Former Gov. Howard Dean said today on MSNBC that Republicans are partly responsible for the difficulties in the rollout of Obamacare.
So far only about 20 states have agreed to set up the state marketplace exchanges for health insurance. The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) mandates that the federal government maintain an exchange for citizens in those states who do not have their own.
Because so many states have opted out, it leaves a far bigger burden on the federal exchange than was anticipated. A system designed for a smaller number of applicants has simply been overwhelmed.
That is not to say there are no design flaws, no failures in operation. But the problem has been made much worse by the refusal of Republican led state governments to do their share.
In fact, Republicans have done everything possible to make it fail -- and then play the sanctimonious "I told you so" game. And that includes spreading blatant lies. Shame on them.
So -- and this is by no means a new story -- Republicans are whooping and hollering in derision about a problem that they are at least partly responsible for.
Ralph
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
They just don't get it . . .
Here is a quote from Ann Coulter:
She's accomplished two things:
1. She has blown a dog whistle that will be heard by the 18% of the Republicans who agree with her. The rest either think she's nuts -- or a cynical entertainer rather than a serious conservative.
2. She has written the script for Saturday Night Live's parody of her. All they have to do is get up and repeat what she said.
This was posted the same day a new WashingtonPost/ABC News poll showed the following results:
80% of American disapprove of the shutdown
63% have an unfavorable view of the Republican party
53% blame Republicans more for the shutdown
29% blame Obama more for the shutdown
12% approval rating for Congress
48% approval rating for President Obama
47% think Congress would be improved if every member were
voted out
A CNN poll released yesterday shows that 53% of American think it's bad that Republicans control the House of Representatives.
Just the facts, ma'am.
Ralph
"The shutdown was so magnificent, run beautifully. I'm so proud of these Republicans, and that is because they have branded the Republican party as the anti-Obamacare party."Seriously ?!?
She's accomplished two things:
1. She has blown a dog whistle that will be heard by the 18% of the Republicans who agree with her. The rest either think she's nuts -- or a cynical entertainer rather than a serious conservative.
2. She has written the script for Saturday Night Live's parody of her. All they have to do is get up and repeat what she said.
This was posted the same day a new WashingtonPost/ABC News poll showed the following results:
80% of American disapprove of the shutdown
63% have an unfavorable view of the Republican party
53% blame Republicans more for the shutdown
29% blame Obama more for the shutdown
12% approval rating for Congress
48% approval rating for President Obama
47% think Congress would be improved if every member were
voted out
A CNN poll released yesterday shows that 53% of American think it's bad that Republicans control the House of Representatives.
Just the facts, ma'am.
Ralph
You would never guess
An online business blog, 24/7 Wall Street, is reporting the list of the 10 most educated countries in the world, based on the percent of their population with a college degree.
I would never have guessed the top educated country -- and I doubt you would either. Here is the list of the top 10 -- in reverse order:
10. Australia 38.3%
9. Finland 39.3%
8. New Zealand 39.4%
7. United Kingdom 39.4%
6. Korea 40.4%
5. United States 42.%
4. Israel 46.4%
3. Japan 51.3%
2. Canada 51.3%
1. Russia 53.5%
Russia #1. I would not have guessed they were even in the top 10. You never hear much about their universities or their people as scholars. But it's the breadth of education, not the excellence of the few, that this measures.
Another measure they made was of the percentage of gross domestic product that each country spends on education. Russia's was the lowest of the top 10 at 4.9%, compared to the U.S. at 7.5% and Korea at 7.6%.
Interesting. Despite our relative high standing in degrees, we score worse than most developed nations in high-level math and reading skills.
Sounds kind of like our health care stats: we spend more and get less.
Ralph
I would never have guessed the top educated country -- and I doubt you would either. Here is the list of the top 10 -- in reverse order:
10. Australia 38.3%
9. Finland 39.3%
8. New Zealand 39.4%
7. United Kingdom 39.4%
6. Korea 40.4%
5. United States 42.%
4. Israel 46.4%
3. Japan 51.3%
2. Canada 51.3%
1. Russia 53.5%
Russia #1. I would not have guessed they were even in the top 10. You never hear much about their universities or their people as scholars. But it's the breadth of education, not the excellence of the few, that this measures.
Another measure they made was of the percentage of gross domestic product that each country spends on education. Russia's was the lowest of the top 10 at 4.9%, compared to the U.S. at 7.5% and Korea at 7.6%.
Interesting. Despite our relative high standing in degrees, we score worse than most developed nations in high-level math and reading skills.
Sounds kind of like our health care stats: we spend more and get less.
Ralph
Monday, October 21, 2013
Marriage equality in New Jersey
The New Jersey legislature passed a law allowing same-sex marriages; but Gov. Chris Christie vetoed it, saying that the voters themselves should decide this issue.
Someone sued, the state court ruled that the law must be upheld. and Gov. Christie appealed the decision, saying this should be decided by the voters. The court denied his request to delay marriages until the appeal is heard. The court has denied that request. That was the situation as of yesterday.
Today it has been announced that Gov. Christie is dropping his appeal. So marriage equality is now fully legal in New Jersey.
New Jersey is now the 16th and joins: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, Delaware, Minnesota, Washington, California, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia. That's almost 1/3 now and counting.
Ralph
Someone sued, the state court ruled that the law must be upheld. and Gov. Christie appealed the decision, saying this should be decided by the voters. The court denied his request to delay marriages until the appeal is heard. The court has denied that request. That was the situation as of yesterday.
Today it has been announced that Gov. Christie is dropping his appeal. So marriage equality is now fully legal in New Jersey.
New Jersey is now the 16th and joins: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, Delaware, Minnesota, Washington, California, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia. That's almost 1/3 now and counting.
Ralph
Gov. Deal's priorities
Gov. Nathan Deal continues to say that Georgia cannot afford to take the federal government's generous offer to pay for the expansion of Medicaid to cover an additional 600,000 Georgians. The federal government would pay 100% for three years, gradually declining after that to 90%.
In addition, according to a Georgia State University study, it would also create 70,000 new jobs in the state. That -- in addition to providing health care and saving lives -- makes it seem like a very good deal.
Sadly, we just cannot afford it. In fact, we've also had to cut days from the school year because we can't pay the teachers and keep the schools open that long.
But we can cut taxes for businesses, In fact the governor has appointed a committee of 21 businessmen to advise him on how to do just that. You know the mantra: to stimulate job creation, cut taxes for business.
There is now some data from a natural experiment that bolsters the argument that it doesn't work that way, at least not in the kind of economic situation we have today. Thanks to the AJC's Jay Bookman for writing about this.
Four years ago, Georgia and Oregan had similar taxes and similar rates of unemployment: 11% for Oregon, 10.4% for Georgia. Then Oregon raised taxes and Georgia cut taxes. So what happened?
Oregon's unemployment dropped to 8.1% (from 11% = down by 2.9%); Georgia's dropped to 8.7% (from 10.4% = down by 1.7%).
Of course the different tax plans were not the only factor; but it does challenge the Republican mantra that cutting taxes is always the answer. Oregon had a more significant drop in unemployment than Georgia.
Ralph
In addition, according to a Georgia State University study, it would also create 70,000 new jobs in the state. That -- in addition to providing health care and saving lives -- makes it seem like a very good deal.
Sadly, we just cannot afford it. In fact, we've also had to cut days from the school year because we can't pay the teachers and keep the schools open that long.
But we can cut taxes for businesses, In fact the governor has appointed a committee of 21 businessmen to advise him on how to do just that. You know the mantra: to stimulate job creation, cut taxes for business.
There is now some data from a natural experiment that bolsters the argument that it doesn't work that way, at least not in the kind of economic situation we have today. Thanks to the AJC's Jay Bookman for writing about this.
Four years ago, Georgia and Oregan had similar taxes and similar rates of unemployment: 11% for Oregon, 10.4% for Georgia. Then Oregon raised taxes and Georgia cut taxes. So what happened?
Oregon's unemployment dropped to 8.1% (from 11% = down by 2.9%); Georgia's dropped to 8.7% (from 10.4% = down by 1.7%).
Of course the different tax plans were not the only factor; but it does challenge the Republican mantra that cutting taxes is always the answer. Oregon had a more significant drop in unemployment than Georgia.
Ralph
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Sean Hannity caught in lies about Obamacare
Eric Stern of Salon did some fact-checking on Sean Hannity and caught him presenting "fake evidence . . . to exploit people’s ignorance and falsely point to imaginary boogeymen."
On his show, Hannity presented the "horror stories" of three guests who claim to have been harmed by Obamacare. Stern did his own interviewing of the three and found a very different story.
One couple claimed that their construction business had been forced to cut employee hours to meet Obamacare demands for health insurance. Stern found, instead, that they have only four employees (Obamacare only requires businesses with more than 50 employees to offer health insurance). When confronted, they owned up to the truth; they had not been forced cut hours; they had simply chosen to and blamed it on Obamacare.
Two other couples claimed that the insurance exchange rates were far more than they had been paying for insurance. Stern did his own checking and found that this was simply not true based on their circumstances.
Stern concluds: this was all part of the "Fox News lie machine."
Ralph
PS: The first stats are in: thus far 467,000 have applied for insurance under Obamacare in the first two weeks -- and despite all the computer problems. That should take a little glee our of the Republican's mantra that it is a disaster that people don't want.
On his show, Hannity presented the "horror stories" of three guests who claim to have been harmed by Obamacare. Stern did his own interviewing of the three and found a very different story.
One couple claimed that their construction business had been forced to cut employee hours to meet Obamacare demands for health insurance. Stern found, instead, that they have only four employees (Obamacare only requires businesses with more than 50 employees to offer health insurance). When confronted, they owned up to the truth; they had not been forced cut hours; they had simply chosen to and blamed it on Obamacare.
Two other couples claimed that the insurance exchange rates were far more than they had been paying for insurance. Stern did his own checking and found that this was simply not true based on their circumstances.
Stern concluds: this was all part of the "Fox News lie machine."
Ralph
PS: The first stats are in: thus far 467,000 have applied for insurance under Obamacare in the first two weeks -- and despite all the computer problems. That should take a little glee our of the Republican's mantra that it is a disaster that people don't want.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Is Reille's apology sincere ?? Sorry, I'm too cynical to buy that
Notorious from tabloid headlines, John Edwards' one-time mistress, Reille Hunter, now has a new book to promote. It's her apology for her "bad behavior" and for the hurt she caused others.
All the right words are there . . . "I behaved badly. . . . I hurt people. . . . I hurt Elizabeth Edwards. . . . I am sincerely sorry. . . . It was not my intention [to hurt anyone]."
Her explanation: she grew up in a family where both parents cheated on each other. "I didn't realize how damaged I was." Then she fell in love and was blinded by love.
Well, OK. I guess it's better to say the words than not to say them. But here's why I am cynical. This apologia arose as an idea for a new book. Here's the crucial paragraph:
Ralph
I haven't read the book and am relying on excerpts from reviewers. What I would also want to see is whether she has grasped the damage her actions could have caused for the entire country, in addition to the Edwards family and especially to his dying wife. If John Edwards had won the Democratic nomination for president -- and at one point it seemed he had a chance -- the scandal would have come out during the general election and almost surely would have thrown the election to the Republicans.
All the right words are there . . . "I behaved badly. . . . I hurt people. . . . I hurt Elizabeth Edwards. . . . I am sincerely sorry. . . . It was not my intention [to hurt anyone]."
Her explanation: she grew up in a family where both parents cheated on each other. "I didn't realize how damaged I was." Then she fell in love and was blinded by love.
Well, OK. I guess it's better to say the words than not to say them. But here's why I am cynical. This apologia arose as an idea for a new book. Here's the crucial paragraph:
My publisher came up with the idea of me going through my [previous] book and annotating all of my regrets and mistakes. I liked that idea. I thought it was innovative and interesting, but of course the actual execution of that idea turned out to be excruciating. Owning your past mistakes is no day at the beach but I do believe it is an important endeavor to undertake.Let's hope Reille gained some self-understanding through the process. I personally would find that more believable if her public statements of apology weren't linked to promotion of her new book. In fact, the reason for the apology seems to be selling another book.
Ralph
I haven't read the book and am relying on excerpts from reviewers. What I would also want to see is whether she has grasped the damage her actions could have caused for the entire country, in addition to the Edwards family and especially to his dying wife. If John Edwards had won the Democratic nomination for president -- and at one point it seemed he had a chance -- the scandal would have come out during the general election and almost surely would have thrown the election to the Republicans.
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