Cattlemen like Obama's 'newfound' commitment

... to eliminating what they call "growth-killing" regulations.

From the National Cattlemen's Beef Association:

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association welcomed news that President Obama today, Jan. 18, 2011, signed an Executive Order titled “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review” that seeks to review all federal regulations and eliminate job and growth-killing regulations.

“If there were one word to describe the first two years of President Obama’s Administration, it would be regulation,” NCBA President Steve Foglesong said. “From the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration’s (GIPSA) proposed livestock and poultry marketing rule to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulatory rampage – this Administration’s regulatory agenda to-date won’t just stymie growth in the U.S. beef cattle industry, it could kill the industry as we know it.”

According to a Jan. 18, 2011, article appearing in The Wall Street Journal, President Obama said the Executive Order calls for “a government-wide review” of federal regulations and “to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive.” Additionally, the President said this Executive Order will help ensure the federal government avoids “excessive, inconsistent and redundant regulation” and directs “federal agencies to do more to account for — and reduce — the burdens regulations may place on small businesses.”

Foglesong said this action from the President is reassuring but needs to happen immediately. Specifically, Foglesong said EPA’s dust regulation would essentially make it illegal to drive a truck down a dirt road. He said USDA’s rule on livestock marketing is a perfect example of government overreach into the private marketplace.

“This Executive Order is a step in the right direction for this Administration. NCBA supports common sense regulation based on sound-science that will encourage growth in the industry,” Foglesong said. “Unfortunately, many of the regulations that have been proposed over the past two years will have detrimental impacts on cattle producers’ ability to do their jobs. We look forward to working with the Administration on this new initiative to eliminate job and growth-killing regulations and to move the U.S. economy and the cattle industry in the right direction forward.”

Count me as skeptical of any talk of easing regulatory burdens when the USDA is doing an end-around of Congress by teaching farmers to participate in carbon markets that don't even exist yet.