House Speaker John Boehner
said Obamacare was "fundamentally flawed"
before 7 million people and counting signed up
If you listened to the pundits, conservative media or GOP politicians over the past few months, one thing was clear: Obamacare was imploding, doomed to a certain death by a website that wouldn't work and a value proposition that wouldn't sell.
Of course, they were wrong. Very, very wrong. They'd probably like to forget their predictions ... but we haven't:
"...the White House needs something close to a miracle to meet its goal of enrolling 6 million people by the end of this month."
— AP, 3/11/2014
"The disastrous rollout of his health care law not only threatens the rest of his agenda but also raises questions about his competence in the same way that the Bush administration’s botched response to Hurricane Katrina undermined any semblance of Republican efficiency."
— Michael Shear, NYT, 11/14/2013
"The one difference was Katrina was a storm, the health care law was Obama’s creation."
— Ron Fournier, 10/23/2013
"At this pace, the Obama Administration will never be able to meet their enrollment goals."
— Sen. Orrin Hatch, 11/13/2013
"Obamacare is doomed for failure on its own."
— Rep. Tom Cole, 10/28/2013
The claim chowder continues below the fold.
"When the other guy is committing suicide, get out of the way. I've always thought that the reality of Obamacare, which you saw coming, I saw coming, that the whole conservative movement saw coming ... it's all coming true."
— Charles Krauthammer, 10/28/2013
"President Obama will not recover from the healthcare debacle and that it will weigh Hillary Clinton down as well as she gets ready for her presidential run."
— Bill O'Reilly, 10/29/2013
"Today, there can be no dispute that Obamacare is a disaster. [...] It's common sense to recognize that Obamacare isn't working. We need to repeal it entirely"
— Sen. Ted Cruz, 12/11/2013
"It is clear by now that the administration will not reach the original CBO estimate of 7 million enrollees by the deadline at the end of March."
— Jay Cost, The Weekly Standard, 2/13/2014.
"New enrollment numbers suggest Obamacare is hurtling toward failure."
— Daily Caller headline, 3/11/2014.
Obviously, the thing that matters most about Obamacare's recovery is what it will mean for people who can finally get affordable, reliable health care coverage thanks to the law ... but watching these guys eat crow is a pretty nice bonus gift, isn't it?