The heartlessness of Obamacare

By Tom Quiner

Democrats and their media allies decry any Republican attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare as heartless.

If heartlessness is the issue to the Left, then they should lead the charge in replacing Obamacare. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University commissioned Hanover Research to survey companies to learn of the impact Obamacare disincentives had on job creation. The results were, to say the least, shocking.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal today, Casey Mulligan said Obamacare conservatively destroyed a quarter of a million jobs. That would be like wiping out every single job in Central Iowa.

Why is Obamacare so heartless to people’s jobs? Mr. Mulligan explained:

“The ACA includes a penalty on employers that fail to provide “adequate” insurance for full-time workers. Thanks to the ACA, hiring the 50th full-time employee effectively costs another $70,000 a year on top of the normal salary and benefits.

Many business owners have described how this penalty prevents them from hiring and has caused them to reduce work hours to below the full-time threshold. ACA supporters dismiss these statements as “mere anecdotes” not corroborated by national sampling and statistical analysis. But did any of them rush out to gather the national samples, especially after Jan. 1, 2016, when the employer penalty took full effect?”

Mr. Mulligan and the Mercatus Center DID gather the national samples. The results are in. Obamacare is a heartless job killer.

Republicans need to act now.