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Ex-Bush senior adviser on the Obama administration's concession to religious groups in ObamaCare contraceptive mandate, rising unemployment and more A...
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Obama administration is changing the rules today HHS announcing big changes to the very controversial contraceptive mandate.
Now for months religious -- blasting obamacare mandate requiring employers to provide birth control.
And now to today the Obama administration announcing broader rules to allow religious groups to opt out.
Colorado joins us nice -- thanks Greta.
Well the jury still have -- -- so we -- hot everybody feels about it but this change your world does -- about those private business owners who for religious man of strong religious -- conviction.
They don't want to pay for contraception so.
Is this change gonna be a good -- different is it gonna put the lid on the problems.
Well we -- we need to see the exact wording of the rule and see it's full implications I think -- I think this may be a strategic retreat on the part of the administration because.
Look if -- a Catholic university like ave Maria university which -- filed suit.
Not to be required as an explicitly Roman Catholic institution to violate its moral precepts.
By providing birth control to its employees you were likely to win that lawsuit yet an excellent chance to win -- -- loss -- if you were.
The archdiocese or a -- are a church or a church related institution.
You have probably for a pretty good First Amendment chance of winning that's in the administration may have decided that having won the point for political value in the campaign.
Now is it time to retreat before it lost it in court.
But we need to see really how the rule is how expensive is let the lawyers -- -- over for a day or two and and hope that something dropped out on Friday afternoon actually -- Friday morning.
Is actually as good as it's.
But is it -- at least I understand announce early out is whether or not it's it only applies to religious institutions so that if you are eight let's say you're deeply religious and Iran have.
No and gas station or restaurant or something.
-- of more than fifty employees.
You still under the -- -- -- you get a waiver you have to provide for contraception you -- violates -- early displaced at least that's how I read it.
Well -- and if that's the case then we are gonna have a lot of unhappy people religious institutions will be out of it but but again.
This is part of the broader topic that you raised which is the government attempting to step in and dictate to people.
In their lives.
-- and we always have government playing a role in in people's lives to question how expensive it is and we've seen over the last several years obamacare.
Which is -- of small business as you you know individuals he -- -- need to purchase insurance.
Where you -- find small businesses need to provide insurance it looks that looks like this.
And as far more expensive than -- now.
Then you're now a -- out for premium support for your employees are these things people see this is an erosion of their freedom to make decisions on their own.
And when you had to do things like you know gun control and the administration's regulatory burden particularly if you're running a business you think the government step in and you're in your life way too much.
We need to give a -- to aspect of at least at first blush for this is that the women who work of these religious institutions who want contraception they can get a separate insurance policy to cover the contraception.
However -- and it ought to pay for they don't pay for and even did employers -- somebody's got to pay for.
And away at the Whaley said that looks like is that the Obama administration think sort of the largess of the insurance industry that they will pick up the -- but -- is picking up the freight.
Well let's let's be honest about we all are we're socializing the cost of this insurance by saying insurance companies have to provide it.
They're not gonna provide it free they're gonna charge all the other people in our customer base -- so.
This is a way to take the cost associated with something -- popular contraception particularly for younger women.
And in and have somebody else pick up the tab and in our society we audible -- emphasize first responsibility if you want it.
You can have it you have to pay for and it's your responsibility.
But the problem the individual tab is -- the whole idea was -- everybody was in on it.
Ever that the pace of that that we keep -- price down because they're spread in Iraq to the extent that some people are are exempted -- get waivers that's gonna raise attempt for everybody out right -- wrong.
-- what -- went well look Whitman there's a whole purpose spinal obamacare was not to drive down costs present Obama said.
Passes bill by the end of 2010 the average family of four will see their benefit there -- premiums go down 2500 dollars instead we've seen an escalation of -- Nothing's more expensive than something that's free in in the case of Obama care.
In essence we take the consumer out of it.
And have and the taxpayer pick up the tab and as result and we make things more expensive we mandate that.
Rather -- -- -- competitive by product everything has to look the same and cost roughly the same.
And we have how funny subsidies built in the law there's a thing called.
-- community rating which essentially means a younger healthier people will pay a higher insurance rate.
-- older less healthy people two are necessarily younger people subsidize older people and when you get into subsidies.
You become incredibly inefficient and you can do.
Make younger people in this instance paid more in or is it.
Older people will pay less and and and in the process you give you you get system out of whack so what this is not a system based around personal responsibility there's a system.
Based upon in essence transferring the cost of insurance from the consumer and their employer to the taxpayer.
And let me move right on to the other topic which served serve relate to that -- the -- Idea of personal freedom is a lot of a lot of Americans in fact 53% of now say that -- poses a threat to their personal freedom that number's up.
Yeah and and you can understand why we have Obama -- we've had the attack on religious institutions by -- you have to provide contraception.
We now have a big robust debate about gun control.
I'm not about you know how -- we -- Horrific acts of violence by mentally disturbed people but how -- we take away the right of people to own certain kinds of firearms -- -- firearms all together.
So you best of people have in the last several years become increasingly concerned about the intrusion.
A government into their into their lives and it's in and it's it it takes so many different forms.
We're all now pay bigger taxes talked to any American who gets a paycheck and they're just they're January paycheck is smaller than their December -- Why because taxes and one -- which some people.
Rightly see as an -- -- on their freedom to control their own destiny and to spend the money that they make as they see fit.
-- -- what is your view this whole debate gun control what do you see as something in that death.
The American people or the government should or should not -- Well look there ought to be reasonable restrictions on people who shouldn't get you know -- felons people who are mentally disturbed I mean it.
When things that I that worries me about this is is that we seem to pay attention to the people who.
Who who who are not the source of the problem and -- dealing with the problems we know this.
-- -- cities like Chicago with very strict gun control laws.
Don't have less crime in the communities around and we also know that -- -- as ownership of a firearms has expanded our country.
The countries as the corporate crime has declined.
And they defend a sociologist James Q Wilson I remember talking to them.
In the white at from the White House after the Virginia Tech.
She massacre of he'd written an article pointing out -- in our rush to worry about.
Farms -- in the hands of people who should get it and hit it should have them.
We also were likely to step on the rights of people who had every right in the world against them so in -- I was in between half a million and -- -- and instances a year.
A firearm is.
Credited with pro with stopping an act of violence.
And if we restraint if we -- -- people's right to have -- we're gonna restrain them the ability to protect themselves.
So what's a reasonable restriction and how do you identify the people who shouldn't have -- some may be perfectly normal today but a year from now -- -- got to still sitting so let's make that person isn't perfectly normal.
We what is your -- what we -- -- recently written a reasonable restriction.
What we do have of because of privacy laws some states cannot provide the data about mentally ill people.
To be credited to be added into the into the database.
Of for -- would we checked for firearms sales we ought to we -- -- -- if if anybody is under any kind of order.
That it calls into question their mental health or mental fitness that ought to be part of the database we would that it.
Clear is that when -- -- that -- somebody seven and marriage problem is going into some sort of -- marriage counselor couples.
We know no no no no no no no.
No I absolutely not but but.
But but but you might have if if you had a domestic dispute that was involved in a in a potential divorce or divorce proceeding.
Where someone sought a court order for -- of threats of violence perhaps that ought to have some instances be taken into consideration but look here here's the bigger deal.
Why is it that we are talking about any new laws when we're not doing a sufficient job of enforcing the laws we have.
People violate gun laws in America today commit crimes with guns with impunity.
And -- an -- and in many instances don't get prosecuted to the extent of the law and if we did do this if we got serious about it okay.
You lied when you showed up and tried by a bio farm we found out that you lied on your application.
We're we're we're gonna be serious about prosecuting you -- we have fewer people.
Trying to buy -- who should be banned firearms if somebody is caught trafficking in firearms.
For participating in the traffic and farms if we got really tough bottom may -- would discourage people from engaging that kind of behavior.
But instead we've seen in the last couple months.
Instance after instance of federal and local authorities -- -- get to prosecute gun crimes as seriously as they -- Okay the unemployment rate ticked upward to seven point 9% since then from my -- point 8% where it's basically been stuck since September.
We've added a 157000.
Jobs a month of January.
Your reflection on those numbers.
Well look if we we get into this month by month by month let me step back and take a broader picture a broader view of what you think about this.
Remember we went into a recession in December of 2007.
It ended in June of 2009 according to the economist.
Last year we created an average of -- 180000.
Jobs a month which -- sort okay.
Until you look at in this context there mid 78 months since the recession began 42 months sensory recession ended.
At the current rate at a 180000.
Jobs a month which was what we created last year in the revised number -- take until July of 2014.
To get back to the level of people who were working in America in December of 2007.
When we went into recession we'll take a 78 months to get back to the starting point.
In the meantime between seven point eight to ten point seven million people will have entered the workfare force without a job available to.
This is it this is inadequate this is insufficient.
We will get back to in the middle of next year where we were when we went into recession in the meantime.
We could have as many as ten million people the problem in America -- we're not grow and as strong as we should.
We have averaged one point 9% growth per quarter since recession ended government is keeping us from having that kind of growth.
And prosperity that will allow Americans to get back to work.
And get a -- check them.
Would we finally get back to the level that we were in December.
Of 2007 it will take a 78 months that is the longest time since the great depression and it's taken us to get back to where are started pointless.
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