Month: October 2013

Categories
Blame Republicans Politics

Howard Dean – Republicans Should Take Some Blame for Blotchy Obamacare Site

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) contended Thursday that Republicans deserve some of the blame for the Affordable Care Act’s bumpy rollout.

The former Democratic National Committee chair and 2004 presidential aspirant told the panel on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Republicans “delayed” the law considerably, which he said has contributed to the problematic launch. Dean also said that the 36 states that did not set up their own health exchanges should have been divied up into four or five different regions, to avoid relying on one single source. 

“I think it’s a problem, I think the fundamental mistake that was made — well, first of all, in fairness you gotta blame the Republicans for some of this because they delayed everything they possibly could, threw as many monkey wrenches into the process as they could, and there’s some success here,” Dean said.

“But the truth is, what the Obama administration should have done is divide the 36 states that are on the federal exchange up into four or five regions, do it the way the government does health care. And then put each of these regions out to bid, so you don’t have one single contractor who, if they screw up, screws up the whole system, which is what’s happened.”

He added that the Obama administration was forced to set up a single federal marketplace “because the Republican governors refused to accept exchanges.

“The states with exchanges are doing pretty well,” he said. “There’s some glitches. They’re not big. A lot of people are gonna be able to get their insurance in the 14 states that have their own exchanges.”

Co-host Willie Geist asked Dean if he was really blaming the GOP for the glitches that have troubled the federal exchange website, HealthCare.gov.

“Well, not directly, but they did slow the process down considerably and that time does make a difference in the website,” Dean said. “I think the fundamental flaw was not having multiple districts and multiple bidders and multiple contractors working on this because then what you could have done if one contractor screwed up, as this one clearly has, you could actually just use a different exchange in a different region.”

Categories
Politics

George Zimmerman Gets Away Again

George Zimmerman won’t face criminal charges in connection with a dispute last month with his estranged wife and a dispute over some items missing from his in-laws’ home.

Officer Zach Hudson said Wednesday that investigators had concluded the domestic dispute didn’t rise to criminal charges.

Shellie Zimmerman told police that her husband had made threatening remarks toward her about having a gun about a week after she filed for divorce.

She also said her estranged husband had punched her father in the nose and smashed her iPad in the Sept. 9 incident at a Lake Mary, Florida, home owned by Shellie Zimmerman’s parents.

Her parents had later accused George Zimmerman of taking a flat-screen television worth $2,800, leather theater seats worth $3,000, a king-sized bed and some other items from the home he and Shellie Zimmerman had rented while he stood trial for second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Investigators did not file charges in that case, either.

Categories
occupy wall street Politics

Disgraced Pepper Spraying Cop gets $38,000 Award

The former University of California, Davis police officer who made national headlines in 2011 after he pepper-sprayed Occupy protesters has reached a worker’s compensation settlement worth nearly $40,000.

A judge on October 16 approved the $38,000 settlement between John Pike and the University of California.

The 40-year-old former officer said he suffered depression and anxiety after death threats were sent to him and his family over the November 18, 2011, incident.

University spokesman Andy Fell said the case was resolved in accordance with state laws.

Video of then-campus Lt Pike dousing peaceful protesters seated on the ground with pepper spray went viral online.

His address and other personal information were posted online afterward by the hacking group Anonymous, and he received scores of death threats.

Pike was fired in July 2012 after eight months of paid administrative leave.

The images of Pike unleashing an orange chemical cloud on the heads of students became a rallying symbol for the Occupy Wall Street movement

Categories
Politics

Americans Need Jobs. Meanwhile, Republicans Are Investigating The Obamacare Website

Emboldened by the intense public criticism surrounding the rollout of the online insurance exchange, Republicans in Congress are refocusing their efforts from denying funds for the health care law to investigating it, the New York Times is reporting.

In changing tactics, Republicans hope to tamp down the continuing public criticism of their previously fruitless attack on the Affordable Care Act, one that led to a 16-day government shutdown, by focusing on the problems with the law that they say they have warned the nation about, unheeded, for three years.

“I think the biggest part of Congress’s job is to provide proper oversight of the executive branch of government,” Speaker John A. Boehner said Wednesday at a news conference. “And when it comes to Obamacare, clearly there is an awful lot that needs to be held accountable.”

Beginning Thursday, the House will hold the first of a series of hearings across multiple committees to examine the problems with the troubled Web site, as well as the law’s exemption and waiver components, and the problems that some consumers are having accessing their doctors through the program.

The Energy and Commerce Committee will hold the first hearings, including one with Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, next week. The Ways and Means and oversight committees are expected to follow.

“What we’re trying to figure out,” said Representative Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan and chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, “is how did all this taxpayer money get wasted and what is their remedy?”

What I’m trying to figure out is, who is going to investigate the Republican Government Shutdown, and the $25 billion loss to the American taxpayers. That’s what I wanna know.

Categories
Politics twitter White House

White House Pulls Undercover Stunt to Find Twitter Leaker

Inside the National Security Council, most officials aren’t allowed to use or even look at Twitter, the popular social-networking service.

But that didn’t stop some of President Obama’s top advisers from trying to identify the person responsible for @natsecwonk, an anonymous Twitter account that published a steady stream of personal and sometimes offensive attacks on White House and State Department officials.

Three weeks ago, the group hatched a plan to trick the suspected NSC staffer into revealing himself. They would intentionally plant inaccurate, but harmless, information with him to see if it would pop up as a 140-character tweet, according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the effort.

It is not clear whether the sting led directly to the unmasking last week of Jofi Joseph, 40, who was identified as the creative force behind @natsecwonk and was fired from his position on the administration’s Iran negotiations team. But the lengths to which White House officials went to find Joseph reveal how much of an embarrassment his Twitter feed had become inside the West Wing and across the street at the stately Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where Joseph worked alongside his NSC colleagues while secretly skewering them online.

“It was like they were hunting for bin Laden in a cave and he was right in the belly of the beast all along ,” said a former NSC official who worked with Joseph, marveling that he was able to keep his identity secret for over two years.

“We talked about it from time to time in the hallways, ‘Did you see what @natsecwonk posted?’ ” said this former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal operations. “He probably heard people walking around saying things about the account.”

Joseph said in a statement Wednesday that “I deeply regret violating the trust and confidence placed in me.”

“What started out as an intended parody account of DC culture developed over time into a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments,” the statement continued. “I bear complete responsibility for this affair and I sincerely apologize to everyone I insulted.”

White House press secretary Jay Carney confirmed Wednesday that Joseph no longer worked for the administration, but he declined to discuss specifics.

Categories
Domestic Policies Healthcare News Politics

Sixteen Days, Thirteen Nights

What a waste of time, effort and money. During the sixteen days that the government was shut down, the United States could have been funding scientific research, analyzing economic data and providing needed services to people who need them. It could also have begun work earlier on the health care website that will obviously need almost a complete overhaul, while fending off calls to delay or scrap it by members of both parties. The shutdown only delayed the solutions, and the hope, on this side of the political spectrum at least, is that the site will be up and running more effectively by the middle of November. In the meantime, the federal government should allow the states in which it runs the exchanges to post their choices and prices so that people can simply log on and sign up when the site’s fixed.

Remember, the rollout of the Medicare Prescription Plan in 2005 was also extremely buggy. Wait, you mean that you don’t remember? That’s because it works plenty fine now. We shall get through this as well. In the meantime, we’ve wasted time.

And speaking of wasted time, there are only thirteen nights left until New Jersey voters trudge to the polls to choose between the evil we know and the better candidate we don’t know. It’s been an odd week for the governor as he’s had to face this news…

Despite those marks, the poll shows voters disapprove of the way Christie has handled two issues they cite as among the most important in the state: the economy and taxes. Only 42 percent approve of his handling of the economy and jobs, while 38 percent approve of his performance on taxes.

while also gaining an endorsement from the Newark Star-Ledger that was one of the least enthusiastic in recent memory. It seems as thought the Ledger was just following other left-leaning voices in not wanting to offend the great offender and pull punches rather than be called stupid in a YouTube video.

It really is a terrible state of affairs that Democratic candidate Barbara Buono, who actually has a positive plan to run the state and will stay in Trenton for the next four years, has had such trouble getting her message out. She’s compassionate, tough, and respectful, things the present governor is not so much of. Now that the Senate special election is over, the Buono-Christie race has a clear field ahead of it. With negatives in the two areas that most New Jerseyans care the most about, Buono has a chance to score some points and gain in the polls. That the state and national Democratic Party will sacrifice her to the gods of money and opportunity is one of the great sell-outs of all time.

It’s the season of scary, and the thought of more GOP power in the statehouse and nation fits it very well. This year, though, the cry will not be boo, but boo-hoo. Oh, what could have been.

For more please go to:
www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and Twitter @rigrundfest  

Categories
pat robertson Politics

Pat Robertson to Mother – If You Can’t Heal Your Son, You’re Doing Something Wrong

The same Pat Robertson who usually mislead his flock on a host of different issues, especially where politics is concerned, had a rather interesting call today.

She requested his help today. She wanted to know why her hearing impaired son was not healed. Robertson explained that the healing may be hindered by a “spirit of deafness.” He then told the caller that if she can’t heal her son, then she was “doing something wrong” and should “try something else.”

Said Robertson

“I have dealt with people who are deaf and you rebuke the spirit of deafness and they get healed,” Robertson said. “I don’t know what you’re doing wrong.” 

“Why don’t you try that and if it doesn’t work, try something else.”

Categories
Politics

Another Republican Jumps On the 47% Bandwagon

You would think that the 47% bandwagon is abandoned. And after Mitt Romney’s disaster where he complained that 47% of Americans are moochers… you would think the Republicans would take that bandwagon and turn it into firewood.

But you would be wrong.

The Republican governor of Maine is determined to keep the bandwagon careening down the read, and he is dogging the very people he governs. In a recent statement, Governor Paul LePage issued the lie that 47% of the citizens he governs are jobless.

That statement of course, is a lie.

With statistics provided from Maine’s own labor department, the Bangor Daily News points out that 65 percent of able-bodied Mainers are working or actively seeking work. The 35 percent remaining is composed largely of retirees, homemakers, students, and the disabled. The blue collar state is not divided between givers and takers, as the governor seems to suggest.

Categories
Politics

Alan Grayson Equates Teaparty to KKK, Allen West Gets Upset

That’s right, Allen West. He has decided to come to the rescue if the KKK… oops, I mean the Teaparty.

In an interview with Fox News’ “The Kelly File,” West questioned several high-profile Democrats — headed by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) — for not speaking out.

“You know, we continue to hear the use of this extremist language, jihadist language, arsonist, extortionist and now this equating constitutional conservatives, people who just believe in a constitutional way of government to operate, with people who were responsible for lynchings, and horrible things in the South and all across this country,” West said.

Grayson initially made the tea party-KKK claim in an interview last Thursday on MSNBC’s “Politics Nation with Al Sharpton,” arguing that at this point, the conservative movement is “no more popular than the Klan.” The congressman escalated that claim with an email using a burning cross to signify the tea party.

“[T]here is overwhelming evidence that the tea party is the home of bigotry and discrimination in America today, just as the KKK was for an earlier generation,” Grayson said in a statement provided to HuffPost Tuesday. “If the hood fits, wear it.”

Categories
Mitch McConnell Politics

New Poll: Americand Don’t Approve of Boehner, McConnell, Cruz

Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) favorability rating has dropped to the lowest level since he took on his leadership position after the 2010 elections, according to a new poll. 

A CNN poll released Tuesday shows Boehner’s favorability rating hanging at 27 percent, down 6 points since last month. The number of people who hold an unfavorable view of him shot up 7 points to 55 percent — his highest rating ever.

Among Republicans, his favorability dropped 9 percent.

Boehner’s numbers follow an overall downward trend of the Republican Party a week after leaders came to an agreement to end the 16-day shutdown and raise the nation’s borrowing limit. 
Sixty-four percent of the public holds an unfavorable view of the Republican Party. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also saw their favorability ratings drop. 

McConnell’s rating dropped to 23 percent. It already stood at 27 percent before the shutdown. His rating dropped 11 percent among Republicans.

Cruz, who helped lead the charge to defund ObamaCare which ultimately led to the government shutdown, saw a 7 percent drop in his favorability rating since last month. Only 23 percent of people hold a favorable view of the freshman senator, while 42 percent hold an unfavorable view

Categories
democrats Politics

Judge Carlo Key Switches From Republican to Democrat

SAN ANTONIO – A Bexar County court-at-law judge elected during the “red tide” of 2010 is switching parties.

Standing at the foot of the Bexar County Courthouse steps, County Court-at-Law No. 11 Judge Carlo Key said Monday that he is joining the Democratic Party and will seek re-election as a Democrat in November 2014.

“Make no mistake, I did not leave the Republican Party, it left me,” said Key, flanked by high-ranking Democrats. “My principles have led me to the Democratic Party, and my only hope is that more people of principle will follow me.”

While he’s been considering the decision for several weeks, it was the recent federal government shutdown that caused Key to seriously consider switching parties.

Categories
Celebrities child support

Jamaine Jackson is Behind on Child Support Payments

TMZ is reporting that Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine, is falling farther and farther behind …. he’s required to pay baby mama Alejandra Jackson $3K a month for 13-year-old Jermajesty and 17-year-old Jaafar … but the mailbox has  been empty for months.

Court docs obtained by TMZ show … of the $12K that he owes in back payments … he’s only coughed up a measly 85 bucks.

The L.A. County Child Support Services Dept. has filed papers asking a judge to hold Jermaine in contempt … which could put him behind bars for 20 days.

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