Obama Denies Small Business Owners Impacted by ObamaCare

In yet another example of Obama's total lack of business acumen or experience, in an interview with KTIV (Sioux City) Obama denies the possibility that Obamacare is pushing serious burdens on small business owners.

Via The Washington Examiner:

"That'd be kind of hard to explain," an incredulous Obama told KTIV of Sioux City, Iowa. "The only folks that have been impacted in terms of the health care bill are insurance companies who are required to make sure that they're providing preventive care or they're not dropping your insurance coverage when you get sick," he said. "And so, this particular company probably wouldn't have been impacted by that." 

 It would be difficult to be more out of touch or insulated from the complexities of small business ownership than that.  "The only folks...impacted...are insurance companies"?

Yet consider Scott Womack who owns several IHOP franchises:



He currently provides insurance to only his management staff yet ObamaCare would require him to provide insurance to every full time employee.  Mr. Womack explains that his current profit per employee is $3,000  yet the Obamacare mandate would cost $7,000 per employee.  He's looking at major cuts including cutting employee hours and services.

Mr. Womack was planning on building more restaurants throughout Ohio yet the Obamacare mandate will preclude that.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how that cuts into economic growth.

The regulations of the Obama administration, and Obamacare in particular, are certainly stifling economic recovery.

In the interview with KTIV, Obama insisted that his administration has enacted fewer regulations than "the previous administration."

"I know that there's a perception sometimes that there's all kinds of regulations coming out of Washington," Obama said. "The truth is we've seen fewer regulations coming out of my administration than the previous administration." 

 Again, misleading.

It's not necessarily the number of regulations coming out of his administration so much as it is the cost of the regulations and their effect on growth that is at issue here.

Last November Bloomberg reported that while Obama had (at that point) instituted fewer regulations, they have cost more.

The number of significant federal rules, defined as those costing more than $100 million, has gone up under Obama, with 129 approved so far, compared with 90 for Bush, 115 for President Bill Clinton and 127 for the first President Bush over the same period in their first terms.

And of course, the kicker here is that these numbers do not include independent agencies such as the SEC and the EPA.

In 2009, Michigan Science did an extensive study on the effect of the EPA's Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.  It's not pretty.

His his book, The Great Destroyer, David Limbaugh recounts the story of Peter Schiff who explained the impact of government regulations on his investment company.  Mr. Schiff testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Regulator Affairs in September 2011:

Regulations have substantially increased the costs and risks associated with job creation.  Employers are subjected to all sorts of onerous regulations, taxes, and legal liability. The act of becoming an employer should be made as easy as possible. Instead we have made it more difficult. In fact, among small business owners, limiting the number of employees is generally a goal. This is not a consequence of the market, but of a rational desire on the part of business owners to limit their cost and legal liabilities. They would prefer to hire workers, but these added burdens make it preferable to seek out alternatives. 

In my own business, securities regulations have prohibited me from hiring brokers for more than three years. I was even fined fifteen thousand dollar expressly for hiring too many brokers in 2008. In the process I incurred more than $500,000 in legal bills to mitigate a more severe regulatory outcome as a result of hiring too many workers. I have also been prohibited from opening up additional offices. I had a major expansion plan that would have resulted in my creating hundreds of additional jobs. Regulations have forced me to put those jobs on hold. 

The evidence that this administration is stifling job growth is insurmountable.

For anyone to believe Obama's misleading gibberish is inconceivable.

Obama has often been touted as a great orator and while I fail to see that or to agree with it, it is safe to say that he is a master at just saying whatever he wants to say and expecting you to believe it for no other reason than that he said it.

Shame on you if you do.

Obama says that only insurance companies have been hurt by Obamacare?

Shame on him.

What About H.R. 875?

There has been an alarm raised over H.R. 875 which was introduced by Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn) in February. Some believe this is the end of the family farm, the small farmer and the backyard gardener. Callers to the Moon Griffon radio program on Friday were very alarmed and were under the impression that they would not be allowed to have backyard gardens any longer. Glenn Beck has even done a segment on this.

Much of this is over reaction.

The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 calls for the creation of a Food Safety Administration. It basically separates the FDA into two agencies -- one for food safety and one for drugs and medical devices.

Chelsea Schilling, writing for World Net Daily, reports that the bill "would allow the government to regulate food production at all levels -- and even mandates property seizure, fines of up to $1 million per offense and criminal prosecution for producers, manufacturers and distributors who fail to comply with regulations."

This is certainly frightening. However, Food and Water Watch attempts to quell the fear and points out that this bill does NOT cover foods regulated by the USDA (beef, pork, poultry, lamb and catfish). It does not regulate backyard gardens or establish a mandatory animal identification system. It does not call for new regulations for farmers markets. And it does not apply to food that does not enter interstate commerce.

What H.R. 875 DOES do is increase inspection of food processing plants and it does require farms to write a food safety plan and consider the critical points opn that farm where the food safety problems are likely to occur.

But how do you define "farm"? The bill does not define "farm" at all, but the "food production facility" is defined as "any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation." That's pretty broad and would certainly include family farms.

The reporting and bookkeeping requirements required in this bill would be extremely burdensome for the small farmer and could easily put him out of business, whereas the large corporation could simply hire a person to handle the reports and paperwork.

Whenever food is contaminated, farms and food producers would be required to submit copies of all records to federal inspectors. Those farms not in compliance would face huge fines. The act reads "Any person that commits an act that violates the food safety law...may be assessed a civil penalty by the Administrator of not more than $1,000,000 for each such act."

What's the burden of proof on that? Can you buy something like the equivalent of medical malpractice insurance to help cover you on that? It's all very BigBrother-ish.

Should serious illness or death occur, criminal sanctions may be imposed including fines and imprisonment.

People need not worry about their backyard gardens or their farmer's markets too much, but the small family farm certainly has much to worry about.

Other farm bills to watch: H.R. 814 - the Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Act. This calls for a mandatory animal identification system.

H.R. 759 - The Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act. This Act overhauls the entire structure of the FDA. It extends recordkeeping requirements that apply to food processors to farms and restaurants. It also requires food processing plants to pay a registration fee to the FDA to fund inspections. And it instructs the FDA to establish production standards for fruits and vegetables and to establish "good agricultural practices" for produce.

What exactly are "good agricultural practices"? How will the organic gardener fit into that?

We need to be vigilant and stay on top of these bills. We already know that most members of Congress don't read bills, so we need to be informed. At the same time, it isn't helpful to spread irrational fear.

More News is Good News

I was really glad to see that the Bossier Press is going to daily publication. I have long been disenchanted with the Shreveport Times (some folks I know call it "The Slimes" but you shall remain nameless) for it's extreme liberal bias and also because it really does not seem to have much real news. In fact, the material in The Living section is often a week behind and I've already read in either the USA Today or another online publication. While I believe in many ways the Times serves its purpose, I think that competition and diversity is a good thing.

I remember when the Shreveport Journal was still around and we had two daily papers in town. You got some diversity there (plus twice the comics!). My dad would get up each morning and read the Times before work and then come home in the evening with the Journal tucked under his arm (crossword puzzle already worked!). Each paper had its own slant and its own perspective. I can't tell you how many people I know that have canceled their Times subscription (myself included, years ago) or threatened to. In fact, some guys in front of Albertsons tried to sell me a subscription last week and I, rude self that I can be, told them "it's a liberal rag!" and declined. They were at least nice.

Shreveport-Bossier is a large enough community to support two newspapers and I'm glad to see the Bossier Press stepping up to the plate. After I've read that paper, small as it may be, I at least feel more in touch with my community. I enjoy the columnists in the Bossier Press as well - maybe it's just my politics. And Jerry Byrd! God love him, nobody can do sports like Jerry Byrd. So good luck Bossier Press, and godspeed!