Somewhere between last week’s government shutdown and next week’s debt-ceiling deadline, a funny thing happened: ObamaCare shut itself down.
We’re talking about the ObamaCare Web site, healthcare.gov. The site, which debuted a week ago, was supposed to help Americans sign up for ObamaCare on their state exchanges. Instead, after days of perpetual glitches, it was yanked into maintenance over the weekend. And though it’s back online, there’s no guarantee we won’t see more service interruptions.
Consider: ObamaCare was passed more than three years ago and is considered the president’s signal achievement. In the words of Saturday Night Live, for the Obama team to be caught flat-footed is “like 1-800-FLOWERS being surprised by Valentine’s Day.”
Which raises a point Republicans are arguing in the context of the shutdown and impending debt-ceiling crisis: Given the many waivers the president has granted, as well as the delay of the employer mandate, why not consider a broader delay until the bugs can be worked out?
The great irony of Washington’s ongoing stalemate is that the GOP wanted ObamaCare changed, while the Democrats wanted a “clean” continuing resolution. Instead, each side got the shutdown it didn’t want. That’s called victory — Beltway-style.