Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Today's Obamacare update on Obamacare

"I know health care is controversial, so there’s only going to be so much support we get on that on a bipartisan basis — until it’s working really well, and then they’re going to stop calling it Obamacare. (Laughter and applause.) They’re going to call it something else." - some dude who spent the past week picking his March Madness bracket

9 comments:

Zzzzzzz said...

That dude picked and discussed his 2011 March Madness bracket while also planning the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.

http://www.businessinsider.com/president-obama-ncaa-bracket-bin-laden-raid-2011-5

Better to go with "mom jeans."

Eric said...

And NOT being Bush. Don't forget about that!

Zzzzzzz said...

Forget multitasking. Bush had seven years and couldn't singletask Bin Laden.

That just kills Republicans. But even if "we're the rough tough soldier men, because liberals are wussies" talking point has seen better days, the "he fills out brackets instead of working" is a powerful replacement.

Can you believe Obama reviewed a turkey's pardon papers while there were children being gassed in Syria? IMPEACH HIM!

Anonymous said...

The Hill: "Obamacare premiums to skyrocket."

“The Sky Is Falling,” Says Anonymous Chicken
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2014_03/the_sky_is_falling_says_anonym049541.php

I’m sure many of you saw a certain headline from The Hill today: “O-Care premiums to skyrocket.” At first I thought the source was The Drudge Report.

If you actually read the accompanying article by Elise Viebeck, the rather alarming assertion is mostly a collection of blind quotes from “health industry officials.” Yes, one former Cigna executive went on the record to say his “gut” tells him premiums could go up, which is of course very convincing. Otherwise the closest Viebeck gets to attribution is an “insurance official who hails from a populous swing state.”

In an updated version of the article, Viebeck does quote by name two experts—who deny the whole premise of her story.

And the “premiums to skyrocket” claim directly contradicts a variety of on-the-record assessments by health insurance executives—e.g., Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Wellpoint president Joe Swedish, and Cigna CEO David Cordani—that the Obamacare premium structure is working out relatively well. And the most reliable independent study, from the Kaiser Family Foundation, concluded that the much-feared “death spiral” of premiums that Viebeck seems to be predicting as a reality for much of the country is very unlikely to occur.

Particularly in its revised form, Viebeck’s piece has a number of “to be sure” qualifiers that undermine the headline. But it’s the headline that will get big coverage today—to be sure—maybe on Drudge Report itself. And it’s pretty clear which political constituency is driving the “story.”


That's some McArdlian gut analysis there in The Hill. It might maybe perhaps could win a Pulitzer, sources suggest.

Eric said...

I'm sure he checked the box reading "This will not stand" on the Syria and Ukraine memos before watching four hours of "Homeland" and hosting the Cesar Chavez movie premiere.

Non-Anonymous said...

"O-Care premiums to skyrocket"

Pure speculation and hearsay.

I'm keeping my confidence in the solidly-sourced statement that premiums will decrease by $2500 a year.

Zzzzzzz said...

I'm sure he checked the box reading "This will not stand" on the Syria and Ukraine memos before watching four hours of "Homeland" and hosting the Cesar Chavez movie premiere.

This is what passes for horrified amusement over at Green Footballs, as they try to forget that a community organizer did the job the Decider couldn't.

You can keep the inspirational bullhorn soliloquy on the NYC rubble. I'll take the guy who killed Bin Laden but hangs with Beyonce (ho ho) and thinks there are 57 states (tee hee).

Eric said...

I will agree that killing Osama provided shovel-ready jobs for Seal Team 6.

Zzzzzzz said...

Ha ha, "shovel-ready" is a funny word.

Another debate point awarded to Team Golf Is Inexcusable Now.