As badly as President Obama wants everyone to start running with his preferred ObamaCare narrative — i.e., that “this thing is working,” “the repeal debate is and should be over,” and that “Democrats should forcefully defend” the law — but not all Democrats actually need to defend the top-down monstrosity that is now governing our healthcare system. There were a number of Democrats that didn’t join the otherwise overwhelming coalition that voted for the passage of ObamaCare, like Rep. Stephen Lynch in Massachusetts. He sounds pretty skeptical that, had the Obama administration actually allowed the law to go into effect as planned instead of making unilateral delays for the sake of political convenience, Obama would be quite so confident that “this thing is working.” Noah Rothman at Mediaite caught the interview from the Boston Herald last week:

There have been parts of ObamaCare that have been postponed because they are unpalatable. So, as these provisions come into effect, the administration thus far is saying, ‘Gee, really can’t handle this right now, so we’re gonna’ delay it.’ These obligations keep piling up — the mandatory registration, the penalties… It’s gonna’ hit the fan, because any individual with an individual healthcare plan that exceeds $10,200 is in a Cadillac plan situation. They’re gonna’ have to pay that employer if they provide that, and many do today, never mind in 2018, will have to pay a 40 percent tax on the amount over the maximum established under the Affordable Care Act. So, that’s a huge tax. … I think it’ll be impossible for a repeal right now because you’ve taken on 31 million new people, you know, you’re trying to provide healthcare to them — that’s a good thing. The problem has always been paying for it. You know, you’ve got to rely on the other individuals who already have healthcare to pay for that, and at the same time, you’ve made a promise to those individuals, those 270 million people that already had healthcare that your healthcare will either be the same or will be improved by this. I think that’s a very tough promise to live up to under this system.