Obamacare Strikes!

Since the passage of Obamacare last spring, America has been much like a nation once at war but no longer, receiving, as it has, credible word from the front lines that its army has been defeated.  The terms of surrender, however, remain unclear and, as a result, the people have been anxiously passing the time, nervously waiting for the enemy soldiers to arrive and impose whatever order they see fit.  Well, the trucks have finally rolled into town.

An old high school buddy of mine runs a small, and heretofore successful, business.  Including himself, he employs fifteen people full time.  That full-time employment includes, among other benefits, a health-care insurance plan.

Presently, it's the time of year when many businesses, large and small, settle on next year's employee benefits packages.  I, for example, work for a large, national company and by the end of next month I must decide on one of the several health-care insurance plans offered.  On a much smaller scale, my buddy is currently going through the same process with his employees.

Well, he finally received word from his health-care insurance provider just what the terms of next year's plan will be.  The bottom line is that in order for his business to remain viable, he'll have to make four of his fifteen positions part-time instead of full, with those part-time positions forfeiting health-care insurance and other benefits as well.

While Secretary Sebelius and the Obama Administration will doubtless blame this unfortunate outcome on the "greedy and dishonest" insurance company, the fact is that without the passage of Obamacare my buddy would have been able to retain all fifteen full-time positions, along with their health-care benefits.  With its passage, he can't.

Now multiply that same story by untold thousands across the land and imagine the consequences.