Deadline? *What* deadline?!

Earlier this morning, Bob noted that the Obamastration itself has acknowledged that it has no "statutory authority to extend the open enrollment period in 2014."

But that was then, and this is now:

"Federal officials confirmed Tuesday evening that all consumers who have begun to apply for coverage on HealthCare.gov, but who do not finish by Monday, will have until about mid-April to ask for an extension."

Now, leaving aside the legal challenge that this poses (as if legalities were of any interest to this regime), one needs ponder a simple question:

Why?

That is, why would they extend the enrollment period, after so vehemently denying that they would do so?

I think a good part of the answer lies here:

"The results were bleak—just two-thirds of the overall respondents knew that they had to get health insurance this month or face a penalty .. Clearly some of those most likely to be affected by the ACA were ill-prepared to navigate the new health insurance environment"

We already know that the vast majority of those who have enrolled are either folks who have lost their previous insurance or who are being shunted to Medicaid.

And we know that the uninsured are staying away from ObamaPlans in droves.

Seems to me, this extension means one thing: the ObamaTax enrollment numbers must be truly, epically dreadful.

Still not convinced?

Then how 'bout this little nugget, buried inside the  WaPo story linked above:

"Under the new rules, people will be able to qualify for an extension by checking a blue box on HealthCare.gov to indicate that they tried to enroll before the deadline."

Seems harmless enough: simply show that you've made a good faith effort to enroll and ... wait ... What's this:

"This method will rely on an honor system; the government will not try to determine whether the person is telling the truth."

What could possibly go wrong?