Carney says Obama can’t ‘go back in time’

White House press secretary Jay Carney said President Obama couldn’t “go back in time” as he was peppered with questions about whether the president regretted promising that Americans who liked their health insurance plans could keep them after the reform law was implemented.

“The president, as awesomely powerful as the office is, can’t go back in time,” Carney said Tuesday.

{mosads}Carney conceded that “there is no question that this rollout has not gone as smoothly as we had hoped,” but sidestepped repeated questions about whether the president had over-promised.

Instead, Carney said that the president’s repeated guarantee that “if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it” was in reference to the “broader promise of the Affordable Care Act.”

“What the president is focused on is what we’re all focused on, which is getting this right for the American people and getting it right for everyone so that the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, the improvements in the coverage that everyone will enjoy and the broader benefits for our economy because of the slower rate of growth in healthcare costs, come about and come into being,” Carney said.

Read more from The Hill.