????保守派堅信，奧巴馬總統為了堅持大政府主義，以最快的速度給企業施加了多道“緊箍咒”。米特?羅姆尼在競選期間曾多次借此發起攻勢，聲稱在過去四年，政府制定的規章數量翻了兩番。這不符合事實：最近的統計數據表明，在任期的頭42個月里，奧巴馬批準的規章數略多于布什總統在第一個任期內批準的規章數，略少于布什總統在第二個任期內批準的規章數。

????但是現在，保守派對奧巴馬的討伐又有了新的口實，因為奧巴馬在步入第二個任期之際已經明確表示，將通過監管命令實現自己的施政意圖。國會山的反對黨不能容忍。所以在這個時候，奧巴馬的第一任監管一把手正應該站出來解釋政府規章制度背后的哲學依據。凱斯?桑斯坦是奧巴馬在芝加哥大學法學院（University of Chicago Law School）任教期間的朋友，過去四年里一直擔任白宮信息與管制事務辦公室（Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs，以下簡稱OIRA）主任。這個職位雖然職責模糊，但權力極大，無論是制定燃油效率標準、重新設計食物金字塔這樣的小事，還是醫療改革、華爾街改革這樣的大事，桑斯坦都能插上一腳。

????桑斯坦把他的辦公室當成了試驗田，用來試驗他所推崇的“自由派家長主義”（libertarian paternalism）——“自由派家長主義”從字面上看有些自相矛盾，但卻是通過特定的選擇架構，引導人們做出對自己有利的明智之舉，而不是僅憑一時沖動做出對自己有害的錯誤選擇。（比方說一家超市要是想鼓勵消費者養成健康的飲食習慣，就可以把水果和蔬菜擺在前排顯眼的位置，把垃圾食品擺到后排的角落。）

????桑斯坦的理論依據是行為經濟學。近幾年，行為經濟學顛覆了幾個世紀以來的傳統觀念。傳統觀念認為，人是按照理性行事的。在不受任何約束的情況下，人會做對自己最有利的事情。行為經濟學雖然已經有強有力的科學依據，但要把它運用到政策領域，還是會在某些方面引起爭議。詆毀它的人紛紛把老大哥搬出來說事。格倫?貝克更是因此給桑斯坦扣上了帽子，說他是“美國最危險的人”。

????It's an article of faith among conservatives that President Obama scratches his itch for bigger government by imposing job-killing rules on businesses as fast as his administration can dream them up. Mitt Romney invoked it frequently on the campaign trial, asserting that regulations had quadrupled over the last four years. That's not true: Onerecent tally found that through the first 42 months of his term, Obama approved slightly more rules than President George W. Bush did in his second term and slightly fewer than in his first.

????But the charge is gaining renewed currency as Obama embarks on his second term with a declared intent to accomplish by regulatory fiat what the opposition on Capitol Hill won't allow. So it's an auspicious moment for Obama's first-term regulatory czar to drop his latest attempt at explaining the philosophy behind that rulemaking. Cass Sunstein, a friend of Obama's from his University of Chicago Law School days, spent the last four years running the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). It's an obscure but exceedingly powerful perch that enabled Sunstein to put his imprint on everything from fuel efficiency standards and the redesign of the food pyramid to the rules for the landmark health care and Wall Street overhauls.

????Sunstein used his office as a laboratory for his brand of "libertarian paternalism" -- his self-described and seemingly paradoxical approach to structuring prompts for people that promote their welfare by protecting them from their more self-destructive impulses. (Think of a supermarket that encourages healthy eating by displaying fruits and vegetables in the front of the store while relegating junk food to the back.)

????Sunstein's approach is built on behavioral economics, which in recent years has upended centuries of belief that individuals are rational actors who will act in their own best interest left to their own devices. The science behind behavioral economics is largely established, but applying it in the policy realm remains controversial in some quarters. Detractors conjure Big Brother, a specter that inspired Glenn Beck to label Sunstein "the most dangerous man in America."