Obama and Healthcare: Another Hit to the Michigan Economy!

My wife knows a few people who work at the Jasper Clinic in Kalamazoo, "an independent phase 1-2a clincal pharmacology service provider." [Essentially, they do drug tests on human subjects before those drugs reach the market. Fascinating stuff, really.] Conversing with one of them this week, she learned that about eleven people recently lost their jobs. Why? My wife said the explanation went something like this:

New president...drug companies don't know what he wants to do...drug companies are hesitant to put money into research

If I were the person in charge of Jasper Clinic, I would be cautious, too. The healthcare system overhaul the president proposes will almost certainly cause spending on R&D to diminish substantially. Here in the greater Kalamazoo area, unlike much of Michigan, the healthcare industry is a big deal: Pfizer, Stryker (yes, the stalwart supporter of democrat causes...but a lot of good people work there), and a host of smaller pharmacological companies call this their home. If R&D spending in the healthcare industry drops, as it almost certainly will if the President gets his way, the Kalamazoo area will feel the hits.

And if you're keeping track of the "jobs created or saved" that the President promised several months ago, that takes him to -11.