Paul Ryan: HHS secretary should step down over Obamacare
(CNN) - Rep. Paul Ryan on Tuesday joined a growing list of Republicans who want Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to step down over rampant problems in the launch of Obamacare’s HealthCare.gov.
The 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee was on a conference call with reporters, helping fellow Republican and Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli make the case against a Medicaid expansion in the state championed by Cuccinelli’s opponent, Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
Cuccinelli has already said that Sebelius should step down. When Ryan was asked if he felt the same way, he responded: “I do agree with that.”
“This rollout has been a fiasco,” the House Budget Committee chairman said, and “not just because they have bad tech,” but because the entirety of the law is flawed.
Sebelius gave members of Congress the impression the health care website’s launch would be flawless despite knowing otherwise, said the congressman from Wisconsin.
“I think some people should be held responsible,” Ryan added.
Much of the call was devoted to Cuccinelli attempting to paint the differences between himself and McAuliffe. Cuccinelli, the Virginia attorney general, argued that his opponent has little experience and would drive the state to financial ruin by expanding Medicaid.
McAuliffe, a businessman and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has accused Cuccinelli of tea party extremism. Two weeks before the election, he leads Cuccinelli by single digits in the latest public opinion polls.
–CNN’s Bryan Koenig contributed to this report.
I think that after shut-down fiasco all GOP nuts should resign.
Sebelius should resign. I have heard her speak on several occasions and have not been impressed. I don't quite understand why presidents pick totally unqualified people for Cabinet positions just because they are former politicians. You would think that presidents could find deans or presidents of medical schools to take over an agency that deals with Health and Human Services. The same could be said of other cabinet positions. Pick someone who actually knows the area that they will be administering.
Rep. Paul Ryan on Tuesday joined a growing list of Republicans who want Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to step down. This is a website problem for a program that has months before you have to sign up. Paul Ryan and his republican cronies shut down the Government and cost the economy 24 BILLION DOLLARS. They all should resign and leave the Country!!!!!!
Why? So the GOP can then block any new nominee? So we can have yet another agency without a leader? The GOTP need to stop pretending to care about us.....I mean they didn't want healthcare in the first place so why are they mad people can not get it?
Maybe Ryan should also have stepped down consider the amount of money that was spent in the failed attempt to put him in the White House with Romney. At least additional expert manpower and money can fix the ACA web site issues where as for Romney and Ryan there isn't an "A-Team" in the world that could fix them.
Ryan, the very guy that is taking away food stamps from the kids and under paid workers want this woman to resign. He should, he is all about taking away all entitlements from the people. The same entitlements he used as a yng guy. The Tea Party, Ryan and Republicans will be soon taking away food stamps from tens of millions in this nation. Starving them out. This is the agenda of the Republicans.
Ryan is totally against American's having access to insurance plans that are lower in cost (ObamaCare) but he thinks she should resign.
Ahhh. Logic.
Mr. Ryan needs to make a contribution that is notable before criticizing someone who has. Unless of course, naming Post Offices and providing detailed budgets that don't mean anything count.
I'm not sure what people aren't understanding here. ACA was the President's BIGGEST initiative. The smooth launch of those systems were paramount to initial success. The decision to proceed with the launch, with any high level of risk, should have been front and center from the leadership he put in charge of this thing. I'm no Ryan admirer, but if I was Obama, I'd be really ticked about this, and would expect more from my direct reports. Sebelius was in charge, and not letting Obama know about serious issues really put him out on a ledge. Termination should be on his mind.
Paul Ryan sure is an ego trip and a half. Where do the republicans get all these fruitcakes from? Or is that just a requirement if the job?
He is cemented in history as the moron who thought denying social security checks to grandma would get him elected as VP. What a loser.
The Male Gender version of Sarah Palin. Ran for Vice President. Was not elected. But... will never stop telling people what he thinks. It matters to no one... but that's not important either. Microphones, cameras, stupid statements. Feeds the ego.
Nobody needs to resign. People have been able to purchase insurance, even through an less than perfect system.
So, a lot of people just need to shut up.
I am SO sick of the Republicans finger pointing & b*tching all the time. When the GOP does something positive, let me know. Until til, please take your negative obstructionist selves to a dark corner somewhere & think about how your childish bratty behavior the last 5 years has affected this country.
CGI was selected to develop the Medicaid / Medicare website back in 2008 which gave them a solid lock on the contract for the ACA website given the procurement rules, rules set by Congress. While Sebilious carries most of the immediate fault, reasons for problems with the website run deep and far back in time. Demand the secretaries resignation – sure! Provided Senator Rafael Cruz and his friends in the House resign for their 26 Billion dollar failure, about 80 times more costly than the problem plauged ACA website.
Ryan, Cruz, Gomert, , McConnell, The Cooch, Scott, LaPage. Who should resign? The last thing the USA needs is TEA/GOP nihilism. They have nothing to offer except destruction. I've been hearing conservatives screaming for a depression as long as I can remember. Bush/Cheney tried, but failed. President Obama saved the economy from the same clowns who spent the early 2000's telling folks to max out their credit cards, and cash out the equity on their mortgages as a personal financial plan, w/your profits coming from buying before inflation goes up. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO FAMILY FINANCES IF YOU DEFAULT ON A LOAN! TEA aren't low-info voters, they are blind faith, no-info voters.
Not one word from the GOP and the Tea Party about their major donors funding a "hacking center" in Macau that's been launching DDOS attacks against the Healthcare.gov site since the day it launched...interesting how they like to point the finger while completely ignoring activities by their own largest campaign donors.
Hey Ryan, thanks for taking the time to acknowledge that health care is important. Maybe you can also devote a small slice of your precious time to helping out some of the people who need ACA. Thanks.
Isn't Paul Ryan just the one to be telling "anyone" they should resign over not performing their job adequately... wow, that takes a real pair!
Paul Ryan? Is he the same genius who has tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 40 times? You know what they call doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Insanity. And this is the man who's opinion you think matters? Oh please!
Republicans are in no position to ask ANYONE, but themeselves, to resign!!
If we held all politicians to that logic, Cruz, Boehner, and Ryan's heads would have already fallen for their roles in the debt ceiling standoff and for the issues with the budget. Politicians should be held accountable for wasting so much money and doing so much damage to the same economy that they claim they want to fix. Instead, it was a giant tantrum thrown by adults over laws that they lost the vote on several times.
How many times will O use the "Huh?, I didn't know" excuse? It's such an obvious lie and it just makes him look pathetic for not taking responsibility.
While I am not a Ryan fan this woman should resign, she is accountable and she should have made sure that the programming was correct and complete and her and others "political speak" hurts the administration.
You tell em Lying Ryan. Guy's an empty suit.
Oh the poor little kittens, they lost their MITTENS and they began to cry, Oh Mother dear we've lost our MITTENS and now the Democrats won't resign!