2012 Presidential Election

[bcort]

Anyways, I guess some don't really care if our country goes further down the drain. I thought this article was interesting. I don't know anything about the author, so feel free to call him a conservative pawn, Damage.

How ObamaCare will keep unemployment high — by forcing small companies to cut their workforce to fewer than 50 people
By MICHAEL TANNER

hortly after Nov. 6, Zane Tankel, who runs 40 Applebee’s restaurants in the New York City area, announced that his company was freezing employment and would not build any new restaurants. President Obama’s re-election, Tankel explained, meant that ObamaCare was likely to be fully implemented, costing his company millions of dollars and significantly raising the cost of hiring a worker.

Tankel’s statement prompted outrage and threats of a boycott, but he was far from alone. Already John Schnatter, CEO of Papa John’s Pizza, has announced that he would likely lay off some workers. Earlier, Schnatter said that ObamaCare would cost his business $5 billion to $8 billion annually, forcing him to increase the price of pizzas.

Meanwhile, two other restaurant chains, Olive Garden and Red Lobster, are moving many of their employees from full- to part-time work in order to avoid the law’s mandate that anyone working more than 30 hours must have insurance. An owner of 40 Denny’s in Florida, meanwhile, says he’ll add a 5% surcharge to customer bills in 2014 to cover his increased costs.

While restaurants, with traditionally low profit margins and large numbers of low-skilled, low-wage workers, are exceptionally vulnerable to ObamaCare’s costs, other business are being hit too. For example, Boston Scientific has announced that it will now lay off up to 1,400 workers and shift some jobs to China.

And Dana Holdings, an auto-parts manufacturer with more than 25,000 employees, says it to is exploring ObamaCare-related layoffs.

These, and countless other employers across the country, are not doing an impression of Montgomery Burns. They are simply responding to economic reality.

Under ObamaCare, employers with 50 or more full-time workers must provide health insurance for all their workers, paying at least 65% of the cost of a family policy or 85% of the cost of an individual plan. Moreover, the insurance must meet the federal government’s requirements in terms of what benefits are included, meaning that many businesses that offer insurance to their workers today will have to change to new, more expensive plans.

ObamaCare’s rules make expansion expensive, particularly for the 500,000 US businesses that have fewer than 100 employees.

Suppose that a firm with 49 employees does not provide health benefits. Hiring one more worker will trigger the mandate. The company would now have to provide insurance coverage to all 50 workers or pay a tax penalty.

In New York, the average employer contribution for employer-provided insurance plans, runs from $4,567 for an individual to $ 12,748 for a family. Many companies will likely choose to pay the penalty instead, which is still expensive — $2,000 per worker multiplied by the entire workforce, after subtracting the statutory exemption for the first 30 workers. For a 50-person company, then, the tax would be $40,000, or $2,000 times 20.

That might not seem like a lot, but for many small businesses that could be the difference between survival and failure.

Under the circumstances, how likely is the company to hire that 50th worker? Or, if a company already has 50 workers, isn’t the company likely to lay off one employee? Or cut hours and make some employees part time, thus getting under the 50 employee cap? Indeed, a study by Mercer found that 18% of companies were likely to do exactly that. It’s worth noting that in France, another country where numerous government regulations kick in at 50 workers, there are 1,500 companies with 48 employees and 1,600 with 49 employees, but just 660 with 50 and only 500 with 51.

New York City’s small business could be particularly hard hit. Of the 238,851 city firms included in a state Department of Labor survey, 96% had fewer than 50 employees. How many of them, given the chance to expand, will look at the mandate and decide they’d rather keep their small business small?

Overall, according to the Congressional Budget Office, ObamaCare could end up costing as many as 800,000 jobs.

The election showed us that ObamaCare is likely to be with us for quite some time. Unfortunately, a great many workers are about to find out the consequences of that decision.

Michael Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

I think the blip about France is the first time it's been posted here. Pretty interesting.

[cavman]

I suppose that's a good way to look at things. However, for those that the fiscal cliff and sequestration affects-read: all of us- should in fact be worked up that our government is worrying about anything else. Democrat or Republican, there is one thing we need to get done right now. It's not a trip to Asia.

And I don't disagree. They have to work on the fiscal cliff. On Jan 1st I may have a totally different opinion. Congress must work with the president, they have to look good for the next election. I just think that they will sort it out, so really I don't want to get angry about it yet. If we go over the cliff? I will be the first in line pointing my finger at Obama. He has said the buck stops with him.

[JiggleIt]

Cortell...what does getting upset about these things achieve?

[cavman]

Apathy is the right way to go with politics IMO. cavman has the right idea for getting the right things done in his own life while the bullshit artists in charge make decisions that will affect us but that we can really do nothing about past filling in a circle every four years.

Kudos to cavsman so long as he's redirecting the apathy as positive energy in his own life.

I got so worked up from 2001 to 2012 that I forgot about my health. I feel like I went from 18 to 65 over night. I was a guy who in 2004 was screaming about 9/11 being an inside job. I was crazy. I blamed Bush for the worlds problems, and my problems. I felt like I had no control over my life, and that I added zero value to the country. I blamed government. It took me a long to see that life is what you make of it, and that some things are just the way they are. I have something to offer now, even if the ACA is trashed one day and once again I have no health insurance there is one thing that I can never lose. That is knowledge. Knowledge of adult life for a person born with a disability. There are no shortages of people with children like me that want to hear from me and what I know. That is where I can change the world. One very small niche. I'm going to die one day knowing that I helped parents with children with disabilities make better decisions with the long term care their children will need. Don't get me wrong though. I'm still passionate about healthcare reform and I will always defend it, I'm just not in the streets with signs arguing with people who will never agree with me on it anymore.

[bcort]

Cortell...what does getting upset about these things achieve?

I suppose getting upset isn't the right thing to do. I just don't know how these are the people leading us, and the people don't even seem to care.

[Kiddo]

I suppose getting upset isn't the right thing to do. I just don't know how these are the people leading us, and the people don't even seem to care.

Blind leading the blind. Soon as he is elected he goes on a tour. We are screwed. What a bullshitter

[cavman]

Blind leading the blind. Soon as he is elected he goes on a tour. We are screwed. What a bullshitter

I would agree with you if he was the only president ever to go on tour.

[bcort]

I would agree with you if he was the only president ever to go on tour.

The problem is not that he's doing it; it's when he's doing it.

[cavman]

The problem is not that he's doing it; it's when he's doing it.

How do you know that he is not communicating with people to work on the fiscal cliff deal? Just because he is over seas does not mean everything comes to a halt.

[Northstar]

Anyways, I guess some don't really care if our country goes further down the drain. I thought this article was interesting. I don't know anything about the author, so feel free to call him a conservative pawn, Damage.



I think the blip about France is the first time it's been posted here. Pretty interesting.

I think a lot of businesses are going to end up not providing any health care and just go ahead and pay the penalty.

[KI4MVP]

Most businesses already provide healthcare. The numbers I saw we're 90% of big buisiness and 60% of small businesses. And under Obamacare, small businesses under 50 full time employees are exempt from the requirement.

[bcort]

How do you know that he is not communicating with people to work on the fiscal cliff deal? Just because he is over seas does not mean everything comes to a halt.

He sure as shit better be. But, I thought that was already assumed. One doesn't go overseas because being there in person means you care about it a lot more, and it puts a lot more pressure on Congress to get it done.

[Malt]

He sure as shit better be. But, I thought that was already assumed. One doesn't go overseas because being there in person means you care about it a lot more, and it puts a lot more pressure on Congress to get it done.

Obama's presidency has been... quizzical, I guess would be the world. It's impossible for me to understand his thought process and methodology. That said, there's nothing he can do to put "more pressure" on congress to come out with some budget plan. They are all grown ups and know what's at stake. Hell, as divisive as Obama's presidency has been, perhaps the best way to ensure a bipartisan membership is to get the hell out of the country.

That must be it. Maybe I'm starting to see the light.

[Doc Shakalou]

Obama's presidency has been... quizzical, I guess would be the world. It's impossible for me to understand his thought process and methodology. That said, there's nothing he can do to put "more pressure" on congress to come out with some budget plan. They are all grown ups and know what's at stake. Hell, as divisive as Obama's presidency has been, perhaps the best way to ensure a bipartisan membership is to get the hell out of the country.

That must be it. Maybe I'm starting to see the light.

Honestly what I think it is is that he realizes that he's in a position of strength. He just got re-elected campaigning on tax raises for the wealthy, he has a mandate. The other thing is I don't think a lot of Dems view the fiscal cliff as that bad of a scenario. All it really means is a return to the Clinton tax rates. If that happens they just pass some bills lowering rates for the middle and lower classes. I'm not saying going over the cliff is a good idea by any means, I'm just saying I don't think the Dems view it as negatively as the GOP.

The Republicans have to worry about re-election, Obama does not.

[cavman]

Honestly what I think it is is that he realizes that he's in a position of strength. He just got re-elected campaigning on tax raises for the wealthy, he has a mandate. The other thing is I don't think a lot of Dems view the fiscal cliff as that bad of a scenario. All it really means is a return to the Clinton tax rates. If that happens they just pass some bills lowering rates for the middle and lower classes. I'm not saying going over the cliff is a good idea by any means, I'm just saying I don't think the Dems view it as negatively as the GOP.

The Republicans have to worry about re-election, Obama does not.

The problem with the cliff is people are fed up with these guys not working together. If we go over the cliff it's just more partisan bullshit. I'm afraid the Dems may want to go over just to make the republicains look bad for the next elections so they have a better chance to flip the house. I think everyone has a chance to be flexible here and come to a real bi-partisan solution. Lets get ourselves on a steady path with less uncertainty and we may start to add a lot more jobs. If we can't do that, then for the next 2 years businesses will wait to see how the house elections go.