During the 2012 campaign, President Obama often resorted to his favorite substitute for thinking: ridicule. Before enthusiastic audiences (who were assured his re-election would spell a thriving economy and a revived middle class), the president would mock Republicans by suggesting that, “they have the same prescription they’ve had for the past 30 years. … Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning.”

Obama’s prescription, which we are now in a position to evaluate for effectiveness, was the most massive increase in regulation of modern times. There is no industry or economic sector that the Democratic Party does not believe would benefit from badgering interference from Washington. Adding insult, every new regulation is trussed up and presented as “being on the side of the middle class.”