The most transparent administration evah held a secret meeting today with more than a dozen vulnerable congressional Democrats. The fact that the meeting even took place only leaked after some of the Democrats who attended ripped the Obama administration in press releases later. The meeting never appeared on the official White House calender.
We’ll leave aside the question of what else isn’t appearing on the official White House calendar.
Roll Call says today’s meeting got “spicy” as vulnerable Democrats are feeling the heat from a policy they all supported and is now a bona fide political Titanic minus the courageous stories of self-sacrifice and bravery.
During a two-hour meeting that was not on the president’s public schedule, the president met with 15 Senate Democrats facing the voters next year, as well as Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Michael Bennet, D-Colo.
Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska issued a release after the meeting torching the administration.
“It is simply unacceptable for Alaskans to bear the brunt of the Administration’s mismanagement of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and that is the message U.S. Senator Mark Begich delivered to President Obama today,” his office said in a statement blasted to reporters.
The release went on to say that Begich complained about “an unworkable website, technical glitches and inaccurate information about peoples’ individual situations. Begich demanded the administration fix the problems immediately so Alaskans, including the 55,000 eligible for subsidies to lower monthly premiums, can realize the many benefits due to them as a result of the health reform law.
“Alaskans should be appreciating the critical benefits of the Affordable Care Act but there is an understandable crisis in confidence because the administration has yet to get it off the ground,” Begich said.
Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado said he let the president know just how upset he is about the troubled health care law. He sent out a release saying that he had pressed the administration to extend the enrollment period due to the problems with HealthCare.gov, ensure that the data on the website is secure and make other modifications.
Was that the point of this meeting — just to let Democrats posture that they’re giving Obama the business, to give them a little daylight between themselves and him? Or did they actually discuss real policy? This White House puts politics ahead of everything including the truth. It treated the lives of four Americans in Benghazi with callous disregard because of the politics, and it overruled policy experts who warned that Healthcare.gov was nowhere near ready to launch, because the political staff wanted to go ahead and launch. So it’s likely that today’s meeting was all for show.
It’s an important show. Virginia’s governor result shows that Obamacare can be decisive and could cost the Democrats the Senate next year.
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