New York Times Report says White House in 'Crisis Mode,' President 'seething'
November 10, 2013
A New York Times report published Nov. 8 says President Obama was "seething" after the disastrous launch of the HealthCare.gov website, and says the White House
is in "crisis mode." According to the report by Times reporter Michael
D. Shear, the president called for an Oval Office meeting with senior
staff members that one aide called "an unsparing dressing down."
"The public accepts that technology sometimes fails," the Times report quotes the president as saying, and attributes the president's anger to the fact that he had personally promised that HealthCare.gov would be ready on Oct. 1.
“If I had known,” Mr. Obama said, according to the aide, “we could have delayed the website.”
What jumps out in the report is a quote attributed to Obama that is buried in the last line of the article. "I've already been burned by a website," Obama was quoted as saying during the meeting.
The quote gives insight into the president's priorities and seems to indicate that he is more concerned with his image and his legacy than he is with the millions of Americans who have lost their health insurance as a result of restrictions on insurers in the Affordable Care Act, or the skyrocketing cost of premiums that the president promised the ACA would bring down.
The White House staff is now reportedly scrambling to make sure the website is fixed by the end of November as promised, but many tech experts say that is unlikely to happen.
The report also says Democrats in Congress are now pushing for a delay in the implementation of the law, which seems ironic based on the fact that Democrats were unwilling to budge when Republican lawmakers proposed a delay in September, which lead to a partial government shutdown.
Democrats up for reelection next year are obviously growing increasingly concerned that fallout from the disaster that is ObamaCare could cost them their seats. Democrats were confident they would hold the Senate just a few weeks ago, and had high hopes they would also be able to take control of the House of Representatives.
If the website isn't fixed by the end of the month, and stories of Americans by the millions losing their health insurance continue to pile up, it seems doubtful that they can achieve either of those goals, and could very well suffer huge losses in both the House and Senate.
President Obama's job approval is at an all-time low, and with more bad news being reported every day, it doesn't appear that it will improve any time soon. It seems to be panic time at the White House and for Democrats on Capitol Hill, and a half-hearted apology from President Obama has done little, if anything, to turn things around.
The Times report also quotes Geoffrey Garin, a top Democratic pollster with close ties to the administration, who told the Times that although “it is not in their nature to panic,” White House aides “understand that panic elsewhere can create its own vortex,” especially among Democratic lawmakers who face re-election next year.
“I’m livid that this screw-up actually plays into the hands of the critics,” Representative Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) said to the Times.
"The public accepts that technology sometimes fails," the Times report quotes the president as saying, and attributes the president's anger to the fact that he had personally promised that HealthCare.gov would be ready on Oct. 1.
“If I had known,” Mr. Obama said, according to the aide, “we could have delayed the website.”
What jumps out in the report is a quote attributed to Obama that is buried in the last line of the article. "I've already been burned by a website," Obama was quoted as saying during the meeting.
The quote gives insight into the president's priorities and seems to indicate that he is more concerned with his image and his legacy than he is with the millions of Americans who have lost their health insurance as a result of restrictions on insurers in the Affordable Care Act, or the skyrocketing cost of premiums that the president promised the ACA would bring down.
The White House staff is now reportedly scrambling to make sure the website is fixed by the end of November as promised, but many tech experts say that is unlikely to happen.
The report also says Democrats in Congress are now pushing for a delay in the implementation of the law, which seems ironic based on the fact that Democrats were unwilling to budge when Republican lawmakers proposed a delay in September, which lead to a partial government shutdown.
Democrats up for reelection next year are obviously growing increasingly concerned that fallout from the disaster that is ObamaCare could cost them their seats. Democrats were confident they would hold the Senate just a few weeks ago, and had high hopes they would also be able to take control of the House of Representatives.
If the website isn't fixed by the end of the month, and stories of Americans by the millions losing their health insurance continue to pile up, it seems doubtful that they can achieve either of those goals, and could very well suffer huge losses in both the House and Senate.
President Obama's job approval is at an all-time low, and with more bad news being reported every day, it doesn't appear that it will improve any time soon. It seems to be panic time at the White House and for Democrats on Capitol Hill, and a half-hearted apology from President Obama has done little, if anything, to turn things around.
The Times report also quotes Geoffrey Garin, a top Democratic pollster with close ties to the administration, who told the Times that although “it is not in their nature to panic,” White House aides “understand that panic elsewhere can create its own vortex,” especially among Democratic lawmakers who face re-election next year.
“I’m livid that this screw-up actually plays into the hands of the critics,” Representative Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA) said to the Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment