Better Not Oppose Obamacare

As more things unfold about the health care reform bill that Zero and Pelosi and Reid (PRO) have foisted upon us, here is another outrageous effort by those in power to stifle negative comments from the business community about this terrible piece of "legislation".  I put it in quotes because so much of the process was abrogated that it was more of a dictate than a properly discussed and debated congressional act.  The fact that House or Senate longevity enables non-business oriented individuals to be in powerful positions as heads of important committees that make decisions that businesses must live with is oxymoronic.  A perfect example is from my State of Washington's senior senator, Patty Murray, who ran as "the Mom in tennis shoes".  Now she chairs one of the most important senate committees that deals with decisions regarding business.  She does not have one whit of business experience.  This article is from another of my newsletters---this one from American Wealth Underground and Taipan Publishing.

I still would like to know how many of our esteemed 535 inside The Beltway have actually read this entire 2400+ page bill.  If anyone has an answer let me know.  Anyone? Buehler? Buehler?


A4 Driver

Congress Unveils ObamaCare Kangaroo Court
by Michael Robinson

Dear American Wealth Underground Reader,

No wonder so many Americans despise Congress. It has become nothing more than an Intellectual House of Ill Repute.

And perhaps there is no more blatant example of how liberals place politics above improving the economy, creating jobs and helping investors than the outrageous actions of one U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman.

It pains me to say the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is from my home state of California. Then again, with leaders like this no wonder California is going broke, choking on expensive liberal dogma.

Waxman’s dubious decision to haul corporate chieftains into Congress later this month to defend their ObamaCare cost estimates is a glaring example of political grandstanding and partisan opportunism.

You see as someone who has written about business, economics and finance for the past 30 years, I understand all too well that publicly traded companies must release information about events that have a material impact on their bottom lines.

That means they must disclose both good news and adverse financial events in a timely fashion. Should they fail to do so, they could run afoul of rules administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or face shareholder lawsuits.

This time the drubbing results from a loss of deductions on tax-free subsidies companies receive for providing retiree prescription-drug benefits.

So, it should come as no surprise that Boeing (BA:NYSE) yesterday announced it is taking a $150 million charge against first-quarter earnings because of the impact of the liberal health-care reforms.

AT&T (T:NYSE) so far emerges as the hardest hit, announcing it will write off $1 billion against earnings. 3M (MMM:NYSE) expects to take charges of up to $90 million, Caterpillar (CAT:NYSE) up to $100 million and Deere & Co. (DE:NYSE) up to $150 million.

Let’s put it this way: if Waxman doesn’t understand this basic financial fact, he has no business chairing such an important congressional committee. That’s why I say he is instituting his Kangaroo Court to punish executives who had the temerity to oppose ObamaCare because it is expensive.

Moreover, even the most inexperienced individual investor knows intuitively that any piece of landmark legislation will have both winners and losers. So, at least we have determined that Waxman has no common sense.

Ask yourself this question: how would you feel if you bought $10,000 worth of AT&T stock last week and the company failed disclose its write-off until several weeks after the quarter closed? If that wouldn’t make your blood boil you have no business buying stocks.

Remember how I warned you last Nov. 11 that the left and their congressional allies were working overtime to stifle speech from any one who dares question the impact of ObamaCare on the economy, corporate profits or shareholder returns?

Back then, Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, got a cease-and-desist order against executives of Humana Inc. (HUM:NYSE) to prevent them from warning policyholders about ObamaCare’s costs.

That’s when I indicated I would by renaming this newsletter American Wealth Underground. Thus, Waxman proves my point: if you believe in profits and a capitalist economy you have to operate on the down low. Otherwise you might be hauled into Congress.

Good luck and happy investing,

Michael Robinson
Editor, American Wealth Underground