XPost: alt.tv.pol-incorrect, alt.politics.usa, alt.politics.obama   
   XPost: alt.politics.miserable-failure   
   From: weberm@polaris.net   
      
   PolitiFact might have stopped shilling for ObamaCare while the stopping   
   was good, but the same can't be said for those who openly write opinion   
   pieces. The Washington Post's Ezra Klein is still at it with another one   
   of those tiresome posts accusing Republicans of "hypocrisy" because   
   ObamaCare includes some ideas that have had some support from some   
   Republicans at some times in the past.   
      
   For all we know, he makes some good arguments (not that we'd bet on it).   
   We stopped reading after the opening clause: "Now that HealthCare.Gov is   
   on a clear path to functionality . . ." He can't possibly outdo that.   
   It's reminiscent of Gen. William Westmoreland declaring "the light at the   
   end of the tunnel" in Vietnam. And of course another way of saying "on a   
   clear path to functionality" is "still not functional."   
      
   Just how far from functionality it is is suggested by a look at the   
   supposed successes. Yesterday the left-liberal site TalkingPointsMemo.com   
   featured a hilarious map--we know that sounds like an oxymoron, but check   
   it out--suggesting that the only ObamaCare success story--a bright-red   
   state in a sea of white, with a few faint pink islands--was Washington   
   state, which runs its own exchange and where ObamaCare has supposedly   
   enrolled more than 18% of the "eligible population," the vast majority in   
   Medicaid.   
      
   The Puget Sound Business Journal pours some cold water on the frequently   
   rainy region:   
      
   	The on-again, off-again technology problems at the Washington   
   	state health exchange may have serious repercussions for Medicaid   
   	enrollees, who could lose coverage if the problems keep them   
   	from recertifying their eligibility. . . .   
      
   	People on Medicaid must recertify that they're financially   
   	eligible for coverage once a year or their coverage is   
   	terminated.   
      
   	In November, for the first time, Medicaid enrollees were   
   	required to recertify through the exchange's Healthplanfinder   
   	website. It's an entirely new process for people who were   
   	familiar with the old, on-paper process for maintaining   
   	coverage.   
      
   	In November, only about 30,000 managed to recertify (down from   
   	the average 60,000). Starting Dec. 1, about 23,000 people lost   
   	health care coverage. So far, 18,000 of those people are still   
   	without coverage, HCA officials said.   
      
   Meanwhile, the New York Times has a report on "many in New York's   
   professional and cultural elite," who "have long supported President   
   Obama's health care plan," but "now, to their surprise . . . are learning   
   that their health insurance plans are being canceled."   
      
   These are freelancers who belonged to group plans set up by professional   
   associations. Under ObamaCare, "they will be treated as individuals,   
   responsible for their own insurance policies." That means higher   
   premiums, higher deductibles and inferior coverage.   
      
   The piece closes with what to us is a savory slice of Schadenfreude:   
      
   	It is an uncomfortable position for many members of the creative   
   	classes to be in. "We are the Obama people," said Camille   
   	Sweeney, a New York writer and member of the Authors Guild. Her   
   	insurance is being canceled, and she is dismayed that neither her   
   	pediatrician nor her general practitioner appears to be on the   
   	exchange plans. What to do has become a hot topic on Facebook   
   	and at dinner parties frequented by her fellow writers and   
   	artists.   
      
   	"I'm for it," she said. "But what is the reality of it?"   
      
   Damn you, reality!   
      
      
   --   
   Q: Why is ObamaCare like a turd?   
   A: You have to pass it to see what's in it.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)