ObamaCare Law, Irrefutable or Mutable?

The welfare of the people is the chief law.

Cicero (106-43B)

If the law is upheld only by  government officials,

the all law is at an end.

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964)

The New York Times Position

Today I could not help  but notice the New York Times’ and Wall Street Journals’ editorial boards take opposite positions on Obamacare.

The Times says, in essence, “It’s the law, so let’s get on with it.”   Its editors quote former president Bill Clinton, “It is the law,  in less than a month, uninsured people will begin signing up for coverage. The more information they get — from the president, from the Baltimore Ravens and from the community group next door — the better their decisions will be.”

And information, biased though it may be,  they are getting – from President Clinton, from a massive $800 million dollar Obama-sponsored and paid for  marketing campaign, from a $12 billio ad blitz in 13 red states,  and from Obama-appointed and recruited “navigators,” whose job is to go out there, sell ObamaCare law,  and sign up the uninsured for health exchanges.  Regarding the navigators,  the Times editorializes, “But now the Obama administration, which has been outshouted by its opponents, is fighting back. It recently announced it will pay $67 million to more than 100 community groups and health care providers to evangelize for the program and help people navigate its complexities in preparation for the opening of health care exchanges on Oct. 1. The title of the editorial is telling, “Selling Obamacare.”

The Wall Street Journal Position

Needless to say, the Wall Street Journal holds an opposite view.   Its editorial is titled "Navigating ObamaCare Outrage: How Dare Anyone Ask Anthing about the Law’s Implementation.”   The editorial points out that the governmet is paying for navigators, which it characterizes as “non-government groups that received federal dollars in Auugst to help people figure out and enroll for subsidies.The navigators were supposed to cost $54 million, but the Health and Human Services Department dipped into a "wellness" slush fund to bump that up by 24% to $67 million. The money will flow to groups like Planned Parenthood, the National Urban League and other community organizers. HHS regulations don't require background checks for the navigators but do say they must obey security and privacy requirements, without defining what the requirements will be. Since the navigators will tap into sensitive medical and financial information about individuals, more than a dozen state attorneys general are alarmed about the potential for fraud and identity theft."
 

Conclusion

ObamaCare is unquestionably the law, and laws must be obeyed, for we are a country of laws. 

But it is a law passed under questionable circustances without a single Republican vote.  It is a law the American public opposes by  an average 51% to 39% margin in multiple national polls.  And it is a law that poisoned the political well by passing it in an arrogant fashion without its champions even reading it.   The matter in which it was passed has spawned  widespread passionate opposition by Republicans as well as the public at large. 
 

No law in immutable,  particularly if the public does not consider that law to be in its general welfare.
 

Tweet:  The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, take opposing views on ObamaCare, and selling of  it by a  PR blitz and community organizers.