The distant dystopian future: 2017.
Donald Trump is president. January 30th, 2017: He issues an executive order requiring that for every one new regulation issued, at least 2 prior regulations must be eliminated.
Many years later, the last 24 government regulations remain. You are a corrupt politician. Curry as much favor with the most powerful lobbyist groups as you can by removing regulations that hurt them, and leave regulations that help them.