The announcement that President Barack Obama would take to the airwaves Monday to acknowledge problems with the Affordable Care Act's web portal had many on the Right and in the media salivating perhaps at the thought of an Obama career-ending mea culpa.
Republicans who have been held blameless by the media after they shut down the government and caused the nation to lose 24 billion dollars, due to their desire to destroy the ACA, no doubt fantasized that today’s appearance by the President would finally be the moment when he acknowledged that the ACA has ultimately been a failure...due to technical glitches involving the program's website.
Unfortunately for Republicans and the media, the President, who acknowledged the program’s technical glitches and pledged to fix them….
Nobody is madder than me that the website isn't working as well as it should, which means it's going to be fixed.
Nevertheless, took the opportunity to present a forceful argument for the ACA by citing testimonial and other evidence of the legislation making a difference in the lives of real people.
He then offered an effective response to the Republicans and many of their media allies who have begun to focus on the ACA’s website almost as ravenously as they have been focused on Benghazi:
It's time for folks to stop rooting for its failure.
The President also pointed out that despite the glitches with the ACA’s web portal, it still represents a faster way of purchasing health insurance than experiences of the past:
Even with the website issues, we've actually made the overall process of buying insurance through the marketplace a lot smoother and easier than the old way of buying insurance on your own. Part of the challenge here is that a lot of people may not remember what it's like to buy insurance the traditional way. The way we've set it up, there are no more absurdly long application forms. There's no medical history questionnaire that goes on for pages and pages. There's no more getting denied because you've had a pre- existing condition.
He then spoke of Republicans, who may have thought he would not have mention them by name, and their continuing effort to destroy the ACA. It was delicious....
Let me close by addressing some of the politics that have swirled around the Affordable Care Act. I recognize that the Republican Party has made blocking the Affordable Care Act its signature policy idea. Sometimes it seems to be the one thing that unifies the party theses days. In -- in fact, they were willing to shut down the government and potentially harm the global economy to try to get it repealed.
And I'm sure that given the problems with the website so far, they're going to be looking to go after it even harder. And let's admit it, with the website not working as well as it needs to work, that makes a lot of supporters nervous because they know how it's been subject to so much attack, the Affordable Care Act generally.
But I just want to remind everybody, we did not wage this long and contentious battle just around a website. That's not what this was about. (Cheers, applause.) We waged this battle to make sure that millions of Americans in the wealthiest nation on Earth finally have the same chance to get the same security of affordable quality health care as anybody else. That's what this is about. (Applause.)
Yes, this healthcare law that is being attacked by Republicans, and many in the media, is a lot more than just a series of glitches on a website, which eventually will be fixed. It is about providing many tens of millions of people a chance at living, and, with this as the ultimate reason, technical issues on a website pales in comparison.
We did not wage this long and contentious battle over a website.
Indeed, sir.
And with that undeniable truth, a Republican fantasy became a harsh reality.
Thank you, Mr. President!