Posted on 10/21/2013 9:41:02 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
President Obama said Monday his administration was spearheading a "tech surge" to fix the problems plaguing the online ObamaCare insurance exchanges.
"We are doing everything we can possibly do to get the websites working better, faster, sooner," the president said, adding that the White House had recruited the "best and brightest" from the private sector to help tackle the technical problems.
"No one is madder than me that the website isn't working as it should — which means it's going to get fixed," Obama declared.
The president's reassurances come at a critical time for the president's signature program. Fear is growing among the administration and Democratic allies that a steady beat of stories detailing problems with the website could lead many Americans to just give up on trying to secure coverage, undermining the potential of the healthcare reform law.
Obama on Monday admitted that the website's rocky rollout "makes supporters nervous" because it provides fuel to Republican criticism that the expansive program was too unwieldy. He said there was "no sugarcoating" how bad initial impressions of the website had been, and said there was "no excuse" for the "kinks" that remained.
Facing that challenge, Obama adopted the role of pitchman, insisting that the insurance available under the program was worth fighting through a sign-up process that "hasn't worked as smoothly as its supposed to work."
"The product, the health insurance, is good. The prices are good. It is a good deal. People don't just want it, they're showing up to buy it," Obama said.
Insisting that the Affordable Care Act was "much more" than "just a website," Obama rattled off examples of Americans saving money on insurance plans that offered greater coverage. He said the consumer protections and benefits at the core of the program were good enough that Americans should remain patient.
"The point is, the essence of the law, the health insurance that is available to people, is working just fine," Obama argued.
The president also suggested that consumers eager to get covered try applying in person or over the phone, rather than through the embattled web portal.
But that proposal, coupled with the president's admission that there remain serious problems with the website, fueled Republican cries to delay key aspects of the program.
"If the president is prepared to admit this program isn’t 'working the way it’s supposed to,' will he consider removing the tax penalty associated with the individual mandate?" asked Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). "Does the president think Americans should be taxed for not buying a product from a website that doesn’t work – and may not for some time?"
Monday morning, aides to Boehner (R-Ohio) were promoting a Consumer Reports article that encouraged those running into technical problems to stay away from HealthCare.gov for another month. The New York Times ran a front-page story in which experts said as many as five million lines of code may need to be rewritten to ensure the website works properly.
Obama attempted to preemptively chastise his Republican opponents, saying it was "time for folks to stop rooting" for the failure of the program. But he also pointed to concrete changes to the web portal designed to aid enrollments.
On Sunday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a series of new features that are designed to help users navigate the glitchy healthcare system.
The new additions to the website allows visitors to preview health plans and prices, and review their eligibility for federal subsidies. Uninsured shoppers are also prompted to apply for coverage by phone, rather than through the website.
The lingering problems are also likely to intensify pressure on HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was in attendance at the event. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) have called for her resignation over the website problems, and other Republicans have complained that Sebelius declined a request to appear at a House Energy and Commerce Committee this week.
Buck said the secretary's refusal to testify was "unacceptable."
"Americans deserve real answers for this debacle," he said.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told Fox News on Sunday that Sebelius would "ultimately" appear before a congressional panel.
more madder?
Didn’t they teach English where he came from ?
We’re all MAD at him!
more madder?
This man is a udder disaster.
Could be mad cow disease!
He always says that. Toast and jelly for the rubes.
The Obama conundrum: How to manage things while staying distant enough from the things you manage so you can blame others for the mismanagement of those things.
He was so mad that he went golfing this weekend.
mad adjective, mad·der, mad·dest, noun, verb, mad·ded, mad·ding.
adjective
1. mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.
3. b. affected with rabies; rabid: a mad dog.
4. extremely foolish or unwise; imprudent; irrational: a mad scheme to invade France.
5. wildly excited or confused; frantic: mad haste.
Yes, “no one is more....”, fill in the dots with this clown.
So we bought this POS from a Canadian on a single bid contract and paid way too much money for it.
Now we have to pay another small fortune to try to get someone who knows what they are doing to fix it, and we didn’t get any competitive bids on that either.
It appears the Website is much like the bill, We had to buy it to see how bad it was. Turns out it is awful and getting worse by the day.
Kinks and glitches my butt. They never finished coding and testing it.
Maybe he said matter. If it was madder, au contraire monsieur dipwad(aka king hussein). The people are madder because there should never have been a website for your buddies/donators to profit from and screw up almost beyond fixing.
And as usual, it’s always about how it affects him personally.
He had nothing to do with it.
It is not his fault.
If you say it is, you are RACIST.
Did he say “let me be clear” and “make no mistake” and “will not rest”? When he says that stuff, you know he’s really, really serious.
Hey, Obamadork, you’re mad all right - just not in the way that your meager little brain thinks (or pretends to think).
You are slime....albeit mad slime.
Do CO2 a favor and quit producing it.
Please.
Demonstrate it by firing Sillybus.
Does anyone remember the Gulf oil spill? “Just plug the damn hole”. See how easy it is to fix?
We need to cut Obama some slack. He obviously just found out about this problem on the news at the same time we all did! He totally understands how we all feel and he has genuine sympathy for every person that is affected by this problem. Seriously, he cares deeply about each and every American.
Rest assured that he is making heads roll as we speak! He’ll get to the bottom of this and make it right, you can count on it! Thank God we have him to look out for us, I bet those damn republican ‘wreckers’ are causing all of the problems.
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