Next Crisis: Obamacare

So, now that the shutdown is over and a global financial crisis has been barely averted, for now, Republicans have turned their attentions to trying to destroy the Affordable Healthcare Act, aka Obamacare, in some other way. Any other way. As long as it gets destroyed.

Now, there are problems with the roll-out. Lots of enrollment sites are not working properly. That needs to get fixed. And there are some legitimate criticisms of how the tech contracts were made and how the budget was overseen. But none of these things remotely translates into the ACA being a disaster, nor do any of them remotely justify the suggestion that the ACA should be repealed.

Millions of people will, eventually, have health insurance care of the ACA. Their right to access healthcare should not be obliterated because shit is broken or something's been mismanaged. It's no more complicated than that.

But the Republicans prioritize winning ideological battles, even ones that make no sense, over fairness and decency, and our garbage media is always happy to lend its hand to turn Republican partisan outrage into a real political crisis that will harm average people, so here we go.

Think Progress—Days after Shutdown Ends, Rubio Introduces Legislation to Delay Obamacare.

Washington Post—Health insurance exchange launched despite signs of serious problems.

USA Today—HealthCare.gov feeds doubts about rollout.

NY Post—[CN: Zombie imagery] Healthcare.gov is walking dead.

Slate—Error Message: President Obama is a gifted politician and knows how to win an election. But his spin on Healthcare.gov may only make things worse.

The Atlantic—Barack Obama, Insurance Salesman in Chief.

I don't know what it up lately, but, once again, the New York Times Editors have the most reasonable and measured take: The Health Site's Chaotic Debut.

Meanwhile: "Embattled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will testify before Congress next week about the botched rollout of ObamaCare's insurance exchanges after rejecting GOP demands to appear this week. The House Energy and Commerce Committee confirmed Monday night that Sebelius would meet with the committee next Wednesday."

Well, that's a perfect use of resources.

Yesterday, President Obama gave an address on the Affordable Care Act implementation, which includes a phone number for call centers (1-800-318-2596) in case you can't get through on a website. And this:

Our goal [is] to free families from the pervasive fear that one illness or one injury might cost you everything that you dedicated a lifetime to build. Our goal has always been to declare that in this country the security of health care is not a privilege for a fortunate few. It's a right for all to enjoy. That's what the Affordable Care Act is all about. That's its promise. And I intend to deliver on that promise.

You can watch his address here. A full transcript is available here.

Look, I am not a huge fan of the Affordable Care Act. And I am not an irrepressible Obama cheerleader. (#understatements) But I have had it with this bullshit. People's lives are at stake. President Obama is trying to do something about that. It's a major undertaking, and there are problems, and he is acknowledging them and trying to get them fixed. Can we give him and his team, oh, I dunno, a couple of months or so to try to insure millions of people before we declare the project a failure and start impeachment proceedings? Jesus Jones.

Let's have a little fucking perspective. Goddammit.