Obamaclypse Now - The ObamaCare 360 Edition

 

Somebody get me a dead horse, I've got some kicking to do...

Hey, here it comes now...

"This fix won't solve every problem for every person.  But it's going to help a lot of people... President Obama, November 14, 2013"

Mr. President, the 'Fix WAS in' almost one month ago when Republicans in the House of Representatives sent Harry Reid MULTIPLE Bills which postponed your Individual Mandate of ObamaCare for one year.  

YOUR guy, Harry, refused to allow any Bill touching 'your precious' prior to the Democrat-sponsored shutdown of the government (which, of course, no one remembers because for the past five weeks the ObamaCare fiasco has absorbed ALL oxygen in the room).

 

But, you probably don't remember that, do you?  

Yeah, that's what I thought.

So on Thursday you hold a Press Conference (the day before a vote in the House on a Bill which will 'legally' allow Americans to keep their health insurance) to um, tell us that we can keep our health insurance, if we can manage to...  Keep our health insurance.  

The problem, of course, is those 'evil corporations' providing Health Insurance to we, the great unwashed people of America - well, you neglected to tell them about your BOLD vision in advance of your 'ObamaCare 360' speech.  

In your haste to do what the House recommended that you do more than month ago, in advance of this past Friday's House Vote, you did what you do best...  

You led from behind.

Well, actually you DID tell insurance firms on Friday - after you told America what you needed the insurance companies to do for you.  You told them to take the next six weeks (two of which have major holidays within them) and figure out how to reverse a process which your administration took over three years to lay out for them. 

Yes, you gave providers roughly four and a half 'work-weeks' to bail your sorry rump out of the fire.  Their response to you came via a terse memo from Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans...  

Yes, the infamous Poop Sandwich re-appears once again - this time it's the President's turn to 'eat up'.

“Making sure consumers have secure, affordable coverage is health plans' top priority.  The only reason consumers are getting notices about their current coverage changing is because the ACA requires all policies to cover a broad range of benefits that go beyond what many people choose to purchase today.

Changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of the law could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers.  Premiums have already been set for next year based on an assumption of when consumers will be transitioning to the new marketplace. 

If now fewer younger and healthier people choose to purchase coverage in the exchange, premiums will increase and there will be fewer choices for consumers.  Additional steps must be taken to stabilize the marketplace and mitigate the adverse impact on consumers.”

  

President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and EACH Democrat who voted for this epic legislative over-reach...  I believe you've just been called out.   

"The only reason consumers are getting notices about their current coverage changing is because the ACA requires all policies to cover a broad range of benefits that go beyond what many people choose to purchase today."  

Roughly translated:  It's your fault Obama, and this ain't over yet.

In last week's post I had requested that President Obama PLEASE not remove the Individual Mandate and that he reinstates the Employer Mandate to its original implementation date of January 1, 2014.  

Why?  Because until EVERYONE knows what is in the Law, we will never kill the Law.  Once again, the President chose not to listen to me. 

I believe that he may, however, be listening to James Carville, Democrat Strategist, who counseled the President as follows, “I think the best thing he can do is take a toke on the mayor of Toronto’s crack pipe.”   James Carville made the comment on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” earlier in the week.

James, buddy, the President does NOT need to travel to Toronto to take a pull off Ford's 'pipe' to improve his approval ratings - all he needs to do is walk into the House of Representatives, put his hands up, and say, "That's it, I was wrong - let's gut this ObamaCare thing..." and he'll be at a 85% approval rating in no time.  [Plus James, I'm pretty darn sure he's got plenty of good 'stuff' in the end table next to his bed in the White House building already.] 

Hey, wait one gosh darn minute!  

Since THIS President can change Law (hey, who needs a Legislative Branch!?!?!) with the mere force of his will, he can just tell us that it was all a 'misunderstanding' and that he was 'kidding' about the ACA in its entirety!

After all, isn't this what he did with BOTH the Employer and now the Individual Mandates?  He used his Barack Obama Super Powers to pre-empt legislation passed though the Legislative Branch and which HE signed into law.

What's the benefit of being an Imperial President if you can't 'change stuff up' when you need to?  

The Constitution?  He don't need no stinking Constitution...

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it's been

What in the world ever became of sweet Jane?
She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same
Livin' on reds, vitamin C, and cocaine
All a friend can say is, "Ain't it a shame?"

With apologies to the Grateful Dead, what a long, strange trip it's been (thus far). 

And ain't it a shame? 

Selective Prestidigitation

Prestidigitation:  Noun

• Sleight of hand

• French, from prestidigitateur prestidigitator, from preste nimble, quick (from Italian presto) + Latin digitus finger — more at digit 

I suppose I could have entitled this post, "Selective Magic".  However, these two words do not quite capture the sentiment I was going for as this post began to morph within my weary mind.  Not to mention, I very much appreciate the French / Italian / Latin origins of the word which you can also (after drinking an amber-colored beverage) mean a "Nimble, quick finger".  

One nimble, quick finger fully extended and intended for...  You guessed it - You.

  

Get the point (or, more accurately stated, 'finger')?

Here's the Magic which I'm trying to understand...

The Affordable Care Act was passed by a Democratic Majority in both the House and Senate.  It was passed via 'Reconciliation' because Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi didn't have enough votes to pass it 'normally'.  Nancy said we needed to "Pass the Bill to see what's in the Bill" and Harry just said something like, "Pass the Bill - or else" to his Democratic partners in the Democrat-controlled Senate.  No Republicans in either the House or Senate voted for President Obama's "Landmark Legislation", now officially referred to as, "ObamaCare".  

Remember WAY back when we used to joke about it being called "ObamaCare"?  

Since the Affordable Care Act's ill-conceived deployment on October 1st, 2013, no one says 'ObamaCare' out loud with so much as a smirk on their face.  Not only did the President get his Team to pass this abomination, now his name is firmly etched upon it for all eternity.  When CNN begins calling the ACA 'ObamaCare' - yup, it's ALL his now.   

Post ObamaCare 'launch', we speak in hushed tones, waiting for our health insurance cancellation notice to come in the US Mail.  We sit huddled quietly in our homes, hoping our neighbors (preferably ones we don't care for) will be the ones getting the health insurance cancellation notices as the ObamaCare Healthcare Angel of Death passes our home and hopefully alights somewhere else.  

Several people on my street have begun marking the doorway to their homes with Vick's Vap-O-Rub in an effort to ward off the the foul specter prior to it gaining entrance to their home.  As for myself, I've painted the entire exterior of my home with Preparation H.  

Why?  Because the past five+ years have been nothing less than a huge pain in my rump and if I can't prevent the thing from getting in, at least I can hopefully minimize the swelling, and itching associated with its entry into MY home.     

But here's the thing... 

There's more, (much more) to come - sorry, someone get the on the Internet and let the folks know to make LOTS more Preparation H...

President Obama gave the 'Employer Mandate' a 12-month extension, meaning that he pushed the ObamaCare 'Employer requirement' back a year for those companies who employ more than fifty people.

Why?  

1.  Because he could,  

And, 

2. Because no one in Congress wants to ask uncomfortable questions of the first White-African American President regarding his 'Legacy Landmark Legislation'.  

(If anyone has another explanation, please feel free to share it in the Comment section below - yes, I'd PREFER there be another explanation, offer one if you feel that it fits better than mine as stated here.)

How did he modify the Law?  In a word - Magic.  

The Legislative Branch (Democrats) passed ObamaCare and the Bill was signed into Law by the Executive Branch, a.k.a.: President Barack Obama.  

In July, 2013, President Obama took it upon himself to exempt 'some of the' legislation which HE and his minions passed through Reconciliation (a.k.a.:  'Cheating') in Congress - in effect, re-writing law at the Executive Branch, bypassing further Congressional approval.  

Yes, he over-rode his own legislation 'Extra-Constitutionally' just by...  

Making it up as he went along.

At this point you may be asking yourself, 'Hey, Mike, aren't laws normally passed in the Legislative Branch and approved at the Executive?  Well, yes, normally this is the case, but when you have a skilled Magician working magic to an enthralled (and pardon the expression, a 'Cowed' audience in Congress) no one seems (or wants) to stop the show.

As the ObamaCare juggernaut continues, cancellation letters are being printed by the millions, men and women fret about their ability to afford their 'Federally-Mandated' 'affordable' health care, and new insurance deductibles are in most instances higher than the 'unacceptable' policies the ACA, which forced the insurance cancellations of in the first place.

So, if the President is able to grant 'Companies', 'Firms' and 'Employers' a twelve-month waiver (delay) to allow time for the Law to get figured out by the people who are supposed to be implementing it, why won't the President grant a waiver on those people who are being hurt by the law TODAY?

He's shown that he has the power to do whatever he wants when it comes to overriding the Separation of Powers within the US Government already, so WHY won't he do it again, to the benefit of people suffering under his ill-conceived and single-party legislated Act?

ANSWER:  Because he chooses not to.  HIS Magic is done on HIS Terms - not ours.   

I guess maybe, as 'average Americans' begin to feel the pain inflicted upon them by the "Community Organizer In Chief", they'll also begin to feel the warmth and glow of his legislation in their own households.  I wonder, at this point, should Republicans be pushing to have the Individual Mandate pushed back?  

No.

And while we're at it, let's get rid of the Employer Mandate 'extension' as well - just in time for the 2014 elections.  

Between you and me?  There's not enough Preparation H in the WORLD to prepare what we're going to see once the Employer Mandate kicks in.

You think we've got flaming A-Holes in Washington, DC?  Wait until we, the 'Great Unwashed', begin to feel the magic of ObamaCare in our personal wellness, our finances, and in our daily lives by the end of this year..

But, as the President said, sometimes "maybe you're better off not having the surgery, you may be better off just taking the pain killer".

Sure, the pain killers won't CURE you, but you'll die quietly.   And seriously, the President is getting a such a terrible headache from all of your incessant yammering -- please be considerate of his very important thoughts and go back to fretting quietly as you've done in the past.  

If you can't be quiet, he'll dispatch a "Navigator" to your home to help you find your way back to civility...

Sure, what could go wrong?

ObamaCare Magic

Well, if nothing else, the man in the White House is consistent.

Another BIG announcement impacting employers / employees across the U.S. and the announcement is made...  While Congress is gone, Americans are preparing to celebrate the Fourth of July, President Obama is thinking about returning from Africa and...  Egypt is preparing to implode.

Yup, time to make the after-hours, pre-holiday announcement and watch to see if ANYONE gorging on hot dogs, iced tea, and apple pie notices...

Huh?  What's that?  You don't know what I'm talking about?  Oops, sorry, that's because you're NOT supposed to know what's going on in your government.  It's safer for you not to know - if you know what I mean.  Because when something's for the 'Greater Good' you need to know that there are many, many things, greater than yourself. 

Please be aware that if you continue, and keep reading, you'll be doing what this Administration doesn't necessarily want you to do: 

a.  Being Informed,
b.  Getting Informed and finally,
c.  Informing others

Why might they not want you to know what's going on? 

BASIC RULE OF LIFE #73:  When there's going to be spectacular Train Wreck, the best viewing location it is far up on a hill watching from the comfort of a folding chair with an amber-colored beverage in hand.  (This is vastly preferable to being ON one of the aforementioned trains going 60 MPH head long towards a second train - heading straight for you.) 

Unfortunately, for you, me, and MOST other Americans, your seat on the Federally-subsidized "Hell-Bent Express" is reserved!

The personable (and pleasantly dressed) IRS agent manning the ticket window reaches out and deposits your ticket into your open, trembling hand.  In the distance, somewhere on the platform, the conductor in a starched brown uniform shouts, "All aboard!" 

This means you.  Yeah, get on the train. 

No.  Seriously. 

Get on the freaking the train or they'll put you on it. 

It's for your own good.  You'll see.  It's always for YOUR own good.  

Even if it...  Kills you.

  

July 2, 2013, 08:30pm, The Huffington Post:  Obamacare Employer Mandate Delayed For One Year

Employers who don't provide health insurance will be spared penalties of up to $3,000 per worker until 2015, a one-year delay of a major component of President Barack Obama's health care reform law, the Treasury Department announced Tuesday.


Under Obamacare, companies with at least 50 full-time employees are required to provide qualifying health benefits to workers or face financial penalties called "shared responsibility payments." The provision of the law aims to shore up and strengthen the system that provides health benefits to most covered Americans. Under regulatory guidance to be published next week, the Obama administration will free companies from this mandate and from rules that they report information about their health benefits to the federal government next year.

"During this 2014 transition period, we strongly encourage employers to maintain or expand health coverage," Mark Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department, said in a statement. The change does not affect people who will buy health insurance on their own or small businesses that will buy coverage through the law's health insurance exchanges.

More than half of Americans, 170 million people, are covered by employer-sponsored health insurance, according the census data. Of companies with at least 50 workers, 94 percent already offer health benefits, a survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation shows. The one-year delay of the penalties won't have a meaningful effect on jobs being the leading source of health care coverage, said Paul Fronstin, a senior research associate with the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
...

"The fact is, employers have been offering coverage voluntarily for how many years now. They didn't drop it before the law was passed. They offered it for business reasons," Fronstin said. "I don't think you'll see a mass exodus because of this."

Postponing enforcement of the "employer responsibility" mandate also isn't likely to result in significantly fewer people gaining health coverage because of Obamacare next year, said Larry Levitt, senior vice president for special initiatives at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

"The practical effect on how people will get covered is really small," Levitt said. "It might mean ever-so-slightly fewer people gaining insurance, but it'll be a very small number because the vast majority of larger employers already offer coverage." The Congressional Budget Office projected only a modest increase in job-based health benefits because of the law, he said.

...

"This announcement means even the Obama administration knows the 'train wreck' will only get worse," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "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.'

The administration's move on the employer penalties follows a recent Government Accountability Office report suggesting the law's health insurance exchanges for individuals who don't get coverage at work and for small companies may not be ready for the six-month enrollment period that begins Oct. 1. In April, the administration also delayed part of the law intended to provide small-business workers with more health insurance choices.

These negative developments for the implementation of the health care reform law shouldn't been viewed as major warning signs, however, Levitt said. "I don't think people should read too much into this in terms of how ready the administration is to implement the rest of the law, but I think some people will draw those conclusions. I think it's more of an issue of perception than an issue of reality."

POINT OF CLARIFICATION:  Hey, Mr. Levitt, "Perception" IS "Reality" if you're the guy "Perceiving" it...

Example:

Yeah, the guy in the suit?  His perception rocks - reality, conversely, 'rocks' not so much. 

Okay, so if you follow the Administration's storyline, they're doing this 'delay' of the employer mandate so that 'larger employers' will have time to 'get their stuff together' prior to the full and udder (it's a cow thing, just go with it) roll-out of ObamaCare in 2014. 

The funny thing is that this deferral effectively pushes back OC's (ObamaCare's) deployment until AFTER the 2014 elections.  

Huh, I wonder why that is?

My perception is that this is being done purely for political reasons, as Democrats don't want a leadership 'blood letting' following the full implementation of ObamaCare in 2014. 

My perception is that since no Republicans voted for this legislation, Democrats are hoping a 12-month deferral will give them several more years to oppose Republican reforms (when, and if they every actually happen) and pass bad additional flawed legislation similar to our current Immigration Bill. 

My Perception is that there are no longer two parties in America - there those people who love America's as it WAS, and those who want to bend it to what they want it to BE.

My Reality is that I'd better get to work... 

Lest someone Perceive that I don't care any more and I become another of the takers, vs. the 'giving' kind-of-guy that I am.

Oh, and regarding the 'cut-&-pasted' photo that begins this post, I perceive that this Administration having the 'Ultimate Power' to do a major sleight of hand (as done late yesterday afternoon) is a lot like having many, many, BIG name stars in a major Hollywood motion picture on which you spent a LOT of other-people's money. 

Yeah, the movie gets made, but what happens when no one is interested in paying to see it?

But when you've got the only theater in town, and you can FORCE people to go, yeah, now you're on to something...

Happy Independence Day America! 

You know, it's odd, but I don't feel quite that we're quite as Independent as we used to be...