Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 9/26/2013

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

1:01 P.M. EDT

MR. CARNEY:  Hello, hello, hello.  Good afternoon to you.  Thanks for being here.  Thank you for your patience, as ever.  I have no announcements to make at the top of this briefing, so I will go straight to the Associated Press.

Q    Thanks, Jay.  The Speaker today said he will not simply ask the House to pass the Senate bill with a clean stopgap spending measure.  I’m wondering if the White House believes that that makes a government shutdown inevitable.

MR. CARNEY:  Here’s what we know.  It would be bad for the economy, bad for the middle class to allow the government to shut down.  There is a simple way to prevent that, and that is for the House to do what the Senate will do, which is pass a continuing resolution that keeps the government open for a period of time while we can continue to negotiate over a broader budget deal -- one that funds the essential functions of government; makes the key investments that allow us to grow and create jobs; and if the Republicans are serious about wanting to address this, reduces our deficits in the middle, medium, and long term in a responsible, balanced way.

So the power to do this resides, according to the Constitution, with the Congress.  To threaten to shut down the government in order to achieve a partisan objective that could not be achieved through the normal process is irresponsible.  So we hope it doesn’t happen.

Q    One of the things they want to add is repeal of a tax on medical devices.  Is that something that the White House can support --

MR. CARNEY:  No, absolutely not.  The fact of the matter is we need to make sure that the government continues to function, that services continue to be provided.  And the responsible, sober thing to do is to pass a continuing resolution that keeps the government open and allows for continued negotiations over a broader, balanced, longer-term budget deal that ensures we invest in the right areas of our economy, and that ensures that we educate our kids and allows us to invest in infrastructure and other things that help us grow, and that reduces the deficit in a responsible way.

All these attempts -- we’re going to get to triple digits, eventually, with the number of ways that Republicans have tried to go after Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act.  They have all come to naught, and they will all come to naught, because it was passed by Congress, signed into law by the President, upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States, and validated in a presidential election. 

We are implementing the Affordable Care Act.  We are ensuring that millions of Americans will receive benefits that will allow for many of them, for many millions of them, to be able to afford health care, health insurance for the first time.  And I think what Republicans who oppose Obamacare fear most is that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the arrival of additional benefits -- the ability for Americans to purchase insurance for their families that they could never afford before or were blocked from getting entirely -- will be something they won't want ever to try to take away because the American people will say no.

So we're going to continue to make sure that the Affordable Care Act is implemented, that Americans receive the health insurance that they deserve, and that they can get it at affordable prices.  We talked a lot about that yesterday.  You heard the President talk, obviously, about it today in Maryland -- the efforts to derail the essential function of government in order to achieve a political objective are irresponsible.

Q    Obamacare aside, you have -- if this stopgap measure passes, you’ll get until maybe November 15th.  That's not a heck of a lot of time to negotiate the kind of long-term budget deal that you're talking about.  And I think the public is a little confused as to where the President is willing to negotiate, which is on a potential another government shutdown on November 15th, but not negotiate on a debt ceiling that comes in October 17th, perhaps, according to the Treasury.  Why are you sending that kind of mixed message?

MR. CARNEY:  I think we've been sending very clear signals and obviously hoping that those signals are transmitted by you in this room clearly and accurately.  The fact of the matter is the President has been willing in a demonstrated way to offer compromise solutions to our economic challenges and our budget challenges.  And he has put his money where his mouth is with concrete, moderate, balanced proposals to do that.

And he has met with Republicans all year long who -- Republican legislators who have said that they are interested in finding common ground.  And he is absolutely willing to continue to have those kinds of negotiations.  What he will not do is engage in an attempt by Republicans to extort from him what they could not get through the legislative process, what they could not get at the ballot box, what they could not get at the Supreme Court of the United States, and offer as an alternative to getting what they want through extortion, tanking the economy and crushing the middle class.  He will not do that. 

And as many, many Republicans have said, as many, many business leaders have said -- it is an irresponsible approach to take. 

Q    Last night, Denis McDonough met with some Democrats on the Hill.  What came out of that meeting?  And what is your strategy going into these last few days before the end of the fiscal year?  Is it simply using the bully pulpit, or what exactly?

MR. CARNEY:  We are in conversations -- as the one you just noted demonstrates -- all the time with Congress, and we will continue to be in conversations with Congress about how to move forward here.  Right now, it's up to Congress to pass a continuing resolution.  We wasted a lot of time, especially in the House, pursuing measures that will never become law.  The Speaker said he had a preferred path, but then he was yanked in the opposite direction by the most conservative members of his conference. 

And now we've been through a lot of theater this week as this process has played out.  But, in the end, Congress needs to act to ensure that the government doesn't shut down, and we hope that it does [act].

And then, obviously, we need to be sure that -- and the American people need to be sure -- that the faction of one party in one house of Congress thinks that it's okay to default if they don't get their wish list of partisan agenda items, that they don't succeed.  And this President won't let them succeed.

Q    One of the ideas that Republicans are floating on the debt ceiling is negotiating taking away the sequester cuts in exchange for entitlement reform savings.  Does that fall under the no-negotiation clause?

MR. CARNEY:  Here's what's important to note.  Everybody says -- every leader in Congress, as far as I can tell, based on the public record -- and it's hard to find even a rank-and-file member, although in the Republican Party there are a few, who doesn't agree with the general proposition that it would be bad -- devastating, in fact -- for the economy if we defaulted on the full faith and credit of the United States for the first time in history. 

So there's an area of near consensus.  The President says raise the debt ceiling.  That's Congress's responsibility.  Do it.  It's been done without drama or delay time and again.  The only party to this conversation or this discussion or this debate that is saying -- attaching any condition to raising the debt ceiling is the Republican Party. 

President Obama, the Democrats, they're not saying, well, we'll only pass or sign a bill that raises the debt ceiling if we get these items on our wish list.  Because it's not a concession.  That’s the myth and the farce about the approach that’s being adopted up there on Capitol Hill by Republicans, is the idea that it's a concession to raise the debt ceiling.  It's not a concession.  It is your constitutional responsibility. 

You were not elected to tank the economy.  You were not elected to punish the middle class in order to achieve a political objective that you lost through the legislative process and you lost through the elective process, and you lost through the judicial process. 

Q    So this is a nonstarter, then?  (Laughter.)  I think I'm reading you correctly.  (Laughter.) 

MR. CARNEY:  Yes, it is.  Yes, it is.

Q    So, Jay, if House Republicans stand their ground, if the President will still refuse to negotiate, then the debt ceiling will then be breached?

MR. CARNEY:  House Republican leaders have said that they will not let the country default.  They have it within their power to ensure that that does not happen.  They are the only, again, party to this discussion here in Washington who are suggesting that raising the debt ceiling is conditional, and it is conditioned upon them achieving what, based on reports today, is an extraordinary laundry list of Republican perennials.  The only thing I didn’t see mentioned was, like, a birther bill to attach to it.

So I mean, it's -- this is too serious to be playing games with.  We saw what this kind of brinksmanship can do to our economy in 2011; that was not nearly long enough ago for people to forget.  And I think that the American people would have no tolerance for their elected leaders being willing to punish them, and punish them harshly, in order to achieve these objectives.  And one imagines, as many have written -- including Republican commentators -- that there would be a political price to pay for it.

Q    So you're saying, though, if Republican don’t drop all of their demands, we will default?

MR. CARNEY:  I'm saying that the President will not negotiate over Congress’s responsibility to raise the debt ceiling, and the debt ceiling has to be raised.  It is not a concession to anybody for Congress to do that.  It is not a concession for Republicans to do their constitutionally mandated job.  We absolutely have differences, and we should debate and discuss and negotiate over those differences, but we should not hold the American people hostage while we do it.  And it is the height of irresponsibility to even suggest it.

Q    Are you willing to consider -- is the White House willing to consider approving the Keystone XL pipeline as a possible --

MR. CARNEY:  Again, we are not negotiating over raising the debt ceiling.  And that's a perfect example of another, like, item on the partisan agenda of the Republican Party; in that case, one that is being handled in the way that those issues have traditionally been handled in the administrations of both parties through a process that must be allowed to take place and be completed.  And it would be another example of irresponsible handling of a very sensitive matter. 

I don't think there’s any doubt, if you talk to experts in the field about what would happen should the United States default, that the result would be calamitous.  I mean, it would be devastating to hardworking American families everywhere.  And it would have a lasting impact.  Even the flirtation with default that some Republicans engaged in, in 2011, had a significant impact on our economy.

Q    But isn’t it -- you said -- isn’t it irresponsible to negotiate if we otherwise default?

MR. CARNEY:  It would be irresponsible to begin a process that the Republicans attempted for the first time in our history in 2011, where every time Congress’s responsibility to ensure that the United States pays its bills arose, that this became part of a political extortion game.  That would do enormous harm to our power and prestige economically around the world.  And the result of that harm would be to inflict pain on the American middle class and the American people.  The irresponsible thing would be to follow that path that the Republicans are proposing.

Yes.

Q    If Republicans don't budge, when do you start talking about the day after default?  Is there any contingency planning going on here?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, we’re not going to engage in speculation about something that the Republicans assure us won’t happen.  We obviously are stewards of the executive branch and take all the necessary precautions in a variety of situations.  But we’re not going to -- Republican leaders say that we won’t default.  It is their responsibility to ensure that we don't.  And unfortunately, we’re seeing leaders apparently being guided by those forces and voices within their own party who seem to think that it’s okay to flirt with default and to potentially default in order to achieve political goals.

Q    There are reports that the Security Council has reached an agreement tentatively on enforcement of the Syrian dismantling of its chemical weapons, and it will include references to Chapter 7 consequences if not agreed to.  Is that something the White House can confirm?  And do you have any overall assessment of the situation?

MR. CARNEY:  I would only say that negotiations in both The Hague and New York, at the United Nations Security Council, are proceeding and they’re proceeding concurrently regarding the implementation of the framework that was agreed to by the United States and Russia in Geneva. 

In The Hague, U.S. and Russian delegations are working on the procedures for the expeditious destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons program and stringent verification thereof.  We hope that that product will be circulated to members of the Executive Council in the near future.  The reason why I go there first is these are concurrent efforts that are tied together. 

Meanwhile, negotiations in New York between the United States and Russia continue at the ambassadorial level, and the P5 members are also consulting closely on the draft U.N. Security Council resolution text to which you refer.  I don’t have contents of drafts to reveal to you now.  That work is ongoing.  And the purpose --

Q    It would be premature to say an agreement has been reached?

MR. CARNEY:  I think that we have made good progress, and we hope that this will be resolved and the process will move forward quickly in both cases, and they are tied both in The Hague and in New York at the United Nations. 

The purpose of the U.N. Security Council resolution is to ensure that there is a strong, legally binding, and enforceable mechanism that allows the international community to hold the Assad regime accountable for the implementation of the framework and the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons program.  So this is obviously a key objective to achieving the implementation of the framework that the Russians and the Americans -- the United States and Russia agreed to, which is to ensure that the U.N. Security Council resolution provides a strong, legally binding, and enforceable mechanism.  I think that goes to part of your question.

Q    So can you say if there’s been -- when you say progress, the sticking point this week had been largely about Chapter 7 -- inclusion of that as an enforcement mechanism.  Is that what you’re referring to as far as progress?

MR. CARNEY:  What I’m saying, again, is that the process continues.  We’ve made good progress, in our view, and we -- I don’t have a timeline for when we expect completion of this process, but we hope it is -- that it moves forward quickly; and that we are working for and expect the product to have strong, legally binding, and enforceable mechanisms to ensure that the international community can hold Assad accountable.

Q    President Rouhani told David Ignatius of The Washington Post that he would like a timeline of three months, outside six months, to resolve the nuclear file, as he likes to describe it.  What’s the White House reaction to that timetable?  And does it strike the White House as overly optimistic or attainable?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, we have long wanted, with our international partners and a basically united international community, to resolve this issue with Iran.  And resolving it requires Iran to, in a verifiable way, give up its nuclear weapons program and its nuclear weapons ambitions.  How long that process might take depends entirely on the level of seriousness and cooperation that the Iranians display through substantive conversations.

Now, as you know, today we have a P5-plus-1 meeting, which Secretary Kerry will be a part of and the Foreign Minister of Iran will be a part of.  So this will -- I don’t want to -- we’re not expecting any breakthrough in this initial meeting, but I think that this is part of us testing the seriousness of the Iranians, who are obviously engaging in new overtures and showing new interest in trying to resolve this very serious matter and this conflict that they have had with the international community for so long -- a conflict that has resulted in uniting the international community around the idea that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, and uniting the international community behind a sanctions regime against Iran that has clearly had profound effects on the Iranian economy and that in no small measure is the reason why we have seen this new interest from Tehran in trying to resolve the problem. 

Q    Is this another way of saying that the United States will know very soon whether or not the Iranians are serious of this timetable?

MR. CARNEY:  I wouldn't put a timeline on it.  I think that these are obviously somewhat complicated issues.  But I think that we hope and expect to see progress if Iran is serious and the new government is serious about making progress. 

Q    The President said in his remarks today that the websites available to consumers who want to obtain health insurance could be as easy as various travel websites.  There are reports today from the Associated Press that for some small businesses, this will not be available to them for a certain period of time, and some rather old-style technology will be required -- fax machines and snail mail.  Can you reconcile these two facts?  One is assertion from the President, and a fact about -- 

MR. CARNEY:  Sure.  What is absolutely true is that on October 1st, everyone will be able to enroll --

Q    One way or another.

MR. CARNEY:  -- one way or another.  And when it comes to  -- and here's the distinction that's important in when you talk about the online -- the opening of the online application process, and the plan compare process for small businesses, is that unlike for individuals, the small business enrollment period is not limited as it is for most.  It's a six-month period for individuals.  The small business period is forever open.  It's a monthly process. 

And so they will be able to apply for the tax credits beginning October 1st.  And they will be able to enroll, if you will, for these programs beginning November 1st.  And, again, they don’t kick in again until January 1st.  And unlike with individual enrollees, there's not an open enrollment period.  It is a permanently open window. 

Q    But you'd prefer that it would be online, would you not?

MR. CARNEY:  Look, I think that what's important is that, as the President described today, there will be available for small businesses, for individuals, for everyone the possibility of enrolling, with individuals, in these new marketplaces and for small businesses in programs that will give them tax credits to allow them to provide insurance to their employees at affordable costs that they could not before. 

And, by the way, small businesses have already been able to access tax credits at 35 percent up to now.  And the marketplaces haven't existed yet, but they've been able to apply that against the existing markets.  And one of the problems that small businesses have encountered that has been one of the issues and obstacles that needed to be resolved in our insurance market here in the United States is that small businesses, because of their size, were not able to get reduced rates or lower rates the way that small [large] businesses were because of their size.  And so what the marketplaces will do is allow them to pull together and have that same kind of access.  Come January 1st, those tax credits go up to 50 percent.

So this is good news for small businesses that want to provide insurance to their employees, and it's good news for individuals who, until now, haven't even had the option of affordable health care; they've either been priced out of it, or blocked from it because insurance companies wouldn’t give it to them because a family member had a preexisting condition.  That will all change. 

And when we talk about this debate that’s ongoing now about Republican efforts to undermine or defund or eliminate Obamacare or delay Obamacare -- which is just another way to try to kill it -- through this budget process or the debt ceiling process, they're in a rush to do this because they know that the family of four in North Carolina that, beginning on October 1st -- or in Florida or Maryland or Ohio -- that makes $50,000 and is struggling to pay the bills, and has not been able to afford insurance before, will look at the options available to them and find that they can get affordable health insurance for the first time for everybody in their family. 

And they will not say, you know what, I voted Republican, I don’t want this; my congressman is fighting tooth and nail to repeal Obamacare, so I'm not going to get this affordable insurance for my family.  That’s not going to happen.  And I think that’s the reason you see so much agitation right now, and so much willingness by Republicans to attach purely partisan goals to the essential responsibilities of Congress.

Q    The President also said that there will be immediate curiosity about places where the Affordable Care Act is either not working, or where people are having their work hours shortened, or there are some glitches in the system.  I mean, there are credible reports, anecdotes around the country -- and this has come up in this briefing a couple of times before -- about things where either expectations aren't being met, or people's hours are being cut, or budget cuts are being made -- like the Cleveland Clinic. 

What is the -- is the White House assessment that none of those anecdotes matter, or that they are overwhelmed by a preponderance of other evidence?  I mean, for Americans who encounter this and find difficulty with it -- and those stories are real -- do not they have some consequence equivalent to other stories that you and the President tell about whether a law succeeds?

MR. CARNEY:  On the issue of shifting to part-time employees, there's simply no evidence -- I'm not saying that, anecdotally, there may not be employers who say that they are shifting around the way they provide health insurance.  And some of them may say it's because of the Affordable Care Act, and I'm not -- I'm just saying, they may say that. 

What is true is that this has been an ongoing trend for years.  And what is true across the board is that the increase in employment that we have seen since the implementation -- or since the passage of the Affordable Care Act has been overwhelmingly, more than 90 percent, in full-time jobs.  And that, I think, is pretty clear refutation of this suggestion that employers are adding workers only at part-time levels to avoid providing insurance.

I think most employers -- to make them attractive as employers and because it's the right thing to do and because they want healthy workers -- would like to provide insurance to their employees.  And one of the things that the Affordable Care Act provides is the opportunity for small businesses that have struggled in the imbalanced market that exists now to provide insurance to their employees to have the ability to do that.

Ed.

Q    Jay, how are you today?

MR. CARNEY:  I’m excellent.  Thank you, sir.

Q    Good.  I want to follow up on Major, because I didn't really hear an answer on the part-time work part in terms of -- are you saying that it’s just not true that people are having their hours cut from, say, 40 down below into part-time areas because of health care?  You just don't believe those anecdotes? 

MR. CARNEY:  Again, Ed, all I can say is that I don't know that each individual -- you can have anecdotes, and I’m not disputing anecdotes.  I’m saying that what we know is that there has been a long-term trend that has been part of the problem that needs to be fixed of employers changing the way they provide health care and often dropping their employees from health care. 

And what is absolutely true and factual is that since the Affordable Care Act became law, more than 90 percent of the gain in employment has been in full-time positions.  That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  And according to a CEA analysis, corroborated by other economists, there is no systematic evidence that employers are shifting employees to just below 30 hours a week so that they're not bound by the ACA to provide insurance.  Again, and we have a real-life case study.  This is important -- a real-life case study with Romneycare in Massachusetts.  The shift to part-time work did not happen.  Did not.  Critics, I assume, might have predicted that it would, but it did not happen in the state when it enacted its own health care reform, which, as we all know, is similar in many ways to the Affordable Care Act.

So moreover, the part of the law that some are saying could cause this change, even though there’s no evidence that it has, doesn't even take effect until 2015.

Q    After yesterday’s briefing, a viewer from West Virginia contacted me and said she listened to your answers, and that her husband works at a restaurant in West Virginia.  He had 40 hours a week just a few months ago.  It’s been cut down, cut down.  He’s now working 22 hours a week, and his boss has said it’s because of implementation of health care.  And maybe that's true.  Maybe it’s not.  She said she’ll send her husband’s pay stubs in.  I just wonder, are you just dismissing people saying --

MR. CARNEY:  Of course not.  Of course not.

Q    So what would you say to those people? 

MR. CARNEY:  What I would say --

Q    If your hours are being cut because your boss says it’s because of health care, and whether you think, look, this is going to be better for you in the long run, and you’re going to have health care, et cetera, fine -- you can make that case.  But what do you say to those people who say, look, now my husband’s pay has been cut in half from 40 hours to 22 hours?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, Ed, every individual anecdote is obviously hard to verify.  And I will not contest it, and I certainly will not contest the caller or the viewer who is suffering from the fact that her spouse doesn't have the same number of hours in there, so therefore not the same size paycheck.

Now, for whatever reason that that restaurant has cut back on the number of hours for an individual, what the facts are, including in the restaurant industry, is that that has not been happening across the country in any systematic way.

Secondly -- and here’s what I think is really important when you do the story that you mentioned -- anybody who has insurance provided by their employer who quits or loses their job or sees their hours cut to part-time, because of the Affordable Care Act will have an option to buy insurance that they did not have before -- they did not have in a system that Republicans want to perpetuate.

Q    But if you go from 40 hours to 22, and you have less in your pocket, how do you pay for that health care?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, Ed, first of all, there’s been increases in employment.  There’s been a steady increase in employment in the restaurant industry that has been overwhelmingly in full-time.  I can't -- I don't know each individual anecdote, obviously.  What I can say is that the system that Republicans want to persist is one where individuals who lose their jobs, who are working hard but their employers don't provide insurance, who have families but can't provide insurance for their families, will have affordable health care options that they did not have before. 

And the real-world result of the efforts being made by Republicans now, if they were to come to fruition, is that those families would be deprived of those benefits, those families would not have health insurance.  So they would be going back again and again to the emergency room because their child has asthma, and they would be scared to death about what would happen if one member of their family had a chronic illness that landed them in the hospital, and the bills started piling up -- $20,000, $30,000 -- and they didn’t have health insurance.  Under the Affordable Care Act, they will have health insurance.

Q    Two other quick ones on this.  Securitas AB, the largest security company in America, announced in the last 24 hours it’s ending its lowest-cost health plans, steering people into the insurance exchanges.  That affects 55,000 employees across America.  Now, they may end up -- we don't know -- they may end up with better health care in the insurance exchanges.  You can make that case.  We don't know how that's going to work out.  Maybe they’ll be just fine.  But this was sold a couple years ago as if you currently have health care, you get to keep your doctor, you get to keep your health plan, you're not going to see any changes.  Fifty-five thousand people at this one company are now finding out, actually, they had health care one day -- they’re still going to have health insurance, it appears, or they’ll go into the exchanges, but they don't have the same one they had last week.

MR. CARNEY:  Again, Ed, not to diminish any individual’s experience, and not to contest any assertion about why that's happening, the aggregate truth here about what we know what’s happening in the employment market and what’s happening in the insurance market does not bear out claims that the Affordable Care Act is causing employers to drop employees from insurance  --

Q    But they said that on the record.  Just to be clear, you’re saying we're moving these 55,000 people.

MR. CARNEY:  Ed, what I'm saying is I acknowledge that there may be individual anecdotes or companies that are saying this.  What has been true for a long time is that businesses have been changing the way they provide insurance or they have been stopping the provision of insurance.  And the cost of premiums have been skyrocketing up until the last three or four years, which happens to coincide with the passage of the Affordable Care Act.  And now, for the past three years, we've seen the slowest growth in health care costs in 50 years. 

What you hear opponents say is that the Affordable Care Act and Obamacare is driving up the cost of health care, and they're counting on you to either ignore the facts or not know the facts, or not have seen the data that utterly refutes that assertion.

Q    Last one.  This is largely -- when you were talking in the beginning about the debt ceiling and Republicans trying to end the President's health care law, you do have a Democrat today, Joe Manchin, telling Bloomberg that he wants to see a one-year delay to the individual mandate.  So how do you like them apples?  (Laughter.)

MR. CARNEY:  Here's what I would say.  Senator Manchin has long been opposed to the individual responsibility provision of the Affordable Care Act.  And the fact that he has restated that position doesn't change two facts:  One, an attempt to achieve this agenda item by threatening a shutdown of the government or default on our obligations is irresponsible.  Two, attaching it to a continuing resolution will not pass the Senate, will not become law, but will only draw us closer to a shutdown.  So it doesn't change anything.

And then, generally speaking, what we see with some people who have been critical of the individual mandate is that what they like about the Affordable Care Act is that it bans insurance companies from refusing to provide insurance to people with preexisting conditions.  And we want to keep that.  You hear a lot of Republicans say, boy, one day when we come up with our own replacement for Obamacare -- something they've been promising for a long time -- we're going to include that part.  But as anyone who knows the facts of how the system works, the health care system works in our country, you can't do that without the individual mandate.

The reason why the Affordable Care Act will ensure that no one in America -- none of your relatives, and one out of four people in America or something like that -- I've forgotten the statistic -- who has preexisting conditions cannot be denied coverage because of their condition, their diabetes or asthma or whatever, is because of the expansion of the number of people who will be covered and participate in these marketplaces provided for -- by the Affordable Care Act, through the individual mandate.

So it's all steak and no veggies, right?  I mean, the fact is you have to make the system work.  And that is why the Affordable Care Act is designed in a way to ensure that young people, for example, are able to purchase insurance through the marketplaces, as individuals, that for the first time will be affordable.  And we're going to be engaged, beginning October 1st, in a campaign to make sure that Americans across the country -- and this includes very much young Americans -- are aware that these options are available to them for the first time.

Kristen.

Q    Jay, thanks.  According to the latest Bloomberg poll, 61 percent of Americans want to see an increase of the debt limit linked to spending cuts.  So this is not just Republicans.  So what do you say to those Americans who say they want to see spending cuts?

MR. CARNEY:  What I would say is that the President has proposed a comprehensive budget that reduces the deficit significantly over both the medium and long term.  The President has presided, as President, over a reduction in the deficit by 50 percent -- again, after inheriting the largest deficits in history from his predecessor whose economic policies were broadly supported by those who are now critical of the President's policies.

What I think is absolutely the case -- and it's complicated and it's difficult -- is that the association that is created in the reporting on this between raising the debt ceiling and the deficits is actually not factual.  The debt ceiling has nothing to do with the deficits.  Raising the debt ceiling does not add a dime to our deficits.

Q    So you're saying these Americans are confused --

MR. CARNEY:  I’m saying that Americans are absolutely correct that the debt ceiling should be raised, and they absolutely do not want us to default for the first time in our history, and are absolutely correct that we need to continue the work of reducing our deficit in a responsible way. 

But what we cannot do is agree to an extortion game where Republicans attach every item on their wish list, their partisan wish list, and if they don’t get, they're going to blow up the economy and hurt the middle class. 

Secondly, as I think anybody -- and this gets into serious wonkery -- anybody who looks at the Republican proposals that are emerging out of this, they don’t even reduce the deficit.  So they don’t even fulfill the wishes of that poll item, that poll question, right? 

Delaying the implementation of Obamacare increases the deficit.  The Affordable Care Act reduces the deficit.  Republicans who are now on the other side of the issue, who voted for the expansion of Medicare through Medicare Part D, and voted to do it without paying for it, are now singing a different tune and, in fact, they're for a proposal that would increase the deficit in the name of deficit reduction.

Q    Jay, going back to 2011, I understand it was a part of a broader deal, so saying that off the top.  But didn’t this administration set a precedent for linking --

MR. CARNEY:  We have made no -- we have made very clear that we think that the deliberations in the summer of 2011, in which the President entered into prolonged, sustained, sincere negotiations with the Speaker of the House and others in hopes of finding a broad compromise, a budget proposal that would reduce our deficit and allow us to continue to fund essential aspects of government and invest in the middle class, resulted in a process whereby Republicans, in the House in particular, were engaged in flirtation with default.  And that that had never happened before.  And the result of that was hugely consequential -- not least in the downgrading of the United States for the first time in its history.

So we can't -- what was true before that began is that nothing like that had ever happened before.  And the President certainly hoped that he could achieve an agreement with a grand bargain, so to speak, with the Speaker of the House that would be good for the economy and would represent compromise by both sides.  Compromise was not forthcoming, as we have seen many times now, out of the House Republicans.  And there was a huge price to pay for that.

Q    And, Jay, finally, the last conversation we heard about between the President and Speaker Boehner was on Friday.  Have they spoken since then?

MR. CARNEY:  I don't have any other conversations at the presidential level to report. 

Again, the situation we have here, you’ve seen what the Speaker says about what they're going to do and all the things they want to attach to -- as a condition of doing their jobs.  So we’re not negotiating over raising the debt ceiling.  They're going through a complicated, convoluted, unnecessary process hopefully to get to a point where they pass a continuing resolution so the government doesn't shut down.  And then we’ll see where we are when it comes to raising the debt ceiling.

I am sure that the President will be engaged with Congress, as he has in the past, on the broader issues.  But he will not negotiate -- he will not negotiate over Congress’s responsibility to ensure the United States doesn't default.

Cheryl.

Q    Thanks.  Is the White House looking for a new candidate to replace Ron Binz as chair of the federal --

MR. CARNEY:  Look, Ron Binz is a qualified -- is a very qualified candidate for the position that he’s been nominated for, and he’s one of -- I forget the number -- 100, 120, 140 nominees that are pending before the Senate, and that the Senate ought to act quickly on.  So he’s qualified and the Senate ought to act on his nomination.

Scott, and then Reid.

Q    Jay, the delays that were announced today -- they're technical in nature?  Is that the reason for them, the online -- delayed online registration?

MR. CARNEY:  Yes, I believe so -- that the opening happens on time October 1st.  There’s the ability to -- when it comes to SHOP, the small business piece of this, you can sign up for tax credits right away.  And then when the online portion comes online, you can do the plan comparison beginning November 1st, as I understand it.

The important distinction with the small business aspect of this is that there is not a closed end to the enrollment period, as there is in the individual market, which is very similar obviously to employer-based insurance around the country.

Q    Do you have a sense of how many small business entities are affected by that?

MR. CARNEY:  Affected in what sense?  I know that hundreds of thousands --

Q    That would have been going -- is there an estimate on how many would have been going online?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, again, I don't think it changes -- first of all, it doesn't kick in until January 1st, so there’s no effect on --

Q    I understand their employees -- but when they want to go online October 1st to begin shopping, as you said, they can't do that.  Do you know how many --

MR. CARNEY:  Right, but they can begin the process prior to going online.  And since the Affordable Care Act, the marketplaces don't begin -- they don't kick in until January 1st.  There’s no change in -- it’s not as if they're missing out on a period when the benefits are available.

Moreover, as I said before, because of aspects of the Affordable Care Act that have already been in place and providing benefits, small businesses have already -- hundreds of -- more than 100,000 -- I think 200,000 perhaps -- small businesses across the country have already taken advantage of a 35 percent tax credit as they provide insurance to their employees, and that tax credit will go up to 50 percent on January 1st.

Q    I’m sorry, one other thing.  I guess another delay is going to be in the Spanish-language online registration.  Is that correct enrollment? 

MR. CARNEY:  The online portion of it I believe comes -- will come on sometime in October.  Again, everything opens on October 1st.  Anybody can call in.  There will be Spanish speakers available, navigators available, who speak Spanish, in order to walk enrollees through the process.

Moreover, we know that 70 percent of the Latino population will be accessing the Affordable Care Act healthcare.gov through the English-language portal to begin with, but the Spanish-language portion of this will come online in October.

Q    Jay, with all the talk -- all the shutdown talk and the debt ceiling talks coming up in October, has the President considered --

MR. CARNEY:  It leaves very little time to talk about the pending playoffs in baseball, the dismal start of the season for the Washington Redskins, and other topics, but go ahead.

Q    Well, among those other topics, has the President considered and had conversations about shortening or canceling his Asia trip plan for October?

MR. CARNEY:  As I said yesterday -- I don’t think you were here -- but our schedule remains as planned.  I mean, here’s the thing.  There are some fundamental, basic responsibilities that Congress has, granted to it by the Constitution.  One is, as described, the power of the purse strings.  They need to ensure that government is funded.  They need to take action to do that.  There is readily available means for them to do that.  They need to ensure that the United States does not default, that it pays its bills.  And Congress should do its job. 

One of the jobs of the President of the United States is to ensure that markets that offer great potential for American business -- to create jobs here at home and economic opportunity here at home -- in Asia are exploited.  And as the President of the United States, he wants to make sure he does that.  That’s one of his responsibilities.  He’s going to fulfill it.  Congress ought to fulfill theirs.

Q    You said the schedule remains as planned.  But have there been discussions about changing the schedule?

MR. CARNEY:  None.

Jared.  And then Evan.

Q    Jay, earlier you said that Congress has a constitutional responsibility to raise the debt ceiling.  Does Congress have a constitutional responsibility to raise the debt ceiling?

MR. CARNEY:  Congress, in the delineation of powers, controls the money and Congress alone has the power to legislate a rise in the debt ceiling.  Believe me, if Congress wanted to, tomorrow, to rid itself of this onerous responsibility and to give it to the chief executive, a position currently held by Barack Obama, he would accept it because he thinks it is egregiously irresponsible to flirt with default, because we are the United States of America; we do not default.

Q    But it’s not the position of the White House that anywhere in the Constitution, as currently written, there’s an obligation for Congress to --

MR. CARNEY:  It is not explicitly stated.  Obviously, a raising of the debt ceiling is not explicitly the language of the Constitution, but there is no question that the Constitution gives to Congress the power to appropriate, the power to spend money, and the power to ensure that, as part of that function, bills are paid.  And that’s what raising the debt ceiling is about.  Again, that power -- if you’re suggesting that we have that power, sadly, you’re mistaken.

Q    No, no, I’m not -- I don’t think the way I was posing the question was that.  I was just saying that there’s a middle ground between the President being able to do it, which obviously he’s not, and Congress having to do it as part of a constitutional responsibility.  They’re in this middle ground, right?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, I think you’re misunderstanding the allocation of powers in our system. 

Evan.

Q    Has the President -- oh, if you were going to go to Evan, I’ll let him take it.  I was going to ask about Cory Booker.  (Laughter.)

Q    No, actually I wanted to ask, you’re doing a lot of stuff obviously to sell the Affordable Care Act.  I want to ask about one way you’re doing it.  Yesterday and today, you tweeted from the White House Twitter account pictures of cute animals with the “Adorable Care Act” underneath it.  I want to ask who is behind that and why you think that cute animals can help you sell the health care law?

MR. CARNEY:  Everybody loves cute animals.  (Laughter.)  I myself haven’t re-tweeted that, so I haven’t seen them, but I will.  Look, I think -- this is an important question here.  For the last three years, we’ve been focused largely, when it comes to health care reform, on a political process, on the effort in Congress to craft and pass legislation.  And there was obviously a big fight associated with that.  It passed.  It was signed.  Then there was a big obviously political -- it continued to be a political issue that played a large role in debates both in the midterms and the general election.  And obviously associated -- and then there was a judicial aspect to it through the Supreme Court. 

What implementation is about is about focusing on consumers.  It’s about providing benefits and services to regular American families out there who aren’t engaged in, at least not on a daily basis, the political struggles here in Washington. 

And that’s why what I said earlier I think is so important.  When a hardworking, middle-class family somewhere in this country -- in North Carolina, or Florida, or California, or Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire -- anywhere, making $50,000, and struggling to pay the bills, sees that they will have available to them affordable health insurance that they did not have before, and you’re a mom or a dad looking at that option and saying, I can now get health insurance for my family and I don’t have to rely on the emergency room anymore and live in fear of one of us getting a chronic medical ailment, I will probably take that option, even if I voted against Barack Obama and even if I support my member of Congress who has made it a principal agenda item to try to defund or repeal Obamacare -- because that’s the right thing to do for your family.
 
And these are the benefits that those who are trying to derail this process -- and who are trying unsuccessfully to derail it -- are ultimately trying to take away from hardworking Americans out there who need and deserve affordable health insurance for their families.

Q    Some of them say this is less than serious.  Do you think that some of those critics you’re talking about, do you feel like animals are a serious --

MR. CARNEY:  Look, I think that any way that we can get out the basic facts to Americans about the options available to them for the first time is worth trying.  And again, beginning October 1st, people all around the country who don’t get insurance through their employers, who haven't been able to afford insurance because they're priced out of it or they have a preexisting condition, will be able to go and see all of these options available to them, and will see for themselves that there's affordable insurance for the first time, and insurance that can't be taken away because the Affordable Care Act forbids insurance companies from kicking you off arbitrarily if they decide that you have a condition they don’t want to pay for.  And those will be powerful benefits for the American people, and will give them a level of economic security for themselves and their families that they haven't had before.

Yes, Mark.

Q    What Scott was asking about, the small business website -- is this a setback?  To hear you describe it, it doesn’t sound like anything.

MR. CARNEY:  Look, again, you can fill out an application on October 1st for tax credits.  In November, you can compare plans online.  Coverage doesn’t begin until January 1st.  And then, unlike the individual marketplace which has a six-month enrollment, the SHOP Market, the small business market, is open all year round.  So there's --

Q    But haven't you been telling businesses to expect to be able to do this --

MR. CARNEY:  October 1st, they can apply for tax credits.  They’ll be able to compare plans in November. 

What is absolutely the case is we are meeting the deadlines that make access to this available on October 1st when it comes to the individual market.  And, again, because there's not a constrained period of time for small businesses, you have to look at the fact that the online component of SHOP won't be available until November, differently from the way it works for the individual market.

Q    And I know the President referred to things like this as “glitches," and obviously it's a big program -- I understand that.  Even if you think that the whole health plan is the greatest thing in the world, is it not an embarrassment to have had a number of delays such as this?

MR. CARNEY:  But again, what is -- what the President said is right, is that there will be glitches in the rollout of this, as there have been in every program.  I think, again, a good reference point is Medicare Part D, which caused, far more than we've seen in this thus far, a huge amount of consternation among consumers when it was initially rolled out. 

We don’t anticipate that here at all.  We are engaging across the administration in an effort to make sure that the American people have the information they need and that they have the access they need to find out about the plans available to them.

Again, for the first time, you're going to see for the average American in the United States who needs to buy insurance on the individual market, they're going to have an average of 50 options, 50 plan options, and they will have affordable options that they have never had before. 

That’s the fundamental fact.  And it's hard for opponents to escape that fact.  And it will become tangible, beginning on October 1st, because Americans, in the way that they purchase so many things online, will be able to make that comparison in a very simple way, look at the options available to them, and make some choices and enroll.  And then on January 1st, that coverage that has not existed before kicks in. 

And I think it's worth noting -- because I had this discussion with Ed yesterday and I wanted to get back to him because I think, apples aside, that it's important to make clear what the distinction is between what's available today and what will be available beginning January 1st, and what individuals will be able to enroll for on October 1st. 

In most states today, the individual market, in the individual market, insurers can deny coverage because of a preexisting condition.  They can charge you more just for being a woman.  They can refuse to cover care for your preexisting condition.  Even if they do sell you a plan, they can charge you unlimited, out-of-pocket costs.  They can charge you more due to your health history or your family's health history.  They can put an annual limit on your coverage.  They don't have to cover essential services like maternity care or prescription drugs.  And about 62 percent of enrollees in the individual market today in most states do not have coverage for maternity services.

In other words, the comparison that we were talking about yesterday -- if you buy a plan in the individual market today, you won't know whether it will be there for you when you need it. 

Now, once you enroll in the marketplaces and the insurance kicks in on January 1st, in all states, insurers cannot deny coverage because of a preexisting condition.  They cannot charge you more just because you're a woman.  They cannot refuse to cover care for your preexisting condition.  They can't charge you more due to you or your family's health history.  And they can't put an annual limit on your coverage.  And they can't charge you unlimited out-of-pocket costs.  Every plan --  

Q    That's why it's more expensive.

MR. CARNEY:  It's not.  On average, it's less -- significantly less.  And these tax credits are available for those who need them. 

What Ed did was found one example that, again, didn't account for all of the worms in the plan that was offered, how it is utterly different from what will be on offer in the future.  And overwhelmingly, as has been demonstrated in a variety of studies, there will be more options and more affordable prices than ever before in the individual market.  Moreover, every plan -- this is not true today -- must cover essential services like maternity care, hospitalizations, doctor's visits, and prescription drugs.  That's why it's a much better apple.

Q    So maybe Ted Cruz should acknowledge the good things here, but why won’t you acknowledge, for example, the one I asked before -- 55,000 employees who had health care through their employer --

MR. CARNEY:  Ed.  Come on, Ed. 

Q    Did you not say dozens of times that you --

MR. CARNEY:  Really, I feel like we're doing this sideshow thing.

Q    I'm sorry.  No, no, no.  Did you sell it as you get to keep your health care?

MR. CARNEY:  Absolutely.  If you have --  

Q    You did.  So what about those 55,000?

MR. CARNEY:  You can come up with anecdotes, but --

Q    That's a pretty big company.

MR. CARNEY:  -- the overwhelming facts dispute this, that employers are shedding employees from insurance plans because of the Affordable Care Act, or that they're moving them into part-time status because of this.  Again, you can ignore the data and present competing anecdotes.  And I'm not diminishing --

Q    Again, the Wall Street Journal yesterday said 55,000 people are moving. 

MR. CARNEY:  Ed, please.

Q    That's the data.

MR. CARNEY:  No, that's an anecdote.

Q    You have the data and your critics have data.  Why won't you acknowledge --

MR. CARNEY:  There's a difference between anecdote and data. 

Yes, Ann.

Q    Thank you very much.  Jay, does the President still contend that if Americans like their health plan they can keep it?  He did not manage to get that into a 50-minute speech --

MR. CARNEY:  Absolutely.  He did get that in his speech. 

Q    He did not get that phrase in.

MR. CARNEY:  Yes, Ann.  If you like your health insurance and you're lucky enough to have an employer who provides health insurance, absolutely, you can keep it.

This is the thing that is the myth about this, too -- when you ask me about whether I would enroll in the exchanges -- I absolutely would if I did not have insurance provided -- company-provided health insurance.

Q    The White House previously said the President would enroll.  Is he --

MR. CARNEY:  Ed, could I just --

Q    No, no, it’s not me.

MR. CARNEY:  Ed, please, we will do it -- I promise you, we’ll get big contracts and do it on “Crossfire” -- you on the right.  But the --

Q    Wrong network.

MR. CARNEY:  But here’s the thing.  You have employer-provided health insurance.  I have employer-provided health insurance.  The marketplaces are for individuals, and they provide subsidies that -- if you have the option of employer-provided health insurance, you don't get those subsidies, so of course, you would keep your employer-provided health insurance if you so desired.  And that's the answer to your question, too -- yes.

Q    The city of Chicago is taking some retirees off of -- taking it away and putting them into the exchanges instead of letting them --

MR. CARNEY:  Ann, again, you guys -- there is no question that there have been huge trends and shifts in the insurance market in our country that have been ongoing for years, and some of what you describe is related directly to that.

What is different about this is that for the first time there will for members of your family -- extended family I hope -- who have serious preexisting conditions, their insurance company can't deny them coverage.  They cannot.  They will not.  And it is because of the way the Affordable Care Act is written, and the way it’s being implemented that that will be available to all Americans. 

Thank you very much.

END
2:01 P.M. EDT

President Obama Launches Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee “2.0”

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee “2.0,” part of a continuing effort to maintain U.S. leadership in the emerging technologies that will create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance America’s global competitiveness. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) was created by the President in 2011 with the recognition that industry, academia, and government must work in partnership to revitalize our manufacturing sector.

The new Steering Committee comprises leaders in industry, academia, and labor, will build on progress made by the inaugural Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee, created by the President. As outlined in its report released last year, Capturing Domestic Competitive Advantage in Advanced Manufacturing, that group called for a national effort to strengthen the U.S. advanced manufacturing sector.

Most importantly, the inaugural Steering Committee called for sustaining U.S. investments in science, technology, and innovation; establishing a National Network of Manufacturing Innovation Institutes—a set of public-private partnerships to build shared high-tech facilities and advance U.S. leadership in emerging technologies; upgrading community-college workforce training programs and deploying the talent of returning veterans to meet critical manufacturing skills needs; and improving the business climate for manufacturing investment through tax, regulatory, energy, and trade reform. The new Steering Committee will build on the progress made over the last several years and continue to make America a magnet for jobs and manufacturing so we continue to manufacture things the rest of the world buys.

Through Administrative action, bipartisan legislative proposals, and private-sector initiatives, several of the Steering Committee’s original recommendations are now well underway.  For example, this fall, three new manufacturing-innovation institutes will join the pilot institute created last year in Youngstown, Ohio, as a down payment on the formation of a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. Also in response to the initial Steering Committee, the Administration has made investing in community colleges an important focus, proposing an $8 billion fund to help community colleges work with industry on new workforce development and training collaborations. The Administration continues to make investment in advanced manufacturing research and development a sustained priority, with a focus on accelerating the launch of technologies from lab to market.

The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee 2.0 will function as a working group of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). In addition, it will work closely with the White House’s National Economic Council and Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Department of Commerce, to fully implement the initial Steering Committee’s previous recommendations, scale promising manufacturing workforce innovations and partnerships, and identify new, concrete strategies for securing the Nation’s competitive advantage in transformative early-stage technologies.

In addition, the Advanced Manufacturing Steering Committee 2.0 will engage the broader manufacturing community through regional working sessions and forums designed to surface examples of innovative strategies to build US manufacturing competitiveness.

Recognizing that the U.S. manufacturing sector draws its strength from a multitude of tightly linked capabilities contributed by the private sector, academia, and labor, the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership and its second-generation Steering Committee will draw upon leadership from across manufacturers of all sizes, leading universities, and labor. Chaired by Andrew Liveris, President, Chairman, and CEO of the Dow Chemical Company, and Rafael Reif, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the new Steering Committee includes:

• Wes Bush, Chairman, CEO and President, Northrop Grumman Corp.
• Mary Sue Coleman President, The University of Michigan
• David Cote, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell
• Nicholas Dirks, Chancellor, University of California, Berkeley
• Kenneth Ender, President, Harper College
• Leo Gerard, International President, United Steelworkers
• Hon. Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Eric Kelly, President and CEO, Overland Storage
• Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and CEO, Alcoa Inc.
• Andrew Liveris, President, Chairman, and CEO, The Dow Chemical Company
• Ajit Manocha, CEO, GLOBALFOUNDRIES
• Douglas Oberhelman, Chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc.
• Annette Parker, President, South Central College
• G.P. “Bud” Peterson, President, Georgia Tech
• Luis Proenza, President, The University of Akron
• Rafael Reif, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Eric Spiegel, President and CEO, Siemens Corp.
• Mike Splinter, Executive Chairman of the Board, Applied Materials Inc.
• Christie Wong Barrett, CEO, Mac Arthur Corp. 

For more information about the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, please visit: http://www.manufacturing.gov/amp.html

For more information about PCAST, please visit: http://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pcast

Remarks by the President on the Affordable Care Act

Prince George’s Community College
Largo, Maryland

10:50 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Maryland!  (Applause.)  Hello, PGCC! (Applause.)  It’s good to be back in PG County.  (Applause.)   

Give it up for one of the hardest-working, most effective  governors in the country, Governor Martin O’Malley.  (Applause.)

Well, it is great to be with all of you here today --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I love you!

THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back.  It’s wonderful being here. (Applause.) 

We also have a few folks who work so hard on behalf of the people of Maryland every single day:  Senator Ben Cardin is here. (Applause.)  Congressman Steny Hoyer is here.  (Applause.)  And Congresswoman Donna Edwards is here.  (Applause.)  

And all of you are here.  (Applause.)  Sometimes you just need to escape Beltway politics for a little bit -- even if you're just a mile or two outside the Beltway.  

Now, I know that a lot of you have seen some of the antics going on in Congress right now.  (Laughter.)  So I wanted to take a little bit of time today to speak with you -- the people who send us to serve -- about something that is critical to our families, critical to our businesses, critical to our economy.  And that is the reforms that we are making to our health care system.

There’s been a lot of things said, a lot of misinformation, a lot of confusion.  But there are few things more fundamental to the economic security of the middle class and everybody who’s trying to get into the middle class than health care. 

For a long time, America was the only advanced economy in the world where health care was not a right, but a privilege.  We spent more, we got less.  We left tens of millions of Americans without the security of health insurance.  By the time the financial crisis hit, most folks’ premiums had more than doubled in about a decade.  About one in 10 Americans who got their health care through their employer lost that coverage.  So the health care system was not working.  And the rising costs of health care burdened businesses and became the biggest driver of our long-term deficits. 

But this has always been about more than just statistics.  Everywhere I went as I ran for President back in 2007, 2008, everyplace I've gone as President, I would hear stories from folks just like you of insurers that denied a child coverage because he had a preexisting condition like asthma; of cancer survivors that had to choose between their home or their health care; of small businesses who wanted to do the right thing by their employees but had seen their insurance premiums go up so high that they just couldn't do it anymore. 

And these stories were personal for me, because I remember my mother worrying about how she was going to deal with her finances when she got very sick.  I remember the fear Michelle and I felt when Sasha was a few months old and she got meningitis.  And we raced to the hospital and they had to give her a spinal tap.  And we didn’t know what was wrong and we were terrified, never felt so scared or helpless in all of my life.  But we were fortunate enough to have good health insurance. 

And I remember looking around that emergency room and thinking -- what about the parents who aren’t that lucky?  What about the parents who get hit with a bill of $20,000 or $30,000 and they’ve got no idea how to pay for it?  What about those parents whose kids have a chronic illness like asthma and have to keep on going back to the emergency room because they don't have a regular doctor, and the bills never stop coming?  Who is going to stand up for them?

In the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one should go broke just because they get sick.  (Applause.)  

In the United States of America, health care is not a privilege for the fortunate few -- it is a right.  And I knew that if we didn’t do something about our unfair and inefficient health care system, it would keep driving up our deficits, it would keep burdening our businesses, it would keep hurting our families, and it would keep holding back economic growth.

That's why we took on a broken health care system.  That's why, with the help of folks like Steny and Ben and Donna, we got it through Congress.  That’s why we’ve been implementing it.  That’s why we are going to see it through.  The Affordable Care Act is here.  (Applause.)

I don’t have to tell you it was a challenge to get it done. (Laughter.)  A lot of special interests who liked the system just the way it was fought us tooth and nail.  Then Republicans decided it was good politics to fight it, even though the plan we proposed drew on a lot of Republican ideas. 

But despite all the obstacles, the Affordable Care Act passed both houses of Congress.  I signed it into law.  (Applause.)  The Supreme Court ruled it constitutional.  (Applause.)  Republicans in Congress have now voted more than 40 times to undermine or repeal it.  Their candidate for president ran on a platform to repeal it.  And at every step, they’ve been unsuccessful.  (Applause.)

Now, five days from now -- five days from now -- on October 1st, millions of Americans who don’t have health insurance because they’ve been priced out of the market or because they’ve been denied access because of a preexisting condition, they will finally be able to buy quality, affordable health insurance.  (Applause.)  In five days.  (Applause.) 

Preexisting conditions, whether it’s back pain or allergies that were sticking you with sky-high premiums, those no longer will prevent you from getting affordable coverage that you need. That’s going to happen in five days. 

Now, of course, the closer we’ve gotten to this date, the more irresponsible folks who are opposed to this law have become. Some of the same Republicans who warned three years ago that this law would be “Armageddon” -- that’s what they said -- “Armageddon” -- now they’re threatening steps that actually would badly hurt our entire economy -- not because of the Affordable Care Act but because of what they’re threatening to do. 

Some have threatened a government shutdown if they can’t shut down this law.  Others have actually threatened an economic shutdown by refusing to pay America’s bills if they can’t delay the law.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  That’s not going to happen as long as I’m President.  (Applause.)  The Affordable Care Act is here to stay.  (Applause.) 

And so today, I want to speak plainly, clearly, honestly, about what it means for you and for the people you care about.
Now, let’s start with the fact that even before the Affordable Care Act fully takes effect, about 85 percent of Americans already have health insurance -– either through their job, or through Medicare, or through the individual market.  So if you’re one of these folks, it’s reasonable that you might worry whether health care reform is going to create changes that are a problem for you -- especially when you’re bombarded with all sorts of fear-mongering. 

So the first thing you need to know is this:  If you already have health care, you don’t have to do anything.  In fact, for the past few years, since I signed the Affordable Care Act, a lot of you have been enjoying new benefits and protections that you didn’t before even if you didn’t know they were coming from Obamacare.  (Applause.)

Let me just give you a few examples.  Because of the Affordable Care Act, more than 100 million Americans have gotten free preventive care like mammograms and contraceptive care with no copays.  (Applause.)  

Because of the Affordable Care Act, 3 million young adults under age 26 have gained coverage by staying on their parents’ plan.  (Applause.)

Because of the Affordable Care Act, millions of seniors on Medicare have saved hundreds of dollars on their prescription medicine.  They’ve been getting their prescription drugs cheaper. (Applause.)

Because of the Affordable Care Act, just this year, 8.5 million families actually got an average of $100 back from their insurance companies because the insurance companies spent too much on things like overhead, and not enough on actual Medicare  -- medical care.  (Applause.)

Because of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies can no longer put lifetime limits on the care your family needs, or discriminate against children with preexisting conditions.  And starting on January 1st, they won’t be able to charge women more for their insurance just because they're women.  (Applause.)  That's a good thing.

So tens of millions of Americans are already better off because of the benefits and protections provided by the Affordable Care Act.  Like I said, they may not know why that rebate check came in the mail.  (Laughter.)  They may not notice that they're not having to copay for some preventive care that they received.  But they're getting those benefits.  That's already happening.  That's already in place today.  It’s been going on for several years.

Those are the benefits of Obamacare -- the law that Republicans want to repeal.  Although it’s interesting -- when you ask Republicans whether they’d repeal the benefits I just mentioned, when you say to them, well, do you think it’s the right thing to do to let young people stay on their parents’ plans so they can keep insurance, or do you want to prevent seniors from getting more discounts on their prescription drugs, then they’ll say, no, no, no, we like those.  Those things are okay.  (Laughter.)  So they don't like Obamacare in theory, but some of the component parts, at least those that poll well, they don't mind. 

But that's already in place.  Now, here’s the second thing you need to know.  If you’re one of over 40 million Americans who don’t have health insurance –- including hundreds of thousands of folks right here in Maryland –- starting on Tuesday, five days from now, you’ll finally have the same chance to buy quality, affordable health care as everybody else.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Thanks, Mr. President!  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  And I want to break this down for you.  I want you to know exactly how it works.  The major reason why people don’t have health insurance is either they don’t have a job, or they do have a job but their employer doesn’t offer health insurance, or they’re self-employed.  If you’ve ever tried to buy health insurance on your own, you know it is really, really expensive.

AUDIENCE:  Yes!

THE PRESIDENT:  It’s even worse if you have a preexisting condition –- and up to half of all Americans have a preexisting condition.  See, the reason it's really expensive if you're buying it on your own is because you're not part of a big group, you're not part of a group plan.  And what groups do is they spread risk between sick and healthy people, between older and younger people.  And groups -- because insurance companies want the business of groups -- that’s a lot of customers -- they'll negotiate a better deal with a group than they will with an individual. 

So if you're on your own, you're out there trying to negotiate with an insurance company, they're looking and they're saying, well, you take it or leave it, I'm going to charge you a whole lot of money.  And if you've got a preexisting condition, they'll say, we don’t even want to insure you because we think you might get sick later on and we don’t really want to pay, we just want to take in premiums. 

So if you're not part of a group, you're either uninsurable, or you need to spend a small fortune on insurance that oftentimes is not very good.  That’s what's happening right now.  The Affordable Care Act was designed to solve that problem.  And here’s how we do it.

Starting on Tuesday, every American can visit HealthCare.gov to find out what’s called the insurance marketplace for your state.  Here in Maryland, I actually think it's called MarylandHealthConnection.gov.  (Applause.)  MarylandHealthConnection.gov.  But if you go to HealthCare.gov, you can look and they'll tell you where to go.  They'll link to your state. 

Now, this is real simple.  It’s a website where you can compare and purchase affordable health insurance plans, side-by-side, the same way you shop for a plane ticket on Kayak -- (laughter) -- same way you shop for a TV on Amazon.  You just go on and you start looking, and here are all the options. 

It’s buying insurance on the private market, but because now you’re part of a big group plan -- everybody in Maryland is all logging in and taking a look at the prices -- you’ve got new choices.  Now you've got new competition, because insurers want your business.  And that means you will have cheaper prices.  (Applause.) 

So you enter in some basic information about yourself, what level of coverage you’re looking for.  After that, you’ll be presented with a list of quality, affordable plans that are available in your area.  It will say clearly what each plan covers, what each plan costs.  The price will be right there.  It will be fully transparent. 

Before this law, only a handful of states required insurance companies to offer you instant price quotes, but because of this law, insurers in all 50 states will have to offer you instant price quotes.  And so if you’ve ever tried to buy insurance on your own, I promise you this is a lot easier.  It's like booking a hotel or a plane ticket. 

And here's another thing about these new plans.  If you’re one of those folks who has a preexisting condition, these plans have to offer you coverage.  They can't use your medical history to charge you more than anybody else.  If you couldn’t afford coverage for your child because he had asthma, he's covered.  If you couldn’t afford coverage because you were told heartburn was a preexisting condition, you're covered.  (Laughter.)  If you’re one of the 45 million Americans with a mental illness, you are covered. 

If you’re a young adult or entrepreneur striking out on your own, you’re covered.  (Applause.)  If you’re a young couple who previously had insurance that didn’t include maternity benefits and now suddenly you need some maternity benefits, you’re covered.  (Applause.)  If you lose your job and your health care with it, you’re covered.  (Applause.)   

So all those things that would deny you coverage in the past, that were the cruelties of a broken health care system, on January 1st, when these plans take effect --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  October 1st.

THE PRESIDENT:  No, no, no, no -- hold on.  (Laughter.)  Hold on.  I know what I'm talking about.  You sign up starting on Tuesday.  (Laughter.)  The plan will take effect on January 1st. And when these plans take effect, all those things change forever.

Now, what about choice and cost?  In states where the federal government helps run these marketplaces, the average American will have more than 50 different plans to choose from, with different levels of coverage.  And because insurance companies are competing against one another for your business, a lot of Americans will pay significantly less for their insurance than they do now.  Premiums are going to be different in different parts of the country, depending on how much coverage you buy.  But 95 percent of uninsured Americans will see their premiums cost less than was expected.  And many families, including more than two-thirds of all young adults who buy health care through these online marketplaces, are also going to be eligible for tax credits that bring down the cost down even further.  (Applause.)

So let me be specific.  Right here in Maryland, average 25-year-old -- have we got any 25-year-olds here?  (Applause.)  All right, so we've got a few.  Some of you raised your hand -- I'm not sure you're -- (laughter.) 

Here in Maryland, average 25-year-old making $25,000 a year could end up getting covered for as little as $80 a month -- $80 a month.  (Applause.)  Here in Maryland, a family of four making $60,000 a year could get covered for as little as $164 a month. 

It’s the same story across the country.  In Texas, average 27-year-old making $25,000 could get covered for as little as $83 a month.  In Florida, a family of four making $50,000 could get covered for as little as $104 a month. 

And keep in mind the government didn’t set these prices.  The insurance companies -- they proposed these prices because they want to get in with these big groups, with all these new customers.  The insurance companies are saying these marketplaces, this law, will work.  They're putting money on the line because they think it will work.  Competition, choice, transparency -- all these things are keeping costs down. 

Knowing you can offer your family the security of health care -- that’s priceless.  Now you can do it for the cost of your cable bill.  Probably less than your cellphone bill.  (Laughter and applause.)  Think about that.  Good health insurance for the price of your cellphone bill, or less. 

And let’s say you’re a young woman, you just turned -- I’m interested in this, because I got two daughters, right?  Let’s say you just turned 26.  Let’s say you can’t stay on your parents’ plan anymore.  If you buy health care through the marketplace, your plan has to cover free checkups, flu shots, contraceptive care.  So you might end up getting more health care each month than you’re paying for the premiums.

All told, nearly 6 in 10 Americans without health insurance today will be able to get covered for $100 or less.  It would actually be 8 in 10 if every governor were working as hard as Governor O’Malley to make the Affordable Care Act work for their citizens.  (Applause.) 

Unfortunately, we’ve still got a few Republican governors who are so opposed to the very idea of the law -- or at least they’re doing it for politics -- that they haven’t lifted a finger to help cover more people.  Some of them have actually tried to harm the law before it takes effect.

But a lot of Republican governors are putting politics aside and doing the right thing.  (Applause.)  And they deserve congratulations for that.  It wasn’t easy for them.  But you’ve got conservative governors in Ohio, in Michigan, in Pennsylvania and Arizona -- about eight Republican governors in all, they’ve decided to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act to cover more people in their states.  And millions of Americans without insurance will get coverage through these programs.

So that’s what the Affordable Care Act is.  That’s what all the fuss is about.  We’re giving more benefits and protections for folks who already have health insurance, and we created a new market -- basically a big group plan -- for folks without health insurance so that they get a better deal, and then we’re providing tax credits to help folks afford it. 

You would think that would not be so controversial.  (Laughter.)  You would think people would say, okay, let’s go ahead and let’s do this so everybody has health insurance coverage.  The result is more choice, more competition, real health care security. 

And one question people ask:  How is it possible to do all this and keep costs down?  Well, part of what we did was build into the law all sorts of measures to assure that the growth of health care costs would start slowing down.  And it has.  See, under the old system, doctors and hospitals, they were rewarded not for the quality of care, but for the quantity of care.  They’d get paid for the number of procedures they did instead of whether they were working or not.  Now, there are penalties for hospitals with high readmission rates.  And last year, surprisingly enough, for the first time ever, hospital readmission rates for Medicare patients actually fell.  (Applause.)  Right?  That means fewer taxpayer dollars go to providers that don’t serve their patients well. 

Over the past five years, we’ve more than doubled the adoption of electronic health records for physicians.  So that means they can track what’s going on better and make fewer mistakes.  New technology startup companies are coming up with new inventions to monitor patient health, prevent infections.  There’s innovation going on all across the country.  As a consequence, today, Medicare costs per enrollee are rising at the slowest rate in years.  Employer-based health care costs are growing at about one-third the rate of a decade ago. 

All told, since I signed the Affordable Care Act into law, we have seen the slowest growth in health care costs on record.  (Applause.)

So let’s think about this.  If you got health insurance, you’re getting better protections, better benefits.  If you don't have health insurance, you're now getting to be part of a group plan.  And health care costs overall are rising much more slowly than they did before we signed the law.  So far, so good.  So what’s all the fuss about?  What is it that everybody -- what is that these Republicans are just so mad about?

AUDIENCE:  Booo --  

THE PRESIDENT:  No, no, no, look, I want to be honest.  There are parts of the bill that some folks don’t like.  To help pay for the program, the wealthiest Americans –- families who make more than $250,000 a year -– will have to pay a little bit more.  Extremely costly health insurance plans will no longer qualify for unlimited tax breaks.  And most people who can afford health insurance now have to take responsibility to buy health insurance, or pay a penalty.  (Applause.) 

Right?  Now, the reason we do that is, when uninsured people who can afford to get health insurance don’t, and then they get sick or they get hit by a car, and they show up at the emergency room, who do you think pays for that? 

AUDIENCE:  We do. 

THE PRESIDENT:  You do, in the form of higher premiums.  Because the hospitals, they've got to get their money back somehow.  So if they're treating somebody who doesn’t have health insurance, they jack up premiums for everybody who does have health insurance.  It’s like a hidden tax of $1,000 per family every year who has got health insurance.  So we're saying that’s not fair.  If you can afford to get health insurance, don’t dump the costs on us.  The law also requires employers with more than 50 employees to either provide health insurance for your workers or pay a penalty. 

Now, some folks say, well, that’s not fair.  But if you are an employer, you can afford to provide health insurance, you don’t, your employees get sick, they go to the emergency room or they end up on Medicaid because you're not doing what you're doing -- you should be doing -- why is it everybody else should be bearing those costs? 

Now, there are some folks who disagree with me on this.  They say that violates people's liberty, telling them they've got to get health insurance.  Well, I disagree.  So did Congress when it passed this bill into law.  It is unfair for folks to game the system and make the rest of us pay for it.  (Applause.)  It's unfair for responsible employers who are doing the right thing, giving their employees health insurance, to get undercut by some operator that’s not providing health insurance for their employees.  That puts the employer who's doing the right thing at a disadvantage, right? 

So this idea that you've got responsibilities -- everybody  -- that’s what Massachusetts did when they passed their health care plan a few years ago.  And, by the way, today, in Massachusetts, almost everybody is covered and the system works pretty well.  (Applause.) 

All right, let me just wrap up by saying this:  Like any law, like any big product launch, there are going to be some glitches as this thing unfolds.  Folks in different parts of the country will have different experiences.  It's going to be smoother in places like Maryland where governors are working to implement it rather than fight it.  (Applause.)  But somewhere around the country, there's going to be a computer glitch and the website's not working quite the way it's supposed to, or something happens where there's some error made somewhere -- that will happen.  That happens whenever you roll out a new program.  And I guarantee you, the opponents of the law, they'll have their cameras ready to document anything that doesn’t go completely right, and they'll send it to the news folks and they'll say, look at this, this thing is not working.

But most of the stories you'll hear about how Obamacare just can't work is just not based on facts.  Every time they have predicted something not working, it's worked.  (Applause.)  I mean, they said that these rates would come in real high and everybody's premiums would be sky high.  And it turns out, lo and behold, actually, the prices came in lower than we expected -- lower than I predicted.  That’s how well competition and choice work.  (Applause.) 

They said this would be a disaster in terms of jobs.  There's no widespread evidence that the Affordable Care Act is hurting jobs.  One of John McCain's former economic advisors admitted just this week -- and I'm quoting here -- “I was expecting to see it.  I was looking for it," but "it’s not there.”  It’s not there.  (Applause.) 

The reason is reforming health care is going to help the economy over the long term.  Not only will it help lower costs for businesses, not only will it help families, it will free up entrepreneurship in this country.  Because if you’ve got a great idea for your own business but you’ve never tried it because your spouse had a preexisting condition and you didn't want to lose your employer-based coverage, you've got the ability now to get your own coverage.  That's security.  That’s freedom.

So we’re now only five days away from finishing the job.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Five days away.

THE PRESIDENT:  Five days.  (Applause.)  Starting on Tuesday, you can sign up.  But you don't have to sign up on Tuesday.  You've got six months to enroll in these new plans.  You can go to the website; you can check it out; you can see if what I'm saying is true.  (Laughter.)  You can sign up next week. You can sign up next month.  You can sign up two months from now, three months from now.  But you can sign up. 

Tell your friends, tell your classmates, tell your family members about the new health care choices.  Talk to folks at your church, in your classroom.  You’re going to a football game, basketball game -- talk to them.  Tell them what the law means. 

And over the next few months, state and local leaders from across the country are going to hold events to help get the word out.  Go out there and join them.  Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is in Texas right now, working with folks on the ground to make sure this law works for Texas families.  All across the country, people are getting ready.  All kinds of people are working hand-in-hand because we’re all in this together -- that’s when America is at its best.  That’s what this country is all about.

But we need you to spread the word.  But you don't have to take my word for it.  If you talk to somebody who says, well, I don't know, I was watching FOX News and they said this was horrible -- (laughter) -- you can say, you know what, don't take my word for it, go on the website.  See for yourself what the prices are.  See for yourself what the choices are.  Then make up your own mind. 

That's all I'm asking.  Make up your own mind.  I promise you, if you go on the website and it turns out you're going to save $100, $200, $300 a month on your insurance, or you'll be able to buy insurance for the first time, even if you didn't vote for me -- (laughter) -- I’ll bet you’ll sign up for that health care plan.  (Applause.)

So you don’t need to listen to the politicians.  You don’t need to listen to me.  Just go check it out for yourself.  Make up your own mind whether this works for you. 

Look, part of the reason I need your help to make this law work is because there are so many people out there working to make it fail.  One of the biggest newspapers in the country recently published an editorial I thought was pretty good.  They said, the Republicans in Congress are poisoning Obamacare, then trying to claim it’s sick.  (Laughter.)  That’s exactly what’s been happening. 

I mean, they have tried to put up every conceivable roadblock.  They cut funding for efforts to educate people about what’s in the law.  Some of them said if their constituents called them, we won’t even try to explain to them what’s in the law.  They actually opened up an investigation into people who try to help churches and charities understand how to help people sign up for the law. 

Some of the tea party’s biggest donors -- some of the wealthiest men in America -- are funding a cynical ad campaign trying to convince young people not to buy health care at all.  I mean, think about it.  These are billionaires several times over. You know they’ve got good health care.

AUDIENCE:  Right!  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  But they are actually spending money on television, trying to convince young people that if you’ve got the choice between getting affordable health care or going without health care, you should choose not having any health care.  Now, do you think if you get sick or you get hurt, and you get stuck with a massive bill, these same folks, they’re going to help you out? 

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  Are they going to pay for your health care?

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  It is interesting, though, how over the last couple years, the Republican Party has just spun itself up around this issue.  And the fact is the Republicans’ biggest fear at this point is not that the Affordable Care Act will fail.  What they’re worried about is it’s going to succeed.  (Applause.)  I mean, think about it.  If it was as bad as they said it was going to be, then they could just go ahead and let it happen and then everybody would hate it so much, and then everybody would vote to repeal it, and that would be the end of it. 

So what is it that they’re so scared about?

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  You!  (Laughter and applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  They have made such a big political issue out of this, trying to scare everybody with lies about “death panels” and “killing granny” -- (laughter) -- right?  “Armageddon.”  So if it actually works, they’ll look pretty bad.  If it actually works, that will mean that everything they were saying really wasn’t true and they were just playing politics. 

AUDIENCE:  That's right!

THE PRESIDENT:  Just the other day, one Republican in Congress said we need to shut this thing down before the marketplaces open and people get to see that they’ll be getting coverage and getting these subsidies because -- and I’m going to quote him here -- he said, “It’s going to prove almost impossible to undo Obamacare.”  (Laughter.)  Right?  So in other words, we’ve got to shut this thing down before people find out that they like it.  (Laughter and applause.)  That’s a strange argument.  Don’t you think that’s a strange argument?

AUDIENCE:  Yes!

THE PRESIDENT:  And the closer we get, the more desperate they get.  I mean, over the last few weeks the rhetoric has just been cranked up to a place I’ve never seen before.  One congressman said that Obamacare is “the most dangerous piece of legislation ever passed.”  (Laughter.)  Ever.  In the history of America, this is the most dangerous piece of legislation.  (Laughter.)  Creating a marketplace so people can buy group insurance plans -- the most dangerous ever.

You had a state representative somewhere say that it’s “as destructive to personal and individual liberty as the Fugitive Slave Act.” 

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  Think about that.  Affordable health care is worse than a law that let slave owners get their runaway slaves back.

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  I mean, these are quotes.  I’m not making this stuff up.  And here’s one more that I’ve heard -- I like this one -- we have to -- and I’m quoting here -- “We have to repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens.”  Now, I have to say -- that one was from six months ago -- I just want to point out we still have women -- (laughter) -- we still have children, we still have senior citizens.  (Applause.)

All this would be funny if it wasn’t so crazy.  And a lot of it is just hot air.  A lot of it is just politics.  I understand that.  But now the tea party Republicans have taken it to a whole new level because they’re threatening either to shut down the government, or shut down the entire economy by refusing to let America pay its bills for the first time in history -- unless I agree to gut a law that will help millions of people.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  Think about this.  Shutting down the government just because you don’t like a law that was passed and found constitutional, and because you don’t like the idea of giving people new access to affordable health care -- what kind of idea is that? 

Think about how that would impact Maryland.  This is an area where lots of people would be badly hurt by a government shutdown.  A lot of people around here wake up and go to serve their country every single day in the federal government -- civilians who work at military bases, analysts, scientists, janitors, people who process new veterans’ and survivors’ benefit claims.  They’d all have to stay home and not get paid.  And we all know it would badly damage the economy.

Whatever effect Obamacare might have on the economy is far less than even a few days of government shutdown.  (Applause.)   I mean, even if you believe that Obamacare somehow was going to hurt the economy, it won't hurt the economy as bad as a government shutdown.  And by the way, the evidence is that it’s not going to hurt the economy.  Obamacare is going to help the economy.  And it’s going to help families and help businesses.  (Applause.)

As for not letting America pay its bills, I have to say, no Congress before this one has ever – ever -- in history been irresponsible enough to threaten default, to threaten an economic shutdown, to suggest America not pay its bills, just to try to blackmail a President into giving them some concessions on issues that have nothing to do with a budget. 

I mean, this is the United States of America.  We’re not a deadbeat nation.  We don't run out on our tab.  We don't not pay our note.  We are the world’s bedrock economy, the world’s currency of choice.  The entire world looks to us to make sure that the world economy is stable.  You don't mess with that.  (Applause.)  You don’t mess with that. 

And that's why I will not negotiate on anything when it comes to the full faith and credit of the United States of America.  (Applause.)  

We’re not going to submit to this kind of total irresponsibility.  Congress needs to pay our bills on time.  Congress needs to pass a budget on time.  Congress needs to put an end to governing from crisis to crisis.  (Applause.)  

Our focus as a country should be on creating new jobs and growing our economy, and helping young people learn, and restoring security for hardworking, middle-class families.  (Applause.) 

This is not about the fortunes of any one party.  This is not about politics.  This is about the future of our country.  If Republicans do not like the law, they can go through the regular channels and processes to try to change it.  That's why we have elections.  So they can go through the normal processes and procedures of a democracy, but you do not threaten the full faith and credit of the United States of America.  (Applause.)

And, meanwhile, we're going to keep implementing the law. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  It's the law!

THE PRESIDENT:  It's the law.  And like I said, there are going to be some glitches along the way.  Every law has hiccups when it’s first starting off.  People forget, by the way, Medicare Part D -- passed by my predecessor, George Bush, passed by a Republican House of Representatives -- the prescription drug bill passed into law 10 years ago was even more unpopular than the Affordable Care Act before it took into effect.  Everybody was saying what a disaster it was going to be.  The difference was Democrats worked with Republicans to make it work even better.  (Applause.)  Steny remembers this.  Even though Democrats weren't happy that the law wasn’t paid for and was going to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit, and we weren't negotiating a better deal with the drug companies, everybody worked -- once it was the law -- to try to make it work.  And today, about 90 percent of seniors like their prescription drug coverage.

So we may not get that same level of cooperation from Republicans right now.  But the good news is I believe eventually they’ll come around.  Because Medicare and Social Security faced the same kind of criticism.  Before Medicare came into law, one Republican warned that “one of these days, you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”  That was Ronald Reagan.  And eventually, Ronald Reagan came around to Medicare and thought it was pretty good, and actually helped make it better.

So that’s what's going to happen with the Affordable Care Act.  And once it's working really well, I guarantee you they will not call it Obamacare.  (Laughter and applause.) 

Here is a prediction for you:  A few years from now, when people are using this to get coverage and everybody is feeling pretty good about all the choices and competition that they've got, there are going to be a whole bunch of folks who say, yes, I always thought this provision was excellent.  (Laughter.)  I voted for that thing.  You watch.  (Laughter.)  It will not be called Obamacare.  (Laughter.) 

But I’m always willing to work with anybody from either party.  If you’ve got a serious idea for making the Affordable Care Act better, or making our broader health care system better, I'm happy to work with you -- because that’s what the majority of the American people want.  They don’t want posturing; they want governing.  They don’t want politics; they want us to work together to make the lives of ordinary Americans a little bit better, a little bit more secure.  (Applause.)

So, Maryland, I’m asking for your help.  (Applause.)  I need your help.  (Applause.)  We may have some very well-funded opponents.  We may have some very talkative opponents.  But you're going to be the best, most credible messengers to spread the word about this law and all the benefits that the American people stand to get and have earned. 

So tell your friends, tell your family.  Get covered.  Get on that website.  Answer the questions of folks who don’t know what this is all about.  Point them to HealthCare.gov.  Teach them how to use the website.  Make sure they sign up.  Let's help our fellow Americans get covered.  (Applause.)  

Then let's keep on working to rebuild the middle class.  (Applause.)  Let's go and focus on creating more good-paying jobs.  Let's build more ladders of opportunity for everybody willing to work hard.  (Applause.)  Let's make sure the United States of America keeps being a place where you can make it if you try. 

Thank you, everybody.  God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END
11:42 A.M. EDT

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Major General Marcelite Harris, USAF (Ret) – Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Air Force Academy
• Lieutenant General Arlen D. Jameson, USAF (Ret) – Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Air Force Academy
• Elizabeth Young McNally – Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy
• Patrick J. Murphy – Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy
• Sally Susman – Member, Library of Congress Trust Fund Board 

President Obama said, “These men and women have demonstrated knowledge and dedication throughout their careers. I am grateful they have chosen to take on these important roles, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Major General Marcelite Harris, USAF (Ret), Appointee for Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Air Force Academy

Major General Marcelite Harris, USAF (Ret), most recently served at NASA as the Florida Site Director and Logistics Process Owner.  She retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1997 as the highest ranking female officer in the Air Force and the Nation’s highest ranking African American woman in the Department of Defense.  She was first appointed to the Board of Visitors of the United States Air Force Academy in 2010.  Her service medals include the Bronze Star, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the Vietnam Service Medal.  She served as Treasurer of the Atlanta Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Director on the Board of Peachtree Hope Charter School.  Major General Harris received a B.A. from Spelman College and a B.S. from the University of Maryland University College.

Lieutenant General Arlen D. Jameson, USAF (Ret), Appointee for Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Air Force Academy

Lieutenant General Arlen D. Jameson, USAF (Ret), was the Executive Director of the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund from 2001 to 2003.  He retired in 1996 after 34 years of service in the Air Force where he held a number of positions, including Deputy Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, and Chief of Staff of Strategic Air Command.  He was first appointed to the Board of Visitors to the United States Air Force Academy in 2010.  Lieutenant General Jameson's awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star Medal.  Lieutenant General Jameson graduated from the National War College, and received a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound and an M.B.A. from The Ohio State University.

Elizabeth Young McNally, Appointee for Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy

Elizabeth Young McNally is an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Co., a position she has held since 2008.  She was first appointed to the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy in 2011.  She served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves from 2009 to 2012.  From 2000 to 2008, she served in active duty in a number of positions, including Speechwriter for the Commander, Multi-National Force in Iraq, and Company Commander of the 39^th Military Police Detachment at Fort Shafter, Hawaii.  She received two Army Bronze Star Medals and the Meritorious Service Medal.  She is a Rhodes Scholar and a Truman Scholar.  Ms. McNally received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy and M.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University.

Patrick J. Murphy, USA (Ret), Appointee for Member, Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy

Patrick J. Murphy, USA (Ret), is a partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.  He was first appointed to the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy in 2011.  As the first Iraq War veteran elected to the U.S. Congress, Mr. Murphy represented the 8^th District of Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011. He served on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Appropriations Committee.  From 2003 to 2004, he was deployed as a paratrooper with the U.S. Army’s 82^nd Airborne Division, where he earned the Bronze Star for Service.  In 2001, Mr. Murphy volunteered for overseas deployment and was deployed to Bosnia in 2002.  Mr. Murphy received a B.A. from King’s College and a J.D. from Widener University School of Law.

Sally Susman, Appointee for Member, Library of Congress Trust Fund Board

Sally Susman is Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs at Pfizer, which she joined in 2007.  Previously, she was Executive Vice President of Global Communications at the Estée Lauder Companies.  Ms. Susman has also held high level communications and government relations posts at American Express Company.  From 1993 to 1995, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce.  She is on the board of the International Rescue Committee, the New York City Commission on Women’s Issues, and WPP.  Ms. Susman received a B.A. from Connecticut College.