A pair of Gallup polls, taken together, show some really bad news for the economy due to Obamacare and the unintended consequences of Obama and Democrats' heatlh care law.
Starting with poll results from Gallup released on May 10, 2013, half of U.S. businesses feel Obamacare will be bad for them and 41 percent are holding off hiring because of Obamacare.
It gets worse:
When asked if they had taken any of five specific actions in response to the ACA, 41% of small-business owners say they have held off on hiring new employees and 38% have pulled back on plans to grow their business. One in five (19%) have reduced their number of employees and essentially the same number (18%) have cut employee hours in response to the healthcare law. One in four owners (24%) have thought about eliminating healthcare coverage for their employees.
Implication, via Gallup:
However, more important for the U.S. economy in the short term is what small-business owners say they are already doing in anticipation of the new law's continuing implementation. About four in 10 say they are holding off on hiring and new growth plans. About one in five say they are letting people go or cutting employees' hours. Even after discounting small-business owners' political views, these actions suggest the ACA could be a significant drag on the U.S. economy -- at least in the short term.
The next poll result release from Gallup is from the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey, released on May 28, 23.
That survey shows that four in 10 small-business owners say they have held back on hiring, and one in five owners say they have let employees go, due to the healthcare costs associated with the Affordable Care Act. As implementation of the law continues, the number of small-business owners who take these steps could increase.
Recent related news:
CNN/ORC International Poll: 54% Still Opposed To Obamacare