On Wednesday Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Douglas Elmendorf said straight out that Obamacare creates incentives that discourage work. The CBO also reported Obamacare is slowing economic growth and contributing to job losses.
In response Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid explained Americans won’t be losing their jobs, they’ll just be moving into “free agency.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney cheered, “Opportunity created by affordable, quality health insurance allows families in America to make a decision about how they will work, or if they will work.”
It’s the Democrats new rallying cry.
Work is a trap and we celebrate those who can avoid it.
Michael Godwin at the NY Post reported:
Among its many stamps, the Postal Service has a series called “Made in America, Building a Nation.” The strip of “forever” stamps is a collection of iconic photographs of 20th-century industry featuring men and women toiling on railroads, skyscrapers and factory floors.
A celebration of work and workers, the series quotes Helen Keller saying, “The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.”
My, oh, my, how times have changed. America now has a government that views work as a trap and celebrates those who escape it.
That is the upshot of last week’s remarkable exchange over ObamaCare. It began when the head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that the interplay of taxes and subsidies in the law “creates a disincentive for people to work.” The report predicted the mix would lead to fewer hours worked, costing the equivalent of nearly 2.5 million jobs.
In response, President Obama’s spokesman pleaded guilty — with pride and pleasure.
“Opportunity created by affordable, quality health insurance allows families in America to make a decision about how they will work, or if they will work,” Jay Carney said. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi applauded the law for freeing people from “job-lock.”
Read the rest here.