Free Republic

<p>It’s hard to imagine a single person who had a worse year in politics than Barack Obama. His policy agenda went nowhere in Congress; his approval ratings tanked; and his party got demolished in midterm elections. On foreign policy, critics had harsh words for the way he dealt with Russia, ISIS, and even Ebola.</p>

As the White House was gearing up to sell ObamaCare to the American people last summer, Valerie Jarrett, the president’s pointwoman on a host of issues, phoned Oprah Winfrey. She invited the Queen of All Media to join celebrities, including Amy Poehler, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys, to meet with President Obama and discuss how they could generate publicity for his health-care law. Oprah refused. Obama had been counting on Oprah’s immense persuasive powers to help enroll millions in ObamaCare. But as the rollout turned into a disaster, Oprah didn’t lift a finger to help.

The federal website Nebraskans must use to apply for tax subsidies and insurance under the Affordable Care Act is still obscenely slow and fraught with technical problems. Since the site opened Oct. 1, it appears fewer than 100 Nebraskans have been able to finish the online application process and purchase health insurance plans. “Nebraskans see the frustration building,” said Roger Furrer, of Community Action of Nebraska Inc., whose navigators are trained to help consumers with the website and new federal insurance program. “This is extremely frustrating for everyone involved.” Community Action has yet to work with anyone who actually has...

The website problems of the new federally run health insurance exchanges could do more damage than opponents of Obamacare have. It's hard to gauge how consumers have been affected by the problems at HealthCare.gov because no enrollment data have been released yet. Regardless of the political consequences, the administration owes it to the public to be forthcoming about the site's performance, its problems and the progress toward solving them. The exchanges are crucial to the success of healthcare reform, and it would be tragic if they were derailed by the troubled online rollout.

HOUSTON – At a Get Covered America forum in Houston on Saturday, Latinos who have permanent resident status, also known as green cards, were instructed in Spanish on how to apply for U.S. citizenship and were encouraged to enroll in the Affordable Care Act. The two-hour “Neighborhood Centers Citizenship and Immigration Forum” attracted more than 100 people, all of whom appeared Latino. Hosted at a community center in a low-income area of The Heights neighborhood, the forum was billed on the Get Covered America website as “outreach to people in the community who are seeking citizenship status and would like...

Almost a month after the nation began what is proving to be a rocky shift to a new form of national health insurance, the basic question of how much health insurance will cost people under the Affordable Care Act is still hard to answer. Contributing to the murkiness are continuing problems with the federal government’s insurance exchange website and the evolving nature of a system that was built from scratch. For example, if you make too much money to quality for tax-credit subsidies, the premiums could be higher than you expect, assuming you can even figure them out. “It won’t...

For the past 3 1/2 years, opponents of the Affordable Care Act have made misstatements about what would happen to families, to seniors, to employers and to health care costs as a result of the historic law. In spite of their predictions being so wrong, the attacks continue. So it’s important to give a snapshot of what health benefits the law has already produced for Kansans. The ACA has already produced benefits for Kansans. In football terms, we’re early in the first quarter, and while our opponents want to declare “game over,” I’m confident that by the end of open...

Online healthcare exchanges are a major part of the Affordable Care Act, but in Alaska website troubles are keeping people from signing up for insurance. Outreach to sign up Alaska’s nearly 140,000 uninsured has been extensive, including efforts by trained healthcare navigators. Despite those efforts, by Thursday, outreach officials could only confirm seven Alaskans had signed up for coverage. “I haven't signed anybody up,” Joan Fisher said flatly from her office at Providence Hospital on Thursday. As the lead healthcare navigator for Alaska, she said she’s spoken with about 150 people since the exchange opened. “I think that we can't...

Half of the Senate and more than two-fifths of the members of the House of Representatives have advised the administration of their opposition to the global conventional arms trade treaty it signed last month, raising questions about its future implementation in the U.S., the world’s largest arms exporter. In a move largely overshadowed by the standoff over government funding and Obamacare, 50 senators sent a letter to President Obama on Tuesday, pledging not to consent to the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and urging him to notify its depository – the U.N. secretary-general – that the U.S. does not intend...

Rich Sitko can’t wait to buy a new health insurance plan. Sitko, 64, from Essex Fells, now has an indemnity plan from Aetna for which he pays $1,178 per month with a $2,500 deductible. He believes he will find a less costly option on the new health insurance exchange — the online marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act. His new plan, he said, will still most likely cost close to $10,000 a year and won’t have any of his doctors in network. To get a plan similar to the one he has now, he’d actually have to pay more...

In this radio program Dennis Miller advises business owners that if they are forced to cut hours and or fire employees due to the impact of Obamacare, then it is the Obama supporters that should be fired. I couldn’t agree more! Obama and his supporters have made it painfully clear that they do not care about the millions of lives that are being completely destroyed by Obamacare. So it only makes logical sense that they should be the ones that lose their jobs as a result since they are the ones supporting this disaster.

Some years ago Bernard Goldberg wrote a book, “A Slobbering Love Affair With Obama”, about the way the press treated his 2008-9 campaign and election as President. The mainstream press continues to protect Obama, often rather blatantly. The curious thing about this is that it is not reciprocated. More and more, the press acts and sounds like an abused wife. A case in point is the way the networks—ABC, NBC and CBS—covered the government shutdown. A new report from the Media Research Center analyzed the coverage, finding 41 stories that blamed the Republican Party and zero—none—that blamed the Democrats. There...

Capitol Hill Republicans are gearing up for hearings next week on the botched rollout of Obamacare — and the White House said on Saturday that about 476,000 health insurance applications have been filed through the new exchanges. **SNIP** The officials did not want to be cited by name and would not discuss the health insurance rollout unless they were granted anonymity, the AP reported. Since going online on Oct. 1, the main Obamcare exchange, Healthcare.gov, has been marred by technical glitches and cost overruns — leading technology specialists to conclude that the company hired to build the site, CGI, was...

The White House announced weeks ago it would not release Obamacare enrollment data until November. On Saturday, though, it gave application data to the AP – but the information doesn't really make clear how many people will actually sign up for health plans. I've started two separate applications on HealthCare.gov and a handful on other state marketplaces. I account for about a half-dozen of those 476,000 applications. Other reporters are no doubt doing the same, as are curious shoppers across the country. Applications started might be a good measure for curiosity, but not necessarily coverage. Most health insurance plans don't...

Carissa Brooks went to the Shopping Center on Saturday to buy some thread. She went home with some health insurance. It was an emotional moment for the 36-year-old mother of two. She stumbled upon a health-insurance outreach program by Public Health-Seattle. The department hosted the event to help people obtain coverage through the Affordable Care Act. "It's exciting," Brooks said, after hugging her "in-person assister," the staffer certified to help with enrollment. "I was going to cry." Brooks was able to qualify for Medicaid coverage under the new Affordable Care Act provisions, and she will not have to pay any...

Don't signup for Obamacare, don't even use the website or phone number - You'll Regret it. First, your painting a target on your back with the IRS. If you signup and give all your particulars (including your bank account and routing numbers, Social Security Number and Date of Birth - A ID THEFTS DREAM) but don't buy insurance. Guess who will be watching you! Yes, the IRS. The IRS who Doesn't target tea parties, who doesn't audit people. Yeah Right; that IRS. Second: Oh, and if you don't buy, will be looking to extract that PENALTY (Supremes say a tax)...

Nancy Pelosi: Obamacare Rollout Glitches ‘Unacceptable’ By Amber Kiwan Oct 20, 2013 10:29am ABC nancy pelosi this week jt 131020 16x9 608 Nancy Pelosi: Obamacare Rollout Glitches Unacceptable ABC News This morning on “This Week,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the website glitches around the rollout of the president’s signature health care law were “unacceptable.” “As far as the Affordable Care Act, as I call it, the fact is, that yes what has happened is unacceptable in terms of the glitches,” Pelosi told ABC’s Martha Raddatz on “This Week.” “This has to be fixed, but what doesn’t have...

There is an ongoing theme in the Obama administration. When Barack Obama was campaigning for President, he promised he would have the most honest and open administration in history. He reiterated that claim when he took office. It's been downhill from there. The secrecy and dishonesty continue to abound, growing stronger by the day. The people in this administration, from President Obama, to his Cabinet and other officials, seem to think they are above the law. More specifically, they seem to think they are above the other branches of the federal government. The attitude that has prevailed throughout Obama's presidency...