WHAT IF THEY GAVE A NATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAM AND NOBODY CAME? Guess how many people have enrolled in Louisiana’s largest Obamacare plan?
Related: Reporter searches for Obamacare enrollees in Texas, comes up empty.
Archive for 2013
October 3, 2013
ED MORRISSEY: Why Congress and Obama Are Incompetent Amateurs.
MORE ON SHUTDOWN THEATER IN THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS. Remember these shenanigans when various agencies are after budget increases in the future. Serving the public clearly isn’t their priority, so act accordingly.
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker isn’t having any of it:
JEFFREY LORD: Clash Of The Crusades: The Obama ideological crusade finally meets its match. “These are not disagreements — they are crusades. Which is why they generate so much fear and loathing.”
Related item here. “Suddenly those meek Milquetoasts seem to have grown a spine. . . . Whence all this newfound bravado? True, ‘Oz never did give nothin’ to the tin man that he didn’t, didn’t already have,’ but there must have been some catalyst to awaken their inner warriors. . . . I would argue the primary reason for renewed confidence among the GOP is the fact they bring a one-game winning streak to the contest. It ain’t much but even a mere moment of momentum can be momentous. Because they won on the sequester, they have found courage for the battle at hand.”
“There’s information that I can’t even share with my lawyer, let alone with the American public,” Levison told Democracy Now in August 2013. “So if we’re talking about secrecy, you know, it’s really been taken to the extreme, and I think it’s really being used by the current administration to cover up tactics that they may be ashamed of.”
Hopey-changey.
YA THINK? Michael Barone: Obama’s Fecklessness Leads To American Decline. For some that’s not a bug, but a feature.
ROLL CALL: Surprise! Christie Looks Strong for Re-Election in New Jersey. “With five weeks until Election Day, Christie enjoys a comfortable lead over Democrat Barbara Buono, and his personal and job approval ratings continue to hover near 60 percent. That’s a recipe for re-election.”
Maybe his coattails will help Republican Senate candidate Steve Lonegan, though Christie himself certainly hasn’t done anything for his fellow Republican. Then again, the national GOP hasn’t done much for Lonegan either, even though he’s been closing up the gap in the polls due to what Chuck Todd says is Cory Booker’s “sloppy” and “unfocused” campaign. T-Bone was unavailable for comment.
Meanwhile, Sarah Palin has endorsed Lonegan, and he’s also getting campaign help from Rand Paul and Rick Perry. Doing jobs the national GOP won’t do, I guess.
THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: Shutdown overreach: More personnel sent to WWII memorial than Benghazi; Park Service closes park it doesn’t run.
October 2, 2013
IT’S COME TO THIS: Democrats Pay Union Members to Protest World War II Vets.
You can’t make this stuff up: World War II veterans come to Washington to see their monument, and the Obama administration tries to block them by putting up barricades. When that blunder starts getting media attention, the administration doubles down by paying union members $15 to march around, waving signs and protesting–as though that were a sure-fire way to generate sympathy for the nonessential federal employees who are getting the day off. Is it possible that the Democrats could be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?
And does that perhaps have something to do with Obama’s backing down on his vow not to talk with Congressional Republicans? Obama has now invited Congressional leaders to the White House for talks on ending the spending impasse.
Their messaging hasn’t been especially great.
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THIS IS NOT THE HOPE AND CHANGE YOU WERE LOOKING FOR: Treasury: Under Obama, U.S Gov’t Debt Held by Public Up 90%.
MARK CUNNINGHAM: Charter schools the best hope for escaping special ed.
MATT VESPA: Blame For The Shutdown Rests With Harry Reid And The Democrats. Hey, the GOP-controlled House keeps passing stuff, then the Democratic Senate kills it.
NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Foresight Invitational Workshop: Nanotechnology for Developing Countries. Palo Alto, February.
IT’S ALL FOR SHOW: Shutdown Fascism In the Smoky Mountains. “It is obvious that the Park Service intends to block access to these trailheads, even though it literally costs them nothing to leave them open and by closing them they actually increase the possibility of serious problems for drivers on the road and hikers still in the park. In fact, it is costing them money they don’t have trying to block access. To block access is thus a deliberate, senseless, and mean-spirited act that demonstrates quite clearly the political goals of the Obama administration during this shutdown.” Yeah, kinda like blocking off the World War II memorial. I’m surprised they didn’t put a bag over the Washington Monument.
HOW’S THAT HURRICANE SEASON GOING? IPCC Backpedals on Extreme Weather Claims.
Embarrassed by the current decade-and-a-half period without any global warming, those calling for worldwide action to halt climate change have shifted focus to worries about extreme weather events. It makes sense, of course, for alarmists to direct attention away from something that isn’t happening — global warming — towards frightening stories about something that could conceivably be occurring. Unfortunately for the alarmists — but fortunately for the rest of us — both independent scientific observations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s own latest report (released on Monday) make it clear that a warming of the Earth is not leading to an increase in extreme weather. In fact, the opposite seems to be the case.
As the newly released “Summary for Policymakers” of the upcoming IPCC Fifth Assessment Report indicates, the UN panel seems to be walking back many of its claims, reducing both their estimated effects of global warming and their claims of certainty regarding their predictions.
Predictions are hard. Hype is easy.
ED DRISCOLL: Interview: Daniel J. Flynn Fights Back Against The War On Football.
REMEMBERING THE FIRST HANDHELD GAMES. That Mattel football game was amazingly addictive. Of course, so was the (entirely non-electronic) NFL Strategy. I wish someone would reissue that.
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