The new CBO Report further underscores a point we have been making for several years\u2014Obamacare hurts employment growth in many ways:<\/p>\n
Strangely, these points continue to elude many Wall Street economists as well as BSE\u2019s (Big Shot Economists) such as Larry \u201cSecular Stagnation\u201d Summers.\u00a0 Or maybe it is not so strange because economists working for big firms and universities have no firsthand experience with Obamacare.\u00a0 Nor do they want firsthand experience; elite universities all have \u201cgrandfathered\u201d healthcare plans that give faculty and staff more choice and higher quality care\u00a0 than Obamacare affords.\u00a0 Obamacare for thee but not for me.\u00a0 How hypocritical.<\/p>\n
A New Barrier to Social Mobility<\/b><\/p>\n
The bigger question is: How should the Republican Party position itself with respect to ObamaCare?\u00a0 I think it needs to characterize ObamaCare as a huge barrier to social mobility for poor and middle class workers.<\/b>\u00a0 This scheme damages both sides of the labor market, simultaneously reducing incentives for Americans to work and for employers to hire.\u00a0 (No wonder the employment population ratio has not improved at all since 2009.)\u00a0 As such, Obamacare increases economic and social inequality in a way that really matters \u2013 people in the lower and lower middle classes are having a harder and harder time getting a well paid job that moves them into the middle class and perhaps eventually much higher.\u00a0 (This is far far more important than a rise in the Gini Coefficient of Inequality caused by Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt or other super-rich folks getting even richer, which has no negative impact on the middle class.)\u00a0 One little-known aspect of this story is that Obamacare does not directly affect large corporations that self-insure<\/b>; it only directly impacts smaller firms that do not self-insure.\u00a0 So Obamacare is the quintessence of elitist crony capitalism.<\/p>\n
Republicans need candidates who can go beyond weak one-liners (\u201cWhere are the jobs?\u201d) to a lucid and compelling explanation of how Obamacare destroys economic opportunity and social mobility.\u00a0 The CBO expose of 2.5 million lost jobs provides a great proof-point for that argument.\u00a0 But it does need to be fleshed out in a complete and compelling explanation, not just a bullet point.\u00a0 To be sure, Republicans are starting to do that.\u00a0 Senator Roy Blunt\u2019s response to Obama\u2019s dreary State of the Union Address was very effective, as was a recent speech by Senator Ted Cruz, discussed in my November 1, 2013 post.<\/p>\n
Copyright Thomas Doerflinger 2014.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The new CBO Report further underscores a point we have been making for several years\u2014Obamacare hurts employment growth in many ways: CBO concludes that the equivalent of nearly 2.5 million jobs will not be filled because if you earn too … Continue reading