One of the big arguments for ObamaCare is that the law has mechanisms in place that control healthcare costs, or at least that's what Americans have been told countless times by President Barack Obama and others. They've seized on recent reports of the slowdown in healthcare spending, frequently asserting that the 2010 law is responsible. In reality, the looming effects of the Great Recession is the main reason why healthcare spending has risen at a slower pace.

ObamaCare's individual mandate and bailouts aren't enough for the health insurance industry. The looming expiration of the two-year Medicaid payment increase has, once again, put health insurers on the same side as President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, who want to extend the payments to doctors.

Roughly a month before videos surfaced in which he disparaged American voters and bragged about deceptive tactics used to ram ObamaCare through Congress, Jonathan Gruber, the controversial MIT economist paid nearly $400,000 to help craft the law, appeared on a panel with several other healthcare policy experts to talk about its progress and the continuing debate on healthcare reform.

The Obama administration continues boast of the rise in Medicaid enrollees. Just before Christmas, for instance, Cindy Mann, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, hailed as a "milestone achievement" the addition of 9.7 million Americans to Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) since October 2013.

The many ways that ObamaCare has hurt people is well documented. Us humans are not the only ones that the bureaucratic monstrosity has negatively impacted, though.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for determining which prescription drugs are legal to sell in the United States, with all new products forced to undergo a lengthy and expensive approval process before patients can access their benefits. But in many cases, the FDA is actively standing in the way of patients with debilitating or terminal illnesses being allowed to choose their own treatment, denying them the chance to fight for their survival.

Personal Freedom and Prosperity 110: The Rule of Law A government with moral and legal authority promulgates written rules and universally, impartially and uniformly enforces the rules, which provides a predictable and stable legal order on which to base economic and personal decisions. The law prevails, not the proclamation or arbitrary decision of a ruler, government bureaucrat, the enforcer (e.g., policeman) or judge.

The outrageous tax increases that would have been required to make Vermont's proposed single-payer healthcare program a reality forced Gov. Peter Shumlin to pull the plug after years of planning.

A new Kaiser poll finds that 64 percent of Americans unfavorably view the individual mandate—the provision that requires nearly every American to purchase health insurance or else pay a fine. This is no surprise because the individual mandate has always been one of the most politically toxic parts of ObamaCare. You’ll notice that the Obama administration has stayed silent about the unpopular provision in their enrollment push to avoid backlash.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee isn't done with the Jonathan Gruber. Just days after the MIT economist appeared at a marathon hearing before the committee, Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) issued a subpoena for Gruber, demanding that he turn over all documents and communications with federal, state, and local officials related to the work he's done on ObamaCare.