President Obama said businesses that can't afford to offer health care with all the expensive new regulations would be required to "chip in to help cover the cost of their workers." Does that mean he supports the 8 percent payroll tax included in H.R. 3200? That's a huge job-killer at a time our economy can least afford it.

For a back-of-the-envelope estimate of what this tax would mean, we modeled the impact on a static basis of the phased-in 8-percent payroll tax in H.R. 3200. (Big thanks to Joe Coletti at the John Locke Foundation for doing the calculations.)

If every company opted to pay the tax, Coletti estimated the total annual federal revenue would be more than $300 billion, as astonishing number that would imply a multi-trillion dollar tax hike for the 10-year budget number.

Of course not every company will pay the tax. Some will find a way to keep providing health insurance to their employees, although according the Council on Affordable Health Insurance, the president's proposed regulatory changed would cause premiums to go up 95 percent. Which means that companies that DON'T choose the tax will actually be paying MORE than those that do.

So the total negative economic impact of this "chipping in" will be staggering, and couldn't come at a worse time for American businesses already struggling to keep people employed during this recession.