It’s becoming more and more difficult to remember when ♡bamaCare!!! was supposed to save every American family an average of $2,500 a year — especially with health care expenses growing so quickly that they may be what’s caused the economy to stall.
Anthony Mirhaydari has the numbers:
The percentage of personal consumption expenditures (in current dollars) spent on health care goods and services has jumped from 20.0 percent last March to 20.8 percent this March, while the percentage spent on gasoline fell from 3.2 percent last June to 2.2 percent this March.
David Rosenberg at Gluskin Sheff echoes Yardeni, noting that the gasoline windfall wasn’t spent “on gadgets and small luxury goods” as was normally the case, but on cyclical services (like bars and restaurants) and health care. He highlights the fact that spending on health care is running at a 6.6 percent annual growth rate as of March.
Thomas Costerg at Standard Chartered is also worried about the drag on spending from changes under Obamacare, charging outright that, “health-care reform is stalling private consumption.” He’s waiting for forthcoming statistics from the Internal Revenue Service to provide specifics, but notes “anecdotal evidence from tax preparers already suggests millions may have had to pay penalties and/or seen their tax refunds reduced.”
It’s time for a tax revolt.
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