Wages of Obamacare

Obamacare has been an enormous engine of economic destruction even prior to its passage, from the time it emerged on the legislative horizon. The evidence is obvious and ubiquitous. White House flack Jay Carney has responded to a question on one aspect of the damage done — the suppression of growth in full-time employment — with the usual falsehoods and non sequiturs:

I would say broadly that if you look at the economic data, the suggestion that the ACA is reducing full-time employment is belied by the facts. So what the ACA allows is the opportunity for individuals who could not, prior to passage of the Affordable Care Act, afford insurance, to get insurance. And it provides subsidies for those who need help in affording it. And it assists businesses in that effort so that they can provide insurance to their employees. And again, the broader data here does not reflect that assertion. I don’t have a specific response to the story you’re citing, but I think the data is very clear on this.

In the Wall Street Journal’s Weekend Interview, Steve Moore talks with the proprietor of one of the country’s largest employment agencies on the effects of Obamacare. Jay Carney, meet Bob Funk:

Here’s something you don’t often see in Washington: a businessman trying to repeal a law that helps his company. That’s Bob Funk’s latest mission in life. He’s the president and founder of Express Employment Services, the fifth-largest employment agency in America, with annual sales of $2.5 billion and more than 600 franchises across the country. This year he will place nearly half a million workers in jobs.

“ObamaCare has been an absolute boon for my business,” he says as we sit in his new office headquarters near downtown Oklahoma City. “I’m making a lot of money thanks to that law. We’re up 8% this year. But it’s just terrible for the country. I see that firsthand every day.”

Why is the health-care law good for Express but bad for the country? “Firms are just very reluctant to hire full-time workers,” Mr. Funk says. “So they are taking on more temporary help, which is what we do.” ObamaCare imposes new mandates and penalties on companies with more than 50 full-time employees—and even those working 30 hours a week are considered full-time.

He quickly adds: “The problem isn’t just ObamaCare, though. It’s the entire regulatory assault on employers coming out of Washington—everything from the EEOC”—the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hits companies hard when employees claim age, race or sex discrimination—”to the Dodd-Frank monstrosity. Employers are living in a state of fear.”

Whole thing here.

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