Please see below for a fact check on false claims made by Senator Cornyn on the Senate floor today on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:
RHETORIC: Sen. Cornyn Called Senate Health Reform Bill A “Job Killer,” Would “Discourage Small And Large Businesses From Hiring New People.” “On one end of Pennsylvania Avenue, the President was posting a jobs summit. But here on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, we continued debate on a health care bill which will, for reasons I will explain, be a job killer and discourage small and large businesses from hiring new people, even though unemployment exceeds double digits.” [Senate Floor, 12/7/09]

REALITY: SEN. CORNYN COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG ABOUT THE IMPACT OF HEALTH REFORM; REFORM IS CRITICAL TO THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN JOBS AND BUSINESS

Chamber Of Commerce: “The Reality With The Business Community Is That We Want Reform, While Some Republicans Want To Stop This Train And Start Over.” The Wall Street Journal reported on the Chamber Of Commerce’s relatively positive reaction to Chairman Baucus’ health reform proposal: “‘The reality with the business community is that we want reform, while some Republicans want to stop this train and start over,’ said Bruce Josten, the chamber’s chief lobbyist. ‘That is just not going to happen.’” [Wall Street Journal, 9/25/09]

Orrin Hatch: This Year “Is The Perfect Year” For Health Care Reform; “Our Economic Crisis Is Not An Impediment But Rather A Reason To Accomplish This Important Reform.” At a conference sponsored by the health-insurance industry, Sen. Orrin Hatch said, “‘[The year] 2009 is the perfect year to begin to move toward a world-class health-care system,’ he said. ‘Our economic crisis is not an impediment but rather a reason to accomplish this important reform.’ Hatch said a bipartisan health plan would have to not only reform the big government programs — Medicare and Medicaid — but also curb rising costs, give Americans health insurance they can take between jobs and focus on preventive care.” [Salt Lake Tribune, 3/11/09]

RAND: “First-Of-Its-Kind” Study Finds Solid Evidence That Health Care Costs Cause Unemployment – 10% Increase In Cost Growth Results In 120,800 Fewer Jobs And $28 Billion In Lost Revenues. Business Week wrote about a RAND Corp. study, “a first-of-its-kind,” that “linked the rapid growth in the U.S. health care costs to job losses and lower output. The study…gives weight to President Obama’s dire warnings about the impact of rising costs if Congress does not enact health care reform…After adjusting for other factors, industries that provide insurance had significantly less employment growth than industries where health benefits were not common…Economy-wide, a 10% increase in excess health care costs growth would result in about 120,800 fewer jobs, $28 billion in lost revenues, and $14 billion in lost GDP… ‘This study provides some of the first evidence that the rapid rise in health care costs has negative consequences for several U.S. industries,’ said Neeraj Sood, the study’s lead author and a senior economist at RAND.” [Business Week, 7/23/09]

27 Economists, Including 3 Nobel Laureates, Write To Confirm That Health Reform Is “Critical To The Nation’s Economic Growth And Prosperity.” In a letter to the President and Congress, 27 well-respected economists and health economists, including 3 Nobel laureates, wrote that health reform is “critical to the nation’s economic growth and prosperity:” “Health care reform is also essential to preventing damaging and unsustainable increases in the federal budget deficit. Escalating health care costs are projected to be the primary driver of the deficit’s future growth. Growing federal budget deficits mean higher interest rates, which will translate into less investment, slower growth, fewer jobs and lower living standards. If health care costs continue to climb at current rates, the deficit could eventually become so large that the government would be unable to borrow even at much higher interest rates. At that point, the nation would confront a fiscal emergency, forcing deep cuts in other government spending and significant increases in taxes to limit the deficit and prevent an outright default on government debt and a collapse of the dollar. Health system reform that curbs the growth of health care costs now can head off this future fiscal crisis and its painful ramifications.” [Letter from economists, 11/24/09]

Study: No Health Insurance Reform Means Small Businesses Will Pay Nearly $2.4 Trillion In Healthcare Costs, Cost 178,000 Jobs. The Small Business Majority study commissioned a study from noted economist from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jonathan Gruber. The study found that, “without reform, small businesses will pay nearly $2.4 trillion dollars over the next ten years in healthcare costs for their workers. With reform, the study shows that small businesses can save as much as $855 billion, a reduction of 36 percent, money that can be reinvested to grow the economy.” The study also found that without reform, 178,000 small business jobs will be lost in 2018 as a result of healthcare costs, and with reform, up to 128,000 of those jobs could be saved. [The Economic Impact of Healthcare Reform on Small Business, 6/11/09]

National Small Business Association: “Health-Care Reform Can Not Wait Yet Another Year.” “Health-care reform topped the list of small-business priorities when members of the National Small Business Association voted recently on issues they want Congress and President Barack Obama to address. The group said it supports ‘broad health-care reform’ that will reduce costs, improve quality, create a fair sharing of health-care costs, and focus on individuals’ responsibilities as health-care consumers. ‘Given the current state of the U.S. economy, the fact that our members voted health-care reform their number one priority ought to send a strong message to Congress,’ NSBA President Todd McCracken said in a written statement. ‘Health-care reform can not wait yet another year.’” [Orlando Sentinel, 3/9/09]