The Internet is among the best-known government-funded inventions, but it is not the only one used by Americans. MRI machines, fiber optics, LED lights and even those yellow barrels we all see on the highways and freeways across the country were created using federal government grants.

According to the National Association of Manufacturers, the average manufacturer in the United States pays $19,564 per employee per year to comply with federal government regulations.

As we ease back into the increasingly unfriendly skies, Google has launched a tool to help us all – a flight search engine that tells us the emissions per passenger for that trip. Google is catching up to a reality the airlines and their aircraft and parts manufacturers are coming to realize: Just as governments target passenger vehicle emissions, they are increasingly focused on the aviation industry.

After World War II, Winston Churchill proclaimed, “Never a let a good crisis go to waste.” Many politicians in the U.S. adopted some form of that statement and even more regularly employ this practice to promote their own agendas.

Every Labor Day weekend, the current occupant of the Oval Office makes a speech about the importance of American workers and highlights their efforts to support the average family. Some use the opportunity to make new policy announcements.

At the beginning of the pandemic, hospitals faced a shortage of respirators and consumers a shortage of common household products and electronics to keep them occupied during the lockdowns.

If an American president signs a climate-change agreement, and everyone is around to see it, does it really make a difference? With an election every four years, the answer is not on the international stage.

Shortly after taking office, President Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain issued a regulatory-freeze memo across virtually all agencies. The action is typical of an incoming administration, especially one from the opposing party. The move allows the President’s team to review pending rules, 11th-hour actions and permanent regulations drafted by the previous administration.

Every new President storms into office with bold proclamations about what they will accomplish on “Day One” and proposes an aggressive agenda for their first 100 days in office. In reality, however, the President of the United States is limited in what permanent changes they can accomplish on their own without Congress.

After each election, lobbyists in Washington, D.C., like myself, work with clients to plan their legislative and regulatory agendas based on the outcomes in November. This year, not only did we have to await the results of two Senate runoff elections in Georgia, but the winners on January 5 realigned power in Washington and with it upended the agendas of businesses across the country.