Senator Ricketts’ Weekly Column: Closing the Book on President Biden’s Record of Failures

This week, America is closing the book on President Biden’s record of failures. His policies gave our country high prices and overregulation. The American dream became less attainable for hardworking families. Biden’s overspending, bureaucratic overreach, and anti-energy policies caused this. I’m working with President Trump to cut the red tape and provide relief.

The Biden administration’s reckless, partisan spending sent inflation through the roof. Consumer prices have increased more than 20%. Families are now paying over $13,000 per year for the same quality of life they had when he took office. Wages haven’t kept up. Put simply, this means Nebraskans are worse off economically than they were four years ago. 

The Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) attacked American energy production in favor of Green New Deal policies. EPA Bureaucrats disregarded Nebraska biofuels in favor of delusional EV mandates. They pushed regulations like the “Clean Power Plan,” which would lead to the closure of power plants across the country. They pushed a new “Waters of the United States” rule which tried to claim farm ponds and drainage ditches were “navigable waters.”  

Biden cancelled oil and gas lease sales, preventing American companies from utilizing our natural resources. And in the closing weeks of his failed administration, he banned new oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal waters. This anti-energy record meant higher energy prices for hardworking Americans. 

Overregulation also raised prices for families and job-creators. In just four years, the Biden administration finalized over 5,000 new regulations. This year alone, over 100,000 pages of new rules were finalized. That’s the most pages of new rules in our nation’s history. Stacked on top of one another, they would be 33 feet tall. That’s as tall as a three-story building. 

This flood of federal regulations cost families and slowed economic growth. One estimate found that families would pay an extra $3,300 per year for as long as Biden’s regulations continued to exist. Another study estimated they would impose $1.7 trillion in cumulative costs on our economy. This includes adding over 300 million man-hours of new compliance costs for businesses and consumers. That’s a crazy amount of new paperwork. Small businesses and American families paid the price.  

Overregulation accounts for nearly 25% of the cost of a single-family home. For a typical apartment development, it’s even worse. Regulations account for 40% of the cost. These unnecessary rules make it harder and more expensive to build homes. That means fewer families can achieve the American dream.  

Nebraskans understand the importance of hard work. We understand the importance of living within our means. We decide priorities to balance our pocketbooks. Nebraska families deserve better than to be buried in higher costs and red tape.  

Relief is coming. Under President Trump and Republican leadership, America will get back to innovating instead of regulating. We will support markets instead of mandates. We will cut taxes, unleash American energy, and cut the red tape. We will support job-creators. And we will make the American dream more attainable for hardworking families. 

The days of high prices and overregulation are ending. The revival of American prosperity is about to begin. Let’s get to work.