Steve Holland and Jeff Mason
By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason
Normally brimming with self-confidence, President Barack Obama showed an emotion on Thursday he rarely shares with Americans: humility.
He strode to a White House podium with a jarring admission: He believes he has lost the confidence of the American people and deserves the blame for the rocky rollout of his signature healthcare law.
The concession was indirect, to be sure, as he spoke of “winning back the confidence of the American people,” but nonetheless was unusual in the history of the American presidency, let alone in modern, never-admit-a-mistake Washington.
The healthcare law known as Obamacare — seen as Obama’s biggest domestic policy achievement — was designed to bring affordable health insurance to millions of uninsured Americans.
But the launch of a government website to enable people to obtain insurance policies has been marred by technical problems that have often rendered it inaccessible.
In addition, insurance companies have cancelled millions of existing policies that failed to meet the law’s requirements.
Obama’s comments came as he announced a fix designed to stem the wave of cancellations. Left unspoken was what sort of fix Obama might make in his staff or in how he advances policy objectives with three years left in office and many legislative priorities still unfulfilled, including immigration reform.
Obama admitted that he was never “informed directly” about looming problems with the website launched on October 1.
If the first step on the road to redemption is an acknowledgment of the problem, Obama did himself a favour. He has drawn criticism in recent weeks for an inability to ensure that his policies are being properly implemented.
Obama was forced to make his public appearance in part by Democrats who see the problems with the implementation of a healthcare law that they backed in Congress as damaging their re-election chances in the November 2014 mid-term elections.
Public opinion polls have caused alarm bells to ring among congressional Democrats, notably a Quinnipiac University survey this week that put Obama’s approval rating at 39 percent.
Obama’s 39 percent rating put him at the same level that his Republican predecessor George W Bush experienced at the same point in his presidency.
Obama said he felt personally responsible for the political challenges his fellow Democrats face.
Behind the scenes at the White House, the problems with the healthcare law consume meeting after meeting. Administration officials are trying to assure Obama’s allies that they know they have to get the problems ironed out by the end of the year.
The mood behind the scenes, said one Democratic official with close ties to the White House, was one of sober determination.
REUTERS
By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason
Normally brimming with self-confidence, President Barack Obama showed an emotion on Thursday he rarely shares with Americans: humility.
He strode to a White House podium with a jarring admission: He believes he has lost the confidence of the American people and deserves the blame for the rocky rollout of his signature healthcare law.
The concession was indirect, to be sure, as he spoke of “winning back the confidence of the American people,” but nonetheless was unusual in the history of the American presidency, let alone in modern, never-admit-a-mistake Washington.
The healthcare law known as Obamacare — seen as Obama’s biggest domestic policy achievement — was designed to bring affordable health insurance to millions of uninsured Americans.
But the launch of a government website to enable people to obtain insurance policies has been marred by technical problems that have often rendered it inaccessible.
In addition, insurance companies have cancelled millions of existing policies that failed to meet the law’s requirements.
Obama’s comments came as he announced a fix designed to stem the wave of cancellations. Left unspoken was what sort of fix Obama might make in his staff or in how he advances policy objectives with three years left in office and many legislative priorities still unfulfilled, including immigration reform.
Obama admitted that he was never “informed directly” about looming problems with the website launched on October 1.
If the first step on the road to redemption is an acknowledgment of the problem, Obama did himself a favour. He has drawn criticism in recent weeks for an inability to ensure that his policies are being properly implemented.
Obama was forced to make his public appearance in part by Democrats who see the problems with the implementation of a healthcare law that they backed in Congress as damaging their re-election chances in the November 2014 mid-term elections.
Public opinion polls have caused alarm bells to ring among congressional Democrats, notably a Quinnipiac University survey this week that put Obama’s approval rating at 39 percent.
Obama’s 39 percent rating put him at the same level that his Republican predecessor George W Bush experienced at the same point in his presidency.
Obama said he felt personally responsible for the political challenges his fellow Democrats face.
Behind the scenes at the White House, the problems with the healthcare law consume meeting after meeting. Administration officials are trying to assure Obama’s allies that they know they have to get the problems ironed out by the end of the year.
The mood behind the scenes, said one Democratic official with close ties to the White House, was one of sober determination.
REUTERS
