[quote][url=http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/197365-cbo-o-care-slowing-growth#ixzz2sNGGllXp]The new healthcare law will cost the nation the equivalent of 2.5 million workers in the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in a report released Tuesday... ...“The estimated reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, rather than from a net drop in business’ demand for labor,” the CBO report said.[/url][/quote] The last part is important, since the projected job loss will not be a result of employers firing workers; instead, workers who find themselves with lower wages (due to the bill) may reduce their hours, and workers who find that they don't need their employer for health insurance may drop out altogether. Here is an [url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/02/04/no-cbo-did-not-say-obamacare-will-kill-2-million-jobs/]explanation from the Washington Post[/url] that fights back against the sensationalist spin. [quote]One big issue: the health insurance subsidies in the law. That’s a substantial benefit that decreases as people earn more money, so at a certain point, a person has to choose between earning more money or continuing to get the maximum help with health insurance payments. In other words, people might work longer and harder, but actually earn no more, or earn even less, money. That is a disincentive to work. (The same thing happens when people qualify for food stamps or other social services.) Thus, some people might decide to work part-time, not full time, in order to keep getting health-care subsidies. Thus, they are reducing their supply of labor to the market. Other people near retirement age might decide they no longer need to hold onto their job just because it provides health insurance, and they also leave the work force.[/quote] While the White House is trying to spin the news in their own way, the report is another blow to both the bill and the president. The controversy surrounding it has caused vulnerable Democrats around the nation to distance themselves from the president in preparation for upcoming elections. The CBO stands by its earlier projection that Obamacare would reduce deficits in the long run, though that will probably not give Democrats much ammo. Short-term deficits continue to fall, due to policy changes overall. One ray of good news in the report is that [url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cbo-reports-that-health-law-provision-called-and8216bailout-by-gop-will-raise-8b/2014/02/05/a14b6e14-8e54-11e3-878e-d76656564a01_story.html]a provision in the law will end up producing $8 billion, rather than costing money.[/url] Like the Democrats, Republicans are unlikely to be fazed by news that is not in their favor.