“People in the White House and in HHS felt there is such massive opposition from the Republicans that they did not want to say, you know, we need to slow down a little bit because we don’t have the technology in order.”
Jeff Dunetz
Truth Revolt
10/23/2013
Tuesday night’s Fox News Special Report with Bret Baier featured an “All-Star Panel” discussion of the technological issues surrounding the introduction of Healthcare.gov. One question raised was whether the White House realized the site had technical issues before it went live on October 1. Fox’s Juan Williams opined that the White House must have known the site had major flaws but kept it secret for political reasons. Williams condoned the lack of transparency by saying it was necessary due to the harsh criticism of Obamacare coming from Republicans. Williams’ approval led to a heated debate between him and The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes…
The article continues, with video, at Truth Revolt.
Related: Delay the Mandate? What Mandate?
…The movement to delay the individual mandate to buy health insurance raises a more fundamental question: what mandate? Under Obamacare, individuals are required to have health insurance. If they are not part of a group plan, they are supposed to purchase individual insurance through one of the exchanges. If they fail to do so, they have to pay a tax, or a penalty, or whatever it is. This tax/penalty was a major focus of the Supreme Court’s decision that narrowly upheld the ACA. These days, many commentators are advising healthy young people to forget about buying expensive Obamacare insurance, which is generally a bad investment for them, and instead go ahead and pay the penalty.
But they don’t have to pay the penalty. The mandate is a sham, and always has been. Theoretically, someone who chooses to be uninsured owes the government money, but the government is prohibited by the ACA from trying to collect it. What kind of a debt is it that can’t be collected?
The Joint Tax Committee prepared a summary of Obamacare that includes this discussion of the mandate…
Law says Obama can’t extend Obamacare enrollment period without act of Congress
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., urged President Obama in a letter to consider extending the open enrollment period for Obamacare beyond March 31, 2014, given the IT problems confronting the program.
But that decision isn’t up to Obama.
Even if Obama wanted to extend the open enrollment period, he wouldn’t be allowed to without an act of Congress — at least if he wants to follow the law he signed…
