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Originally posted by taxwonk
Not true. If we as a labor force are unwilling to work for employers who don't provide health care then we will actually all buy foreign cars if the American manufacturers can't make money selling cars if they have to pay for health insurance. Similarly, we will find our less durable goods being made overseas if the manufacturers cannot provide both goods and pay health care.
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Won't this hurt the number of manufacturing jobs? Who will buy the foreign made stuff?
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But of course, we know that isn't really the case, don't we Hank? The costs of labor and employee benefits in Germany, Italy, the UK, etc. are much higher than they are in the US. And BMWs, Ferraris, and Bentleys are still better made than Cavaliers and Jeeps.
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The people who buy BMW's etc. have disposible income, or should. Those aren't price based decisions. When US consumers started buying cheaper Japanese cars, or electronics, etc. because they were cheaper (and better), the supremacy of the US worker goes out with the decision.
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It isn't the health insurance. It's the multi-millioin dollar compensation packages for CEOs who lose money and the corporate managements who refuse to seriously bargain with the health care industry because it's sheaper and easier to lay off line workers or reincoporate in Bermuda.
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I'm not going to run the numbers, but you may be getting a little off here. Even if true, there is still a 15K/year cost to having health care per employee (with family). Paying that for lots of employees cost the company. If that company sells consumer goods, those goods must cost more. Could cutting CEO salaries do a better job of holding down price? Maybe. But cutting health insurance definately cuts overhead. Again, it may be wrong, but when consumers buy crap based upon who sells it the cheapest, they are almost making the decision for the company.
