Friday, February 4, 2011

The Great Unifier



It took two years to do it, but Barack Obama finally succeeded in getting Republicans and Democrats to reach across the aisle, join hands, and pass legislation which will help protect small businesses from the devastating effects...of Obamacare.

Buried deep inside the two thousand page healthcare bill which "had to be passed so we could see what's in it" was a provision forcing small businesses to file 1099 tax forms for every purchase they made over $600. Theoretically, this would have raised $17 billion for the government, which they desperately needed to make Obamacare's costs look manageable on paper.

Unfortunately, experts estimated that the new paperwork requirements would be so burdensome that 40% of small businesses would either have to close or layoff employees during a time of record unemployment.

Even the president, in his State of the Union address, agreed that this ridiculous provision had to go...although we fully expect him to now claim credit for the "jobs saved" by not instituting his own paperwork nightmare.

Still, we can't imagine that Mr. Obama is genuinely happy about this new, bipartisan agreement that someone should have checked "what's in it" before passing the healthcare bill.

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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

The most polarizing president in American history.
Maybe this country's citizens would somehow agree to at least that one fact, and make a better effort next time to get someone that can UNITE instead of calling half the population "enemies."

What a concept.

Buzz Bannister said...

Maybe if his teeth DID crack we wouldn't be forced to hear that incessant word-whistle thing he does every time he plays (P)resident/TV preacher.

John the Econ said...

Damn! And I was expecting to make a small fortune modifying all my client's software to conform to this stupid and invasive mandate. Count another job lost!

Angry Hoosier Dad said...

What makes my teeth clench is the fact that almost half of the idiot electorate will believe that this is his idea (with the help of his fluffers in the media) and that he's doing this to help small business because he wants small business to succeed. Suckers!

Pete(Detroit) said...

That particular image always reminds me of 'The Boob' (Nowhere Man) from "Yellow Submarine"
Just a bit creepy, and VERY appropriate..

Hopefully there will be more 'reaching across the aisle' as the Dem senators that are up for election start to pile on board...
Always assuming, of course, that the Rs continue to hold, and hold fast.

And "NO" Mr.Reid, NO guarantee not to 'shut the government down' - hell, how about a guarantee that they WILL shut it down? Perhaps you're afraid the people will find out how truly unnecessary you actually ARE?

Earl said...

Read Strassel"s WSJ article which summarizes how the democrats and Obama worked to keep this absurd regulation in the law. Then our president actually has the gall to make repeal of the 1099 "his own idea" showing his willingness to "improve" this monstrosity. His nose should be way bigger than his ears at this point.

Anonymous said...

the deconstruction has begun. may this be the first in a long line of victories against this abomination to the american people.

the political fodder(the dems voted for a bill which had this provision in it) from this just adds to the victory, i think.

also-17billion? over how long?

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

drozz- The estimated $17 billion would be every year... although it's important to note that businesses are already responsible for paying this money, and the Obama administration wanted to put this in place under the assumption that they could catch a lot of tax cheaters. Because, you know, they think so highly of small business owners.

There would certainly be much more than $17 billion in lost productivity in the private sector, and conceivably no real fiscal return to the government. But this was all acceptable because the Obama administration believes:

1) Your money is OUR money
2) Business owners are liars and cheats
3) Making more people dependent on the system (through job loss) adds to the power of those who control the system.

WMD said...

Just wondering, does zero-care cover obama-trauma?

Anonymous said...

sj-thanks for the clarification.

so obamacare just lost 17 billion in funding per year. and this administration is giving out waivers to those who are favored.

guess who is going to pick up the slack?

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

drozz- It's hard to say that obamacare lost $17 billion, because the administration imagined that number and forced the CBO to use it. They claimed that tax cheaters would stop cheating at the point the paperwork got more intrusive...when what seems more likely is that cheaters would go on cheating, and (as usual) the only ones punished would be the ones who were playing fair all along.

But Obamacare is riddled with imaginary numbers like that; take half a trillion out of Medicare without impacting service? No problem! At least, that's what the Dems told the CBO. Slash payments to doctors with no loss of patient access to care? Sure! Or so the Dems told the CBO.

Obamacare is, and always has been, a fiscal fantasy...and one that has nothing to do with medicine, and everything to do with consolidation of government power over our lives.

Winstone Smithy said...

The Kenyan fraud is here to divide.

SC said...

I don’t think any members of the House or Senate read the bill before they voted on it. I doubt if Obama even took the time to read it before he signed it into law.

I feel sorry for the CBO. They must have been shaking their heads, rolling their eyes and wondering WTF (& I don't mean "Win The Future")

I sure hope it gets repealed or even better the whole thing ruled unconstitutional by the Supremes. Oh, what a day to celebrate that will be. I wonder if Joe Biden will say “This is a big f’ing deal”? I know I will be.

JustaJeepGuy said...

Although either would be wonderful, I think I would rather see Obamacare declared unconstitutional than simply repealed. Declaring it unconstitutional might cause the Demo_rats to write their legislation more in line with the Constitution in the future...............ah, who am I kidding? That will NEVER happen!