Democrats Fret Over Job-Killing Obamacare Tax Hikes, Regulations

Buyer’s Remorse, Already? Democrats Fret Over Job-Killing ObamaCare Tax Hikes, Regulations
As Nation’s Employers Prepare to Take a Hit, New Nat’l Survey Shows Most Americans Want Republicans to “Keep Fighting” Gov’t Takeover of Health Care

Washington, Mar 25 - Democratic governors experiencing the first pangs of buyer’s remorse. A major Midwest manufacturer – and President Obama’s economic bellwether – projecting crushing first quarter losses. Small businesses grappling with the prospect of closing their doors. The first new piece of red tape. A phony abortion executive order signed behind closed doors. A growing grassroots revolt in the states.

So goes the first full day of President Obama’s massive government takeover of health care. It’s no wonder, then, that a new national survey shows that nearly 2 in 3 Americans want Republicans to keep challenging this unaffordable, job-killing health care law. In a Des Moines Register op-ed in advance of President Obama’s visit to Iowa City today, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) lays out the case for repealing ObamaCare and replacing it with reforms focused first on lowering costs for families and businesses.

This new CBS News survey shows that nearly 2 in 3 Americans “want Republicans in Congress to continue to challenge parts of the health care reform bill”:



“The poll finds that 62 percent want Congressional Republicans to keep challenging the bill, while 33 percent say they should not do so. Nearly nine in ten Republicans and two in three independents want the GOP to keep challenging. Even 41 percent of Democrats support continued challenges. … They have also held relatively firm in their perceptions of how the bill will affect them. Sixteen percent say the bill will "mostly help," while 35 percent say it will ‘mostly hurt.’ … 57 percent of those surveyed, including most Republicans and independents, say the bill will increase the deficit. Just 18 percent say it will decrease the deficit.”






If its first full day is any indication, there are plenty of good reasons to keep fighting ObamaCare:

• Buyer’s remorse, already? Democratic governors alarmed by ObamaCare tax hikes, regulations: “A dire warning from Bay State medical-device companies that a new sales tax in the federal health-care law could force their plants - and thousands of jobs - out of the country has rattled Gov. Deval Patrick, a staunch backer of the law and pal President Obama. ‘This bill is a jobs killer,’ said Ernie Whiton, chief financial officer of Chelmsford’s Zoll Medical Corp., which employs about 650 people in Massachusetts. … ‘I am obviously concerned about the medical device burden here on the commonwealth, which has a very robust industry around medical devices,’ Patrick said yesterday. … But he added that ‘you better believe I will work to make modifications’ if the bill is found to be an ‘impediment to that industry.’” (Boston Herald, 3/25/10) “At the moment, governors in all 50 states are looking at the prospect of having to set up new health insurance marketplaces for small businesses and individuals who do not get coverage at work. As yet, there are only broad outlines to guide them. Says Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat: ‘I wake up worrying how I'm going to get from 2010 to 2014.’” (TIME, 3/25/10)

• Midwest manufacturer – and President Obama’s economic bellwether – projecting $100 million hit in first quarter: “Heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar says the new health care reform law will create a $100 million drag on its first-quarter earnings because of tax law changes. The Peoria company said Wednesday that the health care overhaul President Barack Obama signed this week will reduce the tax deduction it receives for its retiree health care program. Caterpillar says even though the change won't take effect until 2011, its liabilities for retiree health care are already reflected in its financial statements.” (Associated Press, 3/25/10) [FLASHBACK: “So what's happening at this company tells us a larger story about what's happening with our nation's economy, because, in many ways, you can measure America's bottom line by looking at Caterpillar's bottom line.” – President Obama, 2/12/09]

• Already a need for a new round of federal “regulations” on top of government takeover: “The ink is barely dry on the health care law, but Democrats are already looking to fix at least one piece of it. In an apparent oversight in the drafting process, some Democrats are concerned that children with pre-existing medical conditions might still be denied insurance coverage until 2014… On ABC’s ‘Top Line’ today, Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said such concerns will be addressed, either through administrative actions or further action by Congress. ‘I think with the ability to pass regulations or even to further amend legislation -- that’s something that can be easily handled through regs, or through the ability of us to amend another bill,’ Larson told us.” (ABC News, 3/24/10)

• Small businesses grapple with prospect of compliance costs, closing their doors: “Michele and Jeff Miller have owned Schaumburg-based Divine Signs for about seven years and provide insurance to their six full-time workers. They wondered about increasing government interference and higher fees or taxes. ‘For those businesses with over 50 employees, much will change and for many the change will close their doors,’ Michele Miller predicted. … The phasing in of the bill over the next seven years is confusing, said Lynda Reilly, president of Lynmar Lending Group Inc. in Naperville. ‘Learning what is the responsibility of the employer and keeping records to prove the company is in compliance will demand more paperwork and time, which always means more cost for the business and will effect the bottom line.” (Chicago Daily Herald, 3/25/10)

• Growing grassroots revolt in the states; Washington Post editorial says challenges are “not frivolous”: “A flood of lawsuits from states seeking to block the health care law President Obama signed this week raises sharp questions about the power of the federal government to impose mandates on its citizens, but legal scholars disagree about how the cases will be decided if they are heard by the Supreme Court. … Among the states filing lawsuits against the federal government is Virginia, where the legislature earlier this month approved a bill that exempts Virginians from a federal or state health insurance requirement. Governor Bob McDonnell, the recently elected Republican, held a public signing ceremony yesterday. Similar legislation has been filed in at least 32 states.” (The Boston Globe, 3/25/10) “Just minutes after Tuesday's signing ceremony, the constitutionality of the health insurance reform law came under fire. A coalition of attorneys general from 13 states filed suit in a northern Florida federal court; Virginia lodged a separate complaint, and other states may follow. These challenges are not frivolous.” (The Washington Post editorial, 3/25/10)

• A “basically meaningless” abortion executive order signed behind closed doors: “Both sides in the abortion debate came to a rare agreement on Wednesday: The executive order on abortion signed by President Obama, they said, was basically meaningless.” (USA Today, 3/25/10) “Anything but jubilant, President Barack Obama awkwardly kept a promise Wednesday he made to ensure passage of historic health care legislation, pledging the administration would not allow federal funds to pay for elective abortions covered by private insurance. Unlike Tuesday, when a beaming Obama signed the health care law in a nationally televised ceremony interrupted repeatedly by applause, the White House refused to permit coverage of the event.” (Associated Press, 3/24/10)

• Employers already “feeling angst,” warning employees about impact of higher costs: “Iowa businesses, large and small, feel angst about the possibility that their costs will increase amid a recession still battering the state.” (Des Moines Register, 3/25/10) “Now Verizon joins the roll of businesses staring at adverse consequences. In an email titled ‘President Obama Signs Health Care Legislation’ sent to all employees Tuesday night, the telecom giant warned that ‘we expect that Verizon's costs will increase in the short term.’ While executive vice president for human resources Marc Reed wrote that ‘it is difficult at this point to gauge the precise impact of this legislation,’ and that ObamaCare does reflect some of the company's policy priorities, the message to workers was clear: Expect changes for the worse to your health benefits as the direct result of this bill, and maybe as soon as this year.” (Wall Street Journal editorial, 3/25/10)

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