This was done to "ease the pain" of all of those demorats that supported passing the PPACA into law which are now up for re-election in 2014. It is truely amazing that one of the crown jewels of Obamacare, the employer mandates, are seen as optional when politics dictates that they must "temporarily" be delayed. Obama knows that headlines of Obamacare causes layoffs, reductions in work hours, will not play well in the upcomming elections. 4 years of lead time was not enough time to "set policies in place" but, we are assured, that 5 years is.
Since Obama is quite willing to pick and choose which parts of a "comprehensive" health care reform that he will enforce, does that not raise concerns about how he wil treat the politically "painful" parts of a "comprehensive" immigration reform package?