New Stanek poll: Will the Obamacare website be fixed by November 30, as promised?
Everyone knows what a debacle the Obamacare website rollout was on October 1.
This was just one small part of the catastrophe. Everyone also knows President Obama has now admitted welching on his oft-stated promise, “If you like your plan you can keep it.” At least five million people have thus far lost their insurance thanks to Obamacare.
But back the website, Obama promised it would be fixed by November 30, as did the site’s IT gurus in a congressional hearing this past week.
So my new poll question is: Do you believe them?
Vote on the lower right side of the home page, but make comments here, not there.
Our previous poll question and responses were:
So 3/4 of you thought Down syndrome should be “fixed,” if possible.
Nov.16, 2013 10:47 am |
Health care, Polls |
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Meh. It’s a simple secure website design, attached to a database of insurance plans. It should have been fixed already.
If Obama wants it fixed, it’ll get fixed. If he wants it broken, it’ll stay broken.
I am enough of a paranoid conspiratorial theorist to believe that Obama wants us all to be primed and addicted to the promises of ObamaCare — cheap insurance, premium care, free prescriptions, abundant coverage for all of our sexual proclivities.
And then, when the real ACA cannot provide these things while maintaining our freedom and independence, Democrats will roll out a new plan that promises to fulfill all the promises of free stuff — as long as we increase our dependence on government and open our privacy to prying law enforcement.
I’m thinking Brave New World more than 1984, but somewhere along those lines.
Yes – the sites will be working fine shortly.
The rollout of obamascare is reminiscent of the musical ‘The Producers’.
(Thank you Mel Brooks and company for the laughs.)
Two scammers scheme to sell more pieces of pie than there was pie in order to bilk investors out of their investments by producing a musical that was designed to fail after opening night and then all the investors would assume there was nothing left of their money, freeing the scammers to abscond with the investors cash.
The faux musical was ‘Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden’.
But what the scammers intended as fatally flawed but serious drama, the audiences preceived as ‘fabulous farce’ and a wildly successful musical comedy was birthed, much to the dismay of ‘The Producers/scammers’.
There are those who believe obamascare was ‘destined to fail because it was designed to fail’ in order to create a crisis that would make it possiible for the boRAT to usher in what she really, really, really wanted for christmas, a ‘single payer plan’.
But the boRAT lied…a lot…and now her fellow liars, aka democRATs, are desparados and fugitives fleeing from an army of americans wielding the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution.
There is no tent inclusive enough for all of them democRATs to hide under, nor a skirt expansive enough for them to hide behind. Not even Hillary Clinton or Moochelles 0′ bama, or the oprah combined could conceal all that junk in their ample trunks.
“He [boRAt] got us health care, but he [boRAT] wouldn’t say a word about single payer and he wouldn’t raise a finger for the public option.”
“I don’t know what we should do, but I know one thing that we shouldn’t do: pretend to ourselves that this man [boRAT] is delivering on what he promised when he [boRAT] first won our hearts.”
“I see so many people now — many of them men, interestingly enough — tangled up in an almost school-girlish, co-dependent, apologetic relationship with this President. As though “poor baby” should be tacked onto the end of every description of his failures.”
“I remember when there was a moral force at the center of the democRAT Party. I see it sometimes still, in…an Anthony Weiner”…
[Marianne Williamson, ‘Where does a democRAT go from here?’, Huffington Post, 1-2-2010]
Marianne Williamson, beloved spiritual teacher and author of the bestselling “A Return to Love” and “Healing the Soul of America,” announced on Sunday in Los Angeles her run for the U.S. House of Representatives in California’s 33rd District, a seat currently held by democRAT Henry Waxman, a seat he has held for 38 years.
A lifelong democRAT, Willaimson is running this race as an Independent. “I believe that a wave of independent candidates, all committed to a huge course-correction, is necessary to turn our ship around. I feel my campaign, and most importantly my win, can help inspire such a movement,” says Marianne.
Where does……..a democRAT go?
‘poor baby’
Ex-GOP says:
November 16, 2013 at 1:08 pm
Yes – the sites will be working fine shortly.
If I were betting, this is where I would place my money.
The only thing I can’t figure out is why the site was not back up and working last week. I’ve never heard of an important website’s being down for more than a day or two.
Obama is far more subtle than me, but I cannot fathom what sort of political advantage he might gain from having it down. So it should be up.
Not just a website – lots of data exchanges – lots of touch points. And lots of people need insurance and that means a lot of site traffic.
I know people like the writer of this post are licking their chops and excited at the problems. I’d simply remind them that the core of every conservative plan I’ve seen lately calls for driving more people into the free market and shopping on competitive exchanges, exactly like this. In fact, I believe Ryan wants to do that with Medicare – so picture the same thing with 75 year olds.
Ex-GOP says:
November 16, 2013 at 2:17 pm
Not just a website – lots of data exchanges – lots of touch points. And lots of people need insurance and that means a lot of site traffic.
Let’s step aside from politics — at this point, it devolves to pointless shouting match:
– “ACA is better than nothing!”
– “No way! ACA is worse than if we had done nothing at all!”
======================================
The Wisconsin State Journal reported yesterday on the facts behind why Obama is apologizing and back-pedaling:
– Only 106,000 persons have signed up on the exchanges (27K on the federal site; 79K on the 14 states who have their own websites). We can suppose that these are the expensive expensive cases, with pre-existing conditions.
– The ACA expected and needs 500,000 to have signed up by now, healthy folks to balance the expensive cases. But they aren’t. The demand just isn’t there.
– Estimated several millions of persons saw their insurance cancelled in recent weeks. They are not clamoring to buy plans through the ACA. They are choosing to go without insurance, most likely because it costs more than they can afford.
As a result, there are millions more persons uninsured under ACA than there were before. And so Obama is apologizing, seeking to delay the ACA for another year, and looking to force the employers and insurance companies to re-instate the coverage for persons who were dropped.
==========================================
The statements above are facts reported by a liberal Madison newspaper. That’s not my analysis. Please don’t argue the facts, but let’s accept the reality and go forward from here.
Here is my analysis: If Obama and his Democrats had worked with the Republicans a few weeks ago as they insisted that should delay the ACA, then Obama would not be apologizing and delaying the ACA now.
EGV,
LOL. And these are the morons you actually trust to run our health care. Tell the glorious leader to try 1-800-GeekSquad.
I sure hope the folks at Amazon.com can continue to run an efficient website. Its where I do the bulk of my Christmas shopping.
Del -
I’m not sure if you can start off by saying let’s take the politics out of it, and then blame Obama for not working with the Republicans. In fact, it seems like you put politics right at the center of it.
Let’s be clear here – this is what the GOP wanted and worked for – they delayed and threatened funding any chance they got – they had groups specifically telling people NOT to buy insurance and instead leech off of the government. And now there is a surprise numbers are lagging?
So let’s look to the info – we’ve got a model to look at before, because presidential nominee Mitt Romney passed a similar law in Massachusetts. .3% of it’s first year customers registered in the first month.
I mean, you’re going to get a rush right away, but it was pretty clear early on that there were problems – if I were somebody needing care, I’d do what most people have done – wait until the fixes come through.
This whole thing is about the least surprising thing ever, and before long, it will be seen as just a bump in the road.
I will take the blame for not making my post clear.
The part above the double-dotted line were facts from the newspaper, explaining why Obama is apologizing and back-pedaling.
The last paragraph my previous post was my opening salvo for discussion of those facts. And in that spirit, I appreciate your post and feedback/analysis.
1) A lot of people, including myself and the Republican spokesmen, are convinced that the ACA is fundamentally flawed and ought not to be implemented. And other groups, including myself and the Catholic bishops, insist that the ACA is morally flawed (violating our rights of conscience), and we must oppose it even if trust that it might be helpful as far as healthcare insurance is concerned. Perhaps Obama and the Democrats are realizing that our arguments have persuaded Americans to boycott the ACA…. but I doubt it.
I think that people aren’t buying the new insurance because it is too expensive. They were promised cheaper, more affordable healthcare — and the ACA doesn’t deliver. Democrats know it, and they reckon that the lag will be permanent. So they have moved to “damage control.”
2) I agree with you on this: It is foolish for Democrats to expect that there should be a wild rush to purchase insurance. That’s the problem with elitists in general (from both parties): they forget how real people think and live.
We want to see the program working well for several other folks before a lot of us plop down our money.
The chaos is increasing, and I am reluctant to predict the future. But I will gaze the crystal ball one last time, and hazard two guesses:
– My high hope is similar to yours: The technical glitches will be fixed soon, and we can start to the real program in action. I expect that there will be a degree of boycott, both on principle and because the new healthcare is too expensive. In this scenario, I expect that Democrats will suffer in the 2014 election, like they did in 2010. It’s not what the people want.
– More likely, Obama will punt the mandate down the road and try to hold the status quo, forcing employers and insurers to take their former clients back (if he can). This is his best hope for saving Congressional Democrats and his legacy. I don’t believe that he believes in the ACA, anyway. He was slow to support Pelosi in 2009, and he’s been tied to this albatross ever since. If it didn’t expand taxpayer-funded abortions, he wouldn’t have supported it at all. He would have let it die in Congress, and done a cute Aw, shucks! like Clinton…. then got on to his real agenda, whatever that was (expanding abortion, it seems).
Only true dems/libs make excuses for an undertaking on such a grand scale. How come Amazon.com and other commercial websites function properly. Here’s a clue: they are not government owned and operated. The big brother had how many years to take this off the ground?
You know Ex – wishful thinking you have but no cigar. O’s too cheap to get a decent website going…
Del –
Ahhh, I got it. Random thoughts:
1) I could see it going badly – I could see glitches continuing, enrolment numbers not growing, premium numbers trickling out right before elections rattling things. It is tough to predict what insurance companies could do to try to sway things if they see scenarios that are beneficial.
2) I could see things going very well – contrary to what you say, a lot of Americans are going to find pretty cheap coverage, or coverage they’ve never had. Other Americans will start getting care for the first time – and people who have been kicked out of plans will get covered. Since the majority of Americans aren’t affected, it might become tiring news for a lot of people – if overall, it isn’t going bad, and most Americans notice that the world, indeed, hasn’t fallen down.
This could also become very, very old news if the government shuts down again – so it will be very interesting to see how the GOP plays it. Do they draw lines again and risk shifting the attention? Or do they move past, fund the government, and try not to look bad?
In reality, this next election doesn’t really mean too much, unless Dems take both the House and the Senate, which is unlikely given the seat breakdown.
Thomas –
Nice to see somebody saying that Obama is not a crazy spender – good to see somebody call him cheap!
Hi Ken,
Actually this whole thing makes me think of the rock songs you and I grew up with. Leslie Gore in particular.
She knows the guy is a lowlife, liar, sneak….how many times has he been caught??
Buuuuttttttt……..he really loves me, he’ll settle down, he’s so misunderstood and picked on because he’s from the wrong side of the tracks, he never means to lie, the world treats him so cruel. I truly understand him.
I once said that Obama worshippers will act like betrayed lovers, ready to forgive, excuse, overlook, blame everyone and everything else, but never own up to what the guy is. I have yet to be proven wrong.
Hey, been there done that myself.
Oh and Ken, that perjurer and sex offender Bill Clinton lecturing Der Fuehrer on honesty. I know, hysterical laughter aside, that is Bill setting up Hillary for 2016. Who will descend from the heavens and save us from this debacle? Bingo. The godfather himself has given Democrats the go ahead to jump ship. I’m sure Billy(goat)Clinton can just see those pretty young WH interns now….
“‘O’s too cheap to get a decent website going…”
Thomas,
If you had said the boRAT was a cheap empty suit, my only correction would have been that it was a gross insult to any or all of those three words.
The boRAT may be ‘cheap’ in other regards, but with respect to her hellthscare scam, she has spared no expense. Was it 645 billion or million United States taxpayer dollars that the boRAT gave to a Canadian liberal to develop the web site to implement the ‘cure’ to our healthcare woes?
Even in the la la land of liberalism, where spending other people’s money is considered a virtue, that aint ‘cheap’, no matter how you pervert the definition of cheap.
Mary,
Bless you and yours. Faithful are the stripes of a friend. I do value your constructive criticism.
The rebuke of a friend is sweeter than the flatteries of a fiend.
but what makes you think i ever grew up?
Hi Ken,
I don’t quite get your post. Sorry.
I don’t think I’d consider Leslie Gore a ‘rock’ singer. I would have thought ‘pop’.
I read that at least some of the online issues are because the gop states refused to use money offered to set up state based access and the federal gop stopped the federal site getting enough to make up for it. Any flaws and failings are due to gop opposition to it all anyway. But at least that means the movement towards a true universal healthcare system will probably happen sooner.
On the previous poll it stated in part “no, to do so would be to tamper with god’s plan and remove the most angelic among us”. Does the person who wrote the question realise the implications of this?
Does the person who wrote the question realise the implications of this?
You mean, the implication that persons with Down Syndrome aren’t persons so much as they are God’s inspirational-message posters? Probably not.
or is the writer indicating they think that someone who qualifies for Mensa is therefore less angelic?
Ken, I got you. And I stand corrected…
It was 600 million to develop this sorry website, where this sorry president could have had an American commercial company develop it for about 200 K maybe. But he wanted to show it off to the Canadians I guess for what reason escapes me???
This is just like the implementation of Ventra in Chicago. A company from New York was selected that has screwed this up royally. This makes me wonder if this Canadian company has a clue. And yes, this “experiment” will cost us taxpayers into the millions.
“or is the writer indicating they think that someone who qualifies for Mensa is therefore less angelic?”
Are you denying that there’s a culture of anti-intellectualism?
A correction – $600 thousand, not million. Just caught that error - but still a whole lot of money to develop a website. And I still can’t get over O giving this money to the Canadians instead of investing internally.
Thomas R – let me guess…you aren’t in IT?
Gosh no Jack! To do so would place me within that culture.
When I was in school the kids who came first, second or third in the class were ostracized to an extent. Sometimes they would even have their slates snatched!
Nowadays we see it with creationism/ID, birthers, climate change denial and politicians who ignore or cut off the scientific experts when it doesn’t suit their agenda.
Some might even say that voting republican itself is indicative! But that’s rather subjective.
I make typos Ex just like everyone else – don’t read too much into it though. To err is human to correct oneself, divine. To discount the voice of the American people however is just……….
Ex:
webpagefx.com/How-much-should-web-site-cost.html
So the figure of 10 grand for 2013 multiplied by what would result in that figure?
One does not have to be in IT…
Thomas – I’m not making fun of typos – I’m poking fun at your oversimplification of a website integrated with insurance companies, eligibility files, other states.
Let me say this – I know of people being pulled in on the project – it isn’t like somebody is building a cute little site with pictures of puppies on it.