Political Quotes

“Consumers will be able to go online. They will be able to get a determination of what tax subsidies they are eligible for; they will be able to see premium net of subsidy; and they will be able to sign up. Those were the words spoken by the head of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight 3 weeks ago at a committee hearing of Energy and Commerce. I had asked for a yes or no answer to the question: Will the exchanges be ready on October 1? You heard his answer. In The New York Times this weekend, a very insightful article: ``From the Start, Signs of Trouble at the Health Portal.'' The exchanges have been called excruciatingly embarrassing by no less than the President's press secretary for his first term. He went on to say: I hope some people are fired, those people who were supposed to be able to make this work. The blame-shifting between contractors and agency officials is just beginning. Further quoting from the article in The New York Times this weekend: ``These are not glitches,'' said an insurance executive who has participated in many conference calls on the Federal exchange. The extent of the problems is pretty enormous. At the end of our calls, people say, ``It is awful, just awful.'' But here is the deal: everyone is required to sign up for this enormously embarrassing glitch that has been foisted upon us by the executive branch. It is time for us to stand down on the individual mandate. ____________________”