Columbus Dispatch
Bad program, bad solution
Obama ignores Constitution while tweaking ill-conceived health law
Monday September 2, 2013 5:16 AM

It’s no wonder that a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 44 percent of Americans still are unsure about whether the Affordable Care Act remains the law: President Barack Obama continues to selectively enforce and change the health-care overhaul’s rules and mandates at will, without the advice or consent of the bothersome legislative branch of the federal government.

This week, the Internal Revenue Service — aka the staffed-up, designated enforcers of the ACA — issued “final rules” for the individual mandate in the law. The rules “clarify” that employees receiving health-insurance coverage from a union-based plan won’t be penalized, Reuters reported.

Labor unions have been howling that the law threatens to “shatter” their “hard-earned benefits” because it would penalize those with health-insurance plans considered “gold-plated.” This exemption follows the one granted by the White House to members of Congress a few weeks ago, which would provide subsidies to congressional members and staffers so they don’t lose their generous benefits under the new law.

Two things are made clear by Obama’s actions: The law is an ill-conceived mess, and he disdains the constitutional system that requires him to get legislative approval to fix it.

Obama has demonstrated his preference for unilateral action and overreach in a number of areas: His non-recess “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board have been ruled illegal by two courts. He also has instructed executive-branch agencies simply not to enforce laws he doesn’t like, such as mandatory sentences for drug defendants and deportation of undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children by their parents...

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