Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You know what drives me insane? My dad is incredibly anti Obama and a small business owner. He hates Obamacare. Yet he provides his employees with health insurance (even though he would be exempt) because he knows that is one of hte perks that keep really good employees around for years and that is so valuable to him. It's what allows him to have a life outside running that business. It's what allows him to go on vacation and go golfing every weekend - the fact that he has good, stable employees that he can trust. Drives me crazy that sees the value in what he is providing but can't see that value is applying it to the workforce at large.

Well, your dad will no longer be the only one providing health insurance. Quality employees who stay because of the health insurance, no longer have that as a reason to stay. Your dad might not be such a wonderful boss

I think you are missing the point - my dad sees the value as a small business owner in providing employees with incentives to stay - healthcare (and paid premiums), retirement plans, and a fair wage. So there is a bit of irony in him being against Obamacare (which equates providing healthcare to employees as something just and right) while he himself believes that providing healthcare as just and right.


Either way, his competitors are small business that are also exempt from Obamacare, so the incentive to stay will still be there in my Dad's case.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know what really pisses me off? When Bush won, there were a lot of unhappy Dems, but after the election they said we're still Americans and we aren't going to screw the country and stall the Congress so that nothing gets done for the next 4 yrs b/c we're mad "our guy" didn't get elected. When Obama got elected Republicans got bent out of shape and decided to dig their heels in and do NOTHING so that they could "prove the wrong guy won" and Obama screwed up the country. It wasn't about doing what was right for the USA, it was about screwing up everything Obama tried to do. And here we are again. Screw the little guys and fire the workers to "prove" that Obamacare can't work. Stop being spoiled children and start remembering that we're all AMERICANS. This is it for the next 4 years. Find a way to make it work and stop screwing your fellow Americans to try to make a point. We're all supposed to be on the same side now. Or have you forgotten the election is over?!

Don't worry, it's all bluster. This is a time honored response of business owners whenever they face a regulation they don't like (which is all of them). When I was a kid, they mandated vapor reclaiming pumps in my state. The owners howled and said that it would cost them more to comply with the law than they make and they would shut down and the people would vote the bastards out once they couldn't get gas anymore. But like a kid holding his breath, you know he's going to breathe, and money is the businessman's oxygen.

This pattern repeated itself with cars (remember how catalytic converters were going to kill the auto industry?) Smoke stack scrubbers, financial regulations, you name it. Oh, it's going to kill my business. Banning smoking in restaurants would cause a tidal wave of business to spill over into neighboring states. Instead it reduced heart attacks. Blah blah blah.


Don't get me wrong, there is such a thing as bad or overly aggressive regulation, but Obama is not the antichrist and he is not killing business.

Business people do what is in their economic interest. They will not fire people to prove a point. They will make money because they want money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You know what drives me insane? My dad is incredibly anti Obama and a small business owner. He hates Obamacare. Yet he provides his employees with health insurance (even though he would be exempt) because he knows that is one of hte perks that keep really good employees around for years and that is so valuable to him. It's what allows him to have a life outside running that business. It's what allows him to go on vacation and go golfing every weekend - the fact that he has good, stable employees that he can trust. Drives me crazy that sees the value in what he is providing but can't see that value is applying it to the workforce at large.

Well, your dad will no longer be the only one providing health insurance. Quality employees who stay because of the health insurance, no longer have that as a reason to stay. Your dad might not be such a wonderful boss

Anonymous wrote:

You know what drives me insane? My dad is incredibly anti Obama and a small business owner. He hates Obamacare. Yet he provides his employees with health insurance (even though he would be exempt) because he knows that is one of hte perks that keep really good employees around for years and that is so valuable to him. It's what allows him to have a life outside running that business. It's what allows him to go on vacation and go golfing every weekend - the fact that he has good, stable employees that he can trust. Drives me crazy that sees the value in what he is providing but can't see that value is applying it to the workforce at large.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But what if they simply can't stay afloat? They are businesses, not charities . Do you hand over your money in large and painful amounts so you barely can stay afloat to people in your immediate community that you recognize are struggling? The equivalent is what you.may be asking of some businesses? You realize there are a ton of businesses struggling in this recession pre- mandate. I am.not sure how boycotting them helps. Maybe they will eventually.come around once they are sure they can simply stay open.....

That's not going to happen. 94% of large businesses (50 or more employees) already provide health insurance to their employees.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a business owner with 4 employees including myself. We provide medical, dental (we pay 60% of the premiums). We pay 100% for life and disability and match 401k @5%. Why? It's the right thing to do and I want my employees around a long time. Guess what? I make less money than I could if I didn't offer these things, but I do ok and don't need to line my pockets at others' expense.

It's sad that there even as to be a mandate.

Anonymous wrote:You know what really pisses me off? When Bush won, there were a lot of unhappy Dems, but after the election they said we're still Americans and we aren't going to screw the country and stall the Congress so that nothing gets done for the next 4 yrs b/c we're mad "our guy" didn't get elected. When Obama got elected Republicans got bent out of shape and decided to dig their heels in and do NOTHING so that they could "prove the wrong guy won" and Obama screwed up the country. It wasn't about doing what was right for the USA, it was about screwing up everything Obama tried to do. And here we are again. Screw the little guys and fire the workers to "prove" that Obamacare can't work. Stop being spoiled children and start remembering that we're all AMERICANS. This is it for the next 4 years. Find a way to make it work and stop screwing your fellow Americans to try to make a point. We're all supposed to be on the same side now. Or have you forgotten the election is over?!

Anonymous wrote:You know what really pisses me off? When Bush won, there were a lot of unhappy Dems, but after the election they said we're still Americans and we aren't going to screw the country and stall the Congress so that nothing gets done for the next 4 yrs b/c we're mad "our guy" didn't get elected. When Obama got elected Republicans got bent out of shape and decided to dig their heels in and do NOTHING so that they could "prove the wrong guy won" and Obama screwed up the country. It wasn't about doing what was right for the USA, it was about screwing up everything Obama tried to do. And here we are again. Screw the little guys and fire the workers to "prove" that Obamacare can't work. Stop being spoiled children and start remembering that we're all AMERICANS. This is it for the next 4 years. Find a way to make it work and stop screwing your fellow Americans to try to make a point. We're all supposed to be on the same side now. Or have you forgotten the election is over?!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None. Have you ever taken a business class? Stupid question.

Actually, I am the Director of Finance at an organization which pays 100% of our employees health care premiums.

If a restaurant comes out and makes a statement similar to PP business owner who pays 60% of her employees premiums, they'd have a customer for life in me. And I believe, many others feel the same way.

A corporation can make a brand - and market themselves - out of being a good corporate citizen.

+10000. I will make sure I will never ever patronize any of those businesses whose CEOs are making the big stink about Obamacare. if many others do the same, their investor will not be happy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None. Have you ever taken a business class? Stupid question.

Actually, I am the Director of Finance at an organization which pays 100% of our employees health care premiums.

If a restaurant comes out and makes a statement similar to PP business owner who pays 60% of her employees premiums, they'd have a customer for life in me. And I believe, many others feel the same way.

A corporation can make a brand - and market themselves - out of being a good corporate citizen.