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POTUS in "credibility fight" over ACA

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 18 04:33:16 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Associated Press
Nov 18, 2013 4:17 AM EST

Obama health care woes become credibility fight

By Julie Pace
AP White House Correspondent
Throughout President Barack Obama's first four years in office, he prided himself on his ability to bounce back when much of Washington thought his presidency was in peril.

But the political challenge posed by Obama's disastrous health care rollout is far greater than those he overcame during the nasty debt ceiling fight with Republicans, his stumbling campaign debate in 2012 or even the painful recession.

This time, the president is fighting to regain trust and credibility with the American people. Those are the same qualities that helped keep him afloat during those earlier battles.

"It's legitimate for them to expect me to have to win back some credibility on this health care law in particular and on a whole range of these issues in general," Obama said during a news conference last week that turned into an extensive mea culpa for the health care failures consuming the White House.

As bad as things are for Obama, they may be worse for many members of Congress.

Democrats in both the House and Senate worry the health care problems could dim their re-election chances next year. Republicans are saddled with historically low approval ratings and an internal debate over the direction of their party, though the heath law woes have proved a lifeline following the GOP's much-criticized handling of the government shutdown.

With Republicans sensing an opportunity in Obama's free fall, the president is sure to face a struggle in getting their support, particularly in the House, for White House priorities such as an immigration overhaul or broad budget deal.

Without success on other fronts to counteract the health care failures, Obama will have fewer chances to change the public's view that Washington, and the president himself, are ineffective.

"We appear to be stuck, whatever direction we look," William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said about Washington's political landscape.

Obama's health care calamity began with the flood of computer problems that crippled HealthCare.gov, the website that had been billed as a quick and easy way for people to purchase insurance.

Those troubles were compounded when at least 4.2 million people started receiving cancellation letters from their insurance companies despite Obama's repeated assurances that anyone who liked his or her insurance plan could keep it.

The widespread problems have spurred questions about the normally cool and confident president's management style and competence. Why was the White House so poorly prepared for the long-anticipated rollout of Obama's major legislative achievement? Why did the president seem personally unaware of the extent of the problems until they became publicly known?

The troubles have also shaken Obama's allies.

"The rollout of the website, that's terrible. But the fact is, that will be fixed," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

For the public, the health care failures are changing how they view the president.

Many polls now show that Americans say Obama isn't honest or trustworthy, or a strong leader. For example, Quinnipiac University's poll of registered voters conducted this month found just 44 percent thought Obama was honest and trustworthy, down 10 points since earlier this fall. Only 48 percent felt he has strong leadership qualities, a low point in his presidency.

The polling is a blow for a White House that long has relied on the public's personal fondness for Obama to carry him through rough patches in his presidency. It's also made it harder for the president to dismiss criticism of the rollout as standard politicking from Republicans and Washington's chattering class, as his aides derisively refer to the pundits in the nation's capital.

Obama's advisers need only recall the Oval Office's last occupant to see the lasting damage that could be done if those numbers don't recover.

President George W. Bush's credibility and trust took a tumble as the public grew weary of the Iraq war and angry over the government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina. His presidency never recovered and he left office with negative job and personal approval ratings.

The comparisons to Bush already are percolating.

"This is an unfolding disaster politically, in a way that's something like the Iraq war was for the Republican Party," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla. "If they don't get this fixed they're going to pay a horrific political price."

Democrats are well aware that they could be caught up in that web if the health care problems aren't solved quickly.

Even after Obama announced a change in the law aimed at helping some people whose coverage has been canceled, 39 House Democrats voted for legislation opposed by the White House that would let insurers sell individual health coverage that doesn't meet the law's new standards to anyone who wants it.

"My constituents are pretty upset, and so am I," said Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., who is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the House and voted for the measure. "The rollout has been a disaster.

Obama's mea culpa in the White House briefing room Thursday was a first step in trying to reassure his party and recapture the public's trust.

Shortly after he spoke, his chief of staff, Denis McDonough, went to Capitol Hill to try to soothe concerns from worried Democrats. On Monday, Obama planned to try to shore up support from some of his strongest supporters in a conference call hosted by his political arm, Organizing For Action.

But the president knows it will take more than words to save his second term.

"I'm the head of this team," he said. "We did fumble the ball on it, and what I'm going to do is make sure that we get it fixed."

Associated Press writers Henry C. Jackson and Josh Lederman and AP Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

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Oregon's healthcare exchange (Cover Oregon) struggles; no enrollees

Posted by Olog-hai on Mon Nov 18 04:59:04 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Associated Press
Nov 18, 2013 2:02 AM EST

Once a leader, Oregon exchange struggles

By Jonathan J. Cooper
Associated Press
With all the problems facing the rollout of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, nowhere is the situation worse or more surprising than in Oregon, a progressive state that has enthusiastically embraced the federal law but has so far failed to enroll a single person in coverage through the state's insurance exchange.

Despite grand ambitions, an early start, millions of dollars from the federal government and a tech-savvy population, Oregon's online enrollment system still isn't ready more than a month after it was supposed to go live. The state has resorted to hiring or reassigning 400 people to process insurance applications by hand.

"We're all surprised and frustrated that we're in the position that we're in now," said Jesse O'Brien, a health care advocate at the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, which lobbied for the exchange.

The state has received about 18,000 paper applications, at 19 pages each, and is scrambling to manually file and clear them. State officials have not been able to say when they expect the online system to launch, nor have they established a deadline to submit paper applications in order for coverage to begin Jan. 1. Meanwhile, the exchange's board is demanding answers from the executive director about when the website will work and how his team will get people enrolled on time.

For consumers, the application process can be long and frustrating.

"I've been trying since the very first day of October just to try to find out the coverage I could get," said Donna George, 43, a bookkeeper from Bend, Ore., who's been uninsured for three years.

When the online system wouldn't work, George submitted a paper application Oct. 7 for herself and her husband. Finally, on Nov. 12, she received an enrollment packet that tells her how much of a tax credit she'll receive and lays out her coverage options. She's now waiting to meet with her insurance agent to pick a plan and return the forms.

Oregon has long prided itself on being a leader in health policy. Its Medicaid system has been a testing ground for new innovations since the early 1990s. The state started laying the groundwork for an insurance exchange a year before Congress passed the health care law that called for one in every state. Gov. John Kitzhaber, a former emergency room physician, is a respected voice on health reform.

The state also has a large population of young, underemployed progressives who might provide a burgeoning market for affordable coverage. Its ultra-competitive health care market led to lower-than-expected premiums. Lawmakers from both parties have embraced the law. And the Portland area is a thriving hub of technology companies known as the Silicon Forest.

In other words, Oregon had everything going for it.

But its exchange, known as Cover Oregon, became a victim of its own lofty ambitions and the state's stubborn refusal to dial them back until it was too late.

While exchanges in many states are telling applicants who appear to qualify for Medicaid to contact a separate agency, Oregon insists its exchange must be a "one-stop shop" for both Medicaid and private insurance. The state also wants its exchange to eventually be able to help enroll people in a wide array of public-assistance programs, not just health care.

Exchange leaders stuck with their plan even as risk consultants warned repeatedly that they were in danger of missing the Oct. 1 deadline to launch.

"We won't know whether we made the right decisions until our system is up and running," said Amy Fauver, chief communications officer for Cover Oregon. "But we're going forward in the way we feel we can best serve Oregonians."

Exchange officials say they haven't fully launched their website because their software still can't accurately determine whether applicants are eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, particularly for people with complex family arrangements.

Kitzhaber, a Democrat, has pledged that the problems won't "interfere with our objective of making sure that every Oregonian that wants to be enrolled" by the start of the new year "is, in fact, enrolled."

Oregon does have one big success to brag about. The state has enrolled 70,000 people in Medicaid, reducing the ranks of the uninsured by more than 10 percent. The large number of Medicaid enrollments came in large part thanks to a "fast-track" enrollment process approved by the Obama administration. Using income data already on file, the state mailed a simple seven-question Medicaid enrollment form to people in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program who qualify for health coverage under the federal health law's expansion of Medicaid.

Pressure is growing on exchange officials to fix their problems. U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, a moderate Democrat who took heat after voting for the health care law, released a sharply worded statement on Friday demanding that the exchange and its main contractor, Oracle, make it work.

"The implementation of Oregon's health insurance marketplace has been abysmal," Schrader said. "The current situation is completely unacceptable, and I expect much more from a state with a reputation for being an innovator in the field of health care."

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Sticker shock for ACA hits "older aides" in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 15:29:16 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Politico

Older Hill aides shocked by Obamacare prices

By Jonathan Allen and Jennifer Haberkorn | 11/21/13 6:00 PM EST
Veteran House Democratic aides are sick over the insurance prices they’ll pay under Obamacare, and they’re scrambling to find a cure.

“In a shock to the system, the older staff in my office (folks over 59) have now found out their personal health insurance costs (even with the government contribution) have gone up 3-4 times what they were paying before,” Minh Ta, chief of staff to Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), wrote to fellow Democratic chiefs of staff in an email message obtained by Politico. “Simply unacceptable.”

In the email, Ta noted that older congressional staffs may leave their jobs because of the change to their health insurance.

Under the Affordable Care Act, and federal regulations, many congressional staffers — designated as “official” aides — were forced to move out of the old heavily subsidized Federal Employees Health Benefits program and into the District of Columbia’s health insurance marketplace exchange. Others designated as “unofficial” were allowed to stay in the FEHB program. Managers had to choose whether aides were “official” or “unofficial” by Oct. 31, and Ta said that wasn’t enough time to make an informed decision about who would benefit and who would lose out by going into the new system.

Moore’s office was one of those in which all staff were designated as “official” and pushed into the exchanges. That ended up being a problem for older staff, who weren’t accustomed to paying higher premiums because of their age.

But age is one of the few factors insurers can use to adjust prices under Obamacare — and older people will often pay much more than younger people.

For instance, the premiums for gold-level Aetna HMO plans in D.C. cost an average of $684.40 per month for a 55-year-old. A similar plan would cost an average of $287.11 for a 27-year-old. The gold-level CareFirst HMO plans have an average premium of $573.07 for a 55-year-old — more than double the $240.41 average for 27-year-olds. That’s before the federal employee contribution toward the premium.

In an interview with Politico, Ta emphasized that “employees are not dissatisfied with the Affordable Care Act” and that some younger staffers have seen their premiums fall. But, he noted, congressional aides are treated differently now than other federal employees, and he would like to be able to offer the best health insurance option available to his employees — even if that means some of them are covered under the old system and others jump into the exchanges.

He wrote in his email that he had asked Democratic staff on the House Administration Committee whether she could redesignate some of the aides on Moore’s payroll as nonofficial office staff so that they could avoid the exchange and keep their FEHB plans.

“So far the answer is no, and that we have the opportunity next year to redesignate staff,” Ta wrote. “I am asking for a solution now though because I will lose staff in my office because of this SNAFU and I mentioned to payroll and House Admin[istration Committee] that it was unfair for our offices to make this designation without allowing our staff the ability [to] actually go on the DCshop to compare rates. I would have made a different decision on the designation of my older staff.”

Ta concluded by asking other chiefs of staff to join him in petitioning the Administration Committee for an immediate fix. Glenn Rushing, chief of staff to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, quickly replied to the group that he would join the fight.

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 22 15:36:43 2013, in response to Sticker shock for ACA hits "older aides" in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 15:29:16 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Shows you just how good that congressional health plan was. Pity the rest of us couldn't get on it as originally proposed.

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 16:20:40 2013, in response to Sticker shock for ACA hits "older aides" in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 15:29:16 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Heh. What goes around comes around. Putting Congress and its staff on the ACA was GOP Sen. Grassley's idea

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Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 16:27:46 2013, in response to Sticker shock for ACA hits "older aides" in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 15:29:16 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Heh. Boehn-head signed up, after a few false tries. No complaints from him about sticker shock, either.

His very own Blog- who'da thunk it?

Earlier this afternoon, I sat down to try and enroll in the DC exchange under the president’s health care law:

Like many Americans, my experience was pretty frustrating. After putting in my personal information, I received an error message. I was able to work past that, but when I went to actually sign up for coverage, I got this “internal server error” screen:

Despite multiple attempts, I was unable to get past that point and sign up for a health plan. We’ve got a call into the help desk. Guess I’ll just have to keep trying…

Updated (5:35 pm ET:) Kept at it, and called the DC Health Link help line. They called back a few hours later, and after re-starting the process on the website two more times, I just heard from DC Health Link that I have been successfully enrolled.


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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by mcorivervsaf on Fri Nov 22 16:46:17 2013, in response to Sticker shock for ACA hits "older aides" in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 15:29:16 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
OOPS!

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 22 20:08:44 2013, in response to Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 16:20:40 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Why is it that every time republicans actually DO something, it only makes things worse? :(

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 22 20:10:55 2013, in response to Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 16:27:46 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
IT services got to his office and resolved the problem for him:

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 20:12:14 2013, in response to Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 16:27:46 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
No complaints from him about sticker shock, either

You really expect the RINO double-agents to complain? (Oh yeah; you would.)

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 20:13:31 2013, in response to Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 16:20:40 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
So you're admitting that the ACA is exactly what the conservatives say it is?

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 20:13:44 2013, in response to Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 22 20:08:44 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
How is this "worse"?

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 20:15:09 2013, in response to Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by mcorivervsaf on Fri Nov 22 16:46:17 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
There is no libspin to this. It's all fail, all the time. Even bringing up RINO Grassley is a mega-fail.

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 22 20:44:21 2013, in response to Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 20:13:31 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Well they DID come up with it. Dems wanted the Kennedy plan which never made it to the floor for a vote. The Heritage Foundation one did. You know ... ROMNEYCARE?

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 22 20:45:02 2013, in response to Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 20:13:44 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Didn't you read the post? They're whining. That usually doesn't happen when things get better. Except maybe for out where you are. :)

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 23:30:08 2013, in response to Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 22 20:44:21 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Touche'.

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 23:31:30 2013, in response to Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 20:12:14 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
And you are boringly predictable.

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by chicagomotorman on Fri Nov 22 23:36:05 2013, in response to Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 20:12:14 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Anybody who claims to be a Republican, yet are against the Tea Party are Rinos

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 23:37:55 2013, in response to Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by chicagomotorman on Fri Nov 22 23:36:05 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Have you ever considered that the Tea Party folks are the real RINOs?

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Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 22 23:38:52 2013, in response to Re: Sticker shock for ACA hits ''older aides'' in Democratic Party (age-ism), posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 23:30:08 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
I think that's covered now too. :)

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 22 23:39:28 2013, in response to Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 23:37:55 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Libertarians disguising themselves as republicans? Never! :)

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by chicagomotorman on Sat Nov 23 00:04:29 2013, in response to Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 23:37:55 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Youre not a Republican. I dont even believe youre Italian

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by chicagomotorman on Sat Nov 23 00:06:56 2013, in response to Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 22 23:37:55 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Youre not a Republican. I dont even believe youre Italian

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by chicagomotorman on Sat Nov 23 00:06:57 2013, in response to Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 22 20:12:14 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Anybody who claims to be a Republican, yet are against the Tea Party are Rinos

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by Spider-Pig on Sat Nov 23 01:31:29 2013, in response to Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by chicagomotorman on Sat Nov 23 00:06:56 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
I don't even believe you're Jewish.

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Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare

Posted by chicagomotorman on Sat Nov 23 09:07:36 2013, in response to Re: Boehner Successfully Joins Obamacare, posted by Spider-Pig on Sat Nov 23 01:31:29 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Let me check my schmeckel.

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New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a "threat to liberalism"

Posted by Olog-hai on Tue Nov 26 20:09:27 2013, in response to Lib columnists: ACA failure could "destroy liberal government", posted by Olog-hai on Sun Nov 17 00:05:00 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
When you've lost TNR, and Franklin Foer to boot . . . what next?

Obamacare's Threat to Liberalism

By Franklin Foer
November 24, 2013
There’s a term of art that the Obama White House uses to describe its neurotic supporters who instantly race to the worst-case scenario: They are known as “bed-wetters.” Two months into the dysfunctional life of healthcare.gov, however, that seems a perfectly appropriate physiological reaction.

Liberalism has spent the better part of the past century attempting to prove that it could competently and responsibly extend the state into new reaches of American life. With the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, the administration has badly injured that cause, confirming the worst slurs against the federal government. It has stifled bad news and fudged promises; it has failed to translate complex mechanisms of policy into plain English; it can’t even launch a damn website. What’s more, nobody responsible for the debacle has lost a job or suffered a demotion. Over time, the Affordable Care Act’s technical difficulties can be repaired. Reversing the initial impressions of government ineptitude won’t be so easy.

When the modern liberals first emerged in the early twentieth century, they conceded that they began their ideological race with a severe disadvantage. As Herbert Croly, the founding editor of this magazine, diagnosed: They were living in Thomas Jefferson’s country, not Alexander Hamilton’s. The prevailing ethos was leave-us-alone libertarianism—or, as Croly put it, “licensed selfishness.” The country wasn’t accustomed to thinking of itself as a national entity, and it certainly wasn’t ready to be governed by one.

The onus, in other words, was on liberals to prove the concept of government. And while their ideas for what the state could accomplish were often quite vague, they made confident claims about their capacity to implement them. Back when Woodrow Wilson was a professor at Bryn Mawr, he published a seminal essay extolling “the science of administration.” His case was characteristic of the times and the ideology he helped shape. Wilson imagined technical experts, the new breed of social scientists emerging from the universities, who could help steer the economy. He would come to see these experts as a bulwark against the predations of corporations and protectors of the “man on the make.” Government efficiency became something of a slogan for the movement. When Teddy Roosevelt thumped his fists before the Progressive Party convention in 1912—the moment he pandered hardest to the nascent liberalism—he invoked efficiency 22 times, rallying the throngs of reformers behind what he called the “cause of human rights and of government efficiency.”

There was an unstated reason liberalism embraced these concepts: If liberals wanted the federal government to take on big new projects—more to the point, if liberals wanted taxes to pay for them—they needed the public to believe that the money would be well spent. It was more comforting for people to feel as if disinterested technicians, not party hacks, were going to be running the show.

And, for a while at least, the rhetoric helped firm up the legitimacy of the growing state. Nor did it hurt that the mobilization for World War II provided one of the great demonstrations of government prowess in human history—and that, after the war, even centrist Republicans paid obeisance to the accomplishments of the New Deal. In 1964, the government registered its highest popularity in the polls. That was followed by two of the most fecund years in the history of social policy: Both Medicare and Medicaid were born then. (Wilbur Cohen, the social scientist who engineered Medicare, liked to quip that his work was “one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent implementation”—an aphorism worth tacking on the doors to the West Wing.) This moment evaporated quickly and faith in government soon began a long downward slide in the polls. Vietnam and Watergate hardly reflected well on Washington, stagflation seemed the product of incompetent economic management, and the rising racial resentments of the white working class created an ungenerous mood.

The more people lost faith in the power of the state, the more the party of government suffered. A generation of Democratic electoral losses spurred a cottage industry of makeover artists who urged liberals to try on new ideological suits. Of course, the most successful of these was Bill Clinton.

On its surface, his Third Way seemed a rejection of the old technocratic impulse. He talked endlessly about personal responsibility and his aides emphasized their deep respect for markets. This opened the president to criticism from the left, which believed he had coldly abandoned the basic tenets of liberalism. That wasn’t quite right. Despite “ending welfare as we know it,” Clinton still believed in activist, redistributionist government. It’s just that the political landscape had changed too much for him to be direct about it. The only way he believed he could help the working poor was through unorthodox measures—tax credits, partnership with the private sector—all of which unintentionally increased the complexity of the state and made it hard to know when the government was actually working on the citizens’ behalf.

Before he became president, Barack Obama professed to disdain this style. He removed his name from a list of Democratic Leadership Council supporters. Ronald Reagan, he later told a Nevada newspaper, had changed “the trajectory of America … [in] a way that Bill Clinton did not.” But his allergy to the Third Way turned out to be more of a talking point than a governing reality.

Although the Affordable Care Act has transformational potential, the guts of the legislation contain as much Bill Clinton as Lyndon Johnson. A two-page bill could have extended Medicare and provided universal coverage, but by relying so heavily on the private market, and straining to avoid the taint of Big Government, the Affordable Care Act is the Russian novel of social policy, now totaling 20,202 pages. Loopholes and exemptions abound. As Ezra Klein has grimly warned, “Far from introducing innovation and efficiency into the system, the decision to build a complex, 50-state public-private hybrid has introduced towering complexity into the project, and seems, potentially, to be beyond the government’s capacity to do well.”

Liberals rallied around the Affordable Care Act because it was the best bill that could clear the Senate. But they also took comfort in the history of social policy. In the winter of 2009, Paul Krugman wrote: “Highly imperfect insurance reforms, like Social Security and Medicare in their initial incarnations, have gotten more comprehensive over time. This suggests that the priority is to get something passed.” Success was supposed to beget success, demonstrating the efficacy of reform and building support for future expansion.

But even in the absence of immediate results, liberals were once able to tolerate a bungled policy—so long as it was done in the name of accumulating governmental know-how. Louis Brandeis urged testing programs in “laboratories of democracy.” Franklin Roosevelt bragged about his “bold, persistent experimentation.” Fortunately for the New Deal, Twitter didn’t broadcast every farmer’s sad encounter with the Agriculture Adjustment Act. But the culture of modern Washington, with its hyperventilating media and legislative saboteurs, takes pornographic pleasure in magnifying failures—which in turn erodes the public’s willingness to give liberalism another shot.

This means the earliest days of a policy’s existence have acquired even greater significance. Just as Clinton had to tweak the traditional liberal formula to advance progressive aims, so will whoever follows Obama. Her challenge will be to ensure that her biggest legislative achievements—curbing carbon emissions perhaps, or expanding the Affordable Care Act—are impeccably implemented with the precision that her ancestors celebrated. She must contend with the new expectations that technology has set, with all of those devices that arrive in our hands seemingly glitch free. That’s what the Obama administration somehow failed to grasp and what liberalism requires if it ever wants to replicate its greatest victories.

Franklin Foer is the editor of The New Republic.

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Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism''

Posted by italianstallion on Tue Nov 26 20:51:07 2013, in response to New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a "threat to liberalism", posted by Olog-hai on Tue Nov 26 20:09:27 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
How "lost"? I guess you don't read beyond headlines.

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(1129667)

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Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism''

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Tue Nov 26 20:59:22 2013, in response to Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism'', posted by italianstallion on Tue Nov 26 20:51:07 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
And thanksfully so, or he might have realized that what he brought to the table here was "let's JUNK this crap and do single payer like we should have in the first place." :)

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(1129670)

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Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism''

Posted by Mr Mabstoa on Tue Nov 26 21:07:27 2013, in response to Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism'', posted by SelkirkTMO on Tue Nov 26 20:59:22 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Or just extended Medicare and Medicaid for the 106,000 who signed up for Obamacare so far :)

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(1129674)

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Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism''

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Tue Nov 26 21:13:32 2013, in response to Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism'', posted by Mr Mabstoa on Tue Nov 26 21:07:27 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
That was the idea behind "single payer" ... that America could have health insurance as good as everywhere else, including Zimbabwe. Instead, we got THIS piece of crap. Kinda sad that the "greatest nation on earth" is the last industrialized country left to not have single payer.

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Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism''

Posted by Olog-hai on Tue Nov 26 21:19:53 2013, in response to Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism'', posted by Mr Mabstoa on Tue Nov 26 21:07:27 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
That's next. Part of the push towards single payer . . .

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(1129677)

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Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism''

Posted by salaamallah@hotmail.com on Tue Nov 26 21:21:09 2013, in response to Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism'', posted by SelkirkTMO on Tue Nov 26 21:13:32 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
iawtp

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(1129689)

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Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism''

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Tue Nov 26 21:39:10 2013, in response to Re: New Republic columnist: ACA failure is a ''threat to liberalism'', posted by Olog-hai on Tue Nov 26 21:19:53 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Well ya see? If YOUR side hadn't put so much effort into fucking this all up, then we'd all be on the profiteer plan and no hope of single payer. But since ya buttfucked it, might as well go for the gusto. :)

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We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to ACA gaffe)

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 28 17:13:04 2013, in response to Universal Health Care is HERE in these USA! Apply Now. www.healthcare.gov, posted by SMAZ on Tue Oct 1 13:19:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
KXII, CBS 12, Sherman TX

Gainesville family fights for children's lives after insurance cancellation

By Allison Harris
Updated: Fri 8:55 AM, Nov 22, 2013
A Gainesville family is fighting for their childrens' lives.

Ronald and Krista Alford's two children, Hunter and Mikayla, were born with extremely rare types of cancer.

Now, sven years into fighting that battle, they've been hit with a new one: their children's insurance has been cancelled, affecting Hunter's chemotherapy.

News 12's Allison Harris brings us their story of struggle and strength.

Hunter Alford is due for his next round of chemo.

As of right now, his mom Krista says, he's unlikely to get it.

"Since his insurance was dropped, we're thinking about cancelling his chemotherapy," Krista Alford said.

The 7-year-old, who loves playing games on his iPad, is reportedly the youngest person to have his type of cancer.

Hunter has Plexiform Hishocyne Neoplasm.

The Alford's are in a battle with children's medicaid — or CHIP — Hunter's insurance.

Krista says, despite receiving a new, renewed insurance card, the agency told her they dropped his insurance.

"I called them and they said we were dropped October 31st," Krista said.

Krista says an insurance agent told her that Hunter's information got lost when they made changes under the new Affordable Care Act.

Now, Krista is on a mission to regain that insurance, but they're running out of time before his next chemo treatment, and the agent says they can't expedite.

"The lady's like, the only way we can expedite is if your son was pregnant and in labor, or if he was an illegal," Krista said.

Hunter's chemo would cost $50,000 without insurance.

For now, the Gainesville community is pulling together, raising money to pay for Hunter's chemo.

Krista says she's touched, but still worried for her children.

"This is my son's life on the line and I don't want him to have to fight with cancer his whole life. That's all he knows is cancer," Krista said.

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to ACA gaffe)

Posted by AlM on Thu Nov 28 17:39:03 2013, in response to We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to ACA gaffe), posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 28 17:13:04 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Looks like an insurance company mistake, not an ACA mistake. ACA doesn't take effect until 1/1/2014, so you can't blame a cancellation on 10/31/2013 on it.

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(1130273)

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to ACA gaffe)

Posted by The silence on Thu Nov 28 19:48:49 2013, in response to Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to ACA gaffe), posted by AlM on Thu Nov 28 17:39:03 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Insurance company mistake caused by the insurance company making changes to comply with ACR.

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(1130285)

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Re: We Are NOT All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by italianstallion on Thu Nov 28 21:16:13 2013, in response to We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to ACA gaffe), posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 28 17:13:04 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Simple mistake:

"Hunter's information got lost "

Seems like there will be a simple solution.

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(1130287)

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 28 21:21:33 2013, in response to Re: We Are NOT All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by italianstallion on Thu Nov 28 21:16:13 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
No, that's what you call an excuse. To be followed by another excuse.

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(1130290)

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Nov 28 21:25:33 2013, in response to Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 28 21:21:33 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Yep ... insurance companies doing that is *why* we have ACA now.

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(1130294)

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MORE BS We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by italianstallion on Thu Nov 28 21:28:54 2013, in response to Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by Olog-hai on Thu Nov 28 21:21:33 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Thus is clearly another right-wing BS story, balaming Obamacare for something the great right-wing State of Texas fucked up.

From the right-wing Daily Mail:

"Despite Krista's insistence that the Affordable Care Act has caused her son to be un-insured, a media spokesperson with Texas Health and Human Services Communication - who handle CHIP - said that the problem does not lie with Obamacare.
However she did admit to administrative changes that could have led to mistakes moving Hunter from CHIP to an upgraded version of Medicaid.
She repeated that the problem was not related to Obamacare, but there were some 'glitches' in coverage when the changeover happened."


[Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2515122/Hunter-Alford-7-born-cancer-loses-insurance-Obamacare.html#ixzz2lzu7Xwnl
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook]

Unfortunately, this faux outrage story is all over r-w media, and is fooling more people into blaming Obamacare for something it did not cause.

You think that before Obamacare there was never a lost file?

And you think the CHIP children's health program has anything to do with Obamacare?

The lastest r-w scare tactic is to blame every bad health story on Obamacare. Next time Olog gets a cold, he will blame it on Obamacare.

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by italianstallion on Thu Nov 28 21:29:27 2013, in response to Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Nov 28 21:25:33 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Yes, thank you.

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(1130298)

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Re: MORE BS We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Nov 28 21:36:53 2013, in response to MORE BS We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by italianstallion on Thu Nov 28 21:28:54 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
So look at the bright side ... republicans will avoid Obamacare and they'll all die. So where's the downside here? :)

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Re: MORE BS We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by italianstallion on Thu Nov 28 21:52:06 2013, in response to Re: MORE BS We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Nov 28 21:36:53 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Hallelujah! I forgot to look for the silver lining. :-)

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(1130308)

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Re: MORE BS We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Nov 28 21:56:32 2013, in response to Re: MORE BS We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by italianstallion on Thu Nov 28 21:52:06 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Good to know they finally came up with SOMETHING. :)

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(1130326)

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 29 00:47:47 2013, in response to MORE BS We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by italianstallion on Thu Nov 28 21:28:54 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Daily Mail right wing? Looks like you're suffering from dementia; better hope you can get as much Medicare as you can. (If you're not, then you're just a malicious SOB.)

Never mind you citing a CHIP spokesperson as honest.

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(1130328)

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 29 00:56:46 2013, in response to Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 29 00:47:47 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
Boy ... the output state really changes on the device when your story blows up. :)


For non-engineers, that's a "flip flop."

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(1130331)

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 29 01:50:49 2013, in response to Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 29 00:56:46 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
"Dewwwd", I already mentioned CHIP's excuses.

At least ItalianScrooge did announce that he was posting "more BS", which makes him honest in that respect.

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(1130332)

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to ACA gaffe)

Posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 29 01:51:15 2013, in response to Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by SelkirkTMO on Fri Nov 29 00:56:46 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
"Dewwwd", I already mentioned CHIP's excuses.

At least ItalianScrooge did announce that he was posting "more BS", which makes him honest in that respect.

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(1130369)

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Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe)

Posted by italianstallion on Fri Nov 29 11:09:21 2013, in response to Re: We Are All Hunter and Mikayla Alford (born w/cancer, insurance canceled due to Ins.Co gaffe), posted by Olog-hai on Fri Nov 29 00:47:47 2013.

fiogf49gjkf0d
So, you have no answer.

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