The bill repeals the core elements of ACA, including subsidies to help people get insurance coverage, expansion of Medicaid, taxes and mandates for people to get coverage.

Two simultaneous revelations right after the first of the year have magnified our predictions of industrial manufacturing and construction expansion, as the first quarter of 2014 gets off and running.

With recent statistics noting “air pockets” in the post-recession, stuttering economic recovery, new doubts are being cast on the future of America’s housing comeback. On a year-to-year basis, the expansion of additional residential construction seems to have plodded ahead at a low double-digit rate with expectations of a forthcoming pickup, even if that rate is modest by previous standards.

Earlier this month, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act went into effect, requiring nearly all Americans to have minimum health-insurance coverage. Employers were required to give all their employees a notice of coverage options by Oct. 1, which also is the date when the individual and small-business health insurance exchanges opened for enrollment.  

With the early 2013 economy trending little better than last year’s state of suspended animation, the American consumer, comprising close to 70% of the nation’s $15.6 trillion gross domestic product, has maintained a sense of justifiable caution.