In this March 23, 2010, file photo, (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
(CNSNews.com) – “It is a crying shame when government actually causes to you shrink your business rather than grow your business and provide additional employment for the economy,” says Texas businessman Bob Westbrook.
He told Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren on Monday that Obamacare has forced him to sell or close his three CiCi’s pizza franchises.
When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, Westbrook says he had 96 full-time-equivalent employees. The law says businesses with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees must provide them with affordable health insurance or else pay a penalty.
“And so when I calculated personally on how it would affect me, I had 96 full-time equivalent employees at the time. And the penalty, which has now become a tax, was at the time, calculated at $2,300 per full-time equivalent employee. Well, that came out to almost $221,000. My three restaurants were top performing restaurants within the franchise, and that would have cost me $78,000 more than what I made out of my restaurants in 2011,” Westbrook said.
The Obama administration’s recent decision to postpone the employer mandate for one year hasn’t helped, Westbrook said, because he “can’t put my faith” in Congress enacting permanent changes to the law.
Westbrook said he’s sold two of his pizza franchises and closed the third.
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