From the Washington Examiner:
A House Energy and Commerce Committee spokeswoman tells me that Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has indeed cancelled the April 21 subcommittee hearing in which CEOs were to testify about Obamacare. So far, the only indication of this change appears on the committee's website is on the Republican minority ranking member's site. In fact, the hearing still appears on Waxman's committee calendar for that day.
Waxman had called the hearing in reaction to public statements by several companies -- including Verizon, AT&T, and John Deere, among others -- that Obamacare would cost them hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars because it laid a new tax on their retiree health benefit payments.
Ever since the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit, the payments had been subsidized, tax-free, as a way of preventing these companies from dropping enrolees onto the Medicare rolls. When Obamacare changed the tax rules, it was quite clear that this would result in huge losses, but President Obama and Democrats had failed to heed warnings to this effect in the run up to Obamacare's passage last month.
The CEOs, required by law to be honest about earnings projections, re-stated their bottom lines in reaction to Obamacare's passage, earning the ire of Waxman and other Democrats. Hearings on this matter would likely have proved an embarrassment to them, and helped drag out discussion of Obamacare's unexpected ill effects.
Oopsie.
The CEOs should show up anyway, and hold a press conference illustrating all the additional costs and related impacts to their bottom lines and prospects for hiring new employees.
Verizon et. al. should also take out full page ads in major newspapers with a copy of Waxman's letter, and their response. He deserves to be embarrassed for his arrogance and ignorance.
ReplyDeleteI called Waxman's office twice after the first announcement. His staff didn't even realize that the AT&T, Verizon, et al announcements were required by law. It was just another case of arrogance and ignorance run amok. God, I cannot wait for November!
ReplyDeleteThis is known as "poking the bear", and if the CEO's actually followed through on having a press conference to detail the negative effects Obamacare will have on them, there will be two reactions:
ReplyDelete1) The press won't care, won't show up in any numbers, and won't report it. (except for some Conservative Media, and they don't matter, because they're not "Real Press", right?)
2) Future legislation coming out of Waxman's committe may just have some little penalties smacking these companies around, some special taxes, a few regulations that only apply to these specific companies, and God forbid any of these CEOs wind up looking for an Ambasador or such position under a future Republican president.
So they're not going to do it.
whatta flippin joke. it's a shame Waxman musta realized his mistake before embarrassing himself and Congress in these hearings
ReplyDeleteWill no one stand up to this bully Waxman?
ReplyDelete"Have you no shame?"
"Will no one stand up to this bully Waxman?"
ReplyDeleteHe's represented West LA/Hollywood liberals for 35 years. You're kidding, right?
"... CEOs, required by law to be honest about earnings projections..."
ReplyDeleteLOL