President Obama apologized, sort of, this past week for telling people they could keep their health plans under the new Affordable Care Act, when he knew the rules would force millions of policies to be canceled. He apologized for the delays and the glitches in the web site where people are supposed to go to shop for and buy new policies. He promised the problems are being fixed as fast as they can be fixed.

Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but will the problems be fixed in time for people to reasonably sign up prior to the Jan. 1 deadline, in order to avoid paying penalties for not having insurance?

We know the president is eager to get this landmark program up and running. There are political ramifications for the 2014 election, and the Affordable Care Act is the defining program for his presidency. If it works, and is successful, the president won’t mind at all if it is called Obamacare.

But right now it is not working. People who want to sign up, who are trying to sign up, are being held up by a balky computer system.

If people are still struggling with the system by mid-December, it will be time for the Administration to waive the requirement and call a halt to the signup until the system works.