Paul Krugman, "The Boehner Bunglers": Nothing "Incompetent" About Obamacare's Rollout

Study the question posed in the opening of Paul Krugman's latest New York Times op-ed entitled "The Boehner Bunglers" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/opinion/krugman-the-boehner-bunglers.html?_r=0) and see if you can't guess the answer. Krugman's conundrum:

"The federal government is shut down, we’re about to hit the debt ceiling (with disastrous economic consequences), and no resolution is in sight. How did this happen?"

No it's not a trick question. Paul's solution to this brain twister:

"The main answer, which only the most pathologically 'balanced' reporting can deny, is the radicalization of the Republican Party."

Holy baloney, why didn't I think of that! Those nefarious Republicans! (Excuse me as I stifle a yawn.)

Explaining that "health reform is Mr. Obama’s signature domestic achievement" and that "[y]ou’d have to be completely clueless to believe that he could be bullied into giving up his entire legacy," Krugman continues:

"Many people seem perplexed by the transformation of the G.O.P. into the political equivalent of the Keystone Kops — the Boehner Bunglers?

. . . .

Meanwhile, the government is shut, and a debt crisis looms. Incompetence can be a terrible thing."

Well, I'm not a Republican and with a little luck not destined for Krugman's "Inferno," but doesn't it sound sad that the Affordable Care Act will amount to Obama's "entire legacy"?

And if we're on the subject of "competence," how is it that more than three years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, the Obama administration can roll out a website for persons wanting to sign up for insurance, which is not navigable. As observed by liberal pundit Ezra Klein in a Washington Post item entitled "Wonkbook: Obamacare’s Web site is really bad" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/04/wonkbook-obamacares-web-site-is-really-bad/):

"No one knows how many people have actually signed up through the federal exchanges. As of Thursday morning, health-care reporters were desperately trying to find even one."

Concerning the security of the website, John McAfee, founder of McAfee, Inc., tells us (http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/10/04/John-McAfee-On-Obamacare-Tech-People-Will-Lose-Millions-of-Dollars):

"Well, here's the problem -- it's not something software can solve. I mean, what idiot put this system out there and did not create a central depository? There should be one website, run by the government, you go to that website and then you can click on all of the agencies. This is insane. So, I will predict that the loss of income for the millions of Americans who are going to lose their identities -- I mean, you can imagine some retired lady in Utah, who has $75,000 dollars in the bank, saving her whole life, having it wiped out one day because she signed up for Obamacare. And believe me, this is going to happen millions of times. This is a hacker's wet dream. I cannot believe that they did this."

Only Republican incompetence? Yeah, right.