They hate that.

                Successful businesses are very good at managing their cash flow. And companies want to be prepared, as best they can, for what might happen next. So they watch their cash reserves, knowing that might be the lifeboat that will keep them from sinking if conditions turn bad.

                Recently, I participated in a roundtable discussion on the economy with a half-dozen people who worry about payrolls and what gremlin or opportunity might be waiting around the corner.

                They are successful CEOs, all of them women, and all of them concerned about the future. Their businesses are quite diverse: high tech, insurance, health care, energy, and data.

                Their concerns are about a rising tide of government regulations that change the rules and make planning for the future nearly impossible.

                The U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that federal regulations cost the economy $1.75 trillion annually.

 Over the first two years of President Obama’s term, executive branch agencies have published 112 regulations that would have an economic impact of at least $100 million annually.  And, that’s just the beginning. 

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires or authorizes hundreds of new rules, and it has been estimated that implementing Obamacare will lead to the production of 10,000 pages of new regulations. 

While the economic impact of all of these rules and regulations will differ, the cumulative effect will add to overall costs of complying with federal regulations.       

             In an effort to ease the regulatory burden on our nation’s job creators, the House recently passed the REINS Act, which stands for Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny. This bill would require Congress to vote to approve new regulations that would have an economic impact of $100 million or more. 

I was proud to co-sponsor the bill.

Congress does not create jobs or economic growth.  We can however, work to create an environment that encourages those things. 

After my afternoon with the women CEOs, I am more convinced than ever that passage of the REINS act is a step in the right direction.