This article wasn't meant to be funny, but it reads like a day in the life of Atlas Shrugged. The authors are writing about the difficulty of supply chain operations because of the web of loony regulatory groups overseeing every single aspect of their business.

Mention import/export regulation, and we immediately think of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But that's only the starting point. Import and export operations are governed by a complex tangle of laws and regulations overseen by as many as 12 agencies or divisions of the federal government, including the Department of State; Directorate of Defense Controls; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and Department of Energy.

The situation on the foreign trade regulatory front has been in flux for the past five years. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, prompted both an organizational reshuffling—Customs, long an arm of the Department of the Treasury, is now part of the Department of Homeland Security—and a spate of new security-related legislative initiatives. These include the Container Security Initiative (CSI), the Trade Act of 2002, the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, and C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism). Just recently, Congress adopted new legislation that demands closer inspection of both air and ocean cargo.

...Beyond OSHA, the Department of Labor (DOL) covers almost every imaginable aspect of life in the workplace, from the minimum wage to pensions and benefits, including workers compensation, progressive discipline, and overtime. (These, too, are also covered by agencies in the individual states.) The DOL also oversees provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act.

In addition, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) governs how you can employ—or not employ—people who are not U.S. citizens. And the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces the federal laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring and firing.

And don't forget the EPA and the FDA that micromanage our air, water, and food. Even Orwell couldn't have fully comprehended and fictionalized this business environment.