OBAMACARE BATTLE TAKES BIZARRE TURN

[Geee]

Human Events:

The Affordable Care Act originally passed the House in 2009 with 220 votes, all but one of them Democrats. Recently 251 members of the House, including 22 Democrats, voted to postpone for one year implementation of the heart of the act — the individual mandate to purchase health insurance. If this were any other issue, liberal commentators might see a governing majority emerging in favor of delaying Obamacare.

 

In the last couple of years, House Republicans have voted over and over to repeal the president’s health care plan. It got to be routine. Not long ago, however, the Obamacare battle took a turn toward the bizarre.

 

The cause was the administration’s decision to delay by one year the mandate requiring big businesses to provide health coverage for employees or pay a fine. The White House acted in response to complaints from business owners, who called the mandate burdensome.

 

So Republicans thought: What about all those individuals out there who believe the mandate requiring them to buy coverage or pay a fine is just as burdensome? As the GOP saw it, the White House listened to big business but ignored the little guy.