The president on Thursday announced that administrative changes would be implemented in the Affordable Care Act to allow consumers to retain the health insurance policies they currently possess even if they don’t meet the minimum standards established under the nation’s healthcare law.
That new provision is intended to last for one year and temporarily complies with a promise Obama made throughout the Obamacare debate that individuals could maintain their policies if they so desired. That vow was proven faulty in recent weeks as millions of customers reportedly received notices from their insurers that their policies were being cancelled because they failed to meet the requirements of the law. [Source PJMedia.com]
Now let me get this straight.
Obama passed a law. He promised the law would not take away people’s private health insurance policies. He promised citizens they could keep their doctors.
The law goes into effect. Millions of people lose their policies and their doctors.
Busted, the President says, “OK. You can keep your doctors and health insurance policies for one more year.” In other words, you can keep your doctors and health insurance policies until after the next congressional election.
Why is it Obama’s place to decide who has which insurance policies and doctors in the first place? Well, he just does, we’re told. That debate was settled when the law passed, and when he was reelected.
But even if the President’s word is absolute and final, then why isn’t he held accountable for lying?
He’s not lying, we’re told. Republicans and others who dispute Obama are liars, we’re told. But Obama does not lie.
If he doesn’t lie, then what are we to conclude? That he didn’t read his own bill? Or that he didn’t think out the complexities of the bill, and what its impact would mean for millions of people who would lose their health insurance upon its passage?
Back when presidents were held accountable for their actions, they were often asked questions like, “What did you know Mr. President, and when did you know it?” Nixon was asked these questions, and he was forced to resign. Reagan was asked these questions, and his presidency suffered from the Iran-Contra scandal. Clinton was asked these questions, and he was impeached.
But not Barack Obama. He’s never held accountable for anything. Why is this?
If he were held accountable for the debacle that is his health care bill, Obama would be asked: “What did you know, and when did you know it?”
Either he knew full well what his law would do, and he lied about it; or he was too clueless or indifferent to even know.
The Republican-led U.S. House passed legislation that lets insurers sell for another year health policies that don’t meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
Today’s 261-157 vote, with the backing of about 39 Democrats, follows by a day President Barack Obama’s proposal of a one-year reprieve for Americans whose health policies have been canceled. Obama’s announcement sought to limit what could have been more Democratic votes for the Republican bill.
White House officials said Obama would veto the measure from Michigan Republican Fred Upton, saying it was intended to “sabotage” the president’s signature health-care law. House Democratic leaders said the bill is the Republicans’ 46th attempt to curtail the law. [source: Bloomberg News]
A one-year reprieve? But if the law was passed on a false promise, why isn’t the whole law repealed—or, at a minimum, this part of it?
Republicans would probably agree to this, but Obama will not hear of it. Why not? He lied about his bill, and when busted, he says, “OK. Maybe I lied. But I’m not reversing the bill, other than for a year. And that’s just so that my party can win in the next Congressional elections.”
No, he’s not wording it this way. But his actions say precisely this.
Obama will not be impeached for this this, like Bill Clinton was for lesser crimes. He will not be forced to resign, as Nixon was for lesser crimes. And he will not even be asked the hard questions, as Ronald Reagan was for lesser crimes.
Why the double standard?
Obama gets a permanent reprieve for lying. And the millions of Americans who lost their health care policies get a mere one-year reprieve. How fair, honest and compassionate is this?