The pretty darned successful
rollout of Obamacare enrollments isn't going to stop Republicans from keeping government shut down. Nor is it going to keep them from continuing their efforts to
sabotage the law.
A spokesman for Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal dismissed the sweeping law as "a federal issue" and said his boss had no plans to discuss it.
State workers in several other GOP-run states were ordered to refer all questions from residents to federal offices. In Oklahoma, state employees were instructed to tell residents they are "not trained or certified to answer questions about the Federal Insurance Marketplace." [...]
In Texas, Perry ordered that navigators in his state train for an additional 40 hours beyond the 20 hours they already receive from Tavenner's agency. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam's Commerce Department imposed background checks on the navigators.
Florida's health department ordered county health departments to ban navigators from their property. Wisconsin and Indiana charged training fees for the navigators and volunteers.
Several government councils in Texas are no longer participating in the navigator program, according to a local United Way office that got $5.8 million to pay the workers. One attributed the decision to political pressure.
Republican state officials have through the end of March to refuse to even consider assisting their constituents in signing up. But they're probably going to face increasing public pressure over that, as
local media keeps on reporting about the law and people learn. There's also the part that
people want and need health insurance. If these first few days of sign ups are any indication, they're going to figure out how to get it.
Tell Senate Democrats to continue to stand strong against Republican hostage-taking of Obamacare.