All Things in Moderation

Morning Report: 5.4% mortgage by the end of 2014? 11/12/13

28 Responses

1. 

   Whitaker. Motherfucking. Chambers, on November 12, 2013 at 8:46 am said:

   First!

   And, seriously, O.M.F.G.

   http://m.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml?pageType=eveningNews&catid=57611858&feed_id=29

   Who here is now comfortable with the Obamacare site?

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   • 

     markinaustin, on November 12, 2013 at 9:47 am said:

     AFAIK it remains utterly failed.

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     • 

       ScottC, on November 12, 2013 at 10:54 am said:

       FYI all, I will probably be pretty sporadic for the rest of the week, thru Sunday. Off to North Carolina for golf. So, jnc, try to keep the bank-bashing to a minimum until I can provide a proper defense. Or, alternatively, get your licks in while you can, I guess.

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2. 

   Brent Nyitray, on November 12, 2013 at 8:49 am said:

   How did the administration react to concerns from the IT guys to deliver the site on time?

   Failure is not an option. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-11/hope-is-all-obamacare-has-left.html

   I guess that approach might work on The West Wing, but not in real life…

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3. 

   Whitaker. Motherfucking. Chambers, on November 12, 2013 at 11:43 am said:

   I’ll hold the fort in the temper tantrum department.

   I worry though, who will fill the parsing void?

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   • 

     ScottC, on November 12, 2013 at 1:19 pm said:

     McWing:

     I worry though, who will fill the parsing void?

     LOL

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4. 

   Michigoose, on November 12, 2013 at 11:49 am said:

   Oh, for god’s sake, “Carl”. Would you stop lighting your hair on fire?

   Based on the “partial transcript” from Issa’s committee, Chao didn’t know about a Sept. 3 memo on website problems identified by another official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Confronted with the document, the partial transcript shows Chao saying, “I just want to say that I haven’t seen this before.”

   The CBS report sounds troubling, right? Probably, at least until one picks up the phone to ask Democrats on the committee whether the CBS report is accurate.

   I talked to a Democratic staffer this morning about the partial transcript and the aide said Issa’s staff “basically sandbagged this witness with a document he had never seen before and then failed to inform him that it has nothing to do with parts of the website that launched on October 1. In fact, it relates to a function of the website that is not currently active and won’t be until the spring of 2014. Rather than seeking out the truth, this press release tries to scare the public by capitalizing on confusion caused by the Chairman’s own staff.”

   Oh. So, when Republicans and CBS suggest the project manager in charge of building the federal health care website was apparently kept in the dark about serious failures in the website’s security, they’re leaving out pretty much every relevant detail that points in a more accurate direction.

   Emphasis mine and h/t to Steve Benen. Get a fucking clue, Carl.

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5. 

   Michigoose, on November 12, 2013 at 11:51 am said:

   The Democratic staffer added that even when this part of the website is active, it “will not submit or share personally identifiable information,” but rather, will only include “insurance information plan data.”

   Let’s say this again: beware of partial transcripts from Issa’s office. They keep pulling this trick; there’s no reason anyone should keep falling for it.

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6. 

   jnc4p, on November 12, 2013 at 11:58 am said:

   Bill Clinton is being helpful to the administration again:

   “Bill Clinton: Health Care Law Should Be Changed To Allow People To Keep Their Plans
   The Huffington Post | By Luke Johnson Posted: 11/12/2013 10:48 am EST

   Former President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that the health care law should be changed if necessary to allow people to keep their health care plans that have been cancelled as a result of the implementation of Obamacare.

   “I personally believe, even if it takes changing the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got,” Clinton told OZY TV. ”

   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/12/bill-clinton-health-care_n_4260184.html

   Give the Big Dog his due, he knows which way the political winds are blowing.

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7. 

   jnc4p, on November 12, 2013 at 12:01 pm said:

   “So, jnc, try to keep the bank-bashing to a minimum until I can provide a proper defense.”

   Duly noted. Unless another scandal breaks that’s larger in scope than LIBOR, I’ll let you enjoy your golfing.

   Don’t forget to get some BBQ while you are there.

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8. 

   jnc4p, on November 12, 2013 at 12:12 pm said:

   “markinaustin, on November 12, 2013 at 9:47 am said:

   AFAIK it remains utterly failed.”

   Reporting in the NYT indicates they are working on Plan B now to bypass the portal and allow insurers to enroll directly.

   http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/business/insurers-press-for-way-around-healthcaregov.html?pagewanted=all

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9. 

   jnc4p, on November 12, 2013 at 12:13 pm said:

   This should be good:

   “For de Blasio, Contract Talks Offer Problem
   By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
   Published: November 11, 2013

   Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has promised all sorts of assistance to ease Bill de Blasio’s transition, but the mayor has nonetheless bequeathed one particularly thorny, potentially explosive issue to his successor: New York City’s 300,000 municipal workers are angry that their contracts expired years ago, and they are demanding more than $7 billion in retroactive pay to make up for their years without a regular raise.

   It could prove devilishly difficult for Mr. de Blasio — long a favorite of the city’s unions — to deliver even a small part of what labor leaders are demanding because the city faces an anticipated $2 billion deficit next year. ”

   http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/nyregion/union-demands-leave-de-blasio-in-a-quandary.html?pagewanted=all

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10. 

    jnc4p, on November 12, 2013 at 12:43 pm said:

    Mark – New Steve Pearlstein piece.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/11/12/the-u-s-airways-american-airlines-merger-is-a-go-heres-why-it-maybe-shouldnt-be/?hpid=z2

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11. 

    jnc4p, on November 12, 2013 at 12:51 pm said:

    Looks like QE Taper Talk is back.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-12/u-s-stock-index-futures-decline-as-news-corp-retreats.html

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12. 

    novahockey, on November 12, 2013 at 2:13 pm said:

    would the US AA merger result in a Star Alliance or One World carrier?

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    • 

      markinaustin, on November 12, 2013 at 3:54 pm said:

      JNC – I read the Pearlstein piece back then – is this an addition?

      Thanks.

      For you from Ezra: The irony of Bill Clinton coming out to advise that Obamacare be changed — somehow — to let everyone keep their current plans is that he’s the reason Obama made the disastrous promise in the first place.

      Veterans of the effort to pass Clinton’s health-care plan believed that their core mistake was producing a plan that upended the insurance arrangements of almost every American.

      Where the 1990-1991 recession left most Americans terrified that they could lose the health care they had, the Clinton bill promised they would lose that care. The sort of comforting lines reformers offer today — “if you like your current care, nothing will change,” or “you’ll get the same health care members of Congress have” — couldn’t be uttered because they weren’t true. The line the Clinton campaign did use, “health security that can never be taken away,” foundered because, before the plan offered that security, the health security that Americans currently trusted would be taken away.

      In this, the plan violated the fundamental paradox of health-care polling, which is that even though most Americans believe the health-care system is a mess, they’re reasonably happy with the insurance they have.

      In the aftermath of Clinton’s failure, health-care reformers swung far to the other side. Rather than building a plan in which almost everyone lost their insurance, they began trying to build plans in which almost no one lost their insurance — and selling them under the promise that literally no one would.

      That promise, as the Obama administration is now learning, went too far. Saying “everyone who likes their health insurance can keep it” is very different from saying “95 percent of people who like their health insurance can keep it.”

      But it’s a bit rich for Clinton to argue for a plan that leaves everyone’s insurance unchanged. When he managed this policy process, he believed the optimum policy upended almost everything. He knows that it’s functionally impossible to reform the health-care market if you upend nothing. This is the kind of argument that, in another context, Clinton would be delighting in explaining, carefully and persuasively, why it’s so very wrong.

      ____

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    • 

      ScottC, on November 12, 2013 at 4:10 pm said:

      I hate flying. It is one of the most unpleasant experiences that I ever have to put myself through. Just went through security. After taking off my shoes, my belt, putting myphone in the basket, etc, instead of going through the simple metal detector which is right in front of me, I get directed to the full body scan machine. Fine. I go through. “Do you have something in your pocket?”. Yes I have my wallet, so I take it out to show them. “Come with me over here, please.” I go over there. “Hold out your hands in front of you.” What is this? “I have to check your hands for explosives.” Why? “Because you had something in your pocket and you put your hand in to take it out.” What? You asked me if I had something in my pocket so I showed it to you. It’s a wallet. He wipes my hand with something. Then some supervisor comes over. Tells me to do the same thing. I tell him the other guy already did it. “I know. I’m doing it again.”. Why. “I have to check for explosives. You shouldn’t have anything in your pockets. Otherwise I have to do a pat down. And I’m not talking about a simple pat down.”

      Fine. He does it again. Finally he finishes. “OK, you can go.”. Do me a favor, I tell him, can you tell the guys in front of the machine to tell people to make sure they don’t have anything in their pockets so they don’t have to go through this? “You should know not to leave anything in your pocket.” Why? I thought I was going through the metal detector, and a wallet doesn’t set off a metal detector. (I restrain myself from saying that a wallet isn’t made of explosives, either.) If you are going to direct people to a machine that requires empty pockets, you should say so. I also restrain myself from closing with…asshole.

      I repeat…I hate flying. Almost as much as I hate dealing with the government. Combine the two together and e situation is almost unbearable.

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13. 

    jnc4p, on November 12, 2013 at 4:49 pm said:

    I wonder at what price point chartering a plane becomes a realistic alternative.

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    • 

      ScottC, on November 12, 2013 at 5:02 pm said:

      I would definitely pay more to avoid the unpleasantness, but unfortunately I can’t afford what it takes.

      I did fly on a private jet once. Fantastic experience. Literally drove up to the plane, got out and walked up the steps as someone parked my car. No security hassles, no boarding hassles, nothing. It was awesome. And likely never to be repeated again, unfortunately.

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14. 

    Michigoose, on November 12, 2013 at 5:16 pm said:

    “You should know not to leave anything in your pocket.” Why? I thought I was going through the metal detector, and a wallet doesn’t set off a metal detector.

    Because they told you (multiple times) before you got there to not have anything in your pockets. They told you, you just weren’t listening.

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15. 

    Whitaker. Motherfucking. Chambers, on November 12, 2013 at 5:16 pm said:

    Give people power and they will use it.

    There is a solution though.

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16. 

    Whitaker. Motherfucking. Chambers, on November 13, 2013 at 8:25 am said:

    Pathetic.

    http://m.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-a-call-for-help-from-democrats-after-obamacare/2013/11/12/29083742-4be3-11e3-9890-a1e0997fb0c0_story.html

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17. 

    jnc4p, on November 13, 2013 at 8:37 am said:

    “If what she’s saying is you can keep your health plan forever if you like it, that basically repeals the market reforms,” Jost said. “You’re continuing to allow people to buy a defective product. You’re segmenting the risk pool again with respect for coverage. Does that mean you can say you’ll cover physical health without mental health? Does that mean you don’t have to cover maternity coverage? … The whole idea here is we’re trying to create a community — a system based on mutual aid rather than everybody paying for exactly the care that they are likely to need in the next few moments.”

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/how-red-state-democrats-want-to-harm-obamacare

    Not wanting to be part of the “community” doesn’t make the insurance plan “defective”.

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    • 

      Geanie, on November 13, 2013 at 9:39 am said:

      But those insurance plans are mostly “junk” insurance plans that cover pretty much nothing which does make them defective as no one is immune to major illnesses.. One of the reasons car insurance is regulated, to ensure when one is in an accident their insurance at least covers the minimum. Most of these cancelled insurance plans don’t even come near to covering the minimum for even the most “normal” health care.

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      • 

        markinaustin, on November 13, 2013 at 10:08 am said:

        Geanie – it was an exaggeration and an over-promise as simply stated and restated and restated.

        Most self-employeds can keep their coverage. But BHO did not hedge – he said “all” and “everyone”. Serious political gaffe. Opponents will call it a lie. Whatever.

        BTW, my wife, and my daughter and granddaughters, all will come out better on their unsubsidized high deductible ACA plans than under their previous high deductible plans. However, we had to explore this outside of healthcare.gov. I was not surprised that Rosanne [age 58+] did better under ACA but I was surprised that daughter and granddaughters will be doing better.

        The popularity of the plan, if it gets off the ground, will be based on the number of folks who see themselves as “winners”. Its effectiveness will depend on who signs up. Its fiscal success depends on so many factors that it is likely that critics will be able to yell “failure” for years and in fact, as NoVA predicts, it might well fail.

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18. 

    jnc4p, on November 13, 2013 at 9:56 am said:

    No, they aren’t.

    Edit: More details here:

    “But there are real people who must pay more and, in some cases, put up with less. Some of them are people walking around with junk insurance, the kind are practically worthless because they pay out so little. Some of them are young people, particularly young men, whom insurers have coveted and wooed with absurdly low premiums—and make too much money to qualify for substantial subsidies. And some of them are reasonably affluent, healthy people with generous, open-ended policies that are hard to find even through employers. Insurers kept selling them because they could restrict enrollment to healthy people. Absent that ability, insurers are canceling them or raising premiums so high only the truly rich can pay for them.”

    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115570/bill-clintons-obamacare-comments-are-wrong

    The most complaints are coming from the last category.

    See also:

    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115499/obamacare-plan-cancellations-some-people-pay-more-same-coverage

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19. 

    Whitaker. Motherfucking. Chambers, on November 13, 2013 at 10:03 am said:

    Why would a progressive state like CA allow junk insurance to be sold?

    Why do you think millions off Americans buy junk insurance? I don’t think they do.

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20. 

    Whitaker. Motherfucking. Chambers, on November 13, 2013 at 10:10 am said:

    The Abomination needs responsible people in the risk pool to counter the higher risk customers who will be motivated to buy Abomination insurance ( because they couldn’t get covered before). People who buy insurance on the individual market tend to be very responsible ( they want insurance rather than need insurance) and are generally healthy (otherwise the insurance would be unaffordable.). To say they have junk insurance is to denigrate some of the most saviest and responsible people in the country. Would those people buy junk? Obviously not.

    But the Abomination and it’s enablers need an excuse to kill the existing individual market, a reason to destroy a system that fulfills needs. Hence the bullshit “junk” meme.

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