President Obama’s top economist is hitting back against the “nonsensical” things he believes Obamacare opponents have said about the law.
Jason Furman, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, spoke Thursday at the Center for American Progress on why he believes the healthcare law is improving the economy.
But first, he responded to some of the biggest Republican complaints about the Affordable Care Act — that it would harm jobs, lead to more part-time jobs, increase the deficit and push health care costs higher.
“People said the Affordable Care Act would kill jobs,” Furman said. “We’ve had 60 consecutive months of private-sector job growth, longest streak we’ve ever seen in this country.”
Furman also pointed to data showing the ratio of part-time jobs to full-time jobs has fallen since the health law was passed and noted that the Congressional Budget Office has downgraded its estimate of how much the law’s coverage provisions would cost.
“People said it would bust the budget,” Furman said.
The law has expanded health coverage coverage to millions of previously uninsured Americans. But it’s not clear how much of the country’s economic improvements can be attributed to the law, considering its main provisions have been in place only for about a year and a half.
But Furman, who was appointed by President Obama to head the economic council, insisted the law has done more than just expand coverage. It has actively helped the economy, he said.
“We can do a whole lot better than ‘our policies didn’t hurt the economy’ while doing all these great things, in fact they actively helped the economy,” he said.
