Posted on 12/03/2013 12:59:44 PM PST by mojito
WASHINGTON — As a small coterie of grim-faced advisers shuffled into the Oval Office on the evening of Oct. 15, President Obama’s chief domestic accomplishment was falling apart 24 miles away, at a bustling high-tech data center in suburban Virginia.
HealthCare.gov, the $630 million online insurance marketplace, was a disaster after it went live on Oct. 1, with a roster of engineering repairs that would eventually swell to more than 600 items. The private contractors who built it were pointing fingers at one another. And inside the White House, after initially saying too much traffic was to blame, Mr. Obama’s closest confidants had few good answers.
The political dangers were clear to everyone in the room: Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.; Kathleen Sebelius, the health secretary; Marilyn Tavenner, the Medicare chief; Denis McDonough, the chief of staff; Todd Park, the chief technology officer; and others. For 90 excruciating minutes, a furious and frustrated president peppered his team with questions, drilling into the arcane minutiae of web design as he struggled to understand the scope of a crisis that suddenly threatened his presidency.
“We created this problem we didn’t need to create,” Mr. Obama said, according to one adviser who, like several interviewed, insisted on anonymity to share details of the private session. “And it’s of our own doing, and it’s our most important initiative.”
Out of that tense Oval Office meeting grew a frantic effort aimed at rescuing not only the insurance portal and Mr. Obama’s credibility, but also the Democratic philosophy that an activist government can solve big, complex social problems.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Read it if you have a strong stomach.
My thoughts are that if this account is the positive spin, things are very grim in the WH indeed. The lies and incompetance on display are truly mind-bogling. And I especially like the fact that all this effort isn't to make the website function, it's to make the president lood good.
Note the emphasis on “saving Obama” above any other goal.
It’s hard not to notice the “priorities” of this WH.
That is key to progressives plans. Not trivial.
If Obama stays at ~ 39% or goes lower then he wont get any GOP support and anything and some of the Dems will vote with the GOP.
Quite different then a year ago when he was at 70% and they were sure he could get anything passed.
Recall how much GWB gave to Dems from 2006 to 2008 just to get stuff passed.
““We created this problem we didn’t need to create,” Mr. Obama said”
Theres a rare sight. Obama telling a truth. And its the understatement of the century too.
Going lower than 40% is margin of error. That last portion of support is the Death Camp 40...who would express support for him on the way to the death camps if he had them rounded up for the chambers.
“drilling into the arcane minutiae of web design as he struggled to understand the scope of a crisis that suddenly threatened his presidency”
Hahahahaha!
Even in the midst of failure the Slimes try (and fail) to make him sound good.
“drilling into the arcane minutiae of web design” Give me a break. He is not capable of understanding even the most basic concepts of technology. I’m surprised he can operate a cell phone.
“struggled to understand” Far more likely to be accurate. I’ll bet he didn’t struggle for too long before giving up.
My bet on the real story is that he had a hissy fit and yelled at people. I’m sure it was all about him. Though if he had enough downers in his system, he might have adopted that fake “voice of authority” persona and delivered a lecture (but only if one was already prepared on the teleprompter).
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