Priebus: Obamacare a Lemon, Not Ready for Primetime

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus underlined the many flaws in the Affordable Care Act Thursday morning, pointing to technical problems and enrollment delays.

"It clearly is a law that just isn’t ready for primetime," he said in a morning conference call, adding, "Barack Obama knows he’s selling a lemon."

When asked by a reporter why the GOP forced a shutdown debate rather than letting Obamacare go through and fail on its own, Priebus responded, "Clearly, if I was just being purely political sure, why not let these exchanges go through, let these Democrats continue to vote for these unpopular things. Obviously doing what’s politically right isn’t always what’s right for the American people."

"It’s not fair, it’s not working, people don’t’ want it, so there’s a serious obligation to put that ahead of politics," he added.

Republican Rep. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who was also on the call, maintained that the party is putting the protection of the American public over political considerations.

"Democrats have to live with those consequences already," he said, adding, "My responsibility is trying to reduce or eliminate as many of these effects going forward as possible."

Priebus later played down polls showing that more voters blame Republicans than Democrats for the government shutdown.

"Governing by simply looking at daily tracking polls isn’t probably the right way to govern. Most people believe that Obamacare is wrong for America," he said.

He also pointed his finger at the Democrats, saying their refusal to negotiate on the healthcare law led to the shutdown.

"Republicans have been offering deal after deal only to be met with a brick wall," Priebus said, noting that Obama "was happy to call the leader of Iran and talk to him at length apparently. But he’s not willing to talk to Republicans. I think that’s pretty unbelievable."

Meanwhile, the RNC posted a video demonstrating the widespread troubles facing the new health insurance exchanges.



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