Regulations Spiked During Obama's First Term

Government regulations increased more in President Barack Obama's first term than they did in George W. Bush's second, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service.

Congress' research arm found that more than 13,000 finalized rules were added to the Federal Register from 2009-2012, while fewer than 12,400 rules were made final from 2005-2008, almost a 5 percent increase, The Hill reports.

The largest increase took place during Obama's first three years in office. There was a drop in 2012, with the fewest finalized rules in 15 years at 2,482, the report said.

However, the list of pending regulations was longer in 2012 than at any time since 1994, according to the CRS report.

The Heritage Foundation reported last week that the Democratic president's first-term regulations cost the government $70 billion. But The Hill noted the White House claim that new regulations in both the Obama and Bush years resulted in benefits worth $800 billion, far outdistancing the cost of implementing them.

The report said 330 "major" rules were finalized in Obama's first term compared with 266 similar rules finalized in Bush's second. "Major" rules are defined as those with an economic impact of $100 million or more.