White House reduces time Americans spend filling out federal paperwork to only 8.8 billion hours a year

They did it by changing the way federal agencies estimate how long it takes to complete their paperwork.

Via Chicago Tribune:

The article reported that the time needed to comply with federal paperwork — that is, the amount of time all of us spend filling out government forms — totaled 8.8 billion hours in fiscal 2010. As The Wall Street Journal's account then offered:

The good news? That's lower than the 9.8 billion hours logged the previous year.

The bad news? The drop is mostly due to a change in how federal agencies estimate how long it takes to complete their paperwork.

Do you see what's happening here? It's as if your dentist breezily declares that on the next visit you'll have less discomfort in her chair — because she now estimates that on the next visit you'll have less discomfort in her chair. Regardless of how much discomfort you in fact will have, isn't that reassuring prediction convenient for the dentist?

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