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.
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Oh good grief give me a break Ryan like all cons is full off himself. Deflection rules.
He should resign for holding he House hostage to the House rule he changed so that only he or his designee could call for a vote on any House bill. All I hear is the ACA is bad, its bad, its bad – how about making and suggesting changes to make it better. It is the law of the land. I am so sick of the political back stabbing in our government instead of working as a team to help the American people have better lives. I will be voting for change in both the House and Senate in 2014. If these people can't do a better job then they have show so far they don't deserve to keep there jobs representing the PEOPLE..
As a Virginian, I can only express how terrified we are that Cuccinelli might be elected. I don't think McAuliffe is perfect, but I think he would work across the aisle and have the best interest of the state at heart. Cuccinelli is a rabid tea party extremist, with a very troubling agenda.
Paul Ryan should resign. Didn't he vote to DEFAULT and NOT open the government? Shame!
What about you ryan step down for costing our gov 24 billion dollars.
Yeah, Ryan's an expert in failure.
The republicans should keep up the negative strategy they have been following for years because it has worked out so well for them.
Ryan should resign. He produces budget after budget that the CBO says doesn't add up or is unattainable.
Why? So the GOP and baggers 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?
A little compromise here, Sebelius resign and so does Ryan.and Cantor since they were instrumental in costing the Government 24 billion dollars with the shutdown. Time for them to fall on their swords.
Secretary Sebelius should make a deal with Paul Ryan – she will resign after he and all the TEA Party obstructionists that cost the Nation several hundred billion dollars in lost GDP resign and make a formal apology to the Nation.
Give it up! There should be many things that our elected officials should be dealing with, I wonder if they know they are not in high school anymore. The GOP is attempting to turn our attention away from the fact that their party is a MESS. I, for one, will not forget the part that the GOP has played in the past six years in the decline of our world standing. May you reap what you sow, Mr. Ryan and all of your constituents!
Obviously the rollout has been less than stellar, I am being polite, whether she should resign over it is another matter. If this was a private business she would probably lose her job but it isn't, it's government. I really don't have a firm opinion pif whether she should be fired or not. Republicans want it simply for political reasons. If they say otherwise they are in all likelyhood not being honest.
So you think a cabinet secretary should resign over a poorly-functioning website? Really?
Tell you what, Paul – she'll resign after you do. How's that?
Paul Ryan should resign for being useless to the American people. Here's the door, Paul.
Shouldn't the headline be "Sebelius falls on sword to spare Obama"?
How can Obama justify not being on top of his signature accomplishment? Our government fines and jail corporate executives whose companies have done bad things even if the executives did not know what there subordinates were up to because they should have known, it was their responsibility to know! Why does our government not hold its executive to the same standard? This isn't bad leadership, it is criminally incompetent leadership.
There is simply no excuse for Obama not being aware of this issue.
We have spent $65 million on a website and $30 billion on an electronic medical records system, neither of which work. I smell waste and incompetence at best, fraud and payoffs at worst.
For once I agree with Paul Ryan. Sebilius resigning might help the president's image. Not sure why Ryan is interested in doing that, but thanks.
According to Dick Durbin, one member of the Republican leadership in a meeting with the president during the shutdown, said to the president: "I can't stand to even look at your face." But Republicans complain about the president's lack of communication......
Paul Ryan should resign because he's an idiot!
The GOP, queens of a 5 year itch fit.
Paul Ryan, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz,all believe that taxes on the rich should be reduced, even if it means underfunding the government, denying health care to those in need of it and forcing poor old people to tighten teir belts on reduced social security benefits. All three represent an ideological position condemned by Pope Francis. These are not to people to trust to run our government.
Hysterical that Paul Ryan wants Sibelius canned – if she is so bad at her job, why doesn't he want her to stay on?? Wouldn't that further his goal of getting rid of Obamacare altogether? I would think he would praise and defend her, hoping that she would end up wrecking ACA altogether....
I always thought Paul Ryan should have resigned. In fact I think he should never have been elected.
Cruz and Boehner should resign over the shutdown, before Sebelius should resign over the Affordable Health Care website issues.