Obama Can't Really Say If He Has Confidence In Kathleen Sebelius

Corrected: Apologies, I thought he said he had full confidence in Sebelius, instead of dodging the question.

Via @johnekdahl...

Chuck Todd: “Do you still have full confidence in Kathleen Sebelius?”

Obama: *Evasive rambling non-answer* followed by “Kathleen doesn’t write code”

Todd: “Is she still the right person for the job?”

Obama: *ignores the question*, more rambling.

By the way: As they fix the bugs they identified, they're finding more that they didn't.

. "As we have fixed certain pieces of functionality, like the account creation process, we're seeing volume go further down the application. We're identifying new issues that we need to be in a position to trouble shoot."

That means that, as the HealthCare.gov team ticks items off its "punch list," its also adding new ones that need to be addressed.

Still, Bataille says that Medicare is still targeting to have HealthCare.gov "functioning smoothly for the vast majority of users" by the end of this month.

Maybe, we'll see.

I hate putting too much pressure on the website thing because at some point these boneheads will fix it.

I mean, I assume that. Then again, I assumed they'd have it running on day one, too.

More: Obama, The Victim. "I got burned by a website that didn't work."

President Passive Voice.

More:

How about honoring your promise to them?

No?

No, you just want to make sure they don't "feel" like they've been betrayed, while you're betraying them.

Not Sorry: From Hot Air-- it's less of an apology than NBC sold it as.

It's an I'm Sorry You're Sorry.

Note that Chuck Todd resorts to the passive voice himself-- on Obama's behalf.

CHUCK TODD: Thanks to you. I’ll start with health care. It’s probably the most quoted thing or requoted thing you have said in your presidency, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” You said it a lot during the run up. At this point, though, it’s obviously something– a promise that has not been able to be kept. Just today, the Denver Post — 250,000 people in Colorado are seeing health insurance policies cancelled. Some of those people liked those policies. And they can’t keep them. What happened?

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
Well– first of all, I meant what I said. And we worked hard to try to make sure that we implemented it properly. But obviously, we didn’t do enough– a good enough job– and I regret that. We’re talking about 5% of the population– who are in what’s called the individual market. They’re out there buying health insurance on their own.

A lot of these plans are subpar plans. And we put in a clause in the law that said if you had one of those plans, even if it was subpar– when the law was passed, you could keep it. But there’s enough churn in the market that folks since then have bought subpar plans. And now that may be all they can afford. So even though it only affects a small amount of the population, you know, it means a lot to them, obviously, when they get– this letter cancelled.

posted by Ace at 07:25 PM

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