CEO's summoned to testify about Obama Care

[InformedConsent]

Originally Posted by Icy Tea

I trust coporations only a little more than I do the government for fairness and honest financial disclosure. We need to be hauling in both the CEOS AND our elected representatives to answer to US about the repercussions of this bill.
Start demanding more town hall meetings.

I agree. I want FULL disclosure of the back and forth tweaking Obama and the Dems did with the CBO to get the "numbers" they wanted.

I also want a FULL transcript of the meeting Obama had with the CEOs in which the CEOs told Obama what the consequences of the bill would be, he didn't understand what they were saying, and he ultimately accused them of lying because he didn't like hearing the truth they told him. And, I want FULL disclosure of the memos Democrat legislators failed to read informing them of the consequences of the bill, in light of the following:

"Most of these people [in the Administration] have never had a real job in their lives. They don't understand a thing about business, and that includes the President," says a senior lobbyist for one of the companies that announced the charge. "My CEO sat with the President over lunch with two other CEOs, and each of them tried to explain to the President what this bill would do to our companies and the economy in general. First the President didn't understand what they were talking about. Then he basically told my boss he was lying. Frankly my boss was embarrassed for him; he clearly had not been briefed and didn't know what was in the bill."
...
Neither Waxman or Stupak ...had anything more than a cursory understanding of how the many sections of the bill would impact business or even individual citizens before they voted on the bill, says House Energy Democrat staff. "We had memos on these issues, but none of our people, we think, looked at them," says a staffer. "When they saw the stories last week about the charges some of the companies were taking, they were genuinely surprised and assumed that the companies were just doing this to embarrass them. They really believed this bill would immediately lower costs. They just didn't understand what they were voting on."
Obama in Rude Denial

[hawkeye2009]

Originally Posted by saganista

They are not required to disclose it at all unless the non-cash charge to reduce the value of an asset they have booked for the present value of future tax-related receivables is significant. If they do decide to disclose it, it must be in the earnings statement for the same quarter in which recognition of the change in asset valuation took place. There is no requirement that first quarter earnings statements be issued before the end of the quarter.


Those who look the most like fools are those who know nothing about this situation yet yammer on and on as if they did. The alleged financial damage to affected companies is -- once again -- trivial. Congress and the administration were perfectly well aware of the effect of the language they wrote and passed and of the accounting necessity to disclose resulting non-cash charges to the extent that these were significant. What's at question is the math that some companies have used to calculate the charges. That has not been disclosed.

That is exactly what I said. It is a charge against earnings and MUST be reported prior to the quarter.

"Congress and the administraion were perfectly aware of the effect......."

So, if aware, Sag, they are idiots. If they were unaware, they were incompetent. Which is it?

Only an idiot would increase expenses for US manufacturers and increase unemployment at a time when the economy is fragile and unemployment is at 10%. Only an idiot would create a financial situation which would compel industry to dump retirees to medicare roles, or to close domestic plants.

Only the incompetent would not know of this provision or the effect this would have on industry.

Now, Sag, in the WSJ, Waxman claimed ingorance, which would suggest that the Congress and Obama are simply incompetent. I can't wait to hear the "explanations" of the congressmen.

[saganista]

Originally Posted by hawkeye2009

That is exactly what I said. It is a charge against earnings and MUST be reported prior to the quarter.

No, what you exactly said was "They are REQUIRED to report this information before the end of the quarter, which is tommorrow." Which is wrong.

Originally Posted by hawkeye2009

"Congress and the administration were perfectly aware of the effect......."
So, if aware, Sag, they are idiots. If they were unaware, they were incompetent. Which is it?

See this letter? See to whom it is addressed? See the CC: at the bottom of page 2?

Originally Posted by hawkeye2009

Only an idiot would increase expenses for US manufacturers and increase unemployment at a time when the economy is fragile and unemployment is at 10%. Only an idiot would create a financial situation which would compel industry to dump retirees to medicare roles, or to close domestic plants.

For the umpteenth time, the actual costs are trivial. They are no more than .03% of revenue. And again, that would be the equivalent of $2 a month to someone earning $80K per year. How close to an idiot does one have to be in order to believe that big-time companies make major corporate decisions over chump change?

[pghquest]

Wonder why these hearings were cancelled by Congress? They didnt want the media focusing on the increased costs?

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by pghquest

Wonder why these hearings were cancelled by Congress? They didnt want the media focusing on the increased costs?

Increased costs and the corporations saying they might drop employer sponsored healthcare altogether.

And with these new reports..Congress and the WH knew what these corporations were going to do. And they totally ignored that and marched forward telling everyone that nothing would change for them.