ABC’s This Week w/ George Stephanopoulos was the only Sunday show that bothered to cover the latest ObamaCare delay and with it came some interesting insight from the panel of political experts.
Appearing on Sunday’s program, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan mocked the latest delay and hilariously asked her fellow panelists if “there still a law? Is there still an ObamaCare law? It's been changed in 25 ways.” [See video below.]
Other than Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX), the entire This Week panel accepted the disaster that ObamaCare has become with ABC’s Jeff Zeleny admitting that the delay is “an acknowledgement that some Democrats are in huge trouble in Senate races and they are really hoping for some relief.”
Noonan continued her takedown of ObamaCare and pointed out how “It’s also an acknowledgment that this whole thing didn’t work from the day the website was unveiled. I really think ObamaCare as a domestic public policy event is even huger than all of us think. It's a day-to-day story, and so you know the latest story and it is what it is. But this is a most extraordinary failure by an administration that put all of its chips on it working. And it is not.”
Even CNN’s Ana Navarro, who although she claims to be a conservative frequently spends her time criticizing her own party, mocked the latest delay and claimed that, “About this last announcement about this new delay is that I think there's almost a numbing to all these delays and exceptions.”
Not only was ABC the only one of the big three networks that covered the most recent ObamaCare delay on Sunday, but when was the last time you saw an entire panel, sans a Democratic politician, on ABC, CBS or NBC agree that ObamaCare has been an unmitigated disaster? Kudos to ABC and its panelists for having an important conversation on ObamaCare that NBC and CBS didn’t find the time to mention.
See relevant transcript below.
ABC
This Week with George Stephanopoulos
March 9, 2014
10:40 a.m. Eastern
MARTHA RADDATZ: I want to move to the ObamaCare delay. The latest news is President Obama now saying if you like your plan, you can keep it for two more years. Take a look at some of the headlines. So his latest delay in fully implementing the law will allow insurers to offer health plans that do not meet the law’s minimum coverage requirements for another two years. So is this just another example of the law not being ready for prime time? Will hit you with that.
JOAQUIN CASTRO: Well thank you. No, I think it's an acknowledgment that some folks had plans out there that they wanted to keep. These are not the best plans in the market, but I think it's an acknowledgment by the administration that some folks do want to keep them.
JEFF ZELENY: And it’s also an acknowledgement that some Democrats are in huge trouble in Senate races and they are really hoping for some relief.
PEGGY NOONAN: It’s also an acknowledgment that this whole thing didn’t work from the day the website was unveiled. I really think ObamaCare as a domestic public policy event is even huger than all of us think. It's a day-to-day story, and so you know the latest story and it is what it is. But this is a most extraordinary failure by an administration that put all of its chips on it working. And it is not. It's also significant, I think, that the president had every chance in the past year, Republicans were coming to him and saying, please, hold this off. You can't cancel it, but delay it for a year, do this, do that. He would not play ball with them. It would have been so much better for him if he had.
CASTRO: Their only approach has been repeal. You heard if from Ted Cruz. Who’s essentially the leader of the Tea Party?NOONAN: They did delay.
CASTRO: For them it's either all or nothing. And if you look at the way they try to do it, it's repeal or it’s nothing. They don't to want improve it.
ANA NAVARRO: About this last announcement about this new delay is that I think there's almost a numbing to all these delays and exceptions. I'm having a hard time keeping track of what—
NOONAN: Or is there still a bill?
ZELENEY: But what it means though is voters will not get cancellation notices a month before the midterms. That's biggest point. So it is politics. No question.
RADDATZ: Certainly politics in everything. Come on we're in Washington, D.C.
NOONAN: But is there still a law? Is there still an ObamaCare law? It's been changed in 25 ways.
ZELENY: It was 2,000 pages so there’s still—
NOONAN: Oh, my goodness. I mean what the heck is it?
CASTRO: People are benefitting from it.
