Given that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- also known as ObamaCare -- is the supposed jewel in the crown of the Obama Administration, you'd think The Won would be anxious to see to its complete implementation, wouldn't you? A few months ago I'd have thought so myself, but it seems that that's not the case.
The Won has taken it upon his imperial shoulders to decree that the imposition of the employer mandate, arguably the most important component of the PPACA, shall be delayed until January 1, 2015. The rationale is that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Internal Revenue Service simply "won't have time enough" do to it properly otherwise.
There's just the least little problem about that: The PPACA, as written does not grant anyone the power to defer its implementation. Nope: not even the president of these United States.
Well, egregious violations of the laws of the land are nothing new for Obama and his henchmen, so perhaps we shouldn't expect him to be deterred by such. All the same, this is the element of his policies of which he's supposedly proudest. Wherefore, then, does he deem it wise to delay its imposition?
The answer lies in demographically sensitive electoral calculations, something at which Obama's motley crew is quite skilled. The critical 18-to-34 demographic, which is the one most likely to regard medical insurance as a discretionary purchase, has learned what's going to happen to premiums under the PPACA's mandates. To put it as gently as possible, those young folks aren't happy about what they foresee.
The 2012 elections made plain the importance of motivating the "base:" that group of voters whose allegiance is considered part of the indispensable core of a party's support. The young-adult demographic has long been regarded as integral to the Democrats' base; indeed, had Obama carried even 5% fewer of those voters last November, Mitt Romney would be president today. The prospect of losing the allegiance of young adults carries with it the likelihood of the loss of control of the Senate and an even larger Republican margin in the House of Representatives. The Obama Administration would be completely neutered through its final two years.
Obama and his advisers must have weighed that dark possibility against the likelihood of legal repercussions against the president for (once more) violating the Constitution's explicit limits upon his powers, and decided to "go to the well" one more time. Given the Democrats' overall proclivity for dismissing the constraints of the black-letter law when they have some partisan purpose to serve, perhaps the move isn't that surprising after all.
Is anyone keeping count of Obama's impeachable offenses? The Won appears supremely confident that nothing he might do would put him in the dock -- even though the previous Democrat president barely escaped removal from office over a single case of abuse of power.
What does remain mildly surprising is that Senate Democrats are "sitting still" for Obama's exertion of unbounded power. I'd have thought United States Senators would be more jealous of their prerogatives than that. It seems I was wrong. At any rate, if this most recent imperial move is allowed to stand, Obama will have set yet another precedent: Not only is the president entitled to decline to enforce whatever laws he dislikes; he may do so even with laws he personally rammed through Congress via backroom deals and procedural skullduggery.
Are there any spines left among Republican legislators? Will no one in the GOP's caucuses call for the impeachment and trial of this usurper for his presumptions? Or are they all too busy negotiating for their own "Louisiana Purchases" and "Cornhusker Kickbacks" as rewards for their collusion in destroying what remains of the Constitution of the United States?
Michael Savage and others have opined that the country has already died Constitutionally. They might well be right; even if the patient still shows some signs of life, constitutional government is tottering and has been for some time. What the GOP contingent in Congress does, or fails to do, about this most recent usurpation of legislative power by the president will tell us whether there's any possibility of pulling the nation back from the edge of the abyss without a violent revolution.
Stay tuned.
I foresee either revolution or we slowly collapse like a deflating balloon. Unfortunately most citizens will be happy to accept the second scenario as long as the TV works, there's beer in the fridge and food on the table. After decades of indoctrination in our government schools coupled with media brainwashing, most people view freedom and responsibility as abstract concepts. I hope for the best but continue to plan for the worst.
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