CBS News, which helped Barack Obama get elected and re-elected through a combination of willful silence and deception, continues what appears to be an act of penance. On Friday, the news organization leaked an internal administration memo reporting that a mere 6 people (count ‘em, 6) signed up for Obamacare on Oct. 1, the launch date of Healthcare.gov.
Today, CBS News is back with another bombshell. The network has both the video (captured below) and transcript of a report noting that a trusted Obamacare adviser warned three years ago that a successful implementation of the health care law was in jeopardy. The administration, the item notes moreover, ignored these dire admonitions.
David Cutler, who worked on the Obama 2008 campaign and was a valued outside health care consultant wrote this blunt memo to top White House economic adviser Larry Summers in May 2010: ‘I do not believe the relevant members of the administration understand the president’s vision or have the capability to carry it out.’
Cutler wrote no one was in charge who had any experience in complex business start-ups. He also worried basic regulations, technology and policy coordination would fail.
‘You need to have people who have understanding of the political process, people who understand how to work within an administration and people who understand how to start and build a business, and unfortunately, they just didn’t get all of those people together,’ Cutler said.
The White House refused to heed Cutler’s advice, relying instead on appointed bureaucrats and other White House health care advisers. Concerned that attacks from congressional Republicans might damage the already ailing law, the administration additionally became increasingly secretive about the law’s complexity and regulatory reach.
With the Obamacare website now scheduled to go offline daily at off-peak hours until the many design flaws are worked out, some Democrats are pushing for drastic remedial measures. Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) said on “Face the Nation” Sunday, “I said this direct to the president’s chief of staff, that they ought to take down the website until it was right.”
