Free Republic

Politics: Rep. Henry Waxman vowed to haul CEOs into hearings after they revealed just how much ObamaCare will cost their firms. It's an absurd war on bookkeeping, from a Congress desperate to avoid heat for this fiasco. In the wake of President Obama's presidential signature on the gargantuan Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last Thursday, big companies have crunched their numbers and come up with an ugly picture. In legally mandated filings, AT&T reported that ObamaCare will cost it $1 billion. Deere & Co. reported $150 million in new costs. Caterpillar must cough up $100 million. 3M must pay...

The notion that the pain of Obamacare would not really be felt for a few years has always been silly. It won't be fully felt, but he economy is dynamic. Corporations have to plan today for the conditions of tomorrow. More to the point, public corporations with disclosure obligations under the securities laws have to disclose today when developments change their outlook for tomorrow. Hence, AT&T's announcement that Obamacare will force it to take a $1 billion dollar charge — the most alarming (but entirely predictable) bad news in a parade that, the Wall Street Journal's editors note, "includes Deere...

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) -- The eight-month long lockout at AK Steel's Middletown Works isn't just a battle between a company and its union workers. The effects of the lockout, which already has resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs, are spreading across the community, home to steelmaking for more than a century. Small businesses are feeling the crunch, and the city government faces cutbacks in police and firefighters. Like other industrial towns across the Midwest that have been hurt by plant reductions or closings in recent years, Middletown has been struggling financially and voters are being asked next month...

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) -- AK Steel locked out nearly 2,700 hourly workers after their contract expired without a new agreement early Wednesday, and will use temporary workers to continue filling orders, a company spokesman said. ADVERTISEMENT AK Steel Holding Corp. and its union workers disagreed over the company's demand that it be able to reduce the work force, freeze pensions and require employees to pay more of their health costs, among other issues. Union members had recently voted to allow union leaders to authorize a strike if negotiations failed. Salaried employees and temporary replacements will allow the company to continue...

Former AK Steel Corp. President John Hritz plans to challenge U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, for the Senate seat he has held for a decade. Hritz said he has formed an exploratory committee to look into the feasibility of running against DeWine, who is from Cedarville, for the Republican nomination in the primary election in May 2006, according to a press release Tuesday. Hritz had resigned as AK Steel president along with then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Wardrop Jr. Both men resigned by mutual agreement with the Middletown-based steelmaker's board of directors. After suing AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) seeking...