Community | February 11, 2011 | 10 comments

Right-Wing Media Distort CBO To Claim Health Care Law Kills "800,000 Jobs"

source: http://mediamatters.org/research/201102110048

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WakeUpPeople
Misrepresenting testimony from the CBO director, conservative media claim the health care reform law will eliminate 800,000 jobs. In fact, CBO said the law will "reduc[e] the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, and as health expert Paul Van De Water stated, "If people voluntarily choose to reduce their hours of work ... that's not killing jobs."

MUCH MORE AT LINK... (please feel free to see the level of research and CREDIBLE sources that Media Matters provides)
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10 comments // Right-Wing Media Distort CBO To Claim Health Care Law Kills "800,000 Jobs"

  • toyotabedzrock
  • HeartlessRiot
  • samthesixth
  • WakeUpPeople
    • +1
      WakeUpPeople  
    • samthesixth:

      Hi sam. Did you read the full article yet... including Elmendorf's actual quote (not just a summation by another entity)?

      "DOUGLAS ELMENDORF: Yes. The way I would put it is that we do estimate, as you said, that the household employment will be about 160 million by the end of the decade. Half a percent of that is 800,000. That means that if the reduction in the labor used was workers working the average number of hours in the economy and earning the average wage that it would be a reduction of 800,000 workers. [House Budget Committee, 2/10/11]"

      So, nowhere in that statement is he stating that jobs will be "eliminated" (suggesting that jobs will not be available). In fact, the "reduction in labor" is the result of people CHOOSING to either retire or reduce hours because they won't be working purely for health insurance.

      "The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the legislation, on net, will reduce the amount of labor used in the economy by a small amount -- roughly half a percent -- primarily by reducing the amount of labor that workers choose to supply. [Congressional Budget Office, 8/10]"

      It is all in the article should you decide to read it.

    • 1 year ago
  • samthesixth
  • WakeUpPeople
    • 0
      WakeUpPeople  
    • samthesixth:

      Good man. I respect that attitude.

      "I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way." ~Thomas Jefferson

    • 1 year ago
  • Paratus
    • 0
      Paratus  
    • Image

    • I didn't hear anything about this until I read it here & went to look for what the post is about.

      I don't like the Healthcare Bill for other reasons but here is an excerpt from Elmendorf in Congress:

      "Rep. [John] Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, we'll -- and Dr. Elmendorf -- and we'll continue this conversation right now. First on health care, before I get to -- before I get to broader issues, you just mentioned that you believe -- or that in your estimate, that the health care law would reduce the labor used in the economy by about 1/2 of 1 percent, given that, I believe you say, there's 160 million full-time people working in '20-'21. That means that, in your estimation, the health care law would reduce employment by 800,000 in '20-'21. Is that correct?

      Director Elmendorf: Yes. The way I would put it is that we do estimate, as you said, that...employment will be about 160 million by the end of the decade. Half a percent of that is 800,000."

      http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/cbo-director-says-obamacare-would-reduce-emp...

      Sounds to me that there is no distortion. Elmendorf clearly states that the bill will cost an estimated 800k jobs. I don't know how MediaMatters will spin this but in my opinion they are a huge joke. Discard what they say.

    • 1 year ago
  • WakeUpPeople
    • +2
      WakeUpPeople  
    • Paratus:

      Reducing the "amount of labor in the economy" is not the same as killing jobs. If you can't understand that retired people are considered "unemployed" and that people who CHOOSE to work less hours are reducing the "amount of labor in the economy", then you will not be able to understand what that 1/2% figure compromises.

    • 1 year ago
  • WakeUpPeople
    • +2
      WakeUpPeople  

    • "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." ~John Adams

    • 1 year ago
  • kennymotown
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