Marathon Pundit: Obama's death-star laser focus on jobs: White Castle

White Castle is quite a bit different from other fast-food chains. All of its restaurants are privately owned and operated, it expands slowly, using profits from other restaurants to open new ones, which is why, decades after its founding, it is still not a nationwide chain. But the cultural icon was a pioneer in offering its employees health insurance, which it has done since 1924. But that may end, thanks to ObamaCare, as the Cleveland Plain Dealer tells us.

The Columbus-based family owned restaurant chain - known for serving small square hamburgers called "sliders" – says a single provision in the bill will eat up roughly 55 percent of its yearly net income after 2014.

Starting that year, the bill levies a $3,000-per-employee penalty on companies whose workers pay more than 9.5 percent of household income in premiums for company-provided insurance.

White Castle, which currently provides insurance to all of its full-time workers and picks up 70 to 89 percent of their premium costs, believes it will likely end up paying those penalties. The financial hit will make it hard for the company to maintain its 421 restaurants, let alone create new jobs, says company spokesman Jamie Richardson. White Castle employs more than 10,000 people nationwide, and more than 1,200 in Ohio.

Liberals often dismiss fast-food jobs as low paying, but they offer first time positions to young people, where they usually learn basic skills needed to succeed in more lucrative jobs: showing up on time, getting along with coworkers and customers, and having an answer when asked during a job interview, "Tell me about your work history."

Obama used to speak of "green shoots" in describing what he calls a recovery, but he is "putting a boot" on those green shoots.

I've written several times that the Obama administration's "laser-focus on jobs" is really a death-star laser. I wish I was wrong, but I keep coming across stories like this one.

The Obama administration is our first anti-business one.

Related posts:

Obama's laser-focus on jobs leads to 472,000 new jobless claims
ObamaCare already hurting small businesses
Local TV news stations on ObamaCare's attack on small businesses
ObamaCare's head-on collision against jobs
ObamaCare a death star-laser against jobs

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