An absolutely amazing set of photographs from one of the most infamous days in United States history. Even 14+ years later, it is surreal looking at these images.
Category: Politics
Tim Wu, writing at the *New Yorker*:
> “The answer is yes,” Obama replied. “I am a strong supporter of net neutrality.” Explaining, he said, “What you’ve been seeing is some lobbying that says that the servers and the various portals through which you’re getting information over the Internet should be able to be gatekeepers and to charge different rates to different Web sites…. And that I think destroys one of the best things about the Internet—which is that there is this incredible equality there.”
If reports in the Wall Street Journal are correct, Obama’s chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Thomas Wheeler, has proposed a new rule that is an explicit and blatant violation of this promise. In fact, it permits and encourages exactly what Obama warned against: broadband carriers acting as gatekeepers and charging Web sites a payola payment to reach customers through a “fast lane.”
People in the tech industry are now starting to realize what everyone who opposed Obama said from the start: nothing he said on the campaign trail was true.
Of course it did. What a disaster.
> Buried in Obamacare regulations from July 2010 is an estimate that because of normal turnover in the individual insurance market, “40 to 67 percent” of customers will not be able to keep their policy. And because many policies will have been changed since the key date, “the percentage of individual market policies losing grandfather status in a given year exceeds the 40 to 67 percent range.”
Is this really a surprise to anyone? I know President Obama *said* you could keep your plan, but did people really believe him? I thought people voted for this because they want socialized medicine. There is no way people *actually* believed this system would work, did they?
It seems that the proverbial floodgates have been opened on the stories how much of a disaster the *Healthcare.gov*[^fn2] website is.[^fn1] Here are some of the stories out today:
[Healthcare.gov is sending insurers wrong data, turning an automated process into a manual one](http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/18/4851998/healthcare-gov-is-sending-insurers-wrong-data):
> Health insurers are now complaining that applications submitted through Healthcare.gov are deeply flawed, producing duplicate enrollments, spouses listed as children, missing required data, and more, according to [The Wall Street Journal](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304410204579142141827109638).
> The error-riddled applications are forcing insurers to call applicants in order to manually fact-check the data. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Nebraska told the Journal that it has hired temp workers to settle the inaccuracies, while Medical Mutual of Ohio said one customer was able to sign up for three plans.
What? People need *accurate* applications for this system? What an unrealistic set of expectations.
[Why the government unpublished the source code for Healthcare.gov](http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/18/4852720/why-the-government-unpublished-the-source-code-for-healthcare-gov-github):
> Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency administering Healthcare.gov, has finally responded to a query from The Verge about the change. The code was pulled due to confusion over the difference between the two parts of the site, CMS says.
> The code for the informational part of Healthcare.gov — the “frontend” of the site — was written by a Washington, D.C. startup and a small team of innovative consultants. The code for the healthcare exchange — the “backend” of Healthcare.gov — was built by more than 50 contractors and was never made public.
People were logging so many bugs related to the overall system to the frontend’s [Github](htt[://github.com) that the developers could not figure out which were really bugs in the frontend, so they just pulled the code. Sounds a lot easier than fixing all the bugs in the *backend.*
[Design Firm Removes All Reference To Its Work On Obamacare From Its Website](http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/design-firm-removes-all-reference-to-its-work-on-obamacare-f):
> Just a few days ago, the site looked very different. Teal Media’s homepage featured its work on Obamacare prominently, placing a link to the firm’s work on one of the most well-known websites in America front and center. Now that link, as well as the page devoted to Teal’s work on HealthCare.gov, have been removed.
> Here’s a [cached version](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AVoOaAhB9_4J:tealmedia.com/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a) of what the homepage used to look like. And here’s a [cached version](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:-oIiGPcOlXYJ:tealmedia.com/work-healthcare.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a) of Teal’s page devoted just to its work on HealthCare.gov. That page has been deleted.
Why would they want to have that kind of an anchor tied around their necks? Of course, I would have preferred they realize what kind of disaster this whole thing was *before* they helped Obama get re-elected.
[Tech experts: Health exchange site needs total overhaul](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/17/health-exchange-week-three-start-over/2995989/):
> “I have never seen a website — in the last five years — require you to delete the cache in an effort to resolve errors,” said Dan Schuyler, a director at Leavitt Partners, a health care group by former Health and Human Services secretary Mike Leavitt. “This is a very early Web 1.0 type of fix.”
Shocking. The same people who have economic sensibilities from the mid-90s have the same understanding of how technology works.
[Administration Blows Its Credibility With Disastrous Obamacare Rollout](http://reason.com/archives/2013/10/17/the-obamacare-rollout-disaster):
> The Obama administration doesn’t want to talk about Obamacare. At a press briefing on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney dodged questions about the ongoing failure of the law’s federally-run health insurance portal, Healthcare.gov, which after two weeks is still practically impenetrable to all but the most dedicated users. Carney refused to say when the exchange might be working, and directed reporters’ questions to the agencies in charge of the project. “Those are all questions for HHS and CMS,” he said, referring to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Yeah, let’s talk about that horrible Tea Party! Who cares if our *signature* legislation is both a complete mess in both concept and execution. I love *Reason’s* sub-headline: “Obamacare’s troubled launch proves the administration is both incompetent and untrustworthy.” I did not need a failed website rollout to tell me that.
With all of this mess taking place, how long before the President decides to unilaterally delay the individual mandate? I set the over / under at Thanksgiving.
[^fn1]: Did anyone really expect anything less from this horrific piece of legislations?
[^fn2]: No link, because why would anyone want to go there?
So, not only does the system not work, but the developers did not follow the licensing requirements when integrating the open source code they used?[^fn1] What a disaster.
[^fn1]: DISCLAIMER: This post may contain some discussion about legal issues, but (1) it is not legal advice, (2) it does not establish an attorney-client relationship, and (3) it is not advertising for legal services. The full disclaimer can be found on the [Disclaimer Page](https://johnkiv.us/disclaimer/).
Like all things Obamacare, the website has been a disaster.
Categories
The Jefferson Memorial is “Closed”
This is hilarious. The memorial is “closed” as part of the President's temper tantrum, but the security guard is still there anyway. What a joke.
John Hinderaker explains the operation of the deb ceiling:
So what will actually happen if Congress doesn’t increase the debt ceiling by approximately October 17? The government’s debt obligations will be paid, but reductions in other spending will start to become necessary. In effect, leaving the debt ceiling as is would function as a spending cut. This is why the Democrats hate the idea so much. They know there is zero chance of default, but they are horrified at the prospect that voters and taxpayers may find out that there is a relatively simple way to bring about spending reductions that would create, in effect, a balanced budget. Hence the hysteria.
I am trying to figure out if what Mr. Hinderaker says is true. It seems counter to what a lot of people are saying, but I hope that he is right.
TWC lobbyist sent an email last month to Republican staffers on Capitol Hill that pointed to an announcement from NBC News about a segment designed to help viewers get the most out of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. The TWC lobbyist wrote in the email: “Next time you think about helping the broadcasters — particularly the networks — read this…”
The outrage! A lobbyist trying to do his or her job. I would be surprised if all the cable companies were not doing similar things to both sides of the political aisle. Besides, there are a bunch of more terrible things that cable companies are doing.1
-
For example, what about the pathetic upload speeds that most “home” internet plans have? ↩
From the “water is wet” and “the sky is blue” area of the newspaper.[^fn1]
[^fn1]: How about we figure out how much of a disaster Obamacare is before we try to crush Internet commerce with ridiculous regulations and taxes?
Unsurprising move from someone as far left as Peter King[^f5502].
[^f5502]: I have no idea why changing the name of the Redskins has become such a liberal cause, but it has. King is just the latest left-wing guy to take it up.
Rush Limbaugh mentions something that I have been thinking a lot lately:
> The way you [,Apple Bloggers,] see [the majority of the tech media] propping up Samsung and Google and Android and the way these guys are ripping Apple to shreds, would you try to see that in the mainstream media? Would you open your eyes and see what’s going on in the mainstream media? Would you try to open your eyes and see that in the mainstream media, the Republican Party is Apple, and the Democrat Party is Samsung, Google, and Android.”
It is really too bad that more of the tech bloggers do not recognize that same type of misdirection is happening over in the political side of the news media, too.[^fn1] It feels like it is a waste of their analytical skills.
[^fn1]: This recent [quote from Ben Brooks](http://brooksreview.net/2013/08/post-facts-sort-of/) about the continued NSA scandal reminded me of Limbaugh had said: “That’s on me for not fully reading the source documents and taking the Post at its word.”
> Traditionally blue states such as New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut don’t allow either early voting or no-excuse absentee voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Other states allowing neither include Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Stop using these *facts* to counter the narrative! That isn’t fair!
We have to give up this one weekend a year of tax-free shopping[^fn1], in exchange for getting significantly lower taxes all year round, including a lower sales tax. Sounds like a good deal to me.
[^fn1]: A weekend in which it is nearly impossible to get anywhere remotely close to a mall.
I love it when liberals get snippy when someone[^fn1] does not follow the liberal dogma.[^fn2]
[^fn1]: Or some company.
[^fn2]: Especially when it is something like global warming / “climate change”, which [is having problems of it own](http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/06/global-warming-in-a-few-slides.php)
Of course, Virginia A.G. Cuccinelli wants to keep people who are *known sex offenders* from coming off the sex offender registry, but the *NY Daily News* tries to twist the story so that it seems like he wants to criminalize certain types of sex between consenting adults.
You would think Gruber would have [learned to actually read a story and check the source](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2013/07/23/dubai-case) before just spouting off.[^fn1] Oh well, at least he does Apple news well.
[^fn1]: This is a good example of how far-left liberals think. They seem some crazy headline about a conservative and just decide it *must* be true without actually checking it out. Unfortunately, in the internet age, false stories can spread like wildfire.
Excellent breakdown from Avik Roy over at *Forbes*. The article starts by explaining how former Governor Mario Cuomo destroyed the New York health insurance market, and then gets better from there. A must read.
Categories
N.C. GOP: ‘Thank You, New York Times’
Will Allen, writing at *National Review*:
> In short, the paper’s editors are disgusted with Republicans for daring to act as if the majority of North Carolinians who elected them actually want or expect policies different from those of the Democrats — who, speaking of demolition derbies, entertained voters with years of wacky hi-jinks including a secret jet service, lavish taxpayer-sponsored art tours of Europe, a dinner for four that was actually a lady’s jacket, crooked carnies running the State Fair, a stupendous lottery scandal that began before the state even had a lottery, and a comically dishonest appointee who briefly became the nation’s most infamous district attorney.
Let me translate:
> Dear New York Times,
> Please focus on screwing up your home state (and the rest of liberal America), and leave us to fix the mess that your liberal brethren made.
> Sincerely,
> North Carolina
Obviously, the *New York Times’* story was a bunch of BS. This is an interesting note related to the story, however:
> New York has one of the costliest and least functional individual-insurance markets in the nation, because many of the regulations that Obamacare imposes nationwide are already present in New York, on steroids
Now the rest of the country is subjected to the same stupidity.