the economy of at least $100 million.” This report was fifteen years ago. Rules, Laws, Regulations, Executive Orders and no one can accurately catalog them or give an actual cost to enact them. 

In addition to Laws and Regulations, there are Executive Orders signed by a sitting President. The number of Executive Orders signed by the forty-four Presidents of the United States has now surpassed fourteen thousand orders that impact and supplant laws and regulations already enacted. In some way and at some time, one can only calculate that everyone must’ve unwittingly (and without malice or forethought) violated some government regulation. An example of this is realized annually by everyone when filing an Income Tax Return. One tries to be honest and accurate but all of us are ignorant of what the Tax Code requires. Did you know, that according to the CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter, “as of 2013, it now takes 73,954 regular 81/2” X 11” sheets of paper to explain the complexity of the United States Federal Tax Code.”

When we consider the area of religion, we find considerable discussion and debate about God and His requirements for human behavior. Some argue that it is too strict and narrow, while others shrug it off by generalizing,“we are not under law but under grace.” God’s Law has two major emphases, (1) what man is to believe concerning God, and (2) what duty God requires of mankind. On one occasion, Jesus was in a dialogue with an expert in the law. Luke 10:25-27 is the recorded exchange: “a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying: Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him: What is written in the Law? How do you read it? And the Lawyer answered: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said to him: You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” The Lawyer’s miscalculation was his readiness to nitpick and nuance the Law. What he missed in his processing was that no human being can fulfill all of the Law’s demands. Romans 8:1-4 (NKJV), “There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” This new life and obedience is in Jesus Christ alone. Do you know Him? Have you yielded your life to Him? Consider these things with me.