Force Obama's Hand
“Under my plan, if you like your current health insurance,
you can keep it.” These words were
spoken by Barack Obama when he was selling Obamacare to the American people,
and they are not true.
Since Obamacare began taking effect, millions of Americans
have received cancellation notices from their health insurance companies. Usually this is because the plans that people
have, and like, do not conform to Obamacare mandates.
People are rightly very angry. Obama is getting pressure from Republicans
and Democrats to do something about it.
And we have been assured by his spokesman Jay Carney that he will. One thing he will not do, however, is simply
let people keep their current plans, even if they want to, if those plans don’t
comply with his mandates.
Congress, however, is trying to force the issue. A bill called the Keep Your Health Plan Act
is being voted on Friday in the House, which will allow people to do what Mr. Obama promised they would be able to do. Former President Bill Clinton has endorsed
such a plan and Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein is co-sponsoring a Senate
version of the bill.
It is imperative that we pressure our representatives to pass
this bill, and by a large margin. If
nothing else, we should force Obama to stand up before an angry public and veto
a bill that simply seeks to make him keep a promise he repeatedly and
forcefully made.
Hopefully the bill will garner enough support to override a
veto. The American people deserve it,
and Mr. Obama needs to be taught a lesson about the value of a promise.
Note: Although I believe these cancellations are a
violation of Mr. Obama’s promise, at least as most people interpret it, in
fairness I should state his position that grandfathers in plans in existence
when the law was passed in 2010. Any
plans that have been created or changed from that time until now, as the law takes
effect, from his perspective, can be cancelled without violating his promise.
