So when I take in the evening network news, I tend to watch NBC, on the theory that you want to watch the worst of the big three, ideologically speaking. Besides, I can’t stand Diane Sawyer on ABC, and Scott. Pelley. On. C.B.S. Seems. To. Be. Trying. To. Imitate. Michael. Caine—without the style. Can’t even finish one of his sentences.
Anyway, tonight’s broadcast contained a story about something familiar to Obamacare trackers: the number of employees having their hours reduced below 30 a week so as to escape the (delayed) Obamacare insurance mandate. NBC featured small business people, a college president (!), and—most significantly of all—an Obama-supporting labor union leader who said, “Just wait until next year,” when he thought things will get worse. This is a significant breach in the MSM cheerleading for Obama.
NBC gamely included a weak demurral from Obamanaut economist Jason Furman, who dismissed these tales as “anecdotes,” and that the -30 hour phenomenon is not showing up in the BLS data. Hasn’t he ever heard that the plural of “anecdote” is data? And even if narrowly correct, might it not stand to reason that the people being hit by the -30 hour adaptation are those marginal workers whom the Obamanauts most intend to help out? Nice going, Obama: You’ve enacted the Law of Unintended Consequences. Again. Yes: I know that argument that this is on purpose. Perhaps so. But I doubt it is what many rank and file Democrats in Congress intended. Watch for signs of panic. This NBC story could be a turning point.
Here’s the segment:
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