The Grinding Wheel

Warning
Obama administration officials said on Sunday that the president had warned for more than a year of the danger that Islamic State fighters pose to Europe, the United States and beyond. (New York Times, 11/15/2015)

So what say Liberals who have blamed Bush for 9/11 saying that he should have heeded the warning that Al Qaeda was determined to strike the U.S? Obama apparently was warned in the same way. Is Obama to blame for Paris? You decide. 


It's Working
Many Say High Deductibles Make Their Health Law Insurance All but Useless (New York Times headline, 11/15/2015)


Lowly
By all means, read Bill McKibben’s victory proclamation on Keystone XL posted by the New Yorker, first for its infantile analysis. He sees Keystone as a harbinger, which it surely is: President Obama waited seven years to kill the pipeline, then did so when he no longer had to face voters and when gasoline prices are near an all-time low in real terms. If abundant fossil fuels is what it takes to afford Mr. McKibben such victories, well, you can see the paradox. (Holman Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 11/15/2015)

We'll admit that we enjoy it when Middlebury College's Bill McKibben gets batted about by his intellectual superiors. It happens quite often. 


Dazed and Confused
Abedin: Have you been going over her calls with her? So she knows singh is at 8? [India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh]

Hanley: She was in bed for a nap by the time I heard that she had an 8am call. Will go over with her

Abedin: Very imp to do that. She’s often confused. (Judicialwatch.org, 11/16/2015)

Prediction: The Washington Post, New York Times and MSNBC will ignore this admission by Hillary Clinton's closest aide that she is mentally impaired. The business of electing the first woman president is too important. 

The Best of Ebola News

The Real Reason That Obama Won't Halt Flights To The U.S. From Liberia
The hearing thrust the Ebola virus and the government’s halting management of it into the realm of politics in the midst of a national election season. (New York Times, 10/17/2014)


Ebola isn't Obama's Katrina, the growing pile of his unprecedented incompetence is. After the ObamaCare rollout, the IRS, NSA, VA, ISIS, and the economy that wouldn't recover, the Obama Administration's arrogant, ignorant, and deadly mishandling of Ebola could finally tip the pile over. (John Nolte, Beitbart.com, 10/16/2014)


Fear of Ebola is spreading faster than the disease itself, and the growing paranoia in the United States is fueling calls to impose a travel ban on people coming from the three West African nations struggling with the outbreak.
...
Ultimately, health specialists said, a ban would do more harm than good because it would isolate impoverished nations that are barely able to cope with the outbreak, and possibly cut them off from the international aid workers who provide critical help to contain the disease.

The White House on Thursday repeated its opposition to such a ban. President Obama said that he was following the advice of health experts and that “a travel ban is less effective than the measures that we are currently instituting.” (New York Times, 10/17/2014)

So the nitwits in the White House will not institute a travel ban because that would isolate the countries where Ebola is found. Isn't that exactly the point?

And the real reason that Obama is against a travel ban? As a Kenyan-American, the optics of such a ban would destroy what is left of his presidency. The only continent where he is stilled liked is Africa and the only remaining constituency in the U.S. that supports him overwhelmingly are African-Americans. A ban would erode this support.


Hooked
About 7.3 million Americans are enrolled in private coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and more than 80 percent qualified for federal subsidies to help with the cost of their monthly premiums. But many are still on the hook for deductibles that can top $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for families — the trade-off, insurers say, for keeping premiums for the marketplace plans relatively low. The result is that some people — no firm data exists on how many — say they hesitate to use their new insurance because of the high out-of-pocket costs. (New York Times, 10/18/2014)

Actually it is even worse than the Times lets on. For those who DO NOT get federal subsidies, Obamacare has delivered high deductibles AND high premiums. 

Yet another Liberal-conceived federal entitlement program screw-up. 


Oddly
In an odd moment in the trial of Robel Phillipos, a friend of the man accused of the Boston Marathon bombings, Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, testified Thursday for the defense. Mr. Phillipos, 20, a friend of the suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is charged with lying to the authorities about his movements days after the attack. (New York Times, 10/16/2014)

The country sure dodged a bullet in 1988 by not electing Dukakis.

The Corners of the Evening

Hark the Herald
For months, the Obama administration has heralded the low premiums of medical insurance policies on sale in the insurance exchanges created by the new health law. But as consumers dig into the details, they are finding that the deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs are often much higher than what is typical in employer-sponsored health plans. (NYT, 12/8/2013)

Here is the bottom line on health insurance costs. If you were a responsible person, previously had health insurance and do not qualify for subsidies under Obamacare: YOU. WILL. PAY. MORE.


Bronze Age
The average individual deductible for what is called a bronze plan on the exchange—the lowest-priced coverage—is $5,081 a year, according to a new report on insurance offerings in 34 of the 36 states that rely on the federally run online marketplace.

That is 42% higher than the average deductible of $3,589 for an individually purchased plan in 2013 before much of the federal law took effect, according to HealthPocket Inc., a company that compares health-insurance plans for consumers. (WSJ, 12/8/2013)

Another Obamacare lie: If you like your deductible you can keep it.


The Plague
The technology troubles that plagued the HealthCare.gov website rollout may not have come as a shock to people who work for certain agencies of the government — especially those who still use floppy disks, the cutting-edge technology of the 1980s.
...
It turns out, however, that the Federal Register employees who take in the information for publication from across the government still receive some of it on the 3.5-inch plastic storage squares that have become all but obsolete in the United States. (NYT, 12/6/2013)

Obama administration officials offered two explanations as to why government agencies were still using floppy disks: 1) Republican budget cuts and, 2) it's George Bush's fault. 


Grand Larson-y
Last Monday, Mark Larson, commissioner of the state department overseeing the insurance website, had bad news for these employers. They would be unable to complete their transactions because of continuing problems with the premium processing and payment functions, he said. Instead, their current insurance carriers would automatically extend their 2013 plans for three months. This affects 3,500 workers, Lunge said.

“The small businesses I deal with are really upset at this latest state of affairs,” reported Cathy Lamberton, executive vice president of Associated General Contractors of Vermont. Those contractors who stuck with trying to sign up for insurance on the website devoted a lot of time — for nothing, she said. (BFP, 12/8/2013)

We are guessing that Mark Larson will give his stock excuse: All of these problems will disappear once Vermont enacts a single-payer system.