As Obamacare rollout nears, president checks in with state officials

[PoliticAverse]

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought a progress report from state officials on Wednesday on the rollout of his signature health care law, stepping up his profile on the issue as the launch of a key provision of the law nears on October 1.

Obama spoke by videoconference with the officials responsible for setting up new online health insurance exchanges that are at the heart of the program. These markets will offer private coverage at federally subsidized rates to individuals and families with low-to-moderate incomes.


With the launch date less than five weeks away, the administration faces a daunting challenge in getting the programs up and running in all 50 states in the face of steady opposition from Republicans, who have sought to hold up or cut funding for parts or all of the law.

"The president recognized that the diligence, creativity, and commitment of those working in the states to set up the marketplaces ... have been especially important given the limitations on time, resources, staff, and in some states, support from across the political spectrum," the White House said.

Read the rest at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/21/us-usa-obama-healthcare-idUSBRE97K1BM20130821

[BlueStreak]

1. Set aside the other crap (NSA, IRS, etc) for a minute, this deserves a round of applause

It really is remarkable just how badly the GOP played this issue. I don't think Obama was particularly astute in the way he played it. He would have done well to do a lot more education and advertising of the benefits. But it looks like it is going to play out very nicely.

The GOP morons are still doing the obstruction thing to the bitter end, based on a whole litany of lies. But we are rapidly approaching the day when the lies become completely unsustainable. And then what does the GOP have for all their efforts over the last 3 years to tear this down?

They end up with NOTHING. By the 2014 election, the public will know for certain that there are no death panels. They will know for certain that the world really didn't come to an end. The ACA isn't solving every health care issue that ever existed, but this leaves the GOP with a pretty lame argument. that goes something like this:

"OK, maybe there aren't any death panels. OK, maybe Obama isn't actually killing millions of people. OK, maybe more people have insurance and the cost increases are no longer on a path to bankrupt the nation. But it is still bad, bad, bad. It pushed some deadbeat employers to reduce the hours of some already part-time workers to avoid covering them. And that's why it is killing America. ..."

As Gingrich says, it would be a lot easier to make an argument about how bad the ACA is if the GOP had ever offered a single constructive suggestion or alternative. But the simple truth is that "Obamacare" *IS* the GOP plan. We gave them their own HC solution and they have spent 4 years saying how horrible it would be.

I'm seriously pissed about a lot of what Obama has been doing lately, but he deserves some props on this one. And I will enjoy watching the GOP continue to implode because they just can't let this one go.

And perhaps the funniest irony of all is that the biggest dumbass GOP Governors foolishly chose not to implement the exchanges at the state level, so now we have a form of nationalized health insurance in those states because the national exchanges kick in. That is a sweet revenge I don't think most people appreciate.