One of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act–Obamacare–is the requirement that 80% to 85% of health insurance premiums go toward actual medical costs and not to overhead and profit of the insurers. Otherwise the policy holder is due a refund at the end of the year. This medical loss ratio went into effect in […]
377 Million reasons for small business to like Obamacare Read More »
Yesterday, as expected, the U.S. House passed Majority Leader Cantor’s bill that would cut a small business owner’s tax on profits by 20% for 2012 only. The bill’s intent, according to the supporters, is to spur job creation. In my blog on Wednesday I explained why this would be a $46 billion debt-increasing failure in
Bucking the leadership Read More »
The Washington Post April 15, 2012 By Tim Smith, owner Papa Jazz Record Shoppe in Columbia, S.C. For 33 years, my business — Papa Jazz Record Shoppe in Columbia, S.C. — has been a cornerstone of the trendy Five Points shopping area of our capital city. As a small, independent retail establishment, we have weathered
Eliminating Saturday postal service would hurt our competitive advantage Read More »
Today President Obama is scheduled to sign the JOBS Act, legislation that has received both enthusiastic support from the business community and scorn from regulators and consumer organizations. So what is the reality? Well, the JOBS Act is deserving of both praise and scorn. First the praise. Contained in the Act is a provision for
Hope and danger in JOBS Act Read More »
The Washington PostApril 1, 2012 By Jamal Lee Last week, the nation’s attention was riveted to the Supreme Court, where oral arguments were being made over the constitutionality of the health care reform law, also known as the Affordable Care Act. Pundits have been making one prediction after another as to how the high court
Now the waiting begins…Oh, and the PR efforts continue in an effort to influence the final decision. The Supreme Court had its hearings, all sides had their say, and the reality sets in. But it’s not the reality for all Americans that the Affordable Care Act come July might be intact, altered or gone entirely.
Round three…reality sets in Read More »
So you didn’t get one of the approximately 170 seats in the Supreme Court for yesterday’s opening hearing on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Well, I didn’t either but I did get to talk to someone who was in the Chamber. Elizabeth Wydra is the chief counsel for the Constitutional Accountability Center. She practices before
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is basking in the media attention as being one of the plaintiffs against the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court starts hearing the case today. (Yesterday the New York Times did an excellent short summary of what will happen during each of the three days.) Today I received
NFIB continues the fraud Read More »
The argument that “free” trade will create more jobs here in the U.S. stands in stark contrast to the facts. Since the 2001 trade deal with China we’ve lost 6 million manufacturing jobs here at home. The calls for “fair” trade are growing. Our manufacturers find it almost impossible to compete with foreign manufacturers that
Cracking down on China’s unfair trade Read More »
Last June Governor Haley convinced House and Senate Republicans that the new immigration law they wanted to pass just had to have a mandatory E-Verify provision because of a recent Supreme Court decision. According to the Governor’s interpretation of that decision, only the federal E-Verify data base could be used to determine a person’s citizenship
Small business deceived on E-Verify mandate Read More »
