President Obama is putting the finishing touches on destroying as many businesses as he can via regulation. In seven years, Obama has leapfrogged both Bush and Clinton in the number of regulations issues.

The score currently stands 392 Obama, 358 Bush, and 361 Clinton.

Another 47 regulations are on top of the Obama pile. How many additional regulations Obama can come up with in the next nine months remains to be seen.

The Wall Street Journal reports Obama Readies Flurry of Regulations in an election season that has already been tough on corporate interests.

The Obama administration is racing to make final a flurry of regulations affecting broad swaths of the economy, further riling U.S. businesses in an election season that has already been tough on corporate interests.

Planned moves—across labor, health, finance and the environment—range from overtime pay for white-collar workers to more obscure matters such as requiring food makers to disclose added sugar on cartons of flavored milk.

The expected burst of regulation follows an intense few weeks in which the administration has targeted corporate tax inversions, imposed new rules on brokers and advanced restrictions on company relations with union organizers.

In his first seven years, Mr. Obama issued 392 regulations deemed “major,” meaning each carries an expected economic effect exceeding $100 million annually. Forty-seven more sat on the drawing board for this year. The tally issued already tops the totals during the eight-year tenures of George W. Bush, at 358, and Bill Clinton, at 361, according to an analysis by George Washington University’s Regulatory Studies Center.

If Republicans win the White House and maintain control of Congress, any rule issued by Mr. Obama within 60 legislative days of the end of his term could be overturned. That is because a Democratic president wouldn’t be there to veto a congressional vote to block the regulation.

To issue regulations and still leave 60 legislative days before Mr. Obama’s term ends, he has to issue them by mid-May.

Question of the Day

Does the term “lame duck” realistically apply anymore given the potential damage a president can do by mere decree?

Mike “Mish” Shedlock