WMC Invites Obama to Meet with Business Leaders During State Visit
MADISON – President Barack Obama’s overtime mandate proposal will increase business costs and kill jobs, according to WMC, Wisconsin’s Chamber of Commerce.
Obama will detail the proposed overtime mandate for salaried workers up to $50,000 a year in a speech Thursday afternoon at UW-La Crosse.
WMC President/CEO Kurt R. Bauer said:
“There is a simple economic truism that if you make something more expensive, you get less of it. President Obama’s overtime mandate makes full-time employment more expensive for employers. As a result, Wisconsinites will see less opportunity for full time work. To make matters worse, the President’s wrongheaded overtime mandate comes as employers are already bracing for expected dramatic health care benefit increases due to the long delayed full implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act.
“The President is living in a parallel universe if he thinks that constantly increasing the costs of doing business will lead to growth in private sector jobs or wages. The fact is when employers face increased costs they are forced to reduce wages and benefits and/or increase the price of their product or service. Neither is what the Wisconsin economy needs right now.
“WMC invites President Obama to meet with and, more importantly, listen to Wisconsin employers during his visit to La Crosse tomorrow to learn how his policies are adversely impacting job and wage growth in our state.”
Obama is slated to discuss the overtime mandate in a speech at UW-La Crosse at 1:20 p.m. Thursday.
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