Speaking only for myself, I have an urgent message for the White House: Please don’t fire Kathleen Sebelius!
What’s with these strident calls from my fellow conservatives demanding that President Obama fire this dedicated public servant? What are they thinking? Have they no heart? Did they not see Ms. Sebelius’ stellar performance “defending” ObamaCare on the Daily Show?
Seriously, members of the GOP are probably wise to call for Ms. Sebelius’ head—as long as they don’t actually get it. We don’t want to lose her gifts at HHS. If we are to get rid of ObamaCare, she is our best hope. Think of Ms. S as our new BFF.
Who on earth would have acceded to a reported White House demand that no outsider be called in to work on the all-important ObamaCare website for fear of transparency? Our Kath, that’s who. Who wouldn’t have known that hiding premium costs until near the end of the sign-up process would make healthcare.gov unusable? Why, our Kath. (Hat tip: Hot Air)
In a Corner post on “exchanges to nowhere,” Yuval Levin describes the launch of healthcare.gov as a category 5 storm. ObamaCare, the product of a temporary Democratic majority on two houses of Congress and possession of the White House, probably can’t be fixed. It probably couldn’t have been launched much better either. But why bring in somebody new to fiddle with it?
If Sebelius were fired—blessedly unlikely to happen, given the president’s intransigence—the next secretary could not make the system work. But the advent of a new secretary would give the impression that “glitches” really are the problem and that the right person can rectify the situation. Time would be lost.
By all means, my fellow conservatives are right to ask for Ms. Sebelius’ dismissal. Anybody who makes this big a mess should be dismissed. It is important to highlight the administration’s behavior.
But we should be careful of what we wish for. Don't spend too much energy on this–just enough to help the public know our Kath's amazing achievements.