But nonpartisan scientists overwhelmingly disagree with that conclusion. A 2011 report by an expert committee selected by the National Academy of Sciences found, “Climate change is occurring, is very likely caused primarily by the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities, and poses significant risks for a range of human and natural systems.’’ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found in 2009 that “the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable.’’ The US Global Change Research Program, a program started by Congress in 1990 to coordinate federal research on the global environment, found in 2009, “Observations show that warming of the climate is unequivocal. The global warming observed over the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases.’’
Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota on President Obama’s health care overhaul: “As I go across the country and speak to small business people - men and women - Obamacare is leading them to not create jobs … Obamacare is clearly leading to job-killing regulations not job-creating regulations.’’
This statement relies on a Congressional Budget Office estimate from August 2010 that Obama’s health care reform will reduce the workforce by half a percent - around 800,000 people - “primarily by reducing the amount of labor that workers choose to supply.’’ In other words, workers will choose not to work, rather than employers choosing not to hire. The CBO says that because Medicaid will be expanded, and subsidies for health care insurance provided through exchanges, which will be established in 2014, health insurance will be more affordable. That means some people will no longer seek employment in order to buy or gain access to health insurance. Some older workers will retire earlier because the new laws will make it easier to purchase insurance on their own, rather than through an employer.
