In what was, I assume, supposed to be an attempt by, Barry to demonstrate that he is not an unreasonable man, on Thursday he decided that he is now going to be giving businesses an entire extra year to provide the required health insurance coverage to their full-time employees without risk of incurring tax penalties. And it just so happens that, and I'm sure it's all nothing more than some weird Barry coincidence, that would move things out 'past' the 2014 election. But knowing Barry as we do, I'm sure politics had nothing whatsoever to do with this decision.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, well-known RINO as well as the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, pointed out that while Barry maybe delaying the "job-killing requirement" for businesses, he is not doing the same for individuals and families, who will still be required by law to purchase health insurance in 2014, either through their employers or on these wonderful new health care exchanges. Individuals who go without health insurance will face tax penalties, innocuously dubbed "shared responsibility payments" by Barry "Almighty".
"While a delay of this mandate is welcome news since it shows the challenges the employers are facing complying with it, a delay -- conveniently past the 2014 election -- only adds to the uncertainty these job creators face because of ObamaCare," Hatch said. Adding, "And I certainly hope this action isn't a back door attempt at getting more Americans into the exchanges, which have been plagued by problems." Hatch said the only "reasonable recourse" is to fully repeal the law. But I've yet to see a concerted effort to do just that from Republicans.
Under the Patient Protection and Obamacare, aka the Affordable Care Act, employers with 50 or more full-time employees are required to provide health insurance for them, beginning in 2014, or face a massive tax penalty. The requirement, which caused many employers to keep their full-time staffs below 50, will now take effect in 2015. House Speaker John Boehner said Obamacare already is raising costs and costing jobs. So why aren't Republicans out there talking to as many people as they can, stressing just how screwed up it really is?
Boehner went on to say, "This announcement means even the Obama administration knows the 'train wreck' will only get worse. I hope the administration recognizes the need to release American families from the mandates of this law as well. This is a clear acknowledgment that the law is unworkable, and it underscores the need to repeal the law and replace it with effective, patient-centered reforms." Look, I don't think the issue here is whether or not Barry knows this thing is a 'train wreck', of course he does. HE DOESN'T CARE that it's a 'train wreck'!
Rep. John Kline, Republican and chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said the employer mandate will destroy jobs, regardless of when it's implemented. "If anything, this decision exacerbates the confusion and uncertainty employers face, and serves as further confirmation this flawed law is a 'train wreck.' In fact, jobs are already being lost and workers' hours slashed because of the president's health care law." And at the risk of repeating myself, Barry simply doesn't care that folks are losing their jobs or working fewer hours.
Kline went to further make his point by saying, "No amount of bureaucratic tinkering can ease the pain Obamacare is inflicting on our nation's workplaces. America's workers, families, and job creators deserve permanent relief from ObamaCare, not a one year reprieve." But I seriously doubt that the purpose of this so-called 'reprieve' has anything whatsoever to do with trying to ease the pain for those employers now in the position of trying to deal with it in our nation's workplaces. Barry continues to show that that bothers him very little, if at all.
And then we had some administration clown by the name Mark J. Mazur, whose title is the assistant treasury secretary for tax policy, who actually attempted to make the claim that by announcing the year-long delay for businesses, the administration is responding to "concerns about the complexity" of Obamacare's requirements and "the need for more time to implement them effectively." Does he really think that we're going to believe such an obvious load of bullshit? It's pretty obvious that all they're attempting to do here is to make it less of a campaign issue.
This boob Mazur blogged, "We have listened to your feedback. And we are taking action." He said the delay "will allow us to consider ways to simplify the new reporting requirements consistent with the law, and it will "provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible for their employees." So, is Barry 'really' attempting to do a favor for employers, or is there something that is much more sinister afoot here? I think we all know the answer to that!
Republican former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin has gone so far as to call the move "deviously brilliant," by removing a potential electoral impediment from in front of congressional Democrats before the midterms. "Democrats no longer face the immediate specter of running against the fallout from a heavy regulatory imposition on employers across the land," Holtz-Eakin wrote. "Explaining away the mandate was going to be a big political lift; having the White House airbrush it from the landscape is way better."
So I guess the only question that remains is, will the Republican's be willing to take proper advantage of this 'train wreck' to the point where significant gains may be made in the next election? Or will they, by failing to point out the pure political nature of this decision, piss away yet another opportunity to prove to the American people what an absolute nightmare Obamacare is going to be for them, and that the only sensible solution is to get rid of it. And, the ONLY way for us to do that is to have a veto proof Republican majority in Congress. But, you see, therein lies the problem.
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