ARRA News Service
News Blog for social, fiscal & national security conservatives who believe in God, family & the USA. Upholding the rights granted by God & guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, traditional family values, "republican" principles / ideals, transparent & limited "smaller" government, free markets, lower taxes, due process of law, liberty & individual freedom. Content approval rests with the ARRA News Service Editor. Opinions are those of the authors. While varied positions are reported, beliefs & principles remain fixed. No revenue is generated for or by this "Blog" - no paid ads - no payments for articles. Fair Use Doctrine is posted & used.
Blogger/Editor/Founder: Bill Smith, Ph.D. [aka: OzarkGuru & 2010 AFP National Blogger of the Year]
Contact: editor@arranewsservice.com (Pub. Since July, 2006)
    Home Page
   

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato (429-347 BC)

Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Don’t Ignore the King Winners

by Phil Kerpen, Contributing Author: As we await a decision in King v. Burwell, public focus is shifting from the legal arguments to the practical and political consequences if a majority on the Supreme Court orders the Obama administration to give meaning to the words “established by the state.” If the Court does, there will be three major immediate impacts in the states that declined to establish exchanges:

1. Millions will be exposed to the full cost of Obamacare’s sky-high premiums, with taxpayers no longer picking up the tab via subsidies.

2. Millions will have the chance to regain lost hours and income at work, because the employer mandate and its infamous 30-hour rule will no longer be in effect.

3. Millions will be exempt from Obamacare’s individual mandate, the most hated part of the law.

We know President Obama’s solution: a “fix” that saves subsidies for the people in the first group by revictimizing people in the other two.

Unfortunately, he is being abetted by the media’s reporting exclusively on people in the first group, the King losers. The government has tallied 6.4 million people currently receiving subsidies through Healthcare.gov, and the figure has been widely reported. Some stories note that the subsidies cost taxpayers a cool $20 billion per year, but there is no further attempt at balance. It’s as if the two groups of King winners don’t exist. Yet if it were not for the King winners, the case could never have existed in the first place.

To have standing to bring a lawsuit, a plaintiff needs to show a specific, concrete injury. In King and related cases, the plaintiffs are individuals and employers who are subject to mandates only because of the illegal subsidies. That’s because the way the employer mandate is written, it applies only to companies with subsidy-eligible employees. No subsidy, no mandate, no 30-hour workweek. And the way the individual mandate is written, anyone who would have to spend more than 8 percent of his or her income on Obamacare premiums is exempt. Without subsidies shifting those costs to taxpayers, and with premiums skyrocketing, that will include almost everybody.

So how many King winners are there, and who are they?

According to an analysis by Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute, a victory for the plaintiffs would free approximately 57 million people working for 250,000 employers from the employer mandate. Most of those, however, would be only subtle winners, because they had employer-sponsored insurance before and after Obamacare. What they would win is lower cost and perhaps more choices regarding health plans.

The really big winners if the employer mandate is struck down in federal-exchange states will be the victims of the mandate’s 30-hour rule, which Jimmy Hoffa Jr. and other union leaders famously said “destroy[s] the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”

A study by former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin and his colleague Brittany La Couture at the American Action Forum found that, in states where King would undo the employer mandate, 3.3 million workers want full-time jobs but are stuck working part-time. They could all stand to benefit from the removal of the onerous employer mandate. The study also found that 1.27 million people not currently working at all would be added to the labor force. The entire economy, in other words, would be a big-time winner.

The media doesn’t tell these stories, but they aren’t hard to find. We got lots of them just by asking the e-mail list of our little organization, American Commitment. People like:
  • Jessica A. in Woodstock, Ga.: “My husband’s hours were cut from 40 to less than 30 because of Obamacare. He had to find a second part-time job to supplement our income. We thank the Good Lord that he was able to find that second job, but we both went through a lot of stress not knowing what was going to happen before he was hired by them. And even though we are thankful for the extra work, his hours are not as good as they were before and the children and I barely see him anymore.”

  • Charlie L. in Greensboro, N.C.: “I used to teach six or seven classes at a community college as an adjunct instructor for full-time equivalent. Now I’m limited to only four. That’s a 40 percent reduction in income!”

  • Tom S. in Salt Lake City: “I am a paraprofessional working with special-education students in a high school. I help coach football and basketball there as well. Before Obamacare I was able to work over 30 hours per week and I received a stipend for my coaching. Now my hours are limited to 28 hours, and my coaching, which I love to do, is now considered to be on a voluntary basis. This has caused me to work another part-time job during the summer to make ends meet. This is an outrage that people like myself have been forced into this position and that our plight is completely ignored!”

  • And we’ve heard story after story from parents whose teenage and young-adult children are simply unable to find full-time work.
  • Thomas W. in Cincinnati: “My three teenage working sons are now under 30 hours. This hurts us parents to cover more of their costly needs.”

  • Jim G. in Tucson: “I have three children ages 22, 24, and 26 who cannot find full-time work due to this disaster.”

  • Sherrie W. in Conroe, Texas, says her son “has to work two jobs in retail to pay loans.” Why? The IRS rule: “He could only get 27 hours because of it.”

  • If King wins, that means the IRS applied the employer mandate and the 30-hour rule to all of these individuals and families illegally.

    The other group of King winners is the 11.1 million people who will be freed from the individual mandate and an average tax penalty of $1,200, according to the American Action Forum study. That’s nearly twice as many people as stand to lose subsidies. People who already paid the penalty tax would be due immediate refunds from the IRS, and millions more would not be punished in coming years just for choosing not to buy into Obamacare.

    Some people overlap both groups:
  • Stephanie B. in St. Petersburg, Fla.: “For two years I have been scheduled for 28 hours per week,” she writes. “I never did purchase any health care coverage. Even with the government subsidy, I would have to pay $244 per month! I attempted to have the penalty for not purchasing Obamacare waived. I was refused. So my income has been cut by 20 percent, I have no health care coverage, and I had to pay the federal government a penalty.”

  • None of this is to say that Congress should react to a King victory by declaring that the winners outnumber the losers and therefore doing nothing. The losers are real too, and 6.4 million people should not be punished for being enticed into buying an expensive product by the false promise that taxpayers would pick up the tab. Many of the people would just like to get back their old, pre-Obamacare plans that they could afford without subsidies, which would require Congress to act.

    But whatever Congress does to help the King losers, they should not even consider revictimizing the King winners with a “fix” that reimposes mandates found illegal by the Supreme Court.
    ------------------
    Phil Kerpen is president of American Commitment. Follow him at (@kerpen) and on Facebook. He is a contributing author at the ARRA News Service. He also shared this article on National Review

    Tags: Phil Kerpen, American Commitment, King v. Burwell, don't ignore, King winners To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
    Posted by Bill Smith at 4:12 PM - Post Link

    0 Comments:

    Post a Comment

    << Home


    View U.S. National Debt

    Don't miss anything!
    Subscribe to the
    ARRA News Service
    It's FREE & No Ads!

    You will receive a verification email
    & must validate you subscribed!

    You Then Receive One Email Each AM
    With Prior Days Articles / Toons / More


    Also, Join & leave conservative posts & comments on
    Facebook.com/ARRANewsService


    Recent Posts:
    Personal Tweets by the editor:
    Dr. Bill - OzarkGuru - @arra
    #Christian Conservative; Retired USAF & Grad Professor. Constitution NRA ProLife schoolchoice fairtax - Editor ARRA NEWS SERVICE. THANKS FOR FOLLOWING!

    Action Links!
    State Upper & Lower House Members
    State Attorney Generals
    State Governors
    The White House
    US House of Representatives
    US Senators
    GrassFire
    NumbersUSA
    Ballotpedia

    Facebook Accts - Dr. Bill Smith
    Pages:
    ARRA News Service
    Arkansans Against Big Government
    Alley-White Am. Legion #52
    Catholics & Protestants United Against Discrimination
    End Taxpayer Funding of NPR
    Overturn Roe V. Wade
    Prolife Soldiers
    Project Wildfire 4 Life
    Republican Liberty Caucus of Arkansas
    The Gold Standard
    US Atty Gen Loretta Lynch, aka Eric Holder, Must Go
    Veterans for Sarah Palin
    Why Vote for Hillary (Satire)
    FB Groups:
    Arkansas For Sarah Palin
    Arkansas Conservative Caucus
    Arkansas County Tea Party
    Arkansans' Discussion Group on National Issues
    Blogs for Borders
    Conservative Solutions
    Conservative Voices
    Defend Marriage -- Arkansas
    FairTax
    FairTax Nation
    Arkansas for FairTax
    Friends of the TEA Party in Arkansas
    Freedom Roundtable
    Pro-Life Rocks - Arkansas
    Republican Network
    Republican Liberty Caucus of AR
    Reject the U.N.

    Patriots
    Exchange
    Links

    Request Via
    Article Comment

    Links to ARRA News
    A Patriotic Nurse
    Agora Associates
    a12iggymom's Blog
    America, You Asked For It!
    America's Best Choice
    ARRA News Twitter
    As The Crackerhead Crumbles
    Blogs For Borders
    Blogs for Palin
    Blow the Trumpet Ministry
    Boot Berryism
    Cap'n Bob & the Damsel
    Chicago Ray Report - Obama Regime Report
    Chuck Baldwin - links
    Common Cents
    Conservative Voices
    Diana's Corner
    Greater Fitchburg For Life
    Lasting Liberty Blog
    Liberal Isn't Amy
    Marathon Pundit
    Patriot's Corner
    Right on Issues that Matter
    Right Reason
    Rocking on the Right Side
    Saber Point
    Saline Watchdog
    Sultan Knish
    The Blue Eye View
    The Born Again Americans
    TEA Party Cartoons
    The Foxhole | Unapologetic Patriot
    The Liberty Republican
    The O Word
    The Path to Tyranny Blog
    The Real Polichick
    The War on Guns
    TOTUS
    Twitter @ARRA
    Underground Notes
    Warning Signs
    Women's Prayer & Action
    WyBlog

    Editor's Managed Twitter Accounts
    Twitter Dr. Bill Smith @arra
    Twitter Arkansas @GOPNetwork
    Twitter @BootBerryism
    Twitter @SovereignAllies
    Twitter @FairTaxNation

    Editor's Recommended Orgs
    Accuracy in Media (AIM)
    American Action Forum (AAF)
    American Committment
    American Culture & Faith Institute
    American Enterprise Institute
    American Family Business Institute
    Americans for Limited Government
    Americans for Prosperity
    Americans for Tax Reform
    American Security Council Fdn
    AR Faith & Ethics Council
    Arkansas Policy Foundation
    Ayn Rand Institute
    Bill of Rights Institute
    Campaign for Working Families
    CATO Institute
    Center for Individual Freedom
    Center for Immigration Studies
    Center for Just Society
    Center for Freedom & Prosperity
    Citizens Against Gov't Waste
    Citizens in Charge Foundstion
    Coalition for the Future American Worker
    Competitive Enterprise Institute
    Concerned Veterans for America
    Concerned Women for America
    Declaration of Am. Renewal
    Eagle Forum
    FairTax
    Family Research Council
    Family Security Matters
    Franklin Center for Gov't & Public Integrity
    Freedom Works
    Gingrich Productions
    Global Incident Map
    Great Americans
    Gold Standard 2012 Project
    Gun Owners of America (GOA)
    Heritage Action for America
    David Horowitz Freedom Center
    Institute For Justice
    Institute for Truth in Accounting
    Intercollegiate Studies Institute
    Judicial Watch
    Less Government
    Media Reseach Center
    National Center for Policy Analysis
    National Right To Work Foundation
    National Rifle Association (NRA)
    National Rifle Association (NRA-ILA)
    News Busters
    O'Bluejacket's Patriotic Flicks
    OathKeepers
    Open Secrets
    Presidential Prayer Team
    Religious Freedom Coalition
    Renew America
    Ron Paul Institute
    State Policy Network
    Tax Foundation
    Tax Policy Center
    The Club for Growth
    The Federalist
    The Gold Standard Now
    The Heritage Foundation
    The Leadership Institute
    Truth in Accounting
    Union Facts



    Blogs For Borders

    Reject the United Nations

    Presidential Prayer Team

    Thousands of Deadly Islamic Terror Attacks Since 9/11


    FairTax Nation on FaceBook
    Friends of Israel - Stand with Israel
    Blog Feeds
    Syndicated - Get the ARRA News Service feed Syndicated!
    ARRA Blog Feed

    Add to Google Reader or Homepage

    Add to The Free Dictionary

    Powered by Blogger


    • To Exchange Links - Email: editor@arranewsservice.com!
    • Comments by contributing authors or other sources do not necessarily reflect the position the editor, other contributing authors, sources, readers, or commenters. No contributors, or editors are paid for articles, images, cartoons, etc. While having reported on and promoting principles & beleifs beliefs of other organizations, this blog/site is soley controlled and supported by the editor. This site/blog does not advertise for money or services nor does it solicit funding for its support.
    • Fair Use: This site/blog may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as provided for in section Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Per said section, the material on this site/blog is distributed without profit to readers to view for the expressed purpose of viewing the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. Any person/entity seeking to use copyrighted material shared on this site/blog for purposes that go beyond "fair use," must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
    • © 2006 - 2020 ARRA News Service
    Creative Commons License
    Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.