There has been much talk in media of late on the subject of the “unintentional consequences” of Obamacare, whereby businesses (and even some government entities of late) have reduced the hours available to part-time employees in order to not have to provide full-time medical benefits and avoid higher costs. I would like to pose the question, “is it really unintentional?”

If a former professor of constitutional law and his administration did not foresee the exercise of freedom on the part of business owners (and government entities) to lower the hours of part-time employees in order to avoid higher costs then they are either completely ignorant or were simply demonstrating their hubris on the matter of federal mandates and our desire to comply.

If this situation is truly an unintentional consequence (with more to follow) then the executive branch should put a hold on the implementation of the program so that they can fully research the plan and any other unforeseen outcomes that negatively affect the American worker. However, let us consider I the possibility that this consequence is actually a planned outcome.

Perhaps President Obama wants these citizens to take home less money so that they have no other option than to enroll in various welfare assistance programs and perhaps even quit, thereby obliging them to collect unemployment. Either our leader truly cares about the welfare of the citizenry and their ability to prosper from the sweat of their brow or he intends to develop the dependency of our hard-working citizens, creating a socialist state.

The writer lives in Myrtle Beach.