In four acts of massive hypocrisy, President Barack Obama has delayed pieces of Obamacare in the exact same ways House Republicans had attempted to do so. When Republicans proposed these identical changes, he berated them, insisting “You can’t shut down ObamaCare. It’s the law.” The Democrat-controlled Senate wouldn’t even vote on many of the proposals that passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives — but when Obama says it’s ok, those same changes are implemented.
1) Extending the deadline to enroll in Obamacare and the start of the individual mandate
The Obama administration has repeatedly extended the deadline for individuals to enroll in Obamacare, thereby delaying the mandate that Americans must have health insurance, or pay a fine. But Senate Democrats stomped out Congress’ attempts to do the exact same thing.
On July 17, 2013, the House had voted for a one year delay of the individual mandate. It even passed with 22 Democrats voting “yes.” However, it was put on the Senate calendar on July 24, and no further action was taken in the Senate. Once again on Sept. 30, the House voted to delay the individual mandate for one year, and Senate Democrats voted it down.
In an even bigger slap to Congress, on Dec. 19, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services posted a notice stating that if you lost your health insurance, you could avoid the individual mandate by filling out a form. This is basically the same thing House Republicans, and some House Democrats, were trying to do.
2) Allowing people to renew their current health insurance plans, thereby delaying much of Obamacare
In a second example of the Obama administration copying the House’s efforts, on March 5, 2014, the administration gave Americans the option to renew their health care plans that were cancelled because of the law until 2016, and keep them until 2017. This actually goes farther than a House vote on Sept. 29, 2013, to delay the law for only one year — something Senate Democrats voted down.
3) Delaying the employer mandate
In another instance on July 2, 2013, the Obama administration delayed for one year the Obamacare mandate forcing businesses to provide health coverage, or else face fines. On July 17, the House then passed a bill that would have codified those “announcements by the administration,” but the Democratic Senate wouldn’t even vote on it. Later, on February 10, 2014, the mandate was delayed for another year — to 2016 — by the Obama administration.
4) Delaying cancellation of plans not meeting Obamacare’s minimum standards
In a final example, on Nov. 14, 2013, the Obama administration gave a last-minute extension for plans that would have been cancelled at the end of 2013, because they did not meet Obamacare’s minimum requirements. But the House had introduced a bill that would have done just that on Oct. 28! Instead of letting it go through the legislative process, the Obama administration made its declaration the day before the bill was voted on, thereby giving the administration – not Congress – the credit. The House’s bill was never even voted on in Senate.
The Obama administration has repeatedly extended and delayed parts of Obamacare in small increments. Rather than allowing Americans a more definitive deadline, as the House has attempted, the administration’s efforts keep people in uncertainty, while largely mimicking the House’s efforts.
It is clear that Senate Democrats and the Obama administration are more concerned with ensuring all good ideas and Obamacare alterations are credited to them – not to Republicans. The administration supposedly of “People over Politics” seems to be doing all it can to put politics before people.
