Obamacare - Delay, Defund, Remove

Political Realities ^ | 09/18/13 | LD Jackson

[LD Jackson]

We all know Obamacare is coming down the pike. October 1 is just around the corner and the Obamacare "navigators" are itching to start signing people up and move them into the health insurance exchanges that are such a big part of the legislation. We have heard countless speeches from President Obama, all of them telling us his signature legislation is a good thing for all Americans. He has told us that repeatedly and at the same time, accused the Republicans of wanting to prevent Americans from obtaining the health care insurance they need. That's out of the left side of his mouth.

Out of the other side, Obama has arbitrarily decided that businesses who were facing a hard mandate to provide health care insurance to their employers needed a reprieve. He provided them with that reprieve earlier this year, delaying the mandate for one year. He said they needed more time to work out the kinks in the programs. That must have been the case with the exceptions he has provided for his friends in the unions. Only their exemptions are permanent, not just delayed.

All of this talk about how great Obamacare is, yet everyone and their brother wants an exemption or a delay in the mandates. This may sound like a simple question, but it just begs to be asked. What about the mandate that nearly every individual in America must purchase health care insurance? If Obamacare is so great, yet so hard for business to implement that they need a delay, what about you and me? Don't we deserve a delay, at least, preferably a permanent delay? That delay may be in the offering, if Republicans in the House have their way.

Fox News - House conservative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who will introduce an alternative to ObamaCare Wednesday, said, "the president now has delayed it or says he wants to delay it for big businesses and insurance companies. So American families are now saying what about our relief?"

For Republicans, the key to delay is finding a measure that will win Democratic votes in the Senate.

A measure to delay the law by a year got more than 20 Democratic votes in the House. Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona said matching the president's other delays might well get votes from Democrats facing tight re-election races next year

"This is gonna be a tough sell in some of those red states that Democrats have to defend anyway,” he said. “So I think it’s quite possible they'll put a lot of pressure on the leadership to go ahead and delay for a year."

"Just think about it," Flake added."Out on the campaign trail, to try to justify why the law is being delayed for businesses but not individuals."

It should be noted that the most vocal proponents for defunding Obamacare, Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, have said they would be in favor of the legislation to delay the individual mandate, should their effort to permanently defund it fail.

Slowly, I am coming around to the point of view that Republicans need to increase their push to defund Obamacare. It is possible that the tactic may backfire on us, if it results in a government shutdown, no matter how small, but I can't help but wonder if that is a risk we should be willing to take. Obamacare is a monstrous piece of legislation that needs to be removed from the books. If defunding it fails, then I would be in favor of the legislation to delay it being introduced by Steve Scalise. If businesses and unions can have their delay, then it should be good enough for individual Americans.

I find it hard to believe that President Obama would actually sign legislation that delays Obamacare. Of course, he probably feels he can do it all on his own, having done so with the delay for businesses and the exemptions for unions. But, just imagine how he will spin this in his speeches. This President, who has touted the idea that he is fighting for individual Americans and for the middle class, would be shown for the liar he really is. All of his rhetoric about punishing big corporations for their unfair business practices would be laid bare. All of America would find out exactly whose side he is really on. At the very least, it would be entertaining to hear him and his teleprompter try to explain why he delayed Obamacare for businesses and gave unions outright exemptions, but refused to do so for people like you and me. The media would have their work cut out for them to cover his tracks.

[Jack Hydrazine]

I’d like to see it go into full effect so that it has the effect of causing many, many Dems and a number of Pubbies to be voted out of office.

[PoloSec]

The problem with Delay is funding continues, I think.

Defund insures all progress is stopped.

[Graewoulf]

Golf Clown, B. Hussein Obama wants to shut down the US Federal Government so that he will have more free time to play Golf, “away from the fog” of responsibility.

Party on, Golf Clown, party on!

[Buckeye McFrog]

The advantage of a delay vote is that you can count on Obama with his overflowing hubris to veto it.

Then he personally will finally own the mess, lock, stock and barrel.