Dan Coats: “last week I chaired a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee entitled ``Examining the Employment Effects of the…”

“last week I chaired a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee entitled ``Examining the Employment Effects of the Affordable Care Act.'' The purpose of the hearing was to discuss how the Affordable Care Act has affected the ability of Americans to earn and do business, particularly for small businessmen. The impact of the Affordable Care Act--better known as ObamaCare--is particularly important to discuss at this point this year now that the delayed employer provisions are in effect and employers are feeling the pinch. Frankly, ``pinch'' is the wrong word; they are feeling the hammer blow of the burdens imposed on them, both from regulatory and a tax standpoint that are directly affecting their ability to grow, to provide jobs, and to expand their business. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the law, ObamaCare, will reduce the total number of hours worked by as much as 2 percent from the years 2017 to 2024. People said: Two percent--is that a big deal? Yes, it is a big deal. It is equal to 2.5 million full-time- equivalent jobs--for workers who are looking for those jobs. The CBO reasoned that this would result from new taxes embedded throughout the ObamaCare program--not talked about when this was passed. In fact, nothing was talked about that was passed in terms of the way people could understand it, as acknowledged by the former head of the House of Representatives.…”