Why My Company Isn't Hiring

Why is unemployment so high? Blame the government, writes Michael Fleischer in the Wall Street Journal. Using the employee who has his company's median salary as an example, the head of Bogen Communications explains that though she makes $59,000 on paper, she actually takes home only $44,000 after taxes—and the company pays $74,000 to employ her. Part of the problem? A 28% hike in health insurance rates, which he attributes to “ObamaCare" even though the health care reform law has not yet been implemented.

“This is in part a tax increase that the federal government has co-opted insurance providers to collect,” Fleischer says, though he doesn’t explain how. But these taxes, he says, are the main reason he’s not hiring. “I would be increasing my company’s vulnerability to government decisions to raise taxes,” he says. “From where I sit, the government’s message is unmistakable: Creating a new job carries a punishing price.” (More health care reform stories.)