Here, though, the Right goes too far in the hubbub about the CBO report. Remunerated work is not the highest good. Just because a policy induces people to quit the labor force doesn’t make that policy bad. And just because people exit the work force or significantly cut back their hours doesn’t make them slackers.

Sure, it’s bad if a policy ends up paying able-bodied people to sit on their couch and play Xbox, but we don’t know if that’s what Obamacare’s insurance subsidies will do.

If a low-income mother is working – and paying through the nose for childcare – just because her job has insurance and her husband’s job doesn’t, then the family’s lot is improved by a policy that makes it easier for them to afford insurance outside of work, enabling her to stay at home with their children.

Or imagine a young employee at a tech company. He’s itching to get out and launch his own startup, but he stays in his job because he needs the insurance. This is bad for him, and bad for the economy deprived of his innovation.