Some jobs are harder than others -- selling snowshoes in Jamaica, for instance, or swimsuits in the Antarctic. Yet either of those jobs would be a snap compared to selling paper products to Congress.

Last year the Architect of the Capitol needed to buy paper towels and toilet paper for congressional rest rooms. Sounds simple. Americans stock up on paper products all the time. But in Washington, D.C., nothing’s that easy.

Before buying anything, the architect’s office had to describe specifically what it wanted and how the products should be delivered. Federal requirements stipulate that “the minimum thickness of 12 single plies of the paper towel material provided shall be 0.070 inch when measured under an applied pressure of 0.5 psig.”

Plus, “the rate of absorption of paper towel material provided shall not be greater than 20 seconds for the absorption 0.1 millileter of water on any representative sample of paper towel as submitted.” Got that? Oh, and for the toilet paper, “the tissue shall be substantially free from shieves, specks, holes, wrinkles and other imperfections in accordance with the requirement of Interim Federal Specification UU-P-00556K dated January 10, 1978 for Type I, Grade A toilet tissue.” Nothing but the best will do, apparently.

These requirements filled 32 pages. Oh, and for anyone who hopes to break into the paper-supply business, your government has some helpful advice. “The contractor is encouraged to submit paper documents, such as offers, letters, or reports, that are printed or copied double-sided on recycled paper and meet minimum content standards.” Indeed. We wouldn’t want to waste any more paper than is necessary.

Of course, paper products matter little in the grand scheme of things. But they’re a useful canary in the coal mine of public policy. The trouble they warn of here is that there are, simply, too many federal laws and regulations.

The Code of Federal Regulations for 2006 had 144,040 pages. Our federal government is so awash in regulations that The Washington Post runs a regular column devoted solely to “The Regulators.”

Consider one of the ways convoluted federal laws and regulations affect your life: through taxes. Continued...