ObamaCare Games

President Obama, in his infinite wisdom, has decided to delay the employer mandate section of the Affordable Care Act, the nightmare we all know as Obamacare. The employer mandate requires companies that employ 50 or more workers to provide health insurance coverage for their employees or face fines. Because employers have indicated that the reporting requirements are onerous, our ever-agreeable chief executive has consented to “simplify that system and give employers an additional year to comply.” Instead of the employer mandate kicking in for 2014, implementation will be delayed until 2015.

How wonderful to know that our leaders listen to our concerns and take action! Well, not really. If they really listened to us, this travesty would already be history. The truth is that President Obama is desperate for Democrats to take control of the House of Representatives in 2014, and it has become clear that Democrat candidates don’t want to have to explain themselves to voters who will be in the throes of coping with the disastrous effects of Obamacare during the campaign season. Hopefully, by delaying the most destructive part of this massive legislation, he can fool the electorate once again into voting for his policies.

Have we wised up yet? First of all, the Affordable Healthcare Act has been voted into law, deadlines, timelines, and all. Do we have a king rather than a president, who can just decide what legislation will be enforced and what will not? Don’t we have a system that has checks and balances, which should protect us from this capriciousness? Is the electorate so ignorant of our system of government that they can’t see that the president’s actions are completely unconstitutional? Yes, I am glad that we have a one-year reprieve from this horrible piece of legislation, but at what cost? The road to tyranny has many small steps, and allowing a president to pick and choose which legislation to enforce is one of them.

Unfortunately, we don’t have to wait until the full implementation of Obamacare in 2014 (or 2015) to feel the negative effects of this monstrosity. Our economy is already responding to the upcoming mandates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report for June 2013, notes that the number of jobs has increased by 195,000; unfortunately full-time jobs dropped by 240,000. Part-time jobs, however, increased by 360,000, due most certainly to requirements in the Affordable Care Act that companies provide insurance for workers who work more than 30 hours per week. I wonder how the many workers who voted for President Obama feel about their “free” health care now? And how do they like needing two or three part time jobs to keep themselves afloat? Those evil Republicans! (It’s their fault, right?)

In California, several major companies have pulled out of the individual health plan market, leaving thousands of residents to find new healthcare plans. Cigna, United Healthcare, and Aetna have decided not to participate in “California’s new state-run health insurance market, possibly limiting the number of choices for millions of consumers.” Will this be the story, state by state, as Obamacare is implemented? Whatever happened to, “If you have an insurance plan you like, you will be able to keep it”? What empty promise will come to light next – “You’ll be able to keep your doctor”? Or will we throw up our hands, go to a single payer system, and be assigned to our doctors like our children are assigned to their government schools? And will our premiums go up rather than down, as promised? Oh, wait, they already have!

The rise of the part-time economy, major companies fleeing state insurance exchanges, premium increases, and (what is really important) administration fears of a bloodbath in the 2014 midterm elections makes it clear to anyone who can think that this is a dog of a law. I hate to insult dogs that way, but if the results of Obamacare are going to be so bad that the Democrats have no chance of taking over the House of Representatives in 2014, perhaps it is bad enough to just chuck altogether and start over, perhaps even by trying some free market approaches. (I can dream, can’t I?) Even the Democrats who put it together are admitting that this thing is a train wreck. Can we just scrap it and start over? Please? And this time try including everyone in the discussion rather than just ramming it through in the middle of the night with no input from the other side. Stop playing politics with our lives, Mr. President, and do something for the good of the people, not just for yourself.