Barack Obama News
Read news, analysis, and commentary on Barack Obama, his administration’s legacy, and his continuing impact on national debates.
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- News
Idaho Tried to Solve Obamacare Price Hikes. Here’s What Happened
The Trump administration has rejected a health insurance initiative by Idaho that some saw as an affordable model for challenging the dominance of Obamacare. “Taking no action is a time bomb,” @LtGovBradLittle says. Idaho leaders traveled to Washington this week to meet with Trump administration officials and make their case for the policy. Idaho sought…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Obamacare Bailouts Will Not Save Money and Lower Premiums, Despite Contrary Claims
Congress appears poised to bail out Obamacare with new federal money in the omnibus package next week. Advocates of this bailout say it’s a good idea that will lower premiums and either “pay for itself” or “lower spending.” These claims are based on estimates that rely on questionable assumptions. Lawmakers should not be fooled into…Edmund Haislmaier -
- Opinion
Senate May Fund Obamacare Subsidies With This Sneaky Move
Republicans campaigned for roughly a decade, promising voters they would dismantle former President Barack Obama’s landmark health care legislation; but one of their own senators is trying to keep it alive through the 2018 election cycle. Leadership has nine days to whip representatives and senators behind an appropriations bill that will keep the government funded…Robert Donachie -
- Opinion
Without the Individual Mandate’s Tax, Obamacare Should Fall Apart in Court
When Congress enacted President Donald Trump’s landmark tax reform plan in December, one media outlet proclaimed: “The GOP Tax Bill Kills Obamacare’s Individual Mandate.” Turns out, the headline was wrong. The individual mandate—the unconstitutional requirement that most Americans buy health insurance—remains in the law. The headline should have proclaimed that the tax bill repealed the…Brad Schimel -
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5 Ways Obama’s Discipline Policy Made Schools Less Effective and Safe
As is typical with so many other policies, federal meddling in what should be a local matter leads to poor results. This is the conclusion reached Monday by a Heritage Foundation panel about a school discipline initiative, launched by the Obama administration, that suddenly became the subject of national debate after the Feb. 14 massacre…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
3 Questions Congress Should Answer Before Bailing Out Obamacare
Having failed last year to pass legislation undoing Obamacare’s damage, congressional Republicans now are reportedly looking to spend billions of additional tax dollars bailing out insurers offering Obamacare coverage, rather than dealing with the real problems that are driving up costs. The money would be added to a government funding bill that Congress plans to take…Edmund Haislmaier -
- Opinion
Congress Should Ditch Obama’s ‘Clean Water Rule’
Congress last year utilized the Congressional Review Act to get rid of many federal agency rules, most of which were prime examples of agency overreach. Congress now needs to use the “power of the purse” in the upcoming omnibus appropriations bill to continue its efforts to rein in agencies and reassert its lawmaking power. One…Daren Bakst -
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More Taxpayer Bailouts Will Only Paper Over Obamacare’s Many Failures
It appears that Congress, backed by powerful special interests in the health care industry, is getting ready to bail out, once again, Obamacare’s failing health insurance program. Here’s the back story. Last year, President Donald Trump canceled the cost-sharing reduction subsidies for people buying coverage in the Obamacare exchanges. These taxpayer subsidies offset the out-of-pocket…Robert Moffit -
- Opinion
Obama-Era Policies Helped Keep Parkland Shooter Under the Radar. Here’s What Went Wrong.
One of the most heartbreaking and perhaps infuriating aspects of the Florida school shooting that took 17 lives is just how many red flags there were surrounding the shooter. The national debate following the shooting has mostly revolved around guns. Much ink has also (rightly) been spilled about the failed leadership of the Broward County…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
How Congress Can Provide Relief From Looming Obamacare Mandates
President Donald Trump’s historic tax reform legislation repealed, among other things, Obamacare’s individual mandate tax penalty. Effective in 2019, the IRS will no longer penalize Americans for not purchasing a federally approved health insurance plan. Unfortunately, Congress failed to repeal the even more economically disruptive employer mandate that forces businesses to pay tax penalties for…Whitney Jones -
- Opinion
Scott Pruitt Fought the EPA Under Obama. Now, He’s Leading an EPA Listening Tour.
When President Barack Obama’s EPA introduced the so-called “Clean Power Plan” by phone, pen, and teleprompter, he knew he had a strong sound bite and great talking points. But that’s where its momentum abruptly ended. Like most of the Obama administration’s political agenda, clever messaging aside, the Clean Power Plan faced a head-on collision with…Adam Piper -
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20 State AGs Contend Obamacare Unconstitutional, Launch New Lawsuit
Now that Obamacare lacks the individual mandate tax that prompted the Supreme Court to hold it constitutional, 20 attorneys general are again challenging the law. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel are leading the lawsuit. They were joined by colleagues from across the country Tuesday at The Heritage Foundation, contending…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Court Ruling Rebukes Obama-Era Practice That Flouted Rule of Law
A federal judge in Texas this month unmasked one of the defining features of the Obama administration’s abuse of executive power: the use of so-called agency “guidance documents” to usurp Congress’ lawmaking function. The Trump administration, to its credit, has returned to the rule of law by unwinding that practice. In 2012, the Equal Employment…John-Michael Seibler -
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‘Lack of Candor’ Cited Before in Surveillance Requests by Obama Administration
A judge who is part of a secret court system criticized the Obama administration for “an institutional lack of candor” in seeking warrants to spy on U.S. citizens. This scrutiny came in the form of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court report, issued last spring in an investigation that began well before most of the public…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
The Latest Political Correctness Crusade Targets Sessions for Using Term Obama Also Used
Political correctness jumped the shark long ago, and now we must simply suffer through one absurd controversy after another in the crusade to perfect society. Attorney General Jeff Sessions got himself in hot water for saying in a speech to the National Sheriffs’ Association Monday that the position of sheriff is a part of the…Jarrett Stepman -
- Opinion
Must-See Moments: Obama Wanted to ‘Know Everything’
The Daily Signal’s Facebook Live show “Top 10” features the top news stories of the week—many of which went misreported by the mainstream media and some weren’t reported at all. This week, text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page revealed that former President Barack Obama wanted to “know everything” about an FBI…Daily Signal Staff -
- Opinion
The GOP’s Coming Obamacare Capitulation
Congressional Republicans were elected to repeal Obamacare. They may run this year as the politicians who saved it. Since late last year, GOP leaders have been planning to pump tens of billions of dollars’ worth of new federal spending into the veins of insurance companies that are hemorrhaging red ink on the Obamacare exchanges. The…Doug Badger -
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Senator Questions CBO’s Political Neutrality Over Obamacare Numbers
The Congressional Budget Office’s overestimation of future enrollment in Obamacare raises questions about the agency’s commitment to nonpartisanship, one of the Senate’s prominent budget experts says. The CBO describes itself as being “strictly nonpartisan,” Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., told the budget office’s director, but the Obamacare estimates appeared to favor the Obama administration’s policy stand…Kyle Perisic -
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Cruz Urges Congress to ‘Finish the Job’ of Repealing and Replacing Obamacare
Congress needs to finish the job of repealing and replacing Obamacare in 2018, Sen. Ted Cruz says. Republicans in Congress last year failed to craft a comprehensive repeal-and-replace bill for Obamacare that both the House and the Senate could agree on. “I think we got very close last time, and that’s something I’m continuing to…Chrissy Clark -
- Opinion
Obamacare Continues to Crush Small Business Owners in 2018
Lawmakers may have gotten rid of the individual mandate, but the crushing weight of Obamacare still has not been lifted. Thanks to Obamacare, in 2018, some Virginia small business owners and their employees reportedly will only have one option for a health insurance plan that offers health savings accounts. As a result, those who prefer…Whitney Jones