In the leadup to the rollout of the website portal at www.healthcare.gov, Ms. Valerie Jarrett was a prime mover in all things Obamacare. She was and still is a very senior adviser to President Obama on many things, "without portfolio" you might say. See, e.g., representative reports here and here.
However, since the rollout of the website portal failed disastrously in October and November, Ms. Jarrett's name is not mentioned as one of the people responsible. She seems to have disappeared from public view or at least from reporting. Her role seems to be totally forgotten or ignored in reporting now. See Michael D. Shear, "Considering Which Head or Heads May Roll for a Troubled Website Rollout" p. A23, col. 1 (New York Times Nat'l ed., Wednesday, December 4, 2013).
It is an oversight to leave Ms. Valerie Jarrett out of the mix of persons responsible for the website portal failure over the last two months. She is more responsible than most, if not more responsible than all, if it comes to that. So let's be sure to include her now, just as she was mentioned prominently before: Ms. Valerie Jarrett.
If it comes to a blame game, however, there is something way more important than any individual employed by the White House. There is the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare. It offers the possibility of health insurance coverage to people who previously could not afford it. It also offers comparison shopping and information which health insurance consumers did not easily find before the ACA took effect. There are many more ways than www.healthcare.gov to apply for health insurance coverage under the ACA, if it comes to that. Never before has an insurance application required a website portal, and no website portal is required to apply for ACA insurance now. See here.
Nowhere else but in the District known as Washington, D.C. does form triumph so often over substance.
© 2013 by Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved. No claim to original U.S. Government works.
Please Read The Disclaimer.