(FORTUNE Magazine) – The Republican platform contains an almost eloquent passage about the evils of government regulation. Headed ''Liberation Through Deregulation,'' it assails the infamous ''iron triangle'' -- special interests, federal bureaucrats, and congressional staffers -- who benefit from regulation and yearn to expand its reach. It explicably fails to mention that Federal Register page counts have risen steadily under Bush. Can it be? Most, alas, assuredly. The Federal Register, in which all new regulations are delineated, was up to almost 68,000 pages in 1991. That figure is more than 25% above the level in Ron's last year; it is also higher than the level in two of the Carter years. The Heritage Foundation, a major conservative think tank whose eminences will doubtless overwhelmingly vote for Bush, has nevertheless begun calling him ''the Reregulatory President.'' In some measure, our favorite Lesser Evil can argue that those soaring page counts represent his arm being twisted by dirigiste Dems. But this argument cannot be pushed too far. Most of the time, on most issues, the President has been able to get his vetoes sustained in Congress. (His recent defeat after vetoing a cable-regulation bill was his first loss in 36 contests.) In any case, it is not too hard to compile lists of major and minor regs, now driving assorted businesspersons crazy, that were not there when the Bushmen came to power -- and that they actively supported. Examples: -- The rule, in the Americans With Disabilities Act, that restaurant owners must provide handicap-access restrooms for employees as well as customers. -- Increasingly restrictive definitions of ''wetlands'' (which are subject to federal control) by the Environmental Protection Agency under zealous Bush appointee William Reilly. If you own land that has standing water for as few as seven days a year, you now come under the definition and cannot build on the property. -- An increase in the minimum wage, from $3.35 to $4.25 an hour. Where Reagan had inflexibly opposed such increases, Bush let himself get involved in arguments about the proper amount and timing of an increase (and ended up retreating from his demand that it take effect over three years -- he settled for two years). -- The principle, in the 1991 Civil Rights Act, that business (and not its accusers) bears the burden of proof when the question is whether employment practices that result in few minority-group members being hired result from ''business necessity.'' -- Rulings by the Department of Justice signaling tough enforcement of antidiscrimination provisions in the 1986 immigration reform act. Many employers have been stunned to learn that the act bars them from preferring an American citizen over an immigrant with a green card, unless the American is at least ''equally qualified'' for the job. DOJ rulings have been telling employers they better have solid data before deciding the American is at least as good. -- The continued extension of antitrust laws to U.S.-based subsidiaries of foreign corporations. DOJ guidelines would now make it possible to bring charges against, say, Honda of America for Sherman Act violations in Japan by the parent company. -- Continued reliance by the Department of Labor on union wage scales as a proxy for the ''prevailing wage'' that must be paid, under the Davis-Bacon Act, in federal construction projects. To be fair to Bush (not to mention Clinton), the Reagan Administration did the same thing. Liberation could take a while.