OBAMACARE; I told you so

Obamacare is destroying jobs: Plain and simple. And the very middle class that Obama campaigned to “protect” is going to suffer the most as this hammer comes down on the American people and our fragile economy.

Democrats (and of course the mainstream media) have brushed off concerns about Obamacare and maintained a “nothing to see here, just move along” strategy. They can dismiss the problems all they want, but the facts speak for themselves: businesses are making changes to accommodate the government intrusion. Just a few of the nightmares surfaced recently:

• Darden restaurants, owner of Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse, is “experimenting with limiting the hours of some of its workers to avoid health care requirements under the Affordable Care Act when they take effect in 2014″.
• Medtronic warned they would have to cut 1,000 jobs because of Obamacare—and true to their word, they’ve slashed 500 and will eliminate the other 500 jobs next year.
• Kroger is planning on limiting hours of non-exempt employees, a move that could affect tens of thousands of workers.

If any politician is interested in salvaging their integrity and truly looking out for the middle class in America, they will do whatever it takes to defund Obamacare policies, disrupt implementation (especially at the state level) and work on repealing it.

But, typically, Democrats and the mainstream media dismiss these companies as “racist.” Or perhaps even worse, deny there is a problem at all, as when Small Business Administration head (and Obama supporter) Karen Mills recently proclaimed on MSNBC there was no evidence Obamacare was destroying jobs: “You know, I travel all around the country, every week I go to a different part of the country. I’m with small businesses. And I’m not hearing that. “

She said this with a straight face.

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From all angles, this legislation is a nightmare for America. The Heritage Foundation published “The Case Against Obamacare,” a policy series for the 112^th Congress. In it, they outline the many threats Obamacare poses to our society, and our economy, including:

• The mandate to purchase insurance, which violates our liberty
• The myriad taxes coming our way, which will hurt consumers and our economy
• The burdens on businesses, which will destroy jobs
• The insurance benefit mandates, which will raise our premiums and reduce patient choice
• The Medicare cuts, which will damage seniors’ coverage options and jeopardize access
• The government’s role in healthcare and ethics, which will weaken the protection of life and give sacred decision-making authority to the state

And of course there is the “Sandra Fluke” mandate, which will undermine our religious freedom and force everyone to pay for birth control and abortion; and the “death panels” which will be a natural outcome of limited resources and federal oversight.

…And there is the fact, looming just underneath all the other terrible things, that the federal government cannot efficiently or effectively run anything well. Comedian Jon Lovitz made this point in a snarky Twitter comment on November 7^th: “I can’t wait to go to a hospital run by the DMV!”

Health care premiums workers pay have risen 14% since Obamacare passed. Companies are seeking waivers left and right, and many are cutting employee hours or jobs altogether. The private healthcare market is about to experience a complete takeover by the federal government and every American citizen is going to be forced to buy insurance.

And then, there are the taxes. In the next six years, 20 new or higher taxes will hit your wallet … but in January 2013 alone, five major Obamacare taxes will be implemented, including:

• Taxes on medical devices, such as pacemakers, stents, and prosthetic limbs
• A tax that raises the threshold on medical expense deductions
• A surtax on investment income
• A Medicare payroll tax increase

Daniel Horowitz at RedState sums it up:

“If Obamacare is allowed to survive, then our Constitution has no meaning and our Republic is finished. It will engender a takeover of 1/6 of our economy, create permanent dependency, induce unsustainable inflationary pressure on the cost of healthcare and health insurance, and saddle the next generation with crippling debt.”

The fight to repeal it Obamacare may seem irrelevant after the Supreme Court ruling and Obama’s re-election; but, Congress is still in control and we are still in control of them. Sixty percent of Americans disagree with the healthcare takeover, and that is a large enough percentage to join our voices together and fight for repeal.

The American people need to pressure Members of Congress to chip away at Obamacare provisions and interrupt or limit its enforcement as much as possible. This can be done at the federal level, and leaders can also work on the state level, especially with Republican governors, to block implementation. Right now many states are working to stop health care exchanges, which is a good first step toward taking back freedom and control from Obama’s socialist mandates.

Obamacare means a loss of freedom for all Americans and comes with a fiscal price tag well over the $1.15 trillion it will add to federal spending. It is almost criminal to ignore the many consequences of this disaster.