As your congressman, one of my top priorities is listening to your concerns and needs and being a voice for our community’s priorities in Washington. One message I continue to hear is folks are tired of an unaccountable government that ignores our priorities and oversteps its bounds.

After the clear rejection of his agenda last year, President Obama assured the American people, “I hear you.” He might hear us, but it’s clear he’s not listening.

Look no further than his recent decision to defy the majority of Americans and their representatives in Congress by insisting our country continues to admit Syrian refugees without requiring proper security vetting to make sure we stay safe.

Instead of responding to the will of the American people, President Obama continues to double down on the same failed policies with veto threats, executive action and inefficient and costly red tape. But he’s not just tuning out our priorities; he’s hoping that we’re tuning out what’s going on in Washington.

He quietly released his big-government regulatory agenda the weekend before Thanksgiving. While most folks were focused on their Thanksgiving menus, President Obama was focused on a regulatory menu of his own. This marks at least the sixth time the “most transparent administration in history” has released its regulatory road map on the eve of a major holiday.

While the lack of transparency is troubling, what’s even more concerning is what this agenda would mean for our economy. One look at what’s inside shows why the administration wanted to sweep it under the rug. It’s a regulatory menu stuffed with more job-killing red tape and overflowing with compliance costs — including thousands of regulations and rules, many of which cost more than $100 million each.

From regulatory gut-punches like Obamacare, Dodd-Frank and ever-expanding EPA rules, complying with all federal regulations already costs Americans nearly $2 trillion annually in lost economic growth. While our small businesses and energy producers figure out how to navigate this overregulation, American families will bear the brunt through higher costs.

This is exactly why we need laws like the REINS Act (H.R. 427), which passed the House in July. This common-sense legislation would require any rule or regulation with a significant economic impact to come before Congress for a vote before taking effect. The REINS Act would allow Congress to conduct needed oversight and prevent our bloated bureaucracy from crushing our small businesses with unnecessary costs and empower them to grow, expand and hire people.

My top three priorities have been and will continue to be jobs, jobs and jobs. Getting big government out of the way and enacting regulatory reform through the REINS Act and other pro-growth measures is a pillar of my jobs plan.

At a time when our economy is sputtering along and too many folks are looking for work, the last thing we need is burdensome regulations that raise prices for hardworking families and cost jobs. The president’s unified agenda is a hailstorm of costly regulations from Washington bureaucrats who show little regard for the real-world damage of their new rules on job creation and our economy.

It’s time for the president to stop focusing on securing his legacy and instead focus on the American people’s priorities. Rest assured, I’m committed to putting an end to these job-killing regulations and getting government out of our way. I am listening to your concerns and I will not stop fighting until you have a federal government that listens to them, too.

Rep. Richard Hudson, R-Concord, represents North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Anson County.

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Richard Hudson

Contributing Columnist