At a Rose Garden event this afternoon, the president discussed day one of the Affordable Care Act, which will also go down in history as the day the government shut down. He blamed House Republicans for the shut down repeating what he’s been saying for days leading up to the closure: “I’m not going to allow anybody to drag the good name of the United States of America through the mud just to re-fight a settled election or extract ideological demands.”
As for the opening day of Obamacare, the president told the stories of a few people who are already benefiting from it. One of them, standing behind the president (above in the NBC image) is our former marketing director, Amanda Barrett. Amanda left her job at Mediabistro a couple years ago to return to Washington, DC to take care of her ailing parents. The president told Amanda’s health care story: “For a while she had temporary insurance that covered her multiple sclerosis. When it expired, many insurers wouldn’t cover her and she ended up paying $1,200 a month. Starting today, she can get covered for much less.”
The president admitted there had been glitches with today’s rollout, comparing it to the glitches in Apple’s recent introduction of iOS7. “I don’t remember anybody suggesting Apple should stop selling iPhones or iPads, or threatening to shut down the company if they didn’t. That’s not how we do things in America.”
All the broadcast networks and the cable networks carried the remarks. The president took no questions, though one reporter shouted, “Mr. President are you going to meet with members of Congress today?”