STUMP » Articles » Obamacare Watch: 24 March 2014 -- Playing with Timing » 24 March 2014, 02:43

In yesterday’s post, I remarked on two specific dates.

Open enrollment for 2015 starts November 15

Election day is November 4

Now, this is pretty damn transparent. They are trying to make sure the LIVs do not have Obamacare costs up front in their minds when they go to the polls. Especially with early voting, maybe they can get people out there before they realize how much this is costing them, personally.

Good luck with that.

I understand why they think they can get away with it: it’s worked before. Also, the penalties for Obamacare aren’t supposed to kick in before tax day 2015, in that people aren’t going to be paying for this til then, so even if they haven’t dealt with the much higher premiums, higher deductibles, more restrictive networks, all the administrative screw-ups….. well, they won’t have to pay for not being “involved” in Obamacare til 2015.

Right?

Oh wait. What’s this about Drudge having to pay the penalty/tax already?

Drudge’s tweet:

Just paid the Obamacare penalty for not ‘getting covered’… I’M CALLING IT A LIBERTY TAX!

Now there’s a bunch of brou-ha-ha over whether he paid anything extra for not doing the Obamacare thing, but if you want to know all the ins-and-outs, check out Patterico’s post on the matter

Patterico goes into gory detail, so I will just do a summary of salient points:

1. Lots of people have to file taxes quarterly, including making extra payments. Sole proprietors definitely do, and Drudge is a sole proprietor.

2. There is some question as to whether the penalty/tax will be applied. HOWEVER, it is in the law as written, and it is in the instructions for the quarterly tax filings (as one “may” want to do this.)

3. Some people are frequent audit targets. Rush Limbaugh definitely was when he operated in New York. I assume Drudge knows he’s a target as well. He can’t do his tax planning based on whatever crap Obama may or may not “deem” by his imperial word.

Sure, lots of people figure they can bullshit themselves into an exemption, but Drudge is somewhat public, and he probably doesn’t want to get involved in a lawsuit. Not over this, at any rate.

There was some sort of deadline extension for something-or-other, but I’m not even paying attention at this point. It’s a wonder that anybody would take the deadlines seriously at all.

But my point is that for every delay they “deem” by fiat, it barely helps them avoid their disaster. Many people don’t have the luxury of reading the tea leaves, and lots of decisions will be made before election day. Hours are already being cut to avoid mandates. Premiums are already rising.

And the Obamacare 2015 premiums will be known well before Election Day. Because those premiums are being developed right now. They have to be submitted and approved months before the enrollment period. You can’t turn this crap around on a dime.

Therefore, OBAMACARE MUST BE DESTROYED.