Category Archives: Media Criticism

Business, Economics, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Wiley Obama

8 Comments

Not a sooper genius:

Obviously he wouldn’t want to delay Obamacare. But that decision was out of his hands due to his administration’s incompetence. The only choice before him was whether he would get the blame for the delay or if the Republicans would.

Why Obama didn’t do this and why it didn’t occur to him are good questions. Hubris obviously played a role, as it does in nearly everything this White House does. But the best answer is he didn’t know how terrible things were over at HHS. In other words, the chess master didn’t even know what pieces he had on the board, which is usually not something we associate with chess masters. It’s something we associate with people who don’t even know how to play the game.

The media always overhypes the intelligence of Democrats, but this guy’s in a league of his own in that regard. On the other hand, when you’re called “inept” by Jimmy Carter, it ought to sting.

Business, Economics, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary

Obama Lied

6 Comments

…healthcare died. A history.

Old story line: “Obama didn’t lie!”

New story line: “Obama had to lie to us for our own good!”

[Update a few minutes later]

71% believed that Obama knew rates would skyrocket for many insurance plans. Of course he did. That was much of the idea.

Plus this: When fraud is legal. “Under socialism, there is no such thing as consumer protection.”

The government does many things that would get others thrown in jail.

Business, Economics, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society

Insanity From Sebelius

117 Comments

The insurance market was “unregulated before ObamaCare“?

Really?

Actually, this is a typical tactic of the left. Decry and lie about problems caused by a “lack of regulation” that are actually caused by overregulation, then demand more regulation to fix them. It’s the same playbook they used in the financial crisis.

By the way, since Sebelius doesn’t seem to think that security is important, you’d be a fool to use it any time soon.

[Update a few minutes later]

I expect a plethora of campaign posters featuring the word, “Whatever.”

Imagine it said as two separate words, accent on the second, Valley-Girl style, like one of Bart’s girlfriends in The Simpsons. “What Evar.”

Hell, we may ever hear it in the opening of SNL on Saturday.

[Update a few minutes later]

HHS knew that it was a security risk, but plunged ahead anyway.

Of course.

[Update a few minutes later]

Of course not: “The system has never crashed.”

[Update a while later]

Five things we learned from today’s hearing: “Sibelius doesn’t seem to know anything about the law she is implementing.”

[Bumped]

The country’s in the very best of hands.

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

The Dream Chaser Test

12 Comments

A report from Joel Achenbach, who’s doing a space project for the WaPo.

As I note on Twitter, Sirangelo’s comments aren’t spinning a failure. The vehicle met its test objectives, other than the ability to get it back, sans a lot of bondo. But as with SpaceX’s loss of their first stage in the ocean, they got the data they needed to move forward. And at least they’re flying and testing, something that NASA has been too risk averse to do of late.

Business, Economics, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society

What’s Next For Health-Care Policy?

5 Comments

Some interesting prognostications from Ben Domenech:

Obamacare’s struggles have obviously vindicated the positioning of the free-market advocates, too – particularly the ones who have been most vociferous in their distrust of the manageability of Obamacare and Romneycare over the past decade and a half. Conservative and libertarian health policy experts like NCPA’s John Goodman, Cato’s Michael Cannon, Heritage’s Chris Jacobs, Heartland’s Peter Ferrara, and FreedomWorks’ Dean Clancy, who have held to that “this is going to be a train wreck” position despite the efforts of The Fixers, are the victors here. All have their favored alternative approaches to national health care policy reform, whether it be through tax credits, deductions, or full deductibility combined with a bigger investment in the safety net or risk pools. But they all share certain aspects in common: they ditch the mandate and exchange-based approach to health reform, and instead rely on individual responsibility and carrots to achieve universal access to care. And, more fundamentally, they all understood that no group of ”experts,” no matter how wise, could possibly predict and control one-fifth of the American economy – particularly one already so distorted by decades of misguided government intervention.

RTWT.