The Obama administration “has requested that all government officials and contractors involved (in the development of the website) keep their work confidential,” according to the New York Times, in what appears to be at least in part – and perhaps in whole – an effort to minimize the release of information about the development of the catastrophe known as Healthcare.gov.
A New York Times piece running today mentions the information blackout in explaining why sources for the story, which details the incompetent development of the website, would not allow their names to be used.
The story puts on gory display a administration that failed spectacularly both in the planning and implementation of the website project.
The government had huge ambitions which could not possibly be realized in the time alotted:
The prime contractor, CGI Federal, had long before concluded that the administration was blindly enamored of an unrealistic goal: creating a cutting-edge website that would use the latest technologies to dazzle consumers with its many features. Knowing how long it would take to complete and test the software, the company’s officials and other vendors believed that it was impossible to open a fully functioning exchange on Oct. 1.
Government officials, on the other hand, insisted that Oct. 1 was not negotiable. And they were fed up with what they saw as CGI’s pattern of excuses for missed deadlines . . .
The online exchange was crippled, people involved with building it said in recent interviews, because of a huge gap between the administration’s grand hopes and the practicalities of building a website that could function on opening day.
(Excerpt) Read more at whitehousedossier.com ...
