"[Y]ou might think that the new $2,000 penalty would reduce wages by about $2,000 per employee per year. But ... the employer responsibility levies are not deductible from employer business taxes ... To have the same after-tax profit, an employer ... would have to cut wages by $3,046. An employer paying the $3,000 penalty would have to cut wages by $4,569. That would push someone working full-time at $10 per hour down to minimum wage."  MORE >>