Mandates

Mandates are requirements imposed on consumers and businesses by bureaucrats and politicians in Washington. Their goal is to force people to engage in a specific type of government-approved behavior.

Yet such mandates profoundly disrupt the individual choice that is central to a prosperous and growing economy.

While mandates can be costly for some businesses, they provide an artificial boost for the companies and special interests favored by Uncle Sam. One example is the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, which mandates that all transportation fuel sold in the United States contain a specified amount of renewable fuels—the vast majority of which is ethanol, made from corn.

This mandate has been big business for farming conglomerates that are harvesting bushels of cash as a result. And while it’s a boon for large farms, this mandate comes with a price tag for American consumers who pay roughly $10 billion annually in additional fuel costs.

Another example is the Obamacare mandate that every health insurance policy covers specific services whether patients use them or not—a rule that drives up costs while benefiting a select few health care companies.

These mandates and many others distort the market, increase costs, decrease choice and reward special interests rather than the American people.