What we don’t know will hurt us

On Sept. 30, a federal judge in Oklahoma ruled that Obamacare tax subsidies cannot go to residents that are using the federal marketplace, likely paving the way for another Supreme Court case challenging parts of the law. 

The week before, news reports indicated the Obama administration had ordered another overhaul of the healthcare.gov website, the third since the roll out debacle of the new healthcare law less than a year ago. And it’s only going to cost the taxpayer even more.  According to a recent analysis, “the federal government’s Obamacare enrollment system has cost about $2.1 billion so far,” vastly exceeding the government’s most recent estimate of $834 million.

{mosads}And the week before that, the General Accounting Office released a report that revealed that Obamacare does, despite the Presidents protests, pay for abortions.  During the debate over the new healthcare law, the president convinced 12 key pro-life Democrats that American taxpayers would not pay for abortions under the new law. Four years after the law passed the House and Senate, the American people now find out they are footing the bill, again, in direct contradiction to the president’s promises.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) famous words that the House had to pass the bill before they could find out what’s in it still ring true.  Unfortunately the American people are still finding out what’s in Obamacare and learning how damaging it is to businesses, forcing employers to cut benefits and cut jobs to cover the increased insurance costs.  They are now experiencing the staggering hidden costs of the mountains of murky regulations they must plow through to comply with the new law.  

Despite not knowing what’s in in it, and with unanimous Republican opposition, Congressional Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, subsequently dubbed Obamacare.  Since then Administration officials have been forced to backpedal time and again, delaying critical parts of the program.

In November 2013, the Administration announced that it would delay the beginning of the 2015 open enrollment period from October 15 to November 15 of this year.  As a result, the costs of coverage for 2015 will in all likelihood remain unknown until, conveniently, just after the November election.

In similar fashion, the president announced he is delaying action on immigration until after the mid-terms. Despite the cynical political maneuvering, he knows granting citizenship to thousands of undocumented worker would energize Republicans in November.   The president’s actions must be understood before they happen, not after the fact as in healthcare.

Over the last several months, countless groups of concerned citizens have warned of the dangers of failing to secure the southern border as droves of undocumented children quickly overran local resources.  Where are these children now?  What has the Obama administration done to protect them or house them?

The American people need to know.  They need to know what the president’s plans are, how it will be implemented, what will be the cost and how it will impact their pocketbooks.

On June 30, Obama chastised Congress by saying, “Their argument seems to be that because the system is broken, we shouldn’t make an effort to fix it…it’s just politics plain and simple.”  It is now the president playing politics.

Throughout the summer, we watched thousands upon thousands of unaccompanied minors cross the southern U.S. border.  The Border Patrol seemed powerless to do anything and public schools across the country were forced to admit these children, regardless of their immunization status—a requirement for Americans.  Yet, Obama has not said anything about securing the southern border.  Residents along the border live in fear of drug cartels and gangsters who are taking advantage of the lawlessness. The president’s oath to protect the country seems to be of little concern, and his placement of politics above security is as offensive as it is transparent.

What was once an issue of minimal concern, has now skyrocketed to the most important. In July, the Gallup organization released a poll that showed seventeen percent of Americans named immigration as the most important issue.  In June, that number was five percent.  With more concerns over terrorists crossing the border, about potential crime and the effort by some to “game” the system, the American people must know what they are funding.

If Obama is serious about taking action on the border, he should explain to the American people what that action will be.  Who will be eligible to enter the country?  When will it take effect?  If he fails to do so, “the most transparent administration in history” will have pulled another fast one on the American people.  

We know enough about Obama’s immigration policies to know that they place America at serious risk.  It is time for the whole truth. In order to be informed citizens when we vote, we need to know.

Hanna is president of Let Freedom Ring USA, Inc., a non-profit, conservative, free-market public policy organization. He is the founder of www.WeNeedtoKnow.com.