Althouse: "But the problem Obama now faces is one familiar to many Presidents before him: a need to demonstrate basic competency."

October 21, 2013

"But the problem Obama now faces is one familiar to many Presidents before him: a need to demonstrate basic competency."

First sentence of the last paragraph of a new Time magazine article titled "No More Apologies: Why Obama Has to Get Mad About His Broken Obamacare Websites."

Most ludicrous word in that sentence: "now."

(Why now? Why not earlier? Like before we elected him or at least back when he let the Democratic majority push through a complicated reform that they couldn't even comprehend let alone persuade the American people we should want?)

Most ludicrous word in the article headline: "Broken."

(Things that were never in working order cannot be broken. It's like saying a rock has "fallen asleep" or a lead balloon has "landed.")

93 comments:

Tom said...: The irony is that if Americans really wanted Obamacare to work, it should have elected Mitt Romney. This sort of thing would have been right up his alley. It would probably be working by now and cash positive...; 10/21/13, 9:33 AM
Tom said...: Not "it" - "they"; 10/21/13, 9:34 AM
TosaGuy said...: "get mad" is the most ludicrous.

"get serious" would be the correct response.

We've seen Obama "get mad" lots of time and he fails every time.

Obama is quite capable of getting serious and is quite effective and task-oriented when doing so, but he only does it during elections where his name is on the ballot.; 10/21/13, 9:36 AM
Kirk Parker said...: OMG, where was this Althouse in 2008???; 10/21/13, 9:36 AM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Which presidents before Obama had to demonstrate 'basic competency'? The only one I can think of is Jimmy Carter. Maybe Buchanan?; 10/21/13, 9:37 AM
Anonymous said...: Also, this Line: "No More Apologies: Why Obama Has to Get Mad About His Broken Obamacare Websites."

Have There Been Apologies? I've Seen Excuses, Mind You...; 10/21/13, 9:40 AM
MadisonMan said...: It was built broken.

Low bid contractors!; 10/21/13, 9:40 AM
Kevin said...: "Low bid contractors!"

Actually, the Federal ObamaCare website was sole-sourced to one company. Why it was sole-sourced is doubtless one of the reasons why Sebelius and other HHS officials are avoiding testifying before Congress.; 10/21/13, 9:43 AM
edutcher said...: Suddenly Time is worried about competency.

Could it be they're also worried about public disapproval rubbing off on them?; 10/21/13, 9:44 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Most US Presidents had to demonstrate basic competency, but they did it long before they became President.; 10/21/13, 9:44 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Lots of pundits on both sides keep saying Obamacare won't work unless younglings sign up.

Why is that the case?

This is a government program. It will keep going without funding or proper basis. I think I know more than the average Congressperson about the ACA, and I don't know any provision that says "if we don't get enough young people, the law dies".

It will live on until we kill it with fire.; 10/21/13, 9:49 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Five years of non-stop media writing articles about every event couched in "how does this affect the aura of Obama"? Never asking themselves is this guy for real? a boob? a dupe? a blustering fool? incompetent? a community organizer who has never done much of anything in the past?; 10/21/13, 9:51 AM
Rocketeer said...: Kevin: THANK YOU. It can't be emphasized enough. This wasn't low bid. It was NO bid.

Why?; 10/21/13, 9:52 AM
n.n said...: The technical issues are the least concern of the Obamacare project. The real problems lie in the asserted economic and social benefits of the plan.

The success or failure of a policy at a local or state level does not necessarily scale to a national level. In order to remain viable and not sponsor corruption, the requirement which an entitlement must satisfy is to be backed by economic productivity. There cannot be exceptional (or selective) and certainly not general dissociation of risk.

The requirements for affordable and available medical care is to address total cost and ensure it is actually available. Medical "insurance" is not equivalent to medical care.; 10/21/13, 9:58 AM
Oso Negro said...: Competency is good.; 10/21/13, 10:01 AM
Thorley Winston said...: Most US Presidents had to demonstrate basic competency, but they did it long before they became President.

Well put.; 10/21/13, 10:04 AM
Bob Boyd said...: These folks are concerned that Obamacare will collapse because too many people will be taking benefits out and not enough will be paying in.
That is not a tech problem. That is the problem with the entire blue model.
We have a $17 trillion dollar debt, a trillion dollar annual deficit, unfunded liabilities of something like 70 trillion dollars, over the next 50 years and a President who we hope will yet demonstrate basic competency.; 10/21/13, 10:05 AM
traditionalguy said...: Fake insurance exchanges are not workable. That is not the goal. Like solar panel factories, subsidized windmill farms and useless trains to no where, the same design criteria is being well met: package a huge multi trillion dollar expenditure for Friends of Obama and Dem Congressmen who get mega kickbacks for their "campaigns."; 10/21/13, 10:10 AM
Anonymous said...: Well, Obama has shown a lot of competency in getting people to do things for him by aiming for higher and higher office, looking and sounding smart, writing books about himself and giving speeches.

First-rate; 10/21/13, 10:11 AM
cubanbob said...: Obama being Obama will soon be organizing his latest fundraiser/no apologies tour. It's the only thing he's good at doing.; 10/21/13, 10:15 AM
Rusty said...: Clearly meaning; How can we be less mediocre.
It's a liberal government. It will always strive for more mediocrity.; 10/21/13, 10:20 AM
SteveR said...: Its clear he never had a clue about how this would work. From the start he was letting Pelosi's staffers, etc. drive the legislative train, which was all about politics.

Of course many of us knew from 2007 or so that what was behind the illusion could not work, in reality. Never ran anything in his life.; 10/21/13, 10:21 AM
Bob Boyd said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/21/13, 10:24 AM
YoungHegelian said...: @Kevin/Madison Man/Rocketeer,

Actually, the Federal ObamaCare website was sole-sourced to one company.

Oh, and it just gets worse. The primary system integrators were the Federal IT staffers of HHS themselves. For those who aren't around Federal contracts on a day to day basis, let me just point out that this is absolutely unheard of. In a normal contract like this, the Feds retain project oversight through a COTR, but all the work is done through a primary contractor (e.g. IBM Federal Systems) who then hires subcontractors as needed.

Oh, and that business about bringing people in at the last minute for a "tech surge". There is no way in hell it's being done legally under federal contracting law.; 10/21/13, 10:44 AM
SteveR said...: There is no way in hell it's being done legally under federal contracting law.

They probably have some IDIQ folks hanging around, I've seen that happen a lot in these situations.; 10/21/13, 11:10 AM
Rocketeer said...: They probably have some IDIQ folks hanging around, I've seen that happen a lot in these situations.

And they'll have to get up to speed, and adding them will greatly increase the number of communications channels, potential bottlencks, and opportunities for new screwups...the problem appears to be big enough that they need to start from scratch. Throwing IDIQ folks at this, most of whom have likely had nothing to do with it thus far, would likely do as much harm as good!; 10/21/13, 11:30 AM
Scott M said...: So...he's up there giving his "buck stops here" speech, without taking much personal responsibility so far that I've heard, and...

Lo and behold, the chick-prop right behind him passes out.

Omens, anyone?; 10/21/13, 11:34 AM
MadisonMan said...: As someone who has interacted with the Dept of Commerce Learning Management System (something that keeps track of training, and has recorded training sessions in it), I will say that the Obamacare Boondoggle is absolutely unsurprising.

Has any asked Obama is he's successfully enrolled yet?; 10/21/13, 11:35 AM
Scott M said...: It's a liberal government. It will always strive for more mediocrity.

This is the inevitable result when you try to make the incompetent feel better about themselves. The only way to do that is to hamstring the truly competent.; 10/21/13, 11:35 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Fascinating how much 'projecting' goes on with Obama.

"If only he knew...."

This is very commonplace with the behavior of the followers of charismatic leaders..."If only the great man knew, he would agree me with. He would do the right thing."

The sad reality is that knows and has known what's up and that he knowingly feasts off of this misguided affection.

This is partly why he can joke about auditing his enemies and never issue a formal order. A senior-level underling hears the joke and takes action. That's all that's necessary. It's toadying to the boss on a grand scale, and it's why Peter Drucker said that leadership by charisma is "misleadership."; 10/21/13, 11:36 AM
Hagar said...: The Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday that it plans to enlist “the best and the brightest from both inside and outside government” to help fix the online issues.

A very unfortunate phrase to use!; 10/21/13, 12:04 PM
MadisonMan said...: The most enjoyable part of Obamacare (My apologies for the people who actually have to, you know, use it) is its name.

Obama is linked inextricably to this ghastly implementation, and it hangs, millstone-like, around his neck, pulling him down, down, down.; 10/21/13, 12:09 PM
Sigivald said...: Things that were never in working order cannot be broken.

Sure they can.

Something that was intended to function is broken even if it never managed to work correctly.

(If it was never intended to work, it might be an art object, but it's not strictly broken, in itself - for instance a sculpture of "a broken clock" would not BE a broken clock, but a perfectly functional sculpture.

As always, intent matters.)

Dictionaries and use agree that one meaning of broken, the relevant one, is "not working or functioning".

Thus the exchanges are broken, in general.; 10/21/13, 12:09 PM
Carnifex said...: I know people get upset when I say it but Zero is the "HNIC" You look at the failures of every black run city government and you see Zero writ to a smaller page.

It offends you but it is the truth. It is what they do.; 10/21/13, 12:12 PM
DavidD said...: Thanks, Ann, for voting for Obama back in 2008 before he had ever demonstrated basic competency--and he still hasn't demonstrated basic competency.; 10/21/13, 12:18 PM
NCMoss said...: After forcing citizens to purchase insurance, what will be the next govt. coerced boondoggle - riding public transportation?; 10/21/13, 12:19 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Steve,

They probably have some IDIQ folks hanging around, I've seen that happen a lot in these situations.

No one has their "best & brightest" sitting around on IDIQ. The kind of guys who they need cost $250+ an hour, under normal circumstances, not as rushed delivery.

My guess is that Obama has pulled in political chips from Silicon Valley, and that the companies involved are eating the cost, which is illegal.

If the front end, which is basically just an interactive web site is this fucked up, imagine what the back end system to system integration between Obamacare & the legacy servers at IRS, etc is like. Silicon Valley knows many things, but the integration of heterogeneous legacy systems is not one of them. Do you think there's a single employee at Google who knows CICS/Cobol or MVS/TSO? I don't.; 10/21/13, 12:20 PM
Chef Mojo said...: Haiku:

So Crazy Eddie
Said to Barack Obama
"You're doing it wrong."; 10/21/13, 12:20 PM
Skyler said...: The Clinton faction is coming out now. They were good soldiers but now that he's been re-elected they want to make sure their own incompetent gets a shot and they won't let Obama's incompetence stand in their way.; 10/21/13, 12:36 PM
Bob Ellison said...: The word is "competence". Don't let's keep making new words that mean the same things as the original words. Electric/electrical, independence/independency, etc.

Competence.; 10/21/13, 12:36 PM
cubanbob said...: Broken infers that something was previously working or otherwise intact. As for Obama getting mad, who is he supposed to get mad at? The morons he subcontracted to write this abortion of a bill?; 10/21/13, 12:37 PM
Anonymous said...: Terry said...
Which presidents before Obama had to demonstrate 'basic competency'? The only one I can think of is Jimmy Carter. Maybe Buchanan?

I for one (I voted for the Turkey) gave Carter the assumption of competency. He had been a successful Governor, and he passed the Rickover Nuclear engineering selection process and Rickover did not tolerate anything less than technical perfection.; 10/21/13, 12:41 PM
Anonymous said...: What YoungHegelian said...

Here HHS decided it was going to be the "General Contractor". The System Integrator (SI) in geekspeak

CGI and Oracle and 50 other firms are effectively subcontractors to the Feds.

HUGE mistake.

There are a half dozen Federal organizations that are competent to be the SI on medium sized SW efforts such as this. All the ones I can name are in DoD. Places like the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), USAF Electronic Systems Command, Naval Space and Warfare Systems Command, Army SW Engineering Center.

See a pattern? words like SYSTEM Information, Electronic? Indicators of their core competencies. Their PM's are career specialists, with 20+ years of experience and certified PM's. Even then, they hire outside folks to help them watch the SI.

The Core competency of CMS is writing checks.

The SI, in this case CMS is responsible of all the specs. 50 Subcontractors write code to the specs, then the SI integrates the piece parts into the system. That's whey they get paid the big bucks.

FUBAR from the start; 10/21/13, 12:54 PM
Rocketeer said...: Carnifex, not only was your comment straight up racist, it represents a category error. This administration is not "black run," to use your phrase; it's Ivy League liberal run, which in the real world is far and away more likely to result in failure.; 10/21/13, 1:04 PM
Allen Edwards said...: "The Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday that it plans to enlist “the best and the brightest from both inside and outside government” to help fix the online issues."

There's an ancient (for programmers, ancient in this case is circa 1975) law of software development, known as Brooks's Law (from Wikipedia):

Brooks's Law is a principle in software development which says that "adding manpower to a late software project makes it later".[1] It was coined by Fred Brooks in his 1975 book The Mythical Man-Month. The corollary of Brooks's Law is that there is an incremental person who, when added to a project, makes it take more, not less time. Brooks adds that "Nine women can't make a baby in one month".; 10/21/13, 1:13 PM
Anonymous said...: From what I see, Obama is doing what he always does: Blame somebody else. Rather than let us get mad at him, like a Matador, he ways the cape and distracts us. He's mad that it doesn't work. Hell, we're mad at him for inflicting it on us then lying about it.

what we need is a Brimley:

James A. Wells, Assistant U.S. Attorney General: Now we'll talk all day if you want to. But, come sundown, there's gonna be two things true that ain't true now. One is that the United States Department of Justice is goin' to know what in the good Christ - e'scuse me, Angie - is goin' on around here. And the other's I'm gonna have somebody's ass in muh briefcase.; 10/21/13, 1:24 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Bob Ellison,

The word is "competence". Don't let's keep making new words that mean the same things as the original words. Electric/electrical, independence/independency, etc.

Yes, "competency" here should just be "competence." But "competency" has a second, distinct meaning: "skill," or "skill-set." A specific thing you know how to do well. In that sense, it's a useful word.

I have no difficulty imagining, for example, a man who is hopelessly incompetent as an attorney, though no one could fault his written-English competency. I have no difficulty imagining a violinist whose rhythmic competency was terrific, but couldn't play two notes in a row to save her life.; 10/21/13, 1:39 PM
mikeski said...: @St. George @11:36 a.m.:

Neo-Neocon - "If Only Obama Knew"

There's even a cite back to an Althouse comment.; 10/21/13, 1:58 PM
Lydia said...: About that phone number Obama mentioned in his speech today that folks can use instead of the website he's so darned mad about -- well, it's having problems as well:

An NBC reporter tweeted: Just called the number. They said there's too high call volume and call back on the weekend. "We're sorry for the inconvenience. Goodbye."; 10/21/13, 2:36 PM
Anonymous said...: I got through on the phone, being patient helps. I didn't need to but wanted to see if I could find a policy that was comparable for less and I did. I will now pay over $100 less per month, not a huge amount, but every penny counts.

My friend and her husband have four children, they are saving almost $300 a month for a comparable plan.

But I'm sure you folks don't want to hear this.; 10/21/13, 4:36 PM
Rusty said...: Inga said...
I got through on the phone, being patient helps. I didn't need to but wanted to see if I could find a policy that was comparable for less and I did. I will now pay over $100 less per month, not a huge amount, but every penny counts.

My friend and her husband have four children, they are saving almost $300 a month for a comparable plan.

But I'm sure you folks don't want to hear this.

The truth seems to forever evade you.; 10/21/13, 4:44 PM
Anonymous said...: Rusty, the problem is, you don't want to hear the truth. It doesn't fit the narrative.; 10/21/13, 4:46 PM
Michael K said...: "what we need is a Brimley:

James A. Wells, Assistant U.S. Attorney General: Now we'll talk all day if you want to. But, come sundown, there's gonna be two things true that ain't true now. One is that the United States Department of Justice is goin' to know what in the good Christ - e'scuse me, Angie - is goin' on around here. And the other's I'm gonna have somebody's ass in muh briefcase. "

I'm rereading Tom Clancy novels this week to avoid thinking about what is going on in government. Clancy writes about a government that works. The "Executive Orders" novel is porn for people like me who would like to see it fixed.

The only good thing that may come out of this is the collapse of the blue administrative state model.

Richard Fernandez has a good column today on the concept of single point of failure. The BART strike in San Francisco has the area paralyzed because the left has forced everyone to use BART. The left's solution ? Ban strikes.

It's always force for the left. All problems are solved with force.

"You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." Lenin.; 10/21/13, 4:58 PM
Michael K said...: "But I'm sure you folks don't want to hear this."

Inga, the web site is the least of Obamacare's problems.; 10/21/13, 5:00 PM
CWJ said...: Inga,

Earlier, you posted that you didn't need the exchange, and therefore had not tried it. Now you've called in and claim you are saving $100 a month. Seems to me you should be, albeit grudgingly, thanking the Althouse commentariat for goading you into backing up your claim that the exchange was doable.; 10/21/13, 5:32 PM
Anonymous said...: OK CWJ, thank you Althouse commentariat, you and Obamacare saved me $100 a month.; 10/21/13, 5:39 PM
CWJ said...: OK Althouse commentariat, who will be first to be big enough to say you're welcome Inga?; 10/21/13, 5:50 PM
Anonymous said...: I won't hold my breath.; 10/21/13, 5:51 PM
Anonymous said...: Michael K said...
rereading Tom Clancy novels

EO was my favorite. I always enjoyed the Cabinet meeting where Ryan implements "Solitary" the best..."The Constitution is not a suicide pact...

the similar meeting where the CNO refuses to sail in harms way without air cover. "Admiral, Summon your replacement"

And the black guy at Johns Hopkins "whoever did this, them bastards gots to pay"
or words to that effect :); 10/21/13, 6:11 PM
Anonymous said...: From Comsumer Reports,
"Every state has its own Health Insurance Marketplace, selling plans licensed for sale in that state. If you live in a state that has turned over the job of running its marketplace to the federal government, when you click on the link you'll start at Healthcare.gov, where you'll be shown how to navigate to your state's marketplace."

Alabama Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Alaska Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Arizona Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Arkansas Health Connector 1-855-283-3483

California: Covered California 1-888-975-1142

Colorado: Connect for Health Colorado 1-855-752-6749

Connecticut: Access Health CT 1-855-805-4325

Delaware: Choose Health Delaware 1-800-318-2596

Florida Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Georgia Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Hawaii Health Connector 1-877-628-5076

Idaho: Your Health Idaho 1-855-944-3246

Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Indiana Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Iowa Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Kansas Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Kentucky: Kynect. Kentucky's Healthcare Connection 1-855-459-6328

Louisiana Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Maine Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Maryland Health Connection 1-855-642-8572

Massachusetts Health Connector 1-877-623-6765

Michigan Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Minnessota: MNsure 1-855-366-7873

Mississippi Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Missouri Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Montana Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Nebraska Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Nevada Health Link 1-855-768-5465

New Hampshire Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

New Jersey Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange 1-800-204-4700

New York: NY State of Health 1-855-355-5777

North Carolina Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

North Dakota Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Ohio Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Oklahoma Health Insurance Marketplace 1-855-532-5465

Cover Oregon 1-855-268-3767

Pennsylvania Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Rhode Island: HealthSource RI 1-855-609-3303 1-800-318-2596

South Carolina Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

South Dakota Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Tennessee Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Texas Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Utah Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Vermont Health Connect 1-855-899-9600

Virginia Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Washington State Healthplanfinder 1-855-923-4633

Washington, D.C.: Health Link 1-855-532-5465

West Virginia Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Wisconsin Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596

Wyoming Health Insurance Marketplace 1-800-318-2596; 10/21/13, 6:13 PM
Rocketeer said...: CWJ, let me be the first to say it:

You're lying, Inga.; 10/21/13, 6:28 PM
Michael K said...: Inga seems to be spamming us with unusable phone numbers.

What is your deductible, Inga ?; 10/21/13, 6:30 PM
Anonymous said...: Michael K,
$500.; 10/21/13, 6:59 PM
Michael said...: Inga: You are particularly hilarious today, really top drawer with the thinking glitches. Tops. Too bad our president didn't invite you to the rose garden today as a prop. you would have been fucking splendid. The absolute best. Hilarious.

PS: most of the people on the other end of the telephones have to connect to healthcare.gov the government's answer to Amazon; 10/21/13, 7:06 PM
Anonymous said...: Michael, so predictable. So boring. So bitter.; 10/21/13, 7:09 PM
Rusty said...: Inga said...
Rusty, the problem is, you don't want to hear the truth. It doesn't fit the narrative.

Not your narrative anyway.; 10/21/13, 7:11 PM
Bob Ellison said...: Michelle Dulak Thomson, good clarification. You're right.; 10/21/13, 7:12 PM
Michael said...: Inga: Bitter? How can anybody be bitter when they have you to entertain not to mention to mock? I mean really. 800 #s that refer you to healthcare.gov are helpful, but not as much fun as when you discover that the person on the end of the phone has to get their answers from healthcare.gov. Kind of a one-eight-hundred-fuckyou.; 10/21/13, 7:14 PM
Michael K said...: What is your deductible, Inga ?

10/21/13, 6:30 PM
Delete
Blogger Inga said...

Michael K,
$500."

You are either a welfare case; not impossible, or not being honest.; 10/21/13, 7:51 PM
Anonymous said...: Michael, this is my plan. I have the Gold Plan.

My premium is more than $100 less per month, as I said before. Seriously what is WRONG with you?; 10/21/13, 8:07 PM
Michael K said...: " Individuals and small businesses across Eastern Wisconsin need not worry about the ongoing challenges accessing the federal healthcare exchanges at healthcare.gov, because they can still obtain premium quotes, premium tax subsidy estimates and benefit information from Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative, Eastern Wisconsin’s only nonprofit cooperative."

Inga, you obviously did not get this through Obamacare's web site. Maybe your numbers are correct but I will be interested in an update.

What is wrong with me ? Only 50 years a physician and a Masters Degree from Dartmouth on health care policy.

I don't think this is rational. Maybe you are right but I doubt it.; 10/21/13, 8:17 PM
Anonymous said...: You people are nuts.; 10/21/13, 8:22 PM
pm317 said...: Can we please shut the village idiot up?; 10/21/13, 8:42 PM
pm317 said...: I heard they had a fainting woman today at the Obama er.. rally just like 2008 or 2012.. and this seems to be what he said: “About three weeks ago, as the federal government shutdown, and the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces opened up across the country,” said Obama. “Well, we’ve now gotten the government back open for the American people and today I want to talk about how were going to get the marketplaces running at full steam as well.”

What the hell is wrong with this man?; 10/21/13, 8:49 PM
Michael K said...: "Blogger Inga said...

You people are nuts. "

Brilliant rebuttal, Inga. Sleep well.; 10/21/13, 8:53 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/21/13, 8:53 PM
Anonymous said...: Pm317, I guess you mean yourself, so shutup already.; 10/21/13, 8:55 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/21/13, 9:03 PM
Anonymous said...: What in the world will you folks do with yourselves when Healthcare.gov is up and running at full speed? Whatever will you do? Manufacture some new scandal? OH! I guess you could try to impeach Obama. Democrats have a much much better chance at retaking the House thanks to you nuts. You have no idea what is going to hit you when Democrats have the House, the Senate and the Presidency.

And you did it to yourselves.

1; 10/21/13, 9:04 PM
pm317 said...: This is from an ultra liberal site:

ObamaCare Clusterfuck

Check it out. If it were not so pathetic, it would be hilarious. All the silicon valley lapdogs who donated money to this guy should hide in shame. Maybe Zukerburg will look at the code and fix it. I don't think that other google lapdog, Eric Schmidt barks code. If it was at least done right from the beginning as in the original legislation to implementation, it would be one thing, but what we are seeing is really hysterical. Oh, Read Byron York about the people at today's rally and ask how many of them had enrolled.; 10/21/13, 9:12 PM
YoungHegelian said...: Oh, God, this healthcare.gov fuck up just gets deeper & deeper. You know who they're bringing in now? Verizon.

Yeah, you read that right --- Verizon. A company who for years, in spite of repeated attempts to market itself to major corporations, has never, ever, gotten any traction because everyone who ever deals with them thinks "Wait, it takes me 45 days to get a T-1 line from you, and you want to manage my business critical systems".

Verizon is, at best, a networking company. This is a software development/systems integration project.

For all you folks who are not IT, you're probably going "uhhm-What?", but for those of you who are, how in God's name is it possible for this to get any stupider?; 10/21/13, 9:21 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/21/13, 9:27 PM
Iconochasm said...: CWJ said...
OK Althouse commentariat, who will be first to be big enough to say you're welcome Inga?

Oh, I just don't really believe it ever happened. How many people have actually managed to purchase insurance on the exchanges, and one of them just so happens to be one of the most thoughtlessly partisan personalities I've ever encountered on the internet, who just so happened to try it on a lark to prove a point? Probability less than 5%.; 10/21/13, 9:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Third round of polling looking increasingly bad for Republicans keeping the House; 10/21/13, 9:38 PM
Iconochasm said...: Inga said...
What in the world will you folks do with yourselves when Healthcare.gov is up and running at full speed? Whatever will you do? Manufacture some new scandal?

Why on earth would anyone need to? There will be 5 more by then, distracting from really beating Obama up over this one, just like this one from the last, and so on. Calling it now: the website is minimally functional by March, Obama hand-waves some bullshit to get through the March/February deadline, and we focus on the new and exciting scandals while the site slowly builds into something barely acceptable. The DMV of healthcare.

But the thing is, the basic idea is still FUBAR. And the DMV turns away quite a few people...; 10/21/13, 9:39 PM
Bob Ellison said...: I tried to ObamaSignup in Pennsylvania. No workee. This system is a failure. A real company would face bankruptcy over this.; 10/21/13, 10:38 PM
Lnelson said...: Inga,
I respect your passion in the causes you believe in.
Congratulations on the success of your sign up. I hope millions of others will be so lucky.
A little skepticism toward the total future success of any social policy (where you cannot disprove counter factuals) would improve your credibility. Otherwise, it just sounds religious.
Larry; 10/21/13, 11:17 PM
cubanbob said...: I don't doubt Inga got her deal but what she doesn't say is how much of a subsidy she got. Maybe she should thank the poor bastards who have been volunteered to subsidize her. Better still maybe she should offer to cut their grass as compensation.; 10/22/13, 12:25 AM
MayBee said...: Voters so screwed up.

Romney has lived a life doing nothing *but* proving extreme competency. We missed an amazing opportunity to have him as president.; 10/22/13, 3:30 AM
MayBee said...: Are you not insured through your employer, Inga?; 10/22/13, 3:34 AM
Rusty said...: Inga said...
Third round of polling looking increasingly bad for Republicans keeping the House

Which doesn't speak to the incompetence of this administration.; 10/22/13, 7:53 AM
B said...: cubanbob said...I don't doubt Inga got her deal...

I do.

Think about it. There is a huge, ongoing, and not close to being solved issue with people successfully navigating through the Obamacare rollout. Yet Inga would have us believe that just for the hell of it she tested the system, found something that she bounced against her current insurance and found it to be superior, cheaper, and with better coverage. The necessitates that we believe that she examined her current insurance policy in all it's complexity closely, navigated a phone system that no one else seems to be able to and that does not even give you a final cost until the end, which phone system merely takes you to someone who enters your info into the overwhelmed and fault prone healthcare gov website for you, decided it was a better deal, canceled her insurance and signed up irrevocably for the new policy.

And did this in a few hours.

Come on folks. This tale is being told on liberal sites and being called out as BS even by people who desperately want to think Obamacare has launched well. Inga is just borrowing the lie. Isn't even her own. And when you factor in that the tale is being told here by someone prone to falsehoods and fables as a normal course...

Assume her statements are lies and that any anecdotal support she offers for them is fabulism and treat them accordingly.; 10/22/13, 1:04 PM
Joe Shropshire said...: I guess we really did have to pass the bill in order to find out what was in it.; 10/22/13, 9:44 PM