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Ben Peck

Ben Peck is the Senior Legislative and Policy Associate at Demos.

Recent Articles

Top Ten Tax Facts

Think you know a lot about government revenue? Think again.

Ben PeckApr 16, 2012
(Flickr/401K)

This piece is the fifth in a six-part series on taxation, and a joint project by The American Prospect and its publishing partner, Demos.

Legislative Stranglehold

Passing the REINS bill would give Republicans the ability to veto any significant new regulations.

Ben PeckDec 08, 2011

With only four Democrats voting for the measure, yesterday the House passed H.R. 10, “Rules from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny” (REINS). If it were to become law, this radical piece of legislation would prohibit all federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Securities and Exchange Commission from minting any new regulations impacting the economy by more than $100 million unless they passed both the U.S. House and Senate within 70 legislative days.

Running Out the Clock on Government Regulations

House bill could hamstring important protections

Ben PeckOct 25, 2011

Tuesday, the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary passed, on a party-line vote, one of the most sweeping attacks in decades on government protections.

The Rules from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) bill would require that any major rule issued by a federal agency be affirmed by a majority vote in both the House and Senate. The vote would have to take place within 70 days. Proponents of the legislation claim that it would lead to improved regulations, but its real effect would be to hamstring government agencies so that rules that do not pass muster with the radical Republicans in the House—say, regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency or the Securities and Exchange Commission—would never be adopted.