The White House's decision to delay a key element of Obamacare was a politically motivated move to prevent Democrats from taking a beating at the ballot box in 2014 over the controversial new healthcare law, pundits say.
The Obama administration unexpectedly announced that employers will not be required under Obamacare to provide
healthcare for their workers until 2015, at least a year later than the original deadline of Jan. 1, 2014.
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Former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a Republican, characterized the move as "deviously brilliant."
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"Democrats no longer face the immediate specter of running against the fallout from a heavy regulatory imposition on employers across the land," Holtz-Eakin wrote on the
American Action Forum's website.
"The announcement is a surprise but bad policy, dreadful governance, and slippery politics are not," he added.
Other pundits have also suggested the move was politically motivated.
During Tuesday's edition of Fox News' "Hannity" show, guest host Tucker Carlson said, "It seems to me they have been mindful of the political calendar ... from day one.
"You can't ... say that political considerations played no role in the implementation of the less popular parts of this incredibly complex law."
And on Wednesday's "Fox & Friends," guest co-host Clayton Morris similarly suggested that the decision to push back the deadline was political, asking, "The real question is, is it political? Because of course you have the 2014 midterm elections and you have mass layoffs."
GOP critics of the president's signature healthcare plan, including House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, have said the White House's decision to delay the mandate is a sign that the bill is unwieldy, and they have renewed calls for it to be repealed.
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