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Is Thirty the new Fifty? (With ObamaCare in the wings, the 30 hour work week will be new normal)
American Thinker ^ | 11/20/2012 | Scott Mayer

Posted on 11/20/2012 7:20:55 AM PST by SeekAndFind

With ObamaCare in the wings, the traditional forty- or fifty-hour work week will soon be replaced with a less than thirty-hour week for many American workers. To wit: many businesses, including ones that previously received ObamaCare waivers, are trying to avoid paying onerous fines for not providing employees with health coverage as mandated by the new law.

President Obama recently said that he won't allow the budget to be "balanced on the backs of the middle class." He sure did give the appearance of truly caring about these "folks," but he failed to disclose the fact that, even if taxed at 100%, there simply aren't enough rich people to pay for all of his big-government plans.

But as Thomas Sowell points out, even at a rate much lower than 100%, higher tax rates don't necessarily translate into higher tax revenues. So where will all this needed money come from? While Obama is targeting the group of Americans who already pay the most in taxes, the burden of his policies will ultimately break the backs of those he claims to be trying to protect.

The Obamacare mandate is just one example of how the middle class will be forced to shoulder a heaver burden, which flies in the face what Obama had promised to the American people. But in addition to this mandate (now officially a tax), a reduced work week will in essence have the same effect as a huge tax increase for those affected.

Take-home pay is what ultimately matters, and losing 25% of one's gross pay based upon a forty-hour week or about 45% based on a fifty-hour week when overtime is factored in represents an enormous hit.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: jobs; obamacare; workweek
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1 posted on 11/20/2012 7:21:06 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
"With ObamaCare in the wings, the traditional forty- or fifty-hour work week will soon be replaced with a less than thirty-hour week for many American workers."

Or it will mean a 60 hour work week for two different employers.

2 posted on 11/20/2012 7:24:11 AM PST by circlecity
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To: SeekAndFind
The flip side of this is that there will be other workers who will have to jump from 40 to 60 because it will be cheaper to pay one worker 20 hours at time-and-a-half than to pay a for two workers' insurance.
3 posted on 11/20/2012 7:24:46 AM PST by KarlInOhio (Big Bird is a brood parasite: laid in our nest 43 years ago and we are still feeding him.)
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To: SeekAndFind

This is not new. Fifty one years ago, my high school civics teacher told us that in the future the average work week would be about 35 hours as there would be too many workers for each 40 hour job.


4 posted on 11/20/2012 7:28:45 AM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (The parasites now outnumber the producers.)
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To: circlecity

An idea occurred...

why couldn’t the same employee be hired twice as two entities...
and both entities could work 20 hours per week.


5 posted on 11/20/2012 7:31:54 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: SeekAndFind
Basic business accounting dictates that thirty will be the "new forty" for hourly employees. (But Obamacare should be a good thing for those 65+ in good health who still want to work part time because they have their health care covered by Medicare. Not so good for kids looking for their first jobs, though.)

BTW, didn't 24/7 become the other "new forty" when salaried employees became independent contractors -- and that was several economic cycles ago?

6 posted on 11/20/2012 7:33:24 AM PST by Sooth2222 ("Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." M.Twain)
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To: circlecity
Or it will mean a 60 hour work week for two different employers.

My thoughts exactly. I'll embrace this if it means I keep my job. I'll even embrace a lack of health insurance. The idea of "insurance" has become this bastardized monolith of money for the poor.

It used to be in the 1950s that insurance was used to keep the household from going bankrupt. It INSURED against loss. Nowadays people think they have to have insurance to just walk into a doctor's office. They think they'll DIE if they don't have health insurance. Well I can tell you, haven't been unemployed for a long period, doctor offices LOVE if you pay cash and are willing to cut the cost of a visit in half or even more if you pay in cash. In the future, I'd bet that doctors will go back to making housecalls to get paid under the table. It'll create what the government will call a "black market" for healthcare, but that's essentially what they're forcing us to do.

7 posted on 11/20/2012 7:35:48 AM PST by rarestia (It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)
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To: MrB

Because the SSN identifies the employee for tax purposes to the IRS. 0 would still count it as a 40 hour work week.


8 posted on 11/20/2012 7:39:20 AM PST by jsanders2001
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To: rarestia
In the future, I'd bet that doctors will go back to making housecalls to get paid under the table

Maybe, I could give my pig to my doctor? That is, if my wife can part with the pig. ;-)

TWO JOBS, 60 hours... and, SHITTY government health care. Hmmnnnn boy, the young uns are just gonna LOVE this!

9 posted on 11/20/2012 7:42:34 AM PST by SomeCallMeTim ( The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them)
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To: jsanders2001

OK, I got it.

I work for employer X for 20 hours, but I also “work for” my own LLC, which employer X contracts to complete the other 20 hours of work.


10 posted on 11/20/2012 7:43:15 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: SomeCallMeTim

They won’t care, Tim. They’ll be normalized to this sort of destitution during their formative years in public schools. That’s why we’re in the position we’re in now. Generations of children have been taught that capitalism is bad and socialism/communism is “fair,” and those children grew up and voted for The Won, porcine piss be upon him.

This is a highly retrograde system going into place where infant mortality rates will skyrocket and being placed in inpatient care at a hospital will become a death sentence due to poor health conditions. It’s already happening across Europe.


11 posted on 11/20/2012 7:52:57 AM PST by rarestia (It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)
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To: rarestia

I agree. A black market for healthcare is going to emerge and I’m willing to ber 0 has anticipated this and is going to try and put the screws down. He knows that many people, particularly Christians, won’t accept the RFID implant seeing it as the mark of the beast so he will issue healthcare cards at first and mobilize his propaganda forces and obamabots to scream until they wear the public down or denigrate them into accepting it.
It may take several years but I think this is one of real hidden agendas behind getting Obamacare implemented in addition to setting up a key ID for every citizen and linking their identification, medical, financial, and possibly location information (if tracking capabilities are added). It’s a tax with a hidden purpose and not really about the public getting healthcare even though thats it’s stated purpose.


12 posted on 11/20/2012 7:54:50 AM PST by jsanders2001
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To: rarestia
It'll create what the government will call a "black market" for healthcare, but that's essentially what they're forcing us to do

Let's just hope you don't need a prescription for some meds, following your visit. Everything going into and out of a pharmacist's office will likely be tracked via the "healthcare grid."

Pretty soon, some IRS agent comes knocking on the doctor's door..."Good day, doctor...we see you've been writing a lot of prescriptions, but your patient visits don't match up. Do you want to explain this discrepancy, or shall we use some rubber gloves and some MIL-SPEC lubricant?"

13 posted on 11/20/2012 7:59:58 AM PST by Lou L (Health "insurance" is NOT the same as health "care")
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To: jsanders2001

They can mandate all they want, but if they ever make it a law to require that we are chipped, I’ll go down firing. Under no circumstances will I have anything put in or on my body that identifies me to authorities. That’s the end of the line, in my opinion, and I will DIE to defend my right to say “No” to it.


14 posted on 11/20/2012 8:01:52 AM PST by rarestia (It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)
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To: Lou L

I have to take thyroid medication daily for hypothyroidism, and I’m actually scared to death about how short my life is soon to become. When I run out of meds, if they’re no longer available or I’m forced to be marked or otherwise live a life under government yoke, I’ll be at risk for coma and/or eventual death without them. It’s a reality I’ve come to grips with and understand it could come sooner rather than later.


15 posted on 11/20/2012 8:05:49 AM PST by rarestia (It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)
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To: MrB

Either way...W-2 or with an LLC a K-1 it is still attached to your SS#.


16 posted on 11/20/2012 8:12:49 AM PST by Conservative4Ever (I'm going Galt.)
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To: SeekAndFind

One of my friends is a regional manager for a Midwest chain of restaurants and he attended a meeting this week where the new HR policy will be to hire more, but only part-time people to cover all of the shifts.

We will soon see MSM report that Obama claims that hiring is up!


17 posted on 11/20/2012 8:17:41 AM PST by KeyLargo
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To: SeekAndFind
obamacare sucks
18 posted on 11/20/2012 8:18:37 AM PST by FrankR (They will become our ultimate masters the day we surrender the 2nd Amendment.)
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To: SeekAndFind

If taxed at 100%, there simply aren’t enough rich people to pay for all of his big-government plans.

Didn’t France tax the rich at 75%.Abd they are still in the hole.


19 posted on 11/20/2012 8:22:49 AM PST by Vaduz
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To: SeekAndFind
A question and a question.

How long before 'They' sum the hours that you work at any endeavor in order to arrive at the 30 hours per week?

I keep hearing about "all the taxes" in ObamaCare. Has anyone made a quantified list?

20 posted on 11/20/2012 8:24:15 AM PST by I am Richard Brandon
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