Obamacare encouraging government by edict, not law

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:


"A government of laws, not men" is among the most famous maxims produced by the American Revolution and the authors of the Constitution which was its ultimate fruit. Everything good in our government depends upon that maxim remaining an accurate description of the American Republic's most sacred principle. But now it is under challenge as never before. The ever-expanding welfare state in America has expanded the reach of unaccountable bureaucrats into every nook and cranny of the nation's economic life. The federal government has substituted administrative edict for laws written by elected representatives.

This reality is epitomized by President Obama's signature legislative achievement -- the Patient Protection and Affordability Act aka "Obamacare." As the Independent Womens' Voice noted recently, the phrase "the Secretary shall determine" is found over and over again in Obamacare's 2,700-plus pages. The Secretary is Kathleen Sebelius, the former Kansas governor appointed by Obama to oversee the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Among the HHS head's most significant new powers under Obamacare is that of granting or denying waivers to the law's endless list of requirements, including the amount of coverage employers are required to provide workers. The IWV correctly observes that "the Secretary shall determine" is government by whim rather than by law: "There's no better example of this than the issuance of waivers from the obligations imposed by Obamacare. So far, a total of 1,472 waivers have been issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. What are the criteria for receiving a waiver? How are the recipients of these waivers determined? Well, we just don't know. The details of the process have never been made public."