ACA – Unintended Consequences: All the name calling and finger pointing is about the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The NMBC wasn’t happy to see it pass and have already seen horrible unintended consequences. Large national companies and some home-grown New Mexico ones have taken action that is costing American jobs. Some businesses have gone into pure survival mode to preserve what’s left of their companies after the great recession. We’ve heard announcements and seen action with companies cutting jobs, cutting hours, avoiding new hires, . . . etc. because they simply can’t afford the changes required by the ACA. The ACA is law and these games in Congress will not change that fact. At least not right now. There has yet to be a serious proposal that would, in fact, change it materially. And Obama is saying he won’t compromise. Instead, we’ve got 800,000 people furloughed and unable to support themselves and their families. The end result will be higher costs to the taxpayer because you can rest assured, we’ll pay the back wages and much more to make up for the lost time.
But here’s the bigger problem that many seem to be missing and of which the ACA is only a symptom. . .
It’s the Debt, Dummy: Congress is, once again, considering raising the debt ceiling. While we don’t like seeing workers furloughed, the bigger question is what will happen to their jobs in the long run, if we don’t get the country’s financial affairs in order. We haven’t had a real budget in many years and our current financial picture is long past the point of sustainability. Does anyone care? Is there any substantive discussion of the debt ceiling and the budget? If some in Congress want to make a stand, let it be for the debt ceiling and the budget. If that’s properly addressed, it should also address parts of the ACA. Other parts of that law need to be addressed constitutionally.
Americans Are Suffering; Congress Continues to Get Paid: Through it all, Congress continues to get paid while others don’t. The taxpayers, as always, carry the load and pay the price.
Who We Elect Matters: And who is to blame for this train wreck? It’s the American voter – plain and simple. We put them into office, we need to get some of them out of office. From school boards to the U.S. President, who we elect, matters. We hope you will never miss an opportunity to vote.
Contact the New Mexico Business Coalition at (505) 836-4223 or nmbiz@nmbizcoalition.org for more information on how you can join the NMBC.
