Sebelius: New ObamaCare extension is not an extension - it's just an extension

As we discussed earlier, Kathleen Sebelius has been very clear that there would be no more ObamaCare delays. In particular, there would be no extension for the March 31st enrollment deadline. Even if the administration wanted one, they don't have the legal authority to do it. So, this morning, she hit the country's local news broadcasts to let people know that there is, in fact, no deadline extension.

....There's just an extension. Yeah, it makes about that much sense. If you can follow her non-logic, it seems today's ObamaCare deadline extension is not an extension at all. In actuality, it's just more time for people to complete the enrollment process, whether they've started it or not. As she likes to say - again and again - it's just like voting! Fox 2 Detroit reporter Deena Centofanti wanted some clarification, so she asked "What happened? Is this an extension, is this a delay, is this another problem?"

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"It's none of the above. It's actually a very logical way to make sure people get through the system. What we did in December, we're doing again. If you're in line on March 31 at midnight, if you're trying to get through the system and the volume is higher than expected, we want to make sure you can actually complete the process and buy health insurance." "This is not an extension of open enrollment. It is just saying like you do on Election Day, if you're in line to vote, we want to make sure you vote."

First of all, what they "did in December" was a delay - even The Politico lists it as such. Second, when we choose not to close the polls because people are in line to vote, we call that "extending voting hours." Even if we were to accept her assertion - that they're just trying to move existing customers through the system - the notion completely falls apart when you realize that claiming your status as an "existing enrollee" relies solely on the honor system. Basically, all you have to do is check a box that says "yeah, I tried" and the deadline no longer applies. They've even announced that they won't bother trying to verify your claim. In other words, Sebelius is trying to claim that the deadline still exists but, if you choose not to have it exist, they have no problem with that. How, exactly, is allowing people to bypass a deadline - with no consequences whatsoever - different from a deadline extension? Doublespeak, that's how. Sebelius appears below.

Oops! That's the wrong one! Silly us. We're having trouble embedding the video from Fox 2 Detroit. If you really want to (and trust me you probably don't) you can check it out here.