McConnell: Healthcare bill a 'job killer'

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- The healthcare reform bill now before the U.S. Senate is a "job killer," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Sunday.

Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," McConnell said of the measure, which reached the Senate floor Saturday on a 60-39 vote, "(the bill) is a job killer."

McConnell asserted that small businesses aren't going to "expand employment" if they saw what was coming "with this healthcare bill. You're going to have healthcare taxes, you're going to have expiration of the Bush tax cuts, so your tax rates are going to go up.

"The cost of hiring additional employees will be greatly exacerbated by the steps that they're taking. This is the wrong direction to go," the Republican leader said.

But Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., appearing on "Fox News Sunday," noted that a federal small business tax credit would be offered to employers to provide a cushion for employers looking for relief from private insurance costs.