The pattern of the Obama administration backing down after some of its more extreme regulatory measures attract attention has been the subject of earlier coverage here. Examples include the mandatory automobile back-up camera rule, the ban of all cellphone use, even hands-free, while driving, the ban on 100 watt incandescent light bulbs, the NLRB's action preventing Boeing from opening a factory in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, and the IRS's cumbersome Form 1099 requirement as part of Obamacare. The latest example is that the Department of Labor has shelved its plan to ban children under 18 from helping with farm chores.
I suppose one can credit the Obama administration for knowing when to admit it is wrong, but one also has to wonder what it says about the administration, or the bureaucracy, that it constantly tosses out these ideas only to have them overruled. Imagine all the bad press the administration could save itself if these ideas were shut down at some earlier stage before they became official proposals, and all the time and money that could be saved if the people who sit around dreaming up these overreaches were given the opportunity to seek more productive work in the private sector.