Conspiracy Theory of the Day

Robert Gibbs and Hosni Mubarak both left their jobs the same day. Very suspicious. I mean, has anyone actually seen both Gibbs and Mubarak at the same time?

(This post is meant for Glenn Beck who could probably do a whole show based upon such speculation. I bet he would find it irresponsible to ignore the possibility that the President of Egypt was the Press Secretary to a Muslim President of the United States.).

Conservative Distortions on Health Care Reform and Employment

Republicans have tried every matter of distortion possible to try to kill health care reform, from false claims of death panels to untrue claims that the law represents a government take over of health care. They have also ignored any Congressional Budget Office reports which have been favorable to the law (or favorable to any other measure opposed by the right). Now they citing, and distorting, testimony from  CBO Director Doug Elmendorf to claim that the Affordable Care Act will reduce employment.

The Affordable Care Act will lead to some people not working, but most of the cases won’t be because the law is providing any disincentives to hiring. In the long term it will strengthen the economy by putting American businesses at less of a competitive disadvantage compared to companies where there is universal health care (i.e. the rest of the industrialized world). Those who leave the work force will primarily be people who are now continuing to work because of not currently being able to obtain insurance coverage on the individual market. People won’t be forced to continue working regardless of their age or health in order to obtain health insurance through employers, and some will choose to discontinue working.

Quote of the Day

“Dick Cheney says that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is a ‘good friend.’ Why am I not surprised by this?” –David Letterman