Douglas Elmendorf (Examiner.com photo)
ObamaCare creates a disincentive for people at the lower end of the economic ladder to work,” said Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas W. Elmendorf during a House hearing this week. “The result of this is it will be harder for people to climb the economic ladder into the middle class,” he added.
Elmendorf had earlier told the House committee members that ObamaCare will cause some 2.3 million people to reduce their work hours while receiving subsidized health insurance.
This comes on the heels of the president’s remarks on income inequality. “The combined trends of increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American dream, our way of life, and what we stand for around the globe,” he told a friendly audience at the left-leaning think tank, Center for American Progress.
Peter Morici (CNN.com photo)
“Inequality is replacing the American dream,” says Professor Peter Morici of the University of Maryland School of Business, “because the U.S. economy, thanks to Washington’s mismanagement, is underperforming.”
One wonders if the president anticipated the CBO announcement on ObamaCare when he said, the growing gap between rich and poor can be closed by … following through on his health plan.”
Of course, The New York Times saw the CBO revelation as “mostly a good thing.” The liberal Times reported, “The new law will free people, young and old, to pursue careers or retirement without having to worry about health coverage.” It added, “thanks to an increase in insurance coverage under the act and the availability of subsidies to help pay the premiums, many workers who felt obliged to stay in a job that provided health benefits would now be able to leave those jobs or choose to work fewer hours …”
Rep. Diane Black (news.yahoo.com photo)
There’s more to the CBO announcement. “What effect (will) the reduced labor force participation have on the economy,” Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) asked Elmendorf. “It is the central factor in slowing economic growth, “he said. He went on to predict a slower rate of growth by the labor force once we get out of the current downturn.
We’ve seen unemployment benefits extended and extended … the number of Americans receiving disability payments has increased by 20 per cent since Obama took office … and food stamp applications have increased by 49 per cent.
ObamaCare has become the major factor in the destruction of the American work ethic … part of the sad legacy of the Obama administration.
