Repeal fails, job growth continues: An updated fact check of false Republican claims about Obamacare and the economy.
“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
“Obamacare is devastating businesses." — Donald Trump, 2016
“Obamacare … this disastrous policy that's been killing jobs." — Mike Pence, 2016
“Obamacare is the biggest job killer in this country. — Ted Cruz, Aug. 2017
Let’s tackle these false “job-killing, wage-reducing, deficit-busting” myths one by one:
False Myth #1: Obamacare is a job killer.
Fact Check: American businesses have created more than 17 million jobs since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, a dramatic turnaround from the disastrous job losses we experienced under GOP trickle-down in the decade before the ACA:
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 $3,300 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 over 4 million.
False Myth #3: The dramatic reduction in the official unemployment rate (U3) under Obamacare (from 9.9 percent to 4.4 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 8.6 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.
UPDATE: Revised chart incorporating data from 2017 survey of employment based coverage:
Bottom Line: After the middle class endured a lost economic decade under President Bush’s trickle-down policies, the sound investments made in the Obamacare Economy helped deliver more jobs, rising incomes, and dramatically expanded coverage. President Trump should send “thank you” notes to the Democrats for stopping repeal and preventing a massive disruption of economy. Unfortunately, Trump appears determined to sabotage enrollment in the ACA exchanges for 2018, which means all of us will need to step up:
In addition to fighting various Trump efforts to sabotage the ACA, Democrats need to shed their defensive posture and aggressively engage the core economic argument over Obamacare. For too long, they let the GOP's "job killing," "wage reducing," and "deficit busting" myths gain far too much currency.
With 7+ years of economic evidence now available to show that every Republican prediction about the Obamacare Economy was dead wrong, Democrats should not be shy about using the debate over Reckless Republican Repeal & Trump Sabotage to tell the true story of America’s economic comeback under the Affordable Care Act.