One of the biggest disputes regarding Obamacare has been whether or not the individual mandate is constitutional. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the Constitution allowed Congress to require Americans to buy health insurance (the individual mandate) because that requirement was in the nature of a tax. During that argument before the Supreme Court, there was little agreement between the government and its opponents. One point, however, was not contested: the individual mandate is the heart of Obamacare. For the law to work, all Americans have to buy health insurance. Indeed, the government argued that were the individual mandate to be struck down, Obamacare would crumble and fail.
Last October, the House passed a bill to fund the government but with the condition that the individual mandate would be delayed for a year. President Obama and the Democrats called the GOP "terrorists" and "extortionists". Obama said he would veto any bill that delayed the individual mandate. Obama and the Obamacrats told the country that the individual mandate was the "law of the land" and it would not be changed. Ultimately, the GOP gave in and let the government funding go through without a delay in the individual mandate.
What a difference five months make! Obama has now effectively ended the individual mandate. Oh, it is still on the books as a law, but president Obama has now come forward with a new rule that lets anyone get a waiver from the individual mandate. Anyone who files a form saying that he or she has a hardship due to having to comply with the mandate will no longer need to buy insurance. Are you unsatisfied with the price you need to pay for insurance and do you prefer not to buy insurance? Just tell the government that the purchase would be a hardship and you no longer need to have health insurance. Are you unhappy with the doctors in the network of the plans available to you? No problem. Just file a form and say that it is a hardship and you need not buy any policy. In other words, the individual mandate is gone! The "heart" of Obamacare is gone! Obama has gone way beyond the plan of the Republican terrorists and extortionists to delay the mandate for a year; Obama has completely done away with the mandate.
It is hard to comprehend just how Obama can justify this latest move. Certainly, Obama's move is illegal and unconstitutional; the president does not have the power to change the law in this fashion, but that is not what I am talking about. Even aside from the illegality of the move, Obama cannot justify this latest action given all that he and his party have said for years about the absolute need for the individual mandate. Was that all just another lie by Obama and the Democrats told in connection with Obamacare? It certainly seems to be so.
Last October, the House passed a bill to fund the government but with the condition that the individual mandate would be delayed for a year. President Obama and the Democrats called the GOP "terrorists" and "extortionists". Obama said he would veto any bill that delayed the individual mandate. Obama and the Obamacrats told the country that the individual mandate was the "law of the land" and it would not be changed. Ultimately, the GOP gave in and let the government funding go through without a delay in the individual mandate.
What a difference five months make! Obama has now effectively ended the individual mandate. Oh, it is still on the books as a law, but president Obama has now come forward with a new rule that lets anyone get a waiver from the individual mandate. Anyone who files a form saying that he or she has a hardship due to having to comply with the mandate will no longer need to buy insurance. Are you unsatisfied with the price you need to pay for insurance and do you prefer not to buy insurance? Just tell the government that the purchase would be a hardship and you no longer need to have health insurance. Are you unhappy with the doctors in the network of the plans available to you? No problem. Just file a form and say that it is a hardship and you need not buy any policy. In other words, the individual mandate is gone! The "heart" of Obamacare is gone! Obama has gone way beyond the plan of the Republican terrorists and extortionists to delay the mandate for a year; Obama has completely done away with the mandate.
It is hard to comprehend just how Obama can justify this latest move. Certainly, Obama's move is illegal and unconstitutional; the president does not have the power to change the law in this fashion, but that is not what I am talking about. Even aside from the illegality of the move, Obama cannot justify this latest action given all that he and his party have said for years about the absolute need for the individual mandate. Was that all just another lie by Obama and the Democrats told in connection with Obamacare? It certainly seems to be so.
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