How Obama’s Stimulus Kills Job Creation

Conn Carroll / August 18, 2009

This morning we detailed that since President Barack Obama passed his $787 billion stimulus package, the United States economy has shed nearly 2.8 million net jobs, the nation’s unemployment has gone up from7.6 to 9.4%. and nationwide a total of fifteen states are now suffering from 10% unemployment. But not only is Obama’s stimulus failing to halt job losses, it is also making it harder for employers to create new jobs. The USA Today reports:

A federal subsidy designed to make health insurance more affordable for laid-off workers has led to a doubling in the number of people who have opted to continue their former employer’s coverage. The coverage, known as COBRA, allows people who leave their jobs to continue their former employer’s health coverage for up to 18 months. … The economic stimulus package signed into law in February subsidizes 65% of COBRA premiums for some recipients — workers laid off between Sept. 1, 2008, and the end of this year. The result has been a doubling of enrollments, according to an analysis by Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm.

How does the stimulus’ COBRA expansion kill job creation? The New York Times explains: (more…)