RandySF
RandySF's JournalBiased ABC News Refuses to Believe That the Obamacare Website is Fixed
The mainstream media is taking the news that the ACA website is fixed very badly today, but few are taking it worse than biased ABC News. ABC is refusing to admit that the site is fixed.
ABC News used the headline “White House Declares Obamacare Website Fixed, But Problems Persist,” which basically accused the White House of lying about the status of the ACA website.
The problem is that ABC’s own story contradicts their biased headline.
ABC based their headline on the fact that the website has a downtime rate of 5%. Most website owners will tell you that they want 100% uptime, but that is unrealistic. Every website is going to fail or go down at some point, so the most realistic expectation is for 99%+ uptime. The ACA website is at 95%, which is a gigantic improvement from the 40% uptime rate when the site launched.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/12/01/biased-abc-news-refuses-obamacare-website-fixed.html
Republican voices concern about data security on Obamacare website
As the Obamacare administration claimed new success in getting its health care enrollment web site running, Republican opponents of the Affordable Care Act renewed their criticism Sunday.
“The most important part of this discussion that nobody talks about,” Rep. Mike Rogers, R- Mich., said on NBC’s Meet the Press, is that “the security of this site” and its ability to safeguard health and income information “does not meet even the minimal standards of the private sector.”
He argued that Americans “should not tolerate the sheer level of incompetence securing this site. And remember how much personal information is not only there, but all of the (federal government data) sites that the (healthcare.gov) hub accesses would expose Americans’ personal information in a way that is breathtakingly bad.”
Meanwhile the Obama administration said in a report released Sunday that the HealthCare.gov website is now functioning most of the time. The administration report said more than 50,000 people can log on to the website at once and the system is showing decreased error rates and improved response times for people who try to use it to buy health insurance.
http://presspass.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/01/21703475-republican-voices-concern-about-data-security-on-obamacare-website?lite=
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer attacked for neglecting to investigate over 6,000 reports of child abuse
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) is being criticized for ignoring thousands of child abuse and reports of neglect.
According to the “Child Protective Services Reform: Building a Better Arizona” website hosted on the governor’s official page, “Brewer has made improvements to the state’s child protective services (CPS) system a priority. The Governor has declared the CPS system in Arizona must promote and prioritize the safety of children and inspire public confidence.”
In her 2013 State of the State address, Brewer claimed she would hire an additional 150 Child Protective Service employees and improve the department “by overhauling the hotline system so the most urgent calls are directed for faster response; by streamlining the hiring process to ensure every available caseworker position is filled; and by cutting paperwork burdens so caseworkers spend more time checking up on children.”
But according to Clarence Carter, Brewer’s hand-selected director of the Department of Economic Security, which oversees Child Protective Services, the “overhauling” mostly consisted of closing 6,000 cases filed since 2009 without investigating them.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/01/arizona-governor-jan-brewer-attacked-for-neglecting-to-investigate-over-6000-reports-of-child-abuse/
Republican National Committee thanks civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks for ‘ending racism’
The Republican National Committee (RNC) thanked Rosa Parks for “her role in ending racism” in a tweet published early this morning.
Recent studies indicate that, far from being “ended,” the majority of Americans are still racist against black people.
The tweet didn’t include a link to the GOP’s more anodyne “Message Celebrating Rosa Parks,” in which RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said that “[w]e remember and honor Rosa Parks today for the role she played in fighting racism and ending segregation.”
“Rosa Parks was a hero of the civil rights movement,” said Chairman Priebus. “On this day 58 years ago, the 42-year-old seamstress took a bold stand—by staying seated. Her arrest ignited a bus boycott that challenged the injustice of segregation and in turn helped to change this nation for the better.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/01/republican-national-committee-thanks-civil-rights-pioneer-rosa-parks-for-ending-racism/
For once, I hope a Republican is right.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) on Sunday said that Democrats are moving further to the left, rather than to the right, as they see problems with Obamacare surface during the law's rollout.
"They are moving further to the left," he said on ABC's "This Week," noting that Democrats are arguing for a single-payer health care system.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/gop-rep-democrats-are-moving-further-left-on-health-care
X-Box One or PS4?
My kid is wavering between whether he wants an Z-Box One or Playstation 4 for Christmas and I would like to know in which direction I should influence him? Does anyone here have experience with either console? Thanks!!
Dr. Mark Thoma: Texas' Other Death Penalty
Texas is just one of the states that has refused to open up to Obamacare, and has refused federal funds to expand Medicaid. Local and state Republican officials are insisting that uninsured Texans (possibly 25% of the population) prefer to try to get into vanishing, overcrowded free clinics. Or they go to local emergency rooms, and later face staggering bills.
Or they do without care altogether.
The author of the article cites statistics that upwards of 9,000 Texans will die EACH YEAR as a result of the fantasy safety net that only conservatives seem to be able to see, but of course don’t have to actually access themselves. If they DID need to use it, there would be screams of outrage from the right wing.
Part of the reason is that local hospitals, in this case the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), which used to provide free or low cost care to those who were desperate, is shutting off these services. UTMB used to be a state-supported “charity hospital.” But that has changed. And it’s not just that hospital, but others in the area, as well. Many hospitals, that used to offer some amount of free or lower cost care to the uninsured or underinsured, are providnig that service less and less. They’re feeling the economic squeeze and are cutting back as much as they can.
http://americablog.com/2013/11/texas-death-penalty-health-care-texas.html
McConnell: Senate Conservatives Fund Gives Conservatism 'A Bad Name'
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) accused the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF), the outside group aiming to unseat McConnell and a number of other incumbent Republicans, of giving "conservatism a bad name."
"The Senate Conservatives Fund is giving conservatism a bad name. They’re participating in ruining the [Republican] brand," McConnell said in an interview with The Washington Examiner. "What they do is mislead their donors into believing the reason that we can’t get as good an outcome as we’d like to get is not because of a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president, but because Republicans are insufficiently committed to the cause — which is utter nonsense."
McConnell's comments are one of the latest examples of the escalating public feud between SCF and establishment Republicans. The Senate Conservatives Fund has endorsed McConnell primary challenger Matt Bevin and has aggressively criticized the top Senate Republican as a fake conservative.
In response, McConnell and his allies have ramped up public criticism of the group. A spokeswoman for McConnell recently called an ad by SCF "profoundly stupid." The National Republican Senatorial Committee has also cut ties with Jamestown Associates, a consulting firm that does business with SCF.
Less than a week ago, news broke that McConnell "lit into" Nebraska Republican Senate candidate Ben Sasse for associating himself with SCF.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mcconnell-senate-conservatives-fund-gives-conservatism-a-bad-name
There's something we are missing in the debate over fast food wages.
When I was growing up, a fast food restaurant was the kind of place you worked to earn spending cash during high school. It wasn't really meant for adults to support entire families. So what I think so many people are missing is that we've reached the point in our economy where adults are trying to feed families off jobs that were meant for kids. This is a meltdown.
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