In a White House press conference held Feb. 4, 2014, a White House spokesman responded to questions concerning the Congressional Budget Office report that the Affordable Care Act (popularly known as “Obama Care”) would result in roughly 2.5 million more Americans making their way to the ranks of the unemployed. In his remarks, said spokesman referred to those expected numbers as “a small percentage,” as reported by Real Clear Politics on Feb. 5, 2014.
The Chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers Jason Furman drew the unenviable task of facing at least a few tough questions from members of the Fourth Estate in the wake of the recent CBO report that Obama Care would be the catalyst for the loss of the equivalent of 2.5 million jobs. He was asked by Real Clear Politics reporter Alexis Simendinger:
Medicare and Social Security are aimed at, primarily, people of a certain age, seniors. So when you talk about older people, that’s a whole separate equation than the ACA. This is a group of human beings who are in a program that are of all ages?
Furman dismissively responded by stating of the two and a half million jobs lost:
This number itself is a small percentage of the overall economy.
Second of all, this number [2.5 million] … is about, effectively, choices of people. And third, it doesn’t reflect the full set of factors that go into it.
Brit Hume of Fox News had his own unique take on Furman’s press conference, calling it “pathetic” and “unconvincing.”
