After President Obama gallantly told the nation that they should call the Obamacare hotline if they are experiencing difficulty accessing the exchanges online, Sean Hannity decided to take the President’s advice by calling the hotline live on his afternoon radio program.
“Did you hear what Sean Hannity did yesterday,” Glenn asked on radio this morning. “Pat, when's the last time we called out and did something like this, put people on the air?”
“It’s been a long time,” Pat responded. “It’s really hard to do now.”
Hannity, who first had to navigate through the automated menu, was eventually connected with representative Erling Davis.
“You are on the radio, you are on the Sean Hannity radio show,” Hannity informed Davis.
“You’re on the radio. Is that OK with you? You have to say ‘yes’ if you want to be on.”
Davis gave her consent, and Hannity began to pepper the representative with questions about call volume and signing up for Obamacare.
Listen to the radio segment below:
When Hannity explained to Davis that he has been having problems enrolling using the healthcare.gov website, Davis explained the system is expected to be down for the next 42 hours.Based on the President’s remarks in the Rose Garden yesterday morning, you would assume that people could then register over the phone, but alas, that is not the case.
“So no one is able to get in, but if they call us we can help them fill out an application as long as they went online to create an account first,” Davis said.
“Well that’s the point, I can’t get online to create an account, so how would I be able to create the account if the website is down for the next 42 hours,” Hannity asked.
“You would have to wait until those 42 hours is up,” Davis replied.
While Davis was sympathetic to the plight of those attempting to signup for Obamacare, all she could offer was a meek word of inspiration.
“Yes, sir, and I understand your frustration,” she said. ”We get calls like this everyday, but we just encourage people to not give up and just try until you get in. But nobody won’t be able to get in until like 42 hours later.”
Glenn was particularly struck by Davis’ encouragement to “not give up.”
“Did you hear what she said? That we know it's hard. We know people are having trouble, but we tell them not to get discouraged and not to give up,” Glenn said exasperatedly. “Can you imagine If the President of the United States would just say those words about the free market system, about people trying to make it in life? Just don't get discouraged. Just don't give up. It's worth it in the end. But unless it's a government program that you have to stand in line for, he won't say that. It's worth it in the end. Life is worth it. Independence is worth it. Self esteem, all these things that you gain from just not giving up.”
“And like signing up for Obamacare, it's going to be hard from time to time. It's going to be really stinking hard. But work through it,” Pat continued. “Sometimes you may be out of work for a year, or two years, fight through it.
“He speaks from experience, Pat does,” Glenn explained. Pat was once out of work for an entire year, and a friend of his just recently found work after two years of unemployment. As the unemployment rate remains above 7%, it would be nice to hear the “don’t give up” mantra from the President of the United States every once in while, but this Administration only offers such encouragement when it pertains to a government handout.
“It's amazing that is the script that this Administration gives,” Glenn said. “Don't give up. Don't give up.”
“As long as it applies to their healthcare program, don't give up,” Pat interjected. “Because we are there to take care of you.”
“Or any government program. Stand in any line. Don't give up. Don't ever let anybody tell you that you can't have this program, this free thing from the government,” Glenn continued. “Don't ever give up on anybody saying you can have this free stuff. Don't ever give up. But you got to give up because this doesn't work. This other system over here, it doesn't work. They keep telling you that you can make it and you are trapped. And you won't make it. So come over here and stand in line. And once I get you in line, just don't give up because it's worth it. My gosh, how evil is that?”
Davis revealed to Hannity she had been provided a script to read to callers advising them of the glitches in the system, and Hannity asked her to read it aloud for his listeners to hear.
“Thanks for your interest in the health insurance marketplace. We are having a lot of visitors trying to use our website right now. This is causing some glitches for some people trying to create an account or log in. Keep trying and thanks for your patience. You might have better success during off-peak hours like later at night or early in the morning. We’ll continue working to improve the site so you can get covered,” Davis said the script reads.
“This is bull crap. Listen to that. That is such bull crap,” Glenn said. “These guys try to image themselves as Apple. Would Apple ever do that to you? Would Apple say, ‘Call us back at 2:30 in the morning’? They would never ever do that. They would not lie to you.”
“Look what they are doing. They are training you. Training you to just get over it. There's nothing you can do about it. Just stand in line. This is why Marxist countries end up standing in line for toilet paper,” Glenn continued. “It's just incredible.”
