Fact Check: More Jobs (+15.7M), Rising Middle-Class Incomes (+$3K), Lower Deficit (-2/3rds)
That’s the true story of the Obamacare economy. But unless Democrats start speaking with one voice on the issue, Americans will remain much more familiar with the false “job-killing, wage-reducing, deficit-busting” myths Republicans have been spreading for seven years.
“It will bankrupt our nation, and it will ruin our economy! … This health care law … is already destroying jobs in our country.” —John Boehner, 2011
“We now know that Obamacare has been one of the single biggest drags on job creation since early 2010.” —Mitch McConnell, 2012
“[T]his is going to blow a hole through the deficit even more than we had already thought.” —Paul Ryan, 2012
“Obamacare is directly responsible for destroying jobs and lowering wages for workers” —Senate Republican Policy Committee, 2014
“It is the biggest job-killer in this country.” —Ted Cruz, 2016
“Obamacare is devastating businesses." —Donald Trump, 2016
“Obamacare … this disastrous policy that's been killing jobs." —Mike Pence, 2016
False Myth #1: Obamacare is a job killer.
Fact Check: American businesses have created more than 15 million jobs since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law.
False Myth #2: Obamacare is forcing people into lower-paid, part-time jobs.
Fact Check: Middle-class households have seen real (inflation-adjusted) income rise by more than $3,000 since Obamacare became law; the vast majority of jobs created in the Obamacare economy have been full time; and the number of people stuck in part-time instead of full-time jobs has dropped by 3.6 million.
False Myth #3: The dramatic reduction in the official unemployment rate (U3) under Obamacare (from 9.9 percent to 4.7 percent) doesn’t matter because “real” unemployment (U6) is higher.
Fact Check: The U6 rate, which includes both unemployed and underemployed workers, has also fallen dramatically, from 17.1 percent the month Obamacare passed down to 9.2 percent today.
False Myth #4: Obamacare will blow up the deficit.
Fact Check: The annual budget deficit has dropped by two-thirds since Obamacare became law.
False Myth #5: Obamacare is causing premiums to skyrocket for businesses and workers.
Fact Check: Premium inflation has actually slowed for employment-based coverage, which is how the vast majority of American families get their coverage.
False Myth #6: Obamacare is hurting the GDP.
Fact Check: GDP growth has strengthened in the Obamacare economy.
Bottom Line: After the middle class endured a lost economic decade between 2000 and 2009, the Obamacare Economy of 2010 through 2016 delivered more jobs, rising incomes, slower premium inflation, faster economic growth, and lower deficits.
The Republican assault on Obamacare is a threat to all of that progress. It is a threat to American workers and to the entire American economy. That’s the critical message in the battle over the Republican Repeal Plan. By dramatically disrupting a major sector of the economy, the Republican Repeal Plan threatens to cause the loss of 3 million jobs.
By eliminating the cost-containment measures that have helped slow healthcare inflation in recent years, the Republican Repeal Plan would mean higher premiums eating into workers’ wages and higher budget deficits for the nation.
The Republican Repeal Plan would deliver a massive tax cut to the wealthy at the expense of workers and small businesses, who would lose access to valuable tax credits that help make coverage more affordable. All told, the Republican Repeal Plan would cause nearly 30 million people to lose their health coverage by 2019, and it would leave states, cities, and counties with a huge new bill for uncompensated care.
Of course, the Republican assault on Obamacare also threatens to eliminate basic protections against insurance company abuses, reopen the Medicare donut hole, and shorten the life of the Medicare trust fund. Each and every one of those points should be highlighted in the days ahead.
But for far too long, Democrats have shied away from aggressively engaging the core economic argument over Obamacare, letting the GOP's "job killing," "wage reducing," and "deficit busting" myths gain far too much currency.
That must end now.
With one voice, Democrats need to make the economic case—both for Obamacare and the overall Obama legacy—and it shouldn't be hard:
Efforts to revise this economic history are sure to come in the Trump era, which makes it all the more important for Democrats to tell the true story of America’s economic comeback under President Obama and warn against the reckless repeal efforts that would derail that comeback.