Free Republic

On Wednesday, CNN’s Dana Bash tweeted that all Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2014 will reportedly support a delay of Obamacare’s enrollment deadline. The Democrats' push comes shortly after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) recently launched a crusade against Obamacare. Cruz’s efforts and those of Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) showed the American people the president and Senate Democrats were unwilling to compromise on Obamacare, and the Democrats’ stubbornness resulted in a temporary partial government shutdown and a short-lived debt crisis scare.

In a speech on the House floor Wednesday, Rep. John Barrow, a Blue Dog Democrat from Georgia, called on the president to delay implementation of the law’s individual mandate, which is set to be enforced Jan. 1. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who like Shaheen is up for re-election in 2014, announced his support for the New Hampshire senator’s call to extend open enrollment in the exchanges and asked the administration to clarify how it would enforce the individual mandate. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., is working on a bill that would delay the $95 individual mandate penalty, a spokesman for Manchin...

House Democrats downplayed the significance of problems facing ObamaCare's enrollment system after their first post-rollout meeting with administration officials. Democratic lawmakers appeared upbeat after leaving a presentation from Gary Cohen, a key figure in ObamaCare's implementation at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). "We didn't work our hearts out for a website," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), quoting House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "The route in, that's a technical issue that we think is being solved," Schakowsky said. There was also no discussion of delaying ObamaCare's individual mandate, according to members — a possibility that's been floated...

In recent days, I have written extensively about the Obama administration and the attitude they hold towards their political opponents. Clearly, they like to do as they please, much more than they like to explain their actions when things go wrong. At the risk of repeating myself, this attitude has permeated the entire administration, from the top down. The Obamacare disaster is just the latest example of how they refuse to face their critics with honest answers. Once again, they are ducking for cover and refusing to be honest with the American people. For several days, Congressional Republicans have...

House Republicans will receive a briefing from Health and Human Services officials about the glitch-filled Obamacare website after being excluded from a meeting in which Democrats were given details about the troubled launch. “It’s not clear why Republicans were excluded in the first place, but we look forward to getting answers to how the administration botched this enormous use of taxpayer dollars so badly,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Gary Cohen, who handles insurance oversight for HHS, briefed House Democrats earlier Wednesday. Buck said he would announce details of the Republican meeting when they become...

Mike Hash, who directs the Office of Health reform at the Department of Health and Human Services, will brief House Democrats Wednesday about implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The closed-door session, which will start at 8:50 a.m., marks the first time the administration will have briefed members of Congress on the online enrollment system since its troubled rollout on Oct. 1.