The Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare included a decision that Medicare exchanges CANNOT be mandated by the feds. Not only is Wisconsin not forced to set up a Medicare exchange, but should stand up for state sovereignty !

I may regret this....but....Wis"lady" - the cost of taking care of your employees is part of the cost of being a responsible business owner. That includes providing them with decent insurance. If you can't afford to be a decent boss, then you probably aren't a very good businessperson...or at least a very selfish one. Seriously - if your idea of a good businessperson is taking all the profit and using your employees as chattel, then perhaps you had better go see Scrooge at the Fireside and see if you can learn a lesson or two.

Not all businesses can afford the insurance in this economy, what is so hard to understand about that?
Why don't you bash the mostly union companies who got waivers because they said they "couldn't afford" to comply. In allowing that, it makes the cost higher for the companies who would comply.

Nicksmom -- it is precisely that kind of thinking that is killing the middle class and punishing the working poor. I, too, know employers who limit hours so that they will not be obligated to cover health insurance. SDJ does that to almost every employee in the clerical/paraprofessional category. In fact it is a rare employee in that category who gets enough time on the clock to qualify. They will hire three people to cover the hours that two could do, but then they would be full-time and eligible for health insurance. All in the name of saving money, but it doesn't really. It shifts the burden of healthcare onto others through tax funded programs. Keeping employees in the working poor category.

In a perfect world employers would put the well-being of their employees above a larger than necessary profit margin. Or in the case of publicly funded agencies, tax costs. Union workers know about the real world; greedy people are very good at taking care of their own and criticizing others.

Wisconsin is not the only state considering another option.

Voters in Alabama, Montana, and Wyoming all passed measures limiting Obamacare.

Every business owner must decide how they will structure their business to function within the free market system. A businesses structure determines their tax rate along with a litany of mandated regulations and costs. When issues of unfair working conditions arise many Conservatives claim workers can simply find another job. If a business owner can't compete, they too can find a different job. Personally I have NEVER understood WHY businesses are responsible for providing health care to their employees. A single payer system, IMO, is the ONLY fair and equitable means of delivering health care to ALL consumers.

GoodAmerican: Income minus expenses = profit. That simple. No idea what that business is that nicksmom is referring to. Regardless ... you can pay more in wages and less in fringe benefits ... less in wages and more in fringe benefits ... as long as you can still make a profit ... No reason to run a business if not to make a profit because that is how you make your living. So now this business may be obliged to lower work hours to avoided the added expense of providing insurance/// or lower wages to have the money to pay this insurance and still have a business /// or not provide the insurance and pay the tax penalty in the ACHA as might be cheaper /// or go out of business. If this is an ordinary business that is not making immorally high profits at the detriment of the workers ... there are your options. There is no such thing as free health care ... someone pays. Actions have consequences.

good article from schnibble....quote: "I don't see how any company would in the future choose to do business with the State of Wisconsin when the State has shown that it cannot be trusted to honor contracts that it signed," Perez said.
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What about those jobs scooter?

I bet nicksmom is talking about the Walmart honchos. Long before ObomneyCare, the insanely wealthy Walton plutocrats made sure many of their employees stay below a certain number of hours so they don’t qualify for company health insurance benefits, and are forced to turn to taxpayer-funded plans like BadgerCare for coverage. So usaret, gotta love the right too … they too know how to spend other people’s money … AND play the system.

Scooter can't get anything right.

IndyColtFan: If he doesn't reduce he may go out of business then what? Love the Left! They know how to spend other people's money.

nicksmom: I am very happy. Tell that stingy exec friend of yours to start treating his employees right. No sympathy at all for his kind.

Spoke to business exec friend this morning who has numerous employees who only work 35 hours per week. Since Obamacare now mandates employers offer coverage to employees working 30+ hours per week, he will be forced to reduce all of their hours below 30 because of the increased cost. Hope you're happy America.

I prefer to redistribute my own wealth for what it is that I have worked hard for instead of having the government doing it. Guess Mr. Romney is the same. You heard from the media constantly about him paying 14% in capital gains tax but very little of him donating another 30% of his income to charity. Let those rich people that think they can afford to pay more taxes do the same. No law against giving to charity or writing out a check to the IRS towards the national debt. I think they are hypocrytes when they say they should be paying more taxes but only if the government changes the law and makes them. I have no idea where Bill Gates or Brad Pitt and Angelina Joline stands were on political issues but all come to mind when it comes to rich people that have been charitable without being forced by the government to do so.

As an independent, I see it this way. Walker waited, knowing that he'd be under the gun to get things done if the election didn't go his way. He didn't want to invest too much time and effort for naught (can't really argue with that), but hopefully had made some contingency for this outcome. Now he has to act quickly and wisely. I think that second part may be the challenge.....

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Like it or not, Obamacare will be the law of the land. Just remember that this is a plan that was lauded by Republican lawmakers during the Bush era, but has been lambasted in the Tea Party era. Republicans should embrace the plan. It funnels tax dollars to private insurers - enriching workers in private industry, not the public sector. The more I read about it the more I start to like the plan. It does raise taxes, but we all need to pay for our healthcare, right? If we pay through taxes or payroll deduction, what is the difference? We pay for the poor an uninsured now, anyway, through our premiums, so there is nothing new there.

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I'm much more concerned about congress meeting the looming budget deadline. That could be catastrophic if these folks don't start compromising.

PanamaRed: I am an independent ... Once again this year I voted for people from both parties and wish I could find viable candidates from neither party. I am and will be one of those taxpayers paying the tab. With the low paying jobs now, most of my children would not be able to afford health insurance if their employer takes it away and pays the penalty instead. Where was the public option and interstate shopping for insurance in this bill. None of my children are under 26 and I am approaching Medicare age where the money siphoned from that will reduce my availablity of doctors, clinics, hospitals that accept Medicare patients. Just happened to an older brother that is fighting cancer and had to switch specialist and hospital mid-term because he turned 65 and turned out they did not accept Medicare. So I will be a payer instead of a beneficiary of the AHCA

Maynard, whats a good conservative like you promoting the idea that an individual should NOT attempt to take responsibility for their own health insurance and instead rely on tax payers pick up the tab?

I love how certain people will slam one biased news source but parrot the one that is just as biased but on the other end of the spectrum, keep up the good work partisans, your goal is almost met.

Walker will fight this, for no other reason than he wants to set himself up for a future run somewhere within the republican party. He doesn't care what you or I think. He only cares about how the rest of the party views him. He needs to prove he's a patriot at all cost. Doesn't matter how much of a good thing this is.

The AHCA was found unconstitutional in terms of the commerce clause but constitutional as being a tax. Wisely, the good aspects of the bill were front loaded and the negative tax effects take place after the next mid-term. For those of you who are unable to afford health care ... suggest you modify your deductions to make sure you owe taxes each year instead of getting a refund. Eventually you may get some government money from other taxpayers to help pay for healthcare but may not be enough. So if you do not buy healthcare, eventually they will keep your tax refund. And hopefully you work for an employer that will keep providing insurance as the Act makes it more economical in many cases for them to pay the penalty instead of paying for your insurance. AHCA has a lot of good features but also lots of pitfalls ... That happens when you push a partisan bill through the way they did. And now you know the rest of the story. IMO

"Walker told reporters Wednesday in Milwaukee that he will be meeting with state officials this week to discuss the next steps."

Walker and his cronies often say that states can run things more efficiently than the federal government, so I'm really looking forward to watching Gov. Walker implement ObamaCare in Wisconsin. Thanks for your help, Governor.

Of course, if Walker chooses to let the federal government implement ObamaCare for Wisconsin, that would have to be considered his reasoned judgement that the federal government under Obama can more efficiently run ObamaCare than the state government can with himself at the helm. Oh, this will be interesting.

Congressional Budget office (non-partisan) and which has been accurate all through U S history, claims their will be a savings of 60 billion dollars over the course of the next 10 yrs, Please get educated on the facts and quit listening to red neck FAUX noise

Yeah, he's only had 4+ months since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Obamacare constitutional to take the necessary steps to begin implementation. Again, Walker does NOT like to play nice or by the rules of others, so he tried to take his ball and go home. Not so fast!!

Well get ready to pay more. And don't blame Walker for this mess.