Nothing against the folks over at the GPO, but we'd rather not rejoice on this, the 70th birthday of the Federal Register.  With over 75,000 pages of redefinitions, regulations and rules, this burdensome bible is a testament to the over-regulatory atmosphere permeating every nook and cranny of our government.

Via the AP:

It has grown with the bureaucracy, from publishing 2,620 pages that first year to printing almost that many pages a week. More than 75,600 pages of rules and regs were published in 2004. ...

It all began with a 16-page register that included rules on the new Social Security system and trade practices for buttons on clothes, and led off with FDR's order that specified new boundaries for the Cape Romain migratory bird refuge, acquired by the U.S. government in Charleston County, S.C.

Today that conservation legacy consists of 64,229 acres devoted to the preservation of barrier-island and salt-marsh habitat for more than 337 species of birds. It offers the largest nesting rookery for brown pelicans, terns and gulls on the South Carolina coast, as well as the largest nesting population of loggerhead sea turtles outside Florida. The refuge also has helped bring back the endangered red wolf.

Ahhh. Well at least the birds are happy.