News from Rasmussen Reports: Obamacare still isn’t winning any fans among Americans. Given Obamacare’s effect on employment, that’s not surprising.
A new poll reveals that 57 percent of Americans favor the repeal of Obamacare, including 46 percent who strongly favor its repeal. Meanwhile, 53 percent think the law will be bad for the country, and only 31 percent think it will be good–the lowest finding since the law’s passage.
They’re right to be worried, and the law has already been bad news for the United States. In a new paper, Heritage’s James Sherk analyzes the correlation between America’s sagging job growth and Obamacare’s passage. Sherk writes that following the recession, job creation initially recovered at a normal rate. But it didn’t stay that way after Obamacare became law:
“The economy went from losing 841,000 jobs in January 2009—the recession’s low point—to gaining 229,000 jobs in April 2010. By the spring of 2010, the Administration confidently predicted a ‘Recovery Summer.’
In March 2010, Congress passed President Obama’s health care reform legislation. Within two months of Obamacare’s passing, the recovery stalled.
In May 2010, the job situation stopped improving. Employers created just 48,000 net jobs, and the trend in job creation changed. Starting in that month, private-sector hiring took a new course, improving by only 6,500 jobs per month—less than one-tenth the previous rate.”
Though Sherk says that correlation cannot prove causation, he notes that the data show there’s reason for concern, especially given the new costs Obamacare imposes, the uncertainty businesses now face, and their own reports that the legislation is holding back hiring.
Click here to read Sherk’s report, Recovery Stalled After Obamacare Passed.
