Fear, Risk, and the Labor Pool

The Right in a disgusting and all too typical turn of events twisted a recent CBO report on the Affordable Care Act into a political talking point.  The act has made it easier and more affordable to get health insurance.  And insurance is now less tightly linked to having a job.   You might say that’s great, but not if your on the Right.  Nope, on the Right this is bad.  Why?  Because, as the report  mentions, this empowers some people to drop out of the labor force.

The sadism of this line of reasoning is horrific.  It treats the labor force as cattle.  What is government’s role?  Coerce them into the job market.   Healthcare is just a stick to herd them.

But worse it’s stupid because even if you decide to treat ’em like cattle it’s insane to focus on only on quantity.   What about quality.? A rancher with more cattle, unhealthy cattle, is not wealthier than the rancher with fewer cattle.

This talking vile point has legs!  Child labor laws reduces labor force participation!   Education funding reduces labor force participation.  Social security … what other social welfare programs reduce labor force participation.

I wonder, what social program was the mother of all job killers?   Extending the franchise?  The emancipation proclamation?

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