It's not abortion, gay marriage or tax rates for millionaires, but government regulation is shaping up as an enduring issue to help mark off the political battleground.
The topic is not new. Bloomberg News reported last week that President Barack Obama's White House has approved fewer federal regulations than that of George W. Bush at this point in their tenures, although the average annual cost to businesses is higher under Obama.
Even that cost amounts to at most three one-hundredths of a percent of the total economy. But a persistently high unemployment rate is ramping up the rhetoric about how regulatory legislation is passed, interpreted and enforced.
Republicans, in particular, are sensing its resonance as a hot button.
The party's presidential candidates have tried to stoke anti-government sentiment during their circuit of televised debates with the irrational-regulations theme.
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