Past performance is no guarantee of future results:
● “Judge declares Microsoft is a monopoly, Gates hints settlement.”
—AP Headline, November 6, 1999.
● “White House to tap Microsoft exec to fix HealthCare.gov.”
—Headline at the Politico, today, which notes that “The administration is set to announce that Kurt DelBene, a former executive at Microsoft, will succeed Jeff Zients in leading the oversight of the embattled HealthCare.gov.”
As John Hinderaker noted at Power Line last week. “Who Funds the Far Left? You’ll Be Surprised.”
Those with long memories will also be surprised by this current about-face. Hey, remember back in the late 1990s*, when a Democrat presidential administration was trying to put Microsoft out of business, not get into bed with them? And speaking of which, you’ll need to wade through six paragraphs of Politico boilerplate on DelBene, before coming to this nugget: “DelBene is also the husband of freshman Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.).”
Oh.
“I’ve long said that we need more people to enter public service who are focused on delivering results,” Suzan DelBene said in a statement. “Kurt has demonstrated throughout his career that he is about results, and his decision to join the administration will be extremely valuable to their efforts to improve the website.”
Led by New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, several Senate Democrats wrote to President Barack Obama late last month, asking the White House to quickly replace Zients.
Zients’ work was widely praised by Senate Democrats, and many of them were eager to ensure quickly that someone of his caliber would be quickly named to replace Zients.
“A project of this size and scope demands the sustained leadership and day-to-day management of a chief executive officer – someone whose sole responsibility would be an unrelenting focus on healthcare.gov and who has experience overseeing large and complex consumer-facing technology projects,” the senators wrote.
Senators who signed the letter were Shaheen and Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mark Warner of Virginia, Chris Coons of Delaware, Mark Udall of Colorado, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Tim Kaine of Virginia. Sebelius credited those senators for providing key input on the HealthCare.gov role.
What could go wrong? Other than, as one person on Twitter dubs it, the coming “Blue Screen of Death Panel.”
BREAKING: Microsoft exec to oversee Healthcare dot gov. First screenshot leaked! pic.twitter.com/xhUN7Ajmib
— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) December 17, 2013
Related: Imma let you finish your meeting on NSA overreach, but Obamacare is the best socialized medical scheme of all time!
* Clinton-era Democrats had quite an interesting take on Iraq back then, as well.
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