President Obama's Positions on Government Regulations—PICTURES

GENERAL PHILOSOPHY: Obama approaches regulation as a pragmatist. He wants “basic rules of the road” to make the economy more fair, based on the painstakingly thought-out views of Cass Sunstein, the University of Chicago scholar who headed his Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for more than three years. (CAROLYN KASTER/AP)

FINANCIAL/CONSUMER REGULATION: Obama tried to force greater transparency and oversight on Wall Street in the aftermath of the 2008 crash by pushing for the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law, but that stance brought him criticism from both the Right (for creating an overly broad set of rules) and the Left (for not doing enough about the too-big-to-fail problem and for only reluctantly backing tougher provisions such as the “Volcker Rule”). (CAROLYN KASTER/AP)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION: After having failed to enact large-scale regulatory changes—a new global climate-control treaty or even a domestic cap-and-trade law—Obama has settled for smaller-bore rules that fill in gaps, for example by curbing toxic emissions from power plants and by raising fuel-economy standards. (PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP)

CAMPAIGN FINANCE: Obama had one of the most controversial moments of his presidency when, in his 2010 State of the Union speech, he harshly criticized the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision as the justices sat in the House chamber. (CAROLYN KASTER/AP)