With ObamaCare in the wings, the traditional forty- or fifty-hour work week will soon be replaced with a less than thirty-hour week for many American workers.  To wit: many businesses, including ones that previously received ObamaCare waivers, are trying to avoid paying onerous fines for not providing employees with health coverage as mandated by the new law.    

President Obama recently said that he won't allow the budget to be "balanced on the backs of the middle class."  He sure did give the appearance of truly caring about these "folks," but he failed to disclose the fact that, even if taxed at 100%, there simply aren't enough rich people to pay for all of his big-government plans.  But as Thomas Sowell points out, even at a rate much lower than 100%, higher tax rates don't necessarily translate into higher tax revenues.  So where will all this needed money come from?  While Obama is targeting the group of Americans who already pay the most in taxes, the burden of his policies will ultimately break the backs of those he claims to be trying to protect.

The Obamacare mandate is just one example of how the middle class will be forced to shoulder a heaver burden, which flies in the face what Obama had promised to the American people.  But in addition to this mandate (now officially a tax), a reduced work week will in essence have the same effect as a huge tax increase for those affected.  Take-home pay is what ultimately matters, and losing 25% of one's gross pay based upon a forty-hour week or about 45% based on a fifty-hour week when overtime is factored in represents an enormous hit.  This hit comes before anything is even earned to tax at regular rates.  And there are plenty of other hidden ObamaCare taxes that will also take a huge bite out of Americans' pocketbooks in one way or another.

And the hits just keep on coming.  ObamaCare will also take a bite out of middle-class buying power when it comes to one of America's most popular foods -- pizza -- by imposing complicated national menu-labeling standards, the costs of which will no doubt be passed along to the consumer.  This added cost will be in addition to any other expenses that businesses will need to add to their products due to the hefty burden of ObamaCare.  (Hat tip: KSFO Morning Show with Brian Sussman)

Margaret Thatcher once said: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."  The problem with Obama's socialism is that we're already running out of other people's money -- and Obama is just getting started. 

By the time Obama and Democrats are finished with us, perhaps thirty will be the new fifty -- or maybe even seventy, in terms of age and health.  I suppose we can call it Extreme Makeover: Obamacare Edition.

Scott blogs at www.politiseeds.com.