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In our current age of spin and counter-spin, there is no contortion too great for a politician to attempt. On occasion, however, the threads of one story become entangled with another in a manner that should deeply embarrass, if the media were sharp enough to catch it. This happened last week in response to the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) bombshell report on how Obamacare incentives could reduce the size of the labor force by more than two million workers by 2017. While the report did not reflect the Republican spin (that the law will cause employers to kill jobs -...

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is acting in a bipartisan way to cover up the biggest single threat to the bipartisan political alliance that is stripping America of its wealth: the United States Congress. There is no question that the following policy is bipartisan. Democrats and Republicans in Congress are completely agreed that the following information should not get out to the American people, namely, that the present value of the United States government’s off-budget liabilities is over $200 trillion. The CBO has two sets of books. This is what any Ponzi scheme requires. It releases one set of books...

The Obama machine is scrambling to minimize damage inflicted by the Congressional Budget Office's report that Obamacare will have a negative impact on employment, delaying yet again parts of the employer mandate, and forcing employers to swear Orwellian oaths that they won't cut workers. But a full reading of the CBO report shows that job loss could be even worse than previously reported. The CBO report concludes that the equivalent of 2.5 million jobs will be lost due to Obamacare, primarily because of decisions made by workers. But, like Holmes's dog that didn't bark, the report may be even more...

JAY CARNEY: First of all, let me just correct you. You asked about the deficit. As the CBO reported yesterday, consistent with what is reported in the past, the CBO projects that the Affordable Care Act will reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars. (snip) And I think one hugely significant one is the historic reduction in health care inflation that we've seen. We've had the slowest rate of health care cost growth in 50 years since the Affordable Care Act was passed, which directly contradict those who oppose the Affordable Care Act. ..... The CBO report says specifically, contrary...

<p>For the next few years, deficits are looking pretty good. But the interest owed on the country's cumulative debt is set to nearly quadruple over the next decade.</p> <p>The Congressional Budget Office projects that interest will be $233 billion this year, or 1.3% as a share of the economy.</p>

On the same day House Speaker John Boehner said he would bring a “clean” debt ceiling bill to the House floor—and join Democrats in voting for a 13-month extension of the debt limit—the head of the Congressional Budget Office declared that the “large and growing federal debt” could eventually increase the risk of a “fiscal crisis.” […] CBO estimates that federal debt held by the public will equal 74 percent of GDP at the end of this year and 79 percent in 2024 (the end of the current 10-year projection period). Such large and growing federal debt could have serious...

Yes, I suppose it’s true that most of the rest of the world works a lot less than Americans do. Their GDPs-per-capita and/or their debt-to-GDP ratios generally tend to correlate accordingly, but whatever. Via RCP:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO What the Congressional Budget Office is saying is that we’re going to discourage kids having to have latchkeys. We’re going to have parents being able to come home, working reasonable hours. People are going to be able to retire. People might be able to actually cook dinner rather than have to order out and get some takeout. I mean, the...

<p>In 2010, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi touted the Affordable Care Act as a bill "not only about the health security of America; it's about jobs. In its life, it will create 4 million jobs, 400,000 jobs almost immediately."</p> <p>A newly released Congressional Budget Office analysis reported that Obamacare is expected to shrink the workforce by 2.5 million full-time jobs by 2024. So you can stow that Pelosi quote in the warehouse of discarded Obamacare promises. Grab a forklift, and you can park it behind President Barack Obama's pledge, "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it."</p>

This week, a report from the Congressional Budget Office acknowledged that ObamaCare would reduce full-time employment by 2.5 million over the next ten years. And that is on top of news that 92 million Americans who could be working are not. What a devastating assessment for the unemployed or underemployed, particular millenials seeking to transition from internships and part-time jobs to career-building full-time jobs. Yet the predictable spin from the White House and major media outlets is that this is good news, liberating workers from the chains of employment. To quote President Obama, from the 2008 campaign, "You can put...

The Chicago professor examined the law's incentives for the poor not to get a job or work harder, and this week Beltway budgeteers agreed. Mr. Mulligan studies how government choices influence the incentives and rewards for work—and many more people may recognize the University of Chicago professor as a serious economist after this week. That's because, more than anyone, Mr. Mulligan is responsible for the still-raging furor over the Congressional Budget Office's conclusion that ObamaCare will, in fact, harm growth and jobs. But then the CBO ... reported that by 2024 the equivalent of 2.5 million Americans who were otherwise...

The Obama administration's response to the Congressional Budget Office's prediction that Obamacare will cause 2.5 million fewer Americans to work in the coming years is an opportunity for Republicans to seize the moral high ground on the issue of work. Rather than dispute the CBO's analysis -- which would have been awkward, as the White House has touted CBO's predictions in the past -- the administration is spinning the jobs loss as a kind of liberation. No longer tied down to the pesky need to earn a salary, some Americans will be able to follow their bliss. The is part...

"Job-lock!" It's only February, but it's already my favorite word -- or phrase, I guess -- of the year. (Who knows, by December it may be shortened to "joblock.") It's not euphonious or edgy, but it does offer insight into the unreality of the Democrats' predicament. The Congressional Budget Office issued a politically explosive report this week, finding that Obamacare will reduce the number of hours Americans work by the equivalent of 2.5 million full-time jobs. This is different than killing 2.5 million jobs, Obamacare defenders are quick to insist. This will be a shortfall on the demand, not supply,...

Gen. George McClellan commanded Union forces during the Civil War. He famously and constantly retreated across the map despite having larger forces than Gen. Robert E. Lee. At one point, meeting with his generals in the White House, Abraham Lincoln commented, "If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time." Ultimately, Abraham Lincoln dismissed him. Gen. McCellan seems alive and well, having returned as the senior consultant to the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill. After Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives in January 2011, they fought a significant...

Many workers may opt to work less to retain their eligibility for Medicaid or federal subsidies under Obamacare, a new report has found. The Affordable Care Act could reduce the labor force by the equivalent of 2.5 million workers in 2024, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office's annual outlook. That doesn't mean employers will start swinging the ax or even that that many jobs will be lost, CBO says. Rather, more people will likely opt to reduce their hours, or leave the workforce entirely, so they stay under the income caps for Medicaid and federal subsidies.

obs: ObamaCare backers are working hard to put a happy face on news the Affordable Care Act will cause the labor force to shrink by 2.5 million full-time jobs over the next decade. What they've come up with isn't pretty. We don't expect much in the way of sound economic reasoning from liberals, but listening to their reaction to the latest findings on ObamaCare left us dumbstruck. To recap: The Congressional Budget Office determined that ObamaCare would discourage work, in large part because many middle-income families will find themselves in what amounts to a 50% marginal income tax bracket as...

The Congressional Budget Office released a report that suggests almost 2.5 million workers might lose their jobs (or have their hours cut to part-time) in the next few years thanks to the implementation of Obamacare. The average American might see this as a worrisome report from the non-partisan CBO about the unintended consequence of government’s regulatory take-over of healthcare… But Harry Reid and other Democrat big-wigs are trying to spin this as a positive. The Democrat from Nevada even suggested that the individuals who are set to lose their job should be happy, because they are about to become “free...

The head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office delivered a damning assessment Wednesday of the Affordable Care Act, telling lawmakers that ObamaCare creates a "disincentive for people to work," adding fuel to Republican arguments that the law will hurt the economy. The testimony from CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf comes after his office released a highly controversial report that detailed how millions of workers could cut back their hours or opt out of the job market entirely because of benefits under the health law. The White House and its Democratic allies accused Republicans, and the media, of mischaracterizing the findings. But...

The Congressional Budget Office is out with its latest report on the Affordable Care Act, and here are a few bottom lines: — The ACA is cheaper than it expected. — It will "markedly increase" the number of Americans with health insurance. — The risk-adjustment provisions, which Congressional Republicans want to overturn as a "bailout" of the insurance industry, will actually turn a profit to the U.S. Treasury. Given all this, why are the first news headlines on the CBO report depicting it as calling Obamacare a job killer? (snip) ..... it's important to examine what the CBO actually says...

The Congressional Budget Office estimated on Tuesday that the Affordable Care Act will reduce the number of full-time workers by 2.5 million over the next decade. That is mostly a good thing, a liberating result of the law. Of course, Republicans immediately tried to brand the findings as “devastating” and stark evidence of President Obama’s health care reform as a failure and a job killer. It is no such thing. The report estimated that — thanks to an increase in insurance coverage under the act and the availability of subsidies to help pay the premiums — many workers who felt...

Give Sam Stein credit for being an honest liberal. Confronted with the CBO's findings about the disastrous job-killing effects of Obamacare, Stein didn't try to spin the unspinnable. On today's Morning Joe, Donnie Deutsch invited Stein to play a game of Mad Men. Deutsch first sketched out a 30-second ad making the case against Obamacare--that contrary to what President Obama had said, you can't choose your provider and the program costs the country two million jobs. Deutsch then invited Stein to give the 30-second ad in response. Said Stein, much to the amusement of the panel: "The 30-second response is...