They Said It Couldn't Be Done...

Back in the day when the topic was Reagan's 'Star Wars' liberals were adamant that the US was a can't-do country that could never solve the many technological problems of shooting down missiles.

Looking at the ObamaCare roll-out, one wonders whether they were on to something...

Comments

[Danube on iPad]

Those Colorado polling numbers in the earlier thread re Hillary are quite stunning - and hugely encouraging. I think Ocare has a lot to do with it.

[Danube on iPad]

Hayek told the world long ago why this thing could never work: the knowledge problem. Instead of being informed by signals sent by consumers in the marketplace, decision-makers in the health insurance and, to a great extent, healthcare industries are now informed purely by political signals. Doomed from the beginning.

All of us here knew that. Why didn't they?

[fdcol63]

Hubris.

[Porchlight]

Because they're just incapable of seeing it, DoT. Hayek, Friedman et al explained it a million times, but they don't understand. They think the angels in Good Government are going to make everything all better, unless the mean Republicans mess it up somehow.

I thought the Edsall article was useful. He insultingly implies that white voters don't like Ocare because it's hugely redistributionist, but at the same time - he admits that Ocare is hugely redistributionist, and explains exactly why/how. That admission, and those details, have been missing from the NYT to date.

He spends most of the piece detailing why it's doomed, both politically and practically, for many, many other reasons.

A liberal reading this is not going to be cheered up, at all, about the prospects of either the law or the Democrat party.

[pagar56]

"They said it couldn't be done."

What Jack Cashill said about Obama writing
"Dreams from My Father".

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/11/jack-cashill-vindicated-bill-ayers-book-promotion-event-announces/

[Gmax]

Actually your favorite douchebag professor told why a few days back. Capitalism is on the rocks was what he said. And he and a hell of a lot of these watermelon progs believe it, with all their heart and soul.

[narciso]

Edsall pointed out how the Democrats were abandoning white working class voters, this is because they don't like them, he's enough of a shoe leather reporter to figure that out.

By contrast Gail Collins was bringing the stupid re the Cheney clan, and Friedman, 'lord love a waterfowl' however he's been wrong consistently since 1982, which is a record of sorts.

[narciso]

I see an audit in their future;

http://adage.com/article/media/blue-cross-blue-shield-mocks-healthcare-gov-latest-ads/245355/

[narciso]

As an investor, he's dissappointed on his return;

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/11/saudi-prince-alwaleed-obama-is-not-succeeding-lacks-coherent-foreign-policy-video/

[Jane-Rebel Alliance1]

Isn't it amazing that Obama comes out and provides commentary on the job he is supposed to be doing, to distance himself from it.

"We have learned that buying health insurance is complicated", and "we now know IT is difficult".

I swear it's a gift. The man is an idiot with a gift.

[Jack is Back!]

Alwaleed, who never worked a fracking minute in his life. If it wasn't for American technology, America's energy suicide instincts and America's progressive obcession, Saudi Arabia would be a failed stone age state.

You have to have lived there to feel the bile in my taste buds right now.

[Donald]

What happened to Stephanie?

[Danube on iPad]

I haven't read Edsall's piece, and I hope someone will spare me the need to do so.

But what is the basis for his claim that the non-Medicare people - the ones who will be on the exchanges - are disproprtionately non-white? Or does he simply claim that those who will "benefit" are non-white?

[Porchlight]

He's saying that on the whole, white voters pay more in premiums and minorities receive more in subsidies.

It's a good article; you should read it.

Donald, Stephanie had surgery scheduled for today and is now in recovery. Here's her husband's update again: http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2013/11/buggy-its-not-built-yet.html?cid=6a00d83451b2aa69e2019b01669083970c#comment-6a00d83451b2aa69e2019b01669083970c

[narciso]

Well Taranto excerpted enough of it, I'm sure you can find ray shielded segments, in places,
or not.

So the story of that former Chechen who we discover is now running the branch office of jihad in Syria, is more interesting.

[Donald]

Thanks Ms Porch,

We should all pitch in and get her a great bottle of scotch and a
Gourds CD.

[Porchlight]

Taranto rightly notes that Edsall plays the race card but other than that, I found the article substantive, factual, and nonpartisan. Much of it reads like something TM might write.

That's why it's important piece - it's on the NYT opinion page and yet it doesn't blast the GOP or give false hope that Obamacare has a chance in hell of succeeding. Telling you, a regular NYT reader is not going to find a ray of hope anywhere in it. And they won't be able to fault the source.

[Porchlight]

Hey, that's a great idea, Donald!

[narciso]

It's a bit, late in the day for denial though;

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2013/11/19/24-co-star-blames-conservatives-obamacare

[boricuafudd]

Danube-
That was my thought,too. With the numbers of "enrolled" as it is how can he make any determination of who will be the most affected.

Is he issinuating that they are not enough black, women or other minorities that are successful enough to be impacted by this travesty? What an elitist moron, even if he is partly right.

[narciso]

In the Fox Butterfield column for today;

"New Gallup poll numbers show Americans increasingly dispute the idea that government has a responsibility to make sure everybody can get health insurance. It's tempting to see that as an indictment against Obamacare, but it might just mean more Americans are becoming jerks."--Christopher Flavelle, Bloomberg, Nov. 19

[Jane-Rebel Alliance1]

I know I stated the obvious at 8:32, but I actually saw something different tonite, that I'm having a hard time putting into words.

[narciso]

This is why I watch almost any other show, at that hour;

http://therightscoop.com/bill-oreilly-attacks-sarah-palin-for-not-doing-his-show-she-just-wants-to-give-a-speech/

[Porchlight]

With the numbers of "enrolled" as it is how can he make any determination of who will be the most affected.

Not as it is currently playing out, perhaps. But as it was designed, yes. Obamacare was intended - as are most entitlements enacted by Dems - to benefit Dem constituents at the expense of GOP constituents. I don't think that's any surprise to anyone.

[narciso]

WE know where's coming from, but occam's razor, suggests he doesn't know what he's doing, Alinsky's sorcerer's apprentice,

Megyn just pointed out a hypocritical clip where he was berating Bush for changing the law, some reference to signing statements, I imagine.

[Danube on iPad]

"but it might just mean more Americans are becoming jerks."

That jackass is about to discover that jerks, just like parasites, get to vote. And that you should never enrage a whole bunch of jerks.

[Account Deleted]

Porchlight,

He is sure using a hokey measuring stick. If you pull illegals out of the Hispanic uninsured the remainder is 5 million, the number of uninsured blacks is 8.1 million and the number of uninsured whites is 27.3 million. The subsidies might be geared to reflect disparity in income due to practical IQ. That would load towards minorities but it would still provide subsidies for 1.5 whites for every minority.

The woman's subsidy is worth much more than the minority subsidy but I doubt we'll ever read about it the NYT.

[boricuafudd]

Porch-
I get all of that but he assumptions made by the law are going to hurt a large component of their supporters who are face with higher premiums and larger deductibles. These are the one who not only support the President and Dems but also the ones most likely to vote.

[Beasts of England]

Two threads in a row where I have expertise!

Star Wars was an economic weapon. I know this because, as a young pup, I did the analyses for the Reports to Congress. And it worked - we buried the Russians. Gotta love some Ronald Reagan.

[Porchlight]

Well, I may be wrong, but read the article and see what you think. I didn't find much to argue with.

[narciso]

It is frustrating, beasts to deal with people who have learned the wrong lesson from the last 30 years, Biden, Obama, Kerry.

[Porchlight]

Yes, I agree, boricuafudd. But they're both malicious and incompetent, so I'm not convinced that they're just now figuring out that it wasn't going to work out like they'd planned.

[BB Key]

My brother is a yellow dog democrat and has retirement benefit with the State of NC from the years he spent as a Superior Court Judge . He discovered today that the plan he was under last year no longer exists and he was automatically enrolled in a new plan by default . I told him at lunch today, welcome to O'care , you are not the lone Ranger and the Republicans did not do this to you...:)

[Porchlight]

that they're *not* just now figuring out...

I think I need some of those drinks mentioned in the last thread.

[Beasts of England]

Mind-boggling, narciso. Makes my little brain wanna explode. I often think back to that great photo of Cheney staring down JEF at his first inauguration. Cheney knew what an imbecile was headed to the Resolute Desk.

[narciso]

I was pointing in an earlier threat, all the misrepresentations, that the founder of Blackwater, has had to dispel in his memoirs, after nearly a decade of lawsuits,

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Beasts, I know some otherwise somewhat intelligent people who believe that the Rooskis would've gone belly up no matter who was President. Just dumb luck that it didn't happen while adultery of the heart was in office, I guess.

[narciso]

Yes, I'm not terribly surprised, with Minitrue's revision of history, 'Revolution 89' was possibly the best take on the subject I've seen, as with Europa Central, covering the prologue to that period,

[narciso]

That book by 'Morgan Jones' somehow made it to the local library, and it's not too bad a tale, of what happened in Benghazi, as you might have gathered, i'm skeptical of the recent postmortem.

[Ignatz]

--boricuafudd--

How is that pronounced and does it have an etymology which does not involve a Merrie Melody or Loonie Tune?

[narciso]

Have you lived in Puerto Rico, boricua?

[rse]

OT-

I am finally up on kindle now if you want to encounter nefarious schemes being brought to light as you travel during the upcoming holiday visits.

Nonfiction with cites and footnotes turned out to be lots of trouble even with hiring who was recommended. If someone encounters a problem please tell me. I have no kindle.

But I keep gelpens in multiple colors so my comments in the margin do not all look the same.

[narciso]

It's like Harry Potter with semiotics.rse/ Alan Bloom, a little more then a quarter century ago, detected all these carriers of anomie,he traced it to the Frankfurt school in general

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

narc, I was reading elsewhere that on next week's POI that the Machine spits out Simmons' number. For some reason I find that humorous.

I'm curious about how much Root changed the code of the machine and how much it generated itself. It's all fiction of course but I wonder if the Bad Robots will ever provide an explanation. That Finch noted anomalies that were generated when he designed it, and led to him scrubbing the daily changes. Root said last night that they'd keep on getting numbers so that specific function could be intact, but the stuff that Root keeps hinting at could be very wild. I suspect after next week we'll get reruns until maybe February so after that maybe they'll move in that direction.

[narciso]

Is Rambaldi Italian, probably not, when Jos was in the morgue and she was talking about the marine beside her, plus the thing with the vest last week they were sort of hinting,
that something might go wrong, also when they pan out, in the middle of a pensive moment,
that's a warning,

[narciso]

I like elaborate plots, as you've gathered, as in Cryptonomicon, but David Foster Wallace's work, just seems tedious to me.

[Beasts of England]

Captain - No kidding. They think it was dumb luck, the Pope or Lech Walesa. Nope. It was Ronnie.

I know the answer for bori's moniker, but I'll demur. Not sure if he has his blog LUN'd, but hopefully he'll link it one day. Very good commentary.

[bgates]

I know some otherwise somewhat intelligent people who believe that the Rooskis would've gone belly up no matter who was President

Yeah, after Koch and Dinkins New York was bound to have a sharp decrease in crime because they'd taken the lead out of paint, and the Soviets were obviously doomed because their central planners weren't as smart and accomplished as our central planners, and the reason for the sub-4% unemployment and virtually balanced budgets of the post-Cold War slash tech bubble during the Boomers' peak earning years (and the first Republican Congress in living memory) can be summed up in two words, "Bill Clinton".

[boricuafudd]

Narciso- New York native, but lived in Puerto Rico for several years. It is a play on boricua (after the native name for the island-Boriquen) and fudd. The fudd is an acronym my wife gave me, sorry can't share that.

[jimmyk]

I know some otherwise somewhat intelligent people who believe that the Rooskis would've gone belly up no matter who was President.

I suppose they also feel that W is unfairly tarred with the financial crisis, as it also would have happened regardless of who was President? (That one is probably true; the forces set in motion by Clinton and corrupt Dems in Congress would have been hard to stop by the time it was obvious what was happening.)

[narciso]

No they probably are dead certain, he was responsible for that, even though the facts say otherwise.

[narciso]

Florida is not one of them however;

http://weaselzippers.us/2013/11/20/seven-states-have-now-rejected-obamas-keep-your-plan-fix/

[Porchlight]

Walter Russell Mead on the Edsall article:

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/11/20/nyt-obamacare-debacle-could-kill-big-blue/

[AliceH]

Excellent link, porch. I especially liked this bit:

"The modern administrative state depends on public faith in the administrative elite.... But what if they have other agendas? What if the administrative class has its own class interest which it attempts to advance under the cloak of disinterested social science?"

That's the realization I hope for from the majority and in particular the millenials.