Sympathy, Solidarity, and Resolve’ on 9/11 | Obamacare Issues

Editorial Cartoon by AF "Tony" Branco

Today in Washington, D.C. - Sept. 11, 2013
The Senate and House bot reconvened at 10 AM today and observed a moment of silence to pay tribute to Americans killed by the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.  At 11 AM, members of the House and Senate gathered on the Capitol steps for a bipartisan ceremony to remember and honor the victims of 9/11.

Still pending in the Senate is the motion to proceed to S. J. Res. 21, the Syria resolution.  At a time to be determined by the two Senate leaders, the motion to proceed to S. 1392, an energy efficiency bill, will be agreed to by unanimous consent.

The House will considering taking up H.R. 2775 - to condition the provision of premium and cost-sharing subsidies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act upon a certification that a program to verify household income and other qualifications for such subsidies is operational, and for other purposes.

Yesterday the House passed:
H.R. 1155 (397-6)— "To reform the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2747 (396-10) — "To amend title 40, United States Code, to transfer certain functions from the Government Accountability Office to the Department of Labor relating to the processing of claims for the payment of workers who were not paid appropriate wages under certain provisions of such title."
S. 130 (408-1) — "To require the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Federal land to the Powell Recreation District in the State of Wyoming."
S. 157 (Voice Vote) — "To provide for certain improvements to the Denali National Park and Preserve in the State of Alaska, and for other purposes."
S. 304(419-1) — "To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the State of Mississippi 2 parcels of surplus land within the boundary of the Natchez Trace Parkway, and for other purposes."
S. 256 (415-1) — "To amend Public Law 93-435 with respect to the Northern Mariana Islands, providing parity with Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa."
S. 459 (414-5) — "To modify the boundary of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in the State of South Dakota, and for other purposes."

Republicans have said from the very beginning that Democrats’ unpopular health care law would hurt jobs and every week there seems to be a new story sadly proving GOP warnings correct.

The  The Weekly Standard reported that WWMT-TV, cited that  because of Obamacare, “There are also new taxes affecting West Michigan industry, which took effect this year. There's a new 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers. According to some reports, Kalamazoo-based Stryker has laid off more than 1,000 people because of it, and owes the federal government upwards of $100 million this year alone. . . .  a Stryker spokesperson told Newschannel 3 that the Affordable Care Act will cost the company 20 percent of its total research and development investments.”

Yesterday, the Orlando Sentinel reported, “SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. is reducing hours for thousands of part-time workers, a move that would allow the Orlando-based theme-park owner to avoid offering those employees medical insurance under the federal government's health-care overhaul. SeaWorld confirmed the move Monday in a brief written statement to the Orlando Sentinel. The company operates 11 theme parks across the United States and has about 22,000 employees — nearly 18,000 of whom are part-time or seasonal workers. It has more than 4,000 part-time and seasonal workers in Central Florida. Under a new corporate policy, SeaWorld will schedule part-time workers for no more than 28 hours a week, down from a previous limit of 32 hours a week. The new cap is expected to go into effect by November. . . . With the reduced hours, those employees would not be classified as full-time workers under the Affordable Care Act, the health-care overhaul championed by President Barack Obama and signed into law in 2010. . . . SeaWorld is by no means alone in cutting employee hours. With the new insurance requirements looming, more companies are opting to reduce part-timers' hours. A recent survey by the human-resources consulting company Mercer found that 12 percent of U.S. employers — and 20 percent of retail and hospitality companies — say they plan to reduce workers' hours specifically because of the Affordable Care Act. . . . ‘There is no other reason to change your cap from 32 hours to 28 other than’ the Affordable Care Act, said Duncan Dickson, a former human-resources executive at Walt Disney World who is now an associate professor in the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management. ‘I hear my kids [students] talking about getting their hours cut. Everybody's very attuned to the 30-hour thing,’ he added. The UCF professor said some of his students who used to work 10-hour shifts three or four times each week have seen their shifts cut to just two a week.”

And in another breach of President Obama’s promise that under his healthcare law, “If you like your current plan, you will be able to keep it,” The Huffington Post reports today, “After extending health care coverage to many of its part-time employees for years, Trader Joe's has told workers who log fewer than 30 hours a week that they will need to find insurance on the Obamacare exchanges next year, according to a confidential memo from the grocer's chief executive. In the memo to staff dated Aug. 30, Trader Joe's CEO Dan Bane said the company will cut part-timers a check for $500 in January and help guide them toward finding a new plan under the Affordable Care Act. . . . A current Trader Joe's worker described the coverage she'll likely lose as ‘one of the best parts about the job.’ . . . She said she pays only $35 per paycheck, or $70 per month, for a plan that generally covers 80 percent of her medical costs, carries a reasonable $500 deductible and includes prescription drug coverage. ‘There are several folks I work with who are there for the insurance as much as anything, mostly folks with young families,’ she said. ‘I can say that when I opened and read the letter yesterday my reaction was pure panic, followed quickly by anger.’”

As Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) said on Saturday in the Weekly Republican Address, “Even some of President Obama’s biggest supporters have been warning about the damage that his health care law is doing to hardworking American taxpayers. The leaders of the Teamsters and other major labor unions have said that the health care law will -- quote – ‘destroy the foundation of the 40-hour workweek that is the backbone of the American middle class.’ And even though the President promised that if you liked what you had, you could keep it, for many families that’s just not true. Workers are losing coverage for their spouses, while paying higher premiums and deductibles.” He concluded, “We know what the law does -- and in just a few weeks, we know it’s going to start hitting middle class Americans even harder. The American people have a choice. We can embrace the status quo of Obamacare for four more years. Or we can repeal the law, and quickly move to help people get the care they need, from a doctor they choose, at lower cost. That’s what Republicans are fighting for. It’s time for Democrats to join us.”

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