Last week, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a new report that refutes just about every promise once made by the Obama Administration in relation to the impact of Obamacare. We already knew Americans who liked their doctors and plans were not necessarily able to keeps those doctors and plans. In many cases, health insurance plans offered through the Obamacare exchanges offered less coverage with a higher deductible. Businesses were forced to reconsider hiring practices because of Obamacare-related benefits expansion.
Based on the new CBO report, we now also know:
Obamacare is NOT deficit neutral
Obamacare WILL cost millions of jobs
Obamacare WILL cause drop in employer-provided health insurance
“I thought before we move forward on anything, we really need to set the record straight because there was a really important thing that came out of the CBO… Last week, the CBO updated Congress on the impending effects of Obamacare,” Glenn said on radio this morning. “The numbers are not pretty. Upon the release of these numbers, the best defense the White House could come up with is: The CBO report is subject to misinterpretation. Is it? You know what's not subject to misinterpretation? The fact that this Administration was lying to your face, looking you in the eye and lying to your face in 2009 and 2010, as they crammed Obamacare down your throat.”
When this law was rammed through Congress in 2010, the leftists and media did anything and everything in their power to silence dissenters and pass off the concerns of anyone who disagreed. As it turns out, the concerns of those dissenters were, in many cases, true.
“They did everything they could to obstruct anyone who stood in the way. Not just obstruct, destroy… You knew what was going on. Common sense told us the federal takeover of one-sixth of the U.S. economy would be a very bad thing for this country,” Glenn said. “And four years later, after it has become law, after they have still gutted this thing so the really bad effects don't hit yet, you're just beginning to feel how bad this thing is going to be. Now the nonpartisan CBO confirmed our predictions and your predictions in this report. It backs up what we have said all along. It shows that we were not the ones that were wrong.”
When it came to Obamacare, President Obama declared priority number one for his administration was to ensure the law was deficit-neutral. Well, that is far from true.
Remember this promise from President Obama on June 15, 2009:
OBAMA: It is a cost that will not – I repeat – will not add to our deficits. I've set down a rule for my staff, for my team, and I've said this to Congress, healthcare reform must be and will be deficit-neutral in the next decade. Now, there are already voices saying the numbers don't add up. They're wrong.
Page 111 of the new CBO report has this to say about Obamacare and deficits:
CBO and JCT estimate the ACA coverage provisions will result in a net cost to the federal government of $41 billion in 2014 and $1.487 trillion over the 2015 to 2024 period.
“So $1.5 trillion in the next nine years. $1.5 trillion added. We don't have the money,” Glenn said. “Progressives didn’t care about the promises then, and they don’t care about their promises now.”
Another Obamacare-related promise was the millions of jobs it would add to the U.S. economy. Remember this gem from then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on February 25, 2010:
PELOSI: So this bill is not only about the health security of America. It's about jobs. And it will create 4 million jobs – 400,000 jobs almost immediately. Jobs in the healthcare industry but in the entrepreneurial world as well.
This is what page 127 of last week's CBO report has to say about Obamacare job creation:
The CBO’s updated estimate of the decrease in hours work translates to a reduction in full-time equivalent employment of about 2 million in 2014, rising to 2.5 million in 2024, compared with what would have occurred in the absence of the Affordable Care Act.
“From the very beginning, we knew the penalties associated with Obamacare, and we knew it would hurt the job mark, not help it. You knew that. You're smart,” Glenn said. “Trust the American people. Trust the audience. They are smart. Show them the evidence, and they will come to the correct conclusion. It is not our job to do anything but bring you the evidence and let you figure it out.”
To further exacerbate the jobs problem, the CBO is also reporting that businesses will revaluate their hiring practices. On July 15, 2009, Glenn said this on his radio program:
GLENN: One tax on one small business costs between five and ten jobs. Think about that against the entire scale of the economy. You'll begin to see what that plan is going to cost in free health care. The higher the tax, the less people get hired. The more people need government to give them health care or housing. This is a freedom grab.
Page 124 of the CBO report states:
Businesses also may respond to the employer penalty by seeking to reduce or limit their full-time staffing and to hire more part-time employees.
“Remember we are being lambasted. We were madmen. We were a danger. We were terrorists. We were absolutely everything because we stood against Obamacare,” Glenn said. “But you don't need the CBO or me telling you what Obamacare was going to do to your business or job because you're smart… You knew the truth. We knew the truth. The CBO now verifies that they were wrong about everything.”
While the CBO does corroborate the fears conservatives have had since Obamacare’s inception, it is still a bittersweet moment. The failure of Obamacare ultimately could mean the failure of the U.S. economy.
“It’s not satisfying to do [this] monologue. Really not satisfying because we are not looking to be right. I don't want to be right. Being right means the destruction of our country, and there's no satisfaction in that. I wish I could get on and say, you know, I was wrong. Obamacare is a success. And it's working. And it's not going to bankrupt our country… But we're not,” Glenn concluded. “The question is: Are you prepared to stand and lead? Are you prepared? And who are you now saying I'm going to campaign for that person because I believe in that person, no matter what the party says.”
Read the entire CBO report below:
Front page image courtesy of the AP
