Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Politics

Secretary Sebelius on Obamacare SNAFUS: "Give us the slack [you] give Apple"

Nick Gillespie | 10.1.2013 10:27 AM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Yeah, this isn't good. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is proactively begging for forgiveness for glitches in Obamacare's rollout. It's just like when Apple releases a new product, right?:

"Hopefully they'll give us the same slack they give Apple…. If there's not quite the operational excellence right away, we'll continue to press for that."

Last time I checked, buying Apple products is voluntary, so this analogy is a no-go from the get-go.

There's this bit of special pleading too, which is nauseating:

"Apple, you know, has a few more resources than we have to roll out technology, and a few more people who've been working on the system for a while, and no-one is calling on Apple to not sell devices for a year or to, you know, get out of the business because the whole thing is a failure."

Read more here.

Over the past few years, Apple has had a market cap anywhere from $400 billion to $650 billion, depending on a wide variety of factors. The federal government has been spending north of $3.5 trillion a year for a while now and, unlike Apple, it can't go out of business even if it keeps rolling out crap devices.

And speaking of resources for technology, you may have heard that the National Security Agency never seems to be at a loss when it comes to surveilling your Facebook page, phone calls, and emails.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Obamacare Stumbles Out of the Gate With Technical Difficulties

Nick Gillespie is an editor at large at Reason and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie.

PoliticsObamacareWar on DrugsScience & TechnologyCultureCivil LibertiesEconomicsPolicyBarack ObamaTechnology
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (105)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    ...unlike Apple, it can't go out of business even if it keeps rolling out crap devices.

    Although management can be replaced by the stockholders. We just chose not to do that.

    1. wareagle   12 years ago

      and unlike Apple, it can force you to buy crap devices.

      1. CE   12 years ago

        and unlike Apple, there's no Samsung to turn to. Unless you move to a new country, which is more likely to be like Nokia.

      2. Mumu Bobby   12 years ago

        Four more years....derp

  2. robc   12 years ago

    I refuse to give Apple any money?

    Is she sure she wants the same approach?

    1. robc   12 years ago

      Can I use this as an official government position that I dont have to pay taxes?

    2. Cascadian Ephor Xenocles   12 years ago

      ^This.

      Not counting Quicktime, the last Apple product I "owned" was the family Apple IIGS when I was in elementary school.

      I also tend to avoid being an early adopter like the plague these days, so I'd say the OC system is getting the same treatment from a lot of us.

  3. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

    Excuse me, but I gave Apple no slack and mocked them horribly for every mistake.

    I'll gladly do the same for these Piece of shit identity theft exchanges.

  4. Brett L   12 years ago

    I eagerly away the Android of government.

    1. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

      Only if it has root access.

    2. CE   12 years ago

      Don't worry, DARPA is working on the androids.

  5. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

    I've heard this kind of thing before, which seems to indicate not that they disagree with their opposition so much as they simply cannot *understand* the opposition point of view.

    "You guys are for entrepreneurship and risk, right? Well, we're doing an entrepreneur-y government program, full of risk, so why don't you get on board, you hypocrites!"

    They vigorously beat up that straw man, apparently because they actually believe that straw man represents their opponents' position!

    1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

      Their entire approach is riddled with that. 'We are just creating markets, it is a market based approach.'

      1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

        The government: "You are free to buy insurance at rates we set, but you are not free to go without insurance."

        Markets.

    2. Killazontherun   12 years ago

      It's at the center of the Von Mises and Lange dispute. Lange argued that if you just gave managers in a socialist ran factory a profit like incentive in its outcomes you would replicate the productive aspect of capitalism by turning the manager into an entrepreneur. Von Mises countered that management and entrepreneurial activity are not the same function. An entrepreneur creates the conditions where markets clear by creating a higher value for goods. No cookie for the socialist.

  6. Vince aut Morire   12 years ago

    I am so happy this cunning stunt is no longer in my state. I am also very sad at the same time she is now fucking up the entire country.

  7. Gilbert Martin   12 years ago

    Just like when Apple rolls out a new product?

    That analogy is so monumentally stupid that it's quite evident that Sebelius has an outsized share of slack between her ears.

    1. Cdr Lytton   12 years ago

      Blasphemy! And an insult to J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.

  8. RightNut   12 years ago

    Last I checked my Apple product worked the first day I bought it.

  9. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

    That's 'cause Apple don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they fail. Governments are known to do that.

  10. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    I wait until the bugs have been worked out.

    Is she giving me that option?

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      No, but you can go buy an android. I mean a real one to put your brain in. Because that will be cheaper than a lifetime of premiums under ObamaCarousel.

      1. Cascadian Ephor Xenocles   12 years ago

        A fully functional android?

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Kinda defeats the purpose to move your brain to an android that doesn't work, don't you think?

          1. Cascadian Ephor Xenocles   12 years ago

            You're talking about working according to design; I'm talking about the design itself...

      2. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

        Can I run Ubuntu on a chroot?

        1. SweatingGin   12 years ago

          It'll run out of memory and swap out the "blood flow to the brain" app.

          1. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

            That's only if you try to run Kubuntu.

            http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/KDE

  11. Mint Berry Crunch   12 years ago

    I just got the strangest urge to listen to "Walk Like an Egyptian."

    1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      +painting on the tomb

      1. Mr. Soul   12 years ago

        Sleeveless is not her friend.

  12. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    If there's not quite the operational excellence right away, we'll continue to press for that.

    Just don't expect them to be held personally accountable for any shortcomings.

  13. Biden's Scroteplugs   12 years ago

    in the mid 90's people were in effect asking Apple to stop producing devices that didn't work.

  14. waffles   12 years ago

    People don't give Apple any slack. At least not in the sources I read from. If government were held to the same standard as Apple it would work a whole lot better. Sebelius doesn't know what she's talking about.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      What we need are competing governments. We just buy whatever we want from each.

      1. SweatingGin   12 years ago

        Yes! Voluntarily!

        Sign up with Honest Murray's Defense Corporation. Become a citizen of Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong!

        1. robc   12 years ago

          Damn it, I was about to make a Mr Lee's joke.

        2. robc   12 years ago

          However, the problem with the Snow Crash competing governments is that they were still territory based.

          Mr Lee's may have been non-contiguous but it was still a "this neighborhood is a Mr Lee's and that neighborhood is a whatever and etc".

          We need to break the connection between territory and government.

          1. SweatingGin   12 years ago

            There was the Distributed Republic, though, right? that seemed mostly non-territorial.

            But yea, no more monopoly on force in a geographical area.

            1. Brett L   12 years ago

              That was Diamond Age, which had a mish-mash of contiguous and non-contiguous areas.

          2. Hawk Spitui   12 years ago

            Well, you have the Catholic Church as a model. It has it's own justice system, it's own hierarchy of leadership, participation is voluntary and it's supported by voluntary contributions from it's members. Not only that, it's outlasted damn near every government on the planet, and has no geological boundaries.

  15. SweatingGin   12 years ago

    Today has just been great. I can't believe how good I feel at the thought of all those looters at home. The shrieking of the progressives! How angry they are!

    It really is libertarian Christmas! I can't get the smile off my face!

    Also: I'm amazed at the level of low-info voters I work with. "There's still police, right? You mean food might not be inspected?!?"

    1. MikeP   12 years ago

      I've been waiting all week to buy some rancid meat. Today is finally the day!

      1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

        What, no DIY spirit? Buy regular meat and make it rancid.

        1. MikeP   12 years ago

          You mean home meat? I am too civic-minded for that.

          I won't eat rancid meat until the government stops inspecting it.

  16. Loki   12 years ago

    Semi OT, and aplogies if this was posted in the morning links, but I couldn't let this high quality gem of DERP potentially go unposted:

    If only Obamacare had been around, Walter White wouldn't have had to become a meth dealer.

    Enjoy...

  17. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    speaking as a computer geek, once software (or website) gets a bad rap, it's hard to change the user's perception. Of course having a captive group helps.

    "Why the Soviet WRKR-9000 is the finest communist computer ever made. It plays pong like a champion!"

    1. SweatingGin   12 years ago

      I've been loving the expectation managing that's been going on with this. I thought there was a lot leading up to it, but wow, it's even failing to meet those lowered expectations.

      1. Dweebston   12 years ago

        Does it matter? So long as it's in place, however mundane it is and however few promises it meets, its supports will laud it as the second third coming. Because the entirety of the progressive chattering class has access to employer-provided alternatives. Few, if any, of those pushing for its passage, defending its inconsistencies and delays, and celebrating when it limps over the finish line will actually use the thing. That's for plebes and proles.

  18. Rasilio   12 years ago

    I can just say that as a Software Test Engineer I am so frigging glad I managed to avoid taking a job working on one of the exchanges

  19. MikeP   12 years ago

    Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. Your friends, up there in the House of Representatives, are walking into a trap, as is the Tea Party. It was *I* who allowed the Republicans to know the location of the ACA. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire Senate of my best Democrats awaits them. Oh, I'm afraid the health insurance exchanges will be quite operational when your friends arrive.

    1. DesigNate   12 years ago

      Nicely done.

    2. Jan S.   12 years ago

      So we can count on the Ewoks to save us from this?

      1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

        That would make it a lot easier to stop hating them.

        1. Warty   12 years ago

          Yousa thinking yousa people ganna die?

          1. DontShootMe   12 years ago

            Maybe the Ewoks can get into a war with the Gungans, and they both lose.

          2. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

            goddamit Warty!

    3. Loki   12 years ago

      Give yourself to the Exchanges. It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for... sister. So, you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the Exchange... then perhaps she will...

      1. Cascadian Ephor Xenocles   12 years ago

        Now that the Empire has shut down, I am defenseless. Take your Jedi weapon and strike me down.

      2. Brett L   12 years ago

        Anyone else notice that the Skywalkers make the trashiest family in the trailer look amazingly functional by comparison.

  20. Sevo   12 years ago

    I might give Apple some slack; they're not taking my money at gun point and they might offer some good products.
    Sebelius is offering shit on a stick and is stealing my money to do so. You want 'slack'? Screw you with a shovel.

  21. SweatingGin   12 years ago

    Remain Calm! All is Well! ALL IS WELL!

  22. Dave Krueger   12 years ago

    "Apple, you know, has a few more resources than we have to roll out technology, and a few more people who've been working on the system for a while....

    That lack of technological resources doesn't seem to have hampered their pursuit of an all-encompassing surveillance state.

    1. John   12 years ago

      Why didn't they contract with NSA? Doesn't she know about the Economy Act?

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

        And miss out on the opportunity to build their own empire of IT specialists? Are you kidding me? Duplication of resources and effort are their absolute favorite things.

        1. John   12 years ago

          Oh yes. If thing gets defunded, the butt hurt for the SESes who have built their little empires with it is going to epic.

    2. Redmanfms   12 years ago

      "Apple, you know, has a few more resources than we have to roll out technology, and a few more people who've been working on the system for a while...."

      Fucking what?

      $2.5 trillion in tax receipts last year and this silly bitch says that?

      The Feds take in something like 6x the total value of Apple Inc. in one fucking year.

      Jesus tap-dancing Christ.

      1. Mr. Soul   12 years ago

        ^^ this. The single funniest thing here is that their credibility is their collateral.

        It goes without saying how successful our best & brightest are going to be. Anything wrong here is our inability to have faith in them. If they're guilty of anything it's loving too much.

  23. DesigNate   12 years ago

    Fuck that bitch.

    *I know, I know, that's why there aren't any libertarian women.

  24. Jose Chung   12 years ago

    I can choose not to own an Apple product, Mme. Secretary.

    1. Mr. Soul   12 years ago

      Not owning an apple product is still commerce...just ask the Supremes.

  25. meister574   12 years ago

    When there is a problem, users do complain loudly and Apple fixes the issue quickly. Or users find a way around the problem (i.e. Google Maps app). Apple users have very high expectations. They usually wait longer for new version of products then, say Samsung users do. So they expect the device to be bug free right from the get go. I'd say this is more like a roll out of a new Windows version, which has to work on many different platforms and usually takes a year to make patches for it to work out the bugs. Or this may be Windows Vista and it is not fixed and a new Windows version is released that actually works well. The problem with this is, there is no choice to hold to the Windows XP. We have to use Vista until Windows 7 comes out. But I doubt that will happen.

    1. DesigNate   12 years ago

      And Windows 7 would be a piece of crap too and then we'd get fucking single payer Windows 2000

      1. Jordan   12 years ago

        More like Windows ME.

        1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

          http://xkcd.com/323/

      2. sarcasmic   12 years ago

        You kidding. Single payer only works on Windows ME.

  26. SugarFree   12 years ago

    Whatever, Kathleen. SlackLabia McWrinkleNeck is happy that the exchanges are crashing. They can spin it as "overwhelming demand."

    1. John   12 years ago

      Good luck with that. I am not sure that one will work too well. People don't like response when it is for concert tickets. I can't see them buying it when it is to get health insurance they are required by law to buy.

      And don't forget, a large number of Obama's low information, low IQ supporters are convinced this entire thing is free. They are not going to be happy when the web site that is going to give them their free shit crashes.

      1. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

        seen a few sticker shock tweets... of course this is a hard thing to get a handle on since no one is reporting on the (captive) consumer's response.

      2. Cascadian Ephor Xenocles   12 years ago

        "Hey, this web site isn't working. It's not showing the free options."

  27. Suthenboy   12 years ago

    Which exchange did she use and what plan did she sign up for?

    1. Loki   12 years ago

      Exchanges are for the little people.

  28. Cascadian Ephor Xenocles   12 years ago

    So, serious question here. These exchanges are mostly meant to help the poor, right? The people who couldn't afford insurance before? And I keep hearing on the radio how it's these same poor people who don't have regular internet access (that's why public libraries are "vital"). So who decided that the way to go on this was to set up a service where its intended user would have the hardest time accessing it?

    1. Warty   12 years ago

      These exchanges are mostly meant to spend money and dole out contracts and favors. But you knew that.

  29. Warty   12 years ago

    Last time I checked, buying Apple products is voluntary, so this analogy is a no-go from the get-go.

    These people have absolutely no understanding of the difference between voluntary relationships and violently coerced ones, Nick. None. But you knew that.

    Apple, you know, has a few more resources than we have

    Are you fucking. Kidding. Me.

    1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

      Are you fucking. Kidding. Me.

      This was my response. That she could say something like that and not be immediately challenged is sad.

      1. Warty   12 years ago

        Well, I mean, I suppose it's in some sense true, since Apple has a ton of smart engineers, competent organization, some amount of accountability, and people who give a shit about whether they succeed or fail. Maybe that's what she meant.

        1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

          Oh, you think she meant "Apple has more ability than we do" instead of resources?

          Yeah, that's completely true.

    2. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

      Well, Harry Reid already thinks the tax system is voluntary, so there's that.

      1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        Not paying up is a voluntary choice on your part to wind up in jail.

    3. Hillary's Clitdong   12 years ago

      Are you fucking. Kidding. Me.

      Apple has equity. The concept of your assets exceeding your liabilities is borderline magical to someone in government.

      1. buddhastalin   12 years ago

        Government is one big liability with barely any assets.

  30. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

    Worldwide, almost 1.5 billion people use iPhones. There are only 300 million people in the US and most of them are on Medicare or employer insurance. So, we're looking at what, about 20 million, at the most? Compared to over 1 billion?

    I guess they don't do math.

    1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      The sales pitch used to sell Obamacare was that 30-45 million Americans were without insurance. And millions more have already been dropped from their employer plans because of Obamacare.

      And the dims hope that a couple of million will sign up on the exchanges over the next 6 months - in reality they'll be lucky to get 1/10 that number.

      But it's totally a success!

      1. Adam330   12 years ago

        half of them were supposed to get insurance through expanded medicaid, not the exchanges.

  31. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    They can spin it as "overwhelming demand."

    That's on the GoogleNews right now.

  32. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    That she could say something like that and not be immediately challenged consumed by the fires of hell is sad.

    1. PD Scott   12 years ago

      The fires of hell are obviously affected by the shutdown.

  33. Rich   12 years ago

    First Susan Rice; now this. I'm surprised there are any female *Democrats*, the way that party has been sacrificing teh grrlz to THE STUPID.

    1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

      What's the alternative? Living like their Republican moms juggling a career and a family while balancing a checkbook? That's so last century. EBT card, bitches!

  34. Mr Whipple   12 years ago

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv6tuzHUuuk

  35. Michael   12 years ago

    "Hopefully they'll give us the same slack they give Apple..."

    You're holding it wrong.

  36. Adam330   12 years ago

    Just like Apple, huh? Well after Apple released its maps disaster, Apple fired the executives involved. Is Sebelius volunteering to be fired?

  37. Michael   12 years ago

    Just as I suspected, proglodyte conspiracy theorists are already grumbling about the exchange website downtime possibly being the result of a DDoS launched by vindictive Tea Party types. I'm looking forward to reading the first editorials officially speculating on this.

  38. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

    This stupid cunt needs to learn WHY people call it "jailbreaking".

  39. Gindjurra   12 years ago

    If my iPad becomes a paperweight, it's annoying but not my only option for computer access and the internet.

    If my health insurance crashes and burns, it could destroy me financially and possibly even result in my death.

    Even if I cut the ACA the same slack I cut Apple, it wouldn't be enough to cover their mess.

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

Newly Released Documents Show What the Feds Knew About the New Jersey Drone Scare

Matthew Petti | 5.9.2025 12:31 PM

New York's Biggest Budget Doubles Down on the Mistakes Driving People Out

Gregory Lyakhov | 5.9.2025 12:15 PM

Trump Is Wrong. Cheap Goods Are Awesome.

Emma Camp | 5.9.2025 11:15 AM

Bernie Sanders: American Success Story

Liz Wolfe | 5.9.2025 9:41 AM

The EPA Is a Prime Candidate for Reform by the Trump Administration

J.D. Tuccille | 5.9.2025 7:00 AM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!