I’m often asked why more business people don’t speak up on various issues to inform the public about the chilling effect government policies can have on jobs and overall economic growth. “Why do we let the inexperienced dominate discussions that ultimately impact everyone else?” many will ask. Well, I have a good example of why this happens.
I recently wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal titled Shunning ObamaCare on how ObamaCare enrollment went at our company. Basically, we had 6,900 eligible employees of whom 1,447 already had our company-sponsored compliant insurance. That left 5,453 new people to whom we offered employer-sponsored, ObamaCare-compliant coverage. A mere 420 enrolled. Unless they had insurance from another source, the other 5,033 elected to pay the penalty. It turns out that ObamaCare isn’t as big an expense as we anticipated. Very few people signed up.
Based on that article, I was asked to testify before the Senate HELP Committee on the Forty Hours is Full Time Act. I did so last Thursday, January 22nd. The good news is that the Senate is actually holding hearings again.
Following the hearing, a “journalist” named Alec MacGillis wrote a piece in Slate criticizing the hearing and claiming that I said things I never said and made claims that I never made. He concluded the story with a reference to how much he believes I earned in 2012. This is irrelevant to the subject at hand but somehow he felt it was important to mention. You can read his inaccurate account by clicking on his Failure to Launch musings.
I responded yesterday with an article in Real Clear Politics (RCP) to set the record straight: What Hearing Did That Slate Reporter Attend?
If you have time to read my RCP article, you’ll see why most business people remain silent.