08.01.2013
Obama About To Do Another Side-Step?
Op-Ed

Do you remember when the snidely Governor of Texas, played by actor Charles Durning, in the movie, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, croon’s …
” Ooh … I love to dance the little sidestep / Now they see me, now they don’t / I’ve come and gone / And ooh, I love to sweep around a wide step / Cut a little swath / And lead the people on!”?
This is exactly the image I have of the President so often but–most recently this morning–on hearing his plans to meet again with the federal Office of Personnel Management. The purpose will be to address their concerns about being forced to abandon their Cadillac federal health plans to enter the Federal Health Insurance Exchange like so many of the rest of us. While this mandate became law when the Senate surprisingly went along with the House vote to do so – now that the time for them to enroll in the exchange is rapidly approaching – they are beginning to balk. (I guess they didn’t read the bill till it was passed!) Now it seems they would like, at the very least, for their premiums to be subsidized by the taxpayers to the tune of (a minimum) 75% as is currently the case. This in-spite of the fact that low paid interns and aides can apply for a regular subsidy (just like you and I) while Rank and File Senators and Representatives receive $174,00 in annual salary; Senate Majority and Minority Leaders $193,400; and The Speaker of the House $223,500. Doesn’t your heart just bleed for them?
Rumor has it the President has promised to see what he can do about it and meet with them again soon. Hence, I hear the words …
” Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don’t-I’ve come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step, cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
I’m a poor boy, come to greatness. So, it follows that I cannot tell a lie.”
Admin. – Kenton Henry
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FEATURED ARTICLE:

POLITICOPro
Lawmakers, aides may get Obamacare exemption
By JOHN BRESNAHAN and JAKE SHERMAN | 4/24/13 9:49 PM EDT
Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said.
The talks — which involve Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Obama administration and other top lawmakers — are extraordinarily sensitive, with both sides acutely aware of the potential for political fallout from giving carve-outs from the hugely controversial law to 535 lawmakers and thousands of their aides. Discussions have stretched out for months, sources said.
A source close to the talks says: “Everyone has to hold hands on this and jump, or nothing is going to get done.”
Yet if Capitol Hill leaders move forward with the plan, they risk being dubbed hypocrites by their political rivals and the American public. By removing themselves from a key Obamacare component, lawmakers and aides would be held to a different standard than the people who put them and aides would be held to a different standard than the people who put them in office.

Democrats, in particular, would take a public hammering as the traditional boosters of Obamacare. Republicans would undoubtedly attempt to shred them over any attempt to escape coverage by it, unless Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) give Democrats cover by backing it.
There is concern in some quarters that the provision requiring lawmakers and staffers to join the exchanges, if it isn’t revised, could lead to a “brain drain” on Capitol Hill, as several sources close to the talks put it.
The problem stems from whether members and aides set to enter the exchanges would have their health insurance premiums subsidized by their employer — in this case, the federal government. If not, aides and lawmakers in both parties fear that staffers — especially low-paid junior aides — could be hit with thousands of dollars in new health care costs, prompting them to seek jobs elsewhere. Older, more senior staffers could also retire or jump to the private sector rather than face a big financial penalty.
Plus, lawmakers — especially those with long careers in public service and smaller bank accounts — are also concerned about the hit to their own wallets.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is worried about the provision. The No. 2 House Democrat has personally raised the issue with Boehner and other party leaders, sources said.
“Mr. Hoyer is looking at this policy, like all other policies in the Affordable Care Act, to ensure they’re being implemented in a way that’s workable for everyone, including members and staff,” said Katie Grant, Hoyer’s communications director.
Several proposals have been submitted to the Office of Personnel Management, which will administer the benefits. One proposal exempts lawmakers and aides; the other exempts aides alone.
When asked about the high-level bipartisan talks, Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesman, said: “The speaker’s objective is to spare the entire country from the ravages of the president’s health care law. He is approached daily by American citizens, including members of Congress and staff, who want to be freed from its mandates. If the speaker has the opportunity to save anyone from Obamacare, he will.”
Reid’s office declined to comment about the bipartisan talks.
However, the idea of exempting lawmakers and aides from the exchanges has its detractors, including Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a key Obamacare architect. Waxman thinks there is confusion about the content of the law. The Affordable Care Act, he said, mandates that the federal government will still subsidize and provide health plans obtained in the exchange. There will be no additional cost to lawmakers and Hill aides, he contends.