The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 10/06/2013 - 10/13/2013

Saturday, October 12, 2013

12 Facts About The Obamacare Launch Train Wreck Every American Should Know



The following are 12 facts about the Obamacare launch train wreck that everyone should know:

#1 According to a survey that was just released, approximately 90 percent of the people that have tried to enroll for Obamacare say that they were not able to get signed up.
#2 And many of those that believe that they did get “signed up” are not actually enrolled in a health insurance plan.  In fact, health insurance executives say that only about 1 out of every 100 applications being submitted on the Obamacare health insurance exchanges contain enough information to get an applicant successfully enrolled in a health insurance plan.
#3 The Iowa Obamacare exchange has enrolled a grand total of five people in Obamacare at this point.
#4 The Hawaii Obamacare exchange was so bad that the entire site has been taken down and will eventually be relaunched.
#5 Early this week, the Wall Street Journal was reporting that health insurance executives were saying that only “hundreds” of Americans had successfully enrolled through the Obamacare websites so far.
#6 One online database programmer had the following to say about the Healthcare.gov website: “It wasn’t designed well, it wasn’t implemented well, and it looks like nobody tested it.”
#7 The Obama administration received numerous warnings that the launch of the health insurance exchanges was going to be a major disaster…
Major insurers, state health-care officials and Democratic allies repeatedly warned the Obama administration in recent months that the new federal health-insurance exchange had significant problems, according to people familiar with the conversations. Despite those warnings and intense criticism from Republicans, the White House proceeded with an Oct. 1 launch.
#8 According to one estimate, it cost more than 93 million dollars to build Healthcare.gov.
#9 When you create an account on Heathcare.gov, you are handing over a whole host of personal information to the federal government which may end up being used for a vast array of different purposes.
#10 According to Politico, there is no way to delete an account once you have created one on Healthcare.gov…
Once you finally make it into HealthCare.gov, it’s not clear how you get out.
For those who’ve busted through glitches on the federal Obamacare insurance website to create an account, there’s no clear, obvious way for consumers to delete the accounts if they choose — at least not in the current incarnation.
#11 One expert believes that it could take up to two years before the technical glitches are ironed out of Obamacare…
“I think it could easily take up to two years before all these things are working working smoothly,” said Lisa Carroll, president of the Mosaic Insurance Exchange and the Small Businesses Service Bureau in Massachusetts. “This is just an ecommerce project of epic proportion,” said Carroll.
Carroll said the complicated task of getting all facets of the federal health insurance market to interact with each other correctly is made more complicated by rule changes and clarifications that have to be accounted for by software.
#12 The system is so bad that even CNN’s Wolf Blitzer is saying that the individual mandate should be delayed for a year.







Friday, October 11, 2013

NBC/WSJ poll: 60 percent say fire every member of Congress

NBC/WSJ poll: 60 percent say fire every member of Congress


Throw the bums out.

That’s the message 60 percent of Americans are sending to Washington in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, saying if they had the chance to vote to defeat and replace every single member of Congress, including their own representative, they would. Just 35 percent say they would not.

The 60 percent figure is the highest-ever in that question recorded in the poll, registered in the wake of the government shutdown and threat of the U.S. defaulting on its debt for the first time in history. If the nation’s debt limit is not increased one week from now, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warns that the entire global economy could be in peril.

Read the full poll here (.pdf)

The 10 Scariest Doomsday Predictions About a Default - ABC News

The 10 Scariest Doomsday Predictions About a Default - ABC News

PHOTO: Specialist Fabian Caceres works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

"In the event that a debt limit impasse were to lead to a default, it could have a catastrophic effect on not just financial markets but also on job creation, consumer spending and economic growth -- with many private-sector analysts believing that it would lead to events of the magnitude of late 2008 or worse, and the result then was a recession more severe than any seen since the Great Depression," according to a Treasury Department report released last week.

Some members of Congress, mostly Republicans, have quibbled over the date the nation can no longer pay its bills. Still other lawmakers say a default wouldn't be all that bad.

Such lingering doubts notwithstanding, doomsday predictions about the consequences of a default are everywhere these days. ABC News has compiled some of the scariest of the bunch.






Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Shutdown? 36 Facts That Prove Almost Everything Is Still Running



Government parks are closed.  The EPA and the Department of Energy have almost totally closed up shop.  But overall, most Americans are not going to notice much of a difference.

#1 According to U.S. Senator Rand Paul, 85 percent of all government activities are actually being funded during this "government shutdown".
#2 Approximately 1,350,000 "essential" federal employees will continue to work during this "government shutdown".
#3 Overall, 63 percent of the federal workforce will continue to work during this "government shutdown".
#4 The U.S. Postal Service will continue to deliver our mail.
#5 U.S. military personnel will remain on duty and will continue to get paid.
#6 Social Security recipients will continue to get their benefits.
#7 Medicare recipients will continue to get their benefits.
#8 Medicaid recipients will continue to get their benefits.
#9 Food stamp recipients will continue to get their benefits.
#10 Those on unemployment will continue to get their benefits.
#11 Federal retirees will continue to get their pensions.
#12 The federal school lunch program has enough money to go through at least the end of this month.
#13 Public schools all over the country will continue to stay open.
#14 Almost all federal law enforcement officials will continue working.
#15 The Federal Reserve will remain "completely functional."
#16 The Supreme Court will continue to operate normally and federal courts have enough money to keep going for at least two weeks.
#17 TSA employees will continue to molest travelers at our airports.
#18 Air traffic controllers will continue to monitor traffic at our airports.
#19 Hopelessly outmanned border patrol agents will continue to try to stem the tide of illegal immigration.
#20 Visas and passports will continue to be issued by the State Department.
#21 The Veterans Administration will continue to offer substandard medical services, and it will be able to continue processing benefit payments at least for now.
#22 The Obama administration apparently has plenty of money to spend on closing open-air memorials that are usually open to the public 24 hours a day.
#23 The Department of Defense announced the awarding of 94 new contracts worth a combined total of more than 5 billion dollars on September 30th - the day right before the "government shutdown."
#24 The "government shutdown" has not prevented the new two billion dollar NSA spy center from opening up.
#25 Federal prisons will continue to operate normally.
#26 Amtrak trains will continue to run.
#27 The Patent and Trademark Office will be open.
#28 The Consumer Product Safety Commission will continue to issue product recalls if the products "create an immediate threat to the safety of human life."
#29 The National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center will continue to track weather patterns.
#30 If the federal government needs to respond to a natural disaster, this "shutdown" will not affect that.
#31 NASA will continue to support the Mars Rover and the two American astronauts up on the International Space Station.
#32 All city employees of the D.C. government have been deemed "essential" and will continue to go to work.
#33 Even though the Obamacare exchanges are not working properly, people will still be able to access them.
#34 The IRS will continue to collect taxes, but it will be suspending punitive audits of conservative organizations.
#35 Barack Obama will continue to get paid for the full duration of this "shutdown."
#36 The U.S. Congress will continue to get paid for the full duration of this "shutdown."




Read more: http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/10/government-shutdown-36-facts-prove-almost-everything-still-running/#ixzz2hAASFUnT







25 Places Unnecessarily Shut Down by Obama



Below is a list of unnecessary closings the Obama Administration is making in regards to the recent government shut down, most of which appear to be non-government funded. It is an in your face move by Obama to anger the American people and blame the Republicans for the shutdown.

Even the National Institutes of Health who offer last-chance experimental cancer treatments for children suffering from cancer is on the list despite the fact that the Republicans have offered to compromise with the president and single the NIH out for funding

Obama seems to be spending more money and using more resources to close and block and inconvenience than to just leave it alone:

1. Treatments for Children Suffering From Cancer - The GOP have agreed to a compromise by funding part of the government, including the National Institutes of Health, which offers children with cancer last-chance experimental treatment. Obama has threatened to veto this funding.

2. The World War II Memorial - The WWII memorial on the DC Mall is a 24/7 open-air memorial that is not regularly staffed. Although the White House must have known that WWII veterans in their eighties and nineties had already booked flights to visit this memorial, the White House still found the resources to spitefully barricade the attraction. 
The Republican National Committee has offered to cover any costs required to keep the memorial open. The White House refused. Moreover, like the NIH, the GOP will pass a compromise bill that would fund America's national parks. Obama has threatened to veto that bill.

3. Furloughed Military Chaplains Not Allowed to Work for Free - Furloughed military chaplains willing to celebrate Mass and baptisms for free have been told they will be punished for doing so.

4. Business Stops In Florida Keys - Although the GOP have agreed to compromise in the ongoing budget stalemate and fund the parks, Obama has threatened to veto that funding. As a result, small businesses, hunters, and commercial fisherman can't practice their trade. While the feds have deemed the personnel necessary to keep this area open "non-essential," the "enforcement officers" to ensure no business is done are "essential."

5. Obama Blacks Out Sports, Entertainment Programming to Overseas Troops - The American Forces Network (AFN) that provides American sports and entertainment programming to our troops stationed abroad, has been shut down. For some reason, though, AFN News will still broadcast news, just not any of the popular and fun stuff.

Camp David is essential, but popular programming for heroes overseas is non-essential.
6. Obama Closes D-Day Memorial - The GOP have offered to compromise and fund the National Parks. Obama has said he will veto this compromise legislation. As a result, along with 24 other military cemeteries, the D-Day memorial in Normandy has been barricaded.

7. Obama Tries to Close Privately-Funded Mt. Vernon - Although George Washington's Mt. Vernon estate is privately funded, the feds blocked visitors from entering the parking area because the Park Service maintains the lot. Apparently, the New Media publicity resulted in the feds backing down.

8. Obama Closes Over 100 Privately-Managed Parks That Cost No Money to Run -  The U.S. Treasury actually makes money from the rent paid by a private company that "employs about 400-500 camp workers and managers across about a dozen states." No federal money is used to operate these parks. No federal employees are used to staff these parks. Taxpayers make a profit from these parks. Still, Obama had them closed and as a result 400-500 employees and a private business are taking it in the neck.

9. Obama Closes Self-Sustaining Colonial Farm It Hasn’t Supported Since 1980 - "For the first time in 40 years, the National Park Service (NPS) has finally succeeded in closing the Farm down to the public. In previous budget dramas, the Farm has always been exempted since the NPS provides no staff or resources to operate the Farm.”

10. Obama Tries to Close State-Run Parks in Wisconsin - "The park service ordered state officials to close the northern unit of the Kettle Moraine, Devil's Lake, and Interstate state parks and the state-owned portion of the Horicon Marsh, but state authorities rebuffed the request because the lion's share of the funding came from state, not federal coffers."

11. Obama Closes Vietnam Memorial - The GOP have passed compromise legislation that would fund national memorials and parks, and open them to the public. Obama threatened a veto. Apparently, the "essential" government employees are those erecting barricades, not those who could keep the memorial open.

12. Obama Closes Privately-Owned Hotel, Police Block Parking Lot - "The operator of a 51-room inn located on U.S. government-owned land in North Carolina abandoned his defiant stance on Thursday to keep the property open despite being ordered to close as part of the federal government shutdown."
October is this inn's prime season. The GOP have offered compromise funding opening the parks. Obama said he will veto that compromise.
State troopers blocked customers from entering the inn's parking lot.

13. Park Service Ranger: 'We've Been Told to Make Life As Difficult For People As We Can' - “It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation,” an angry Park Service ranger in Washington says of the harassment. “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”

14. Obama Forces Residents Out of Private Homes - "The government shutdown is being felt close to home for some locals. They say they're being forced out of private homes on Lake Mead because they sit on federal land."

The GOP have agreed to fund the parks. Obama has threatened a veto.

15. Acadia Park In Maine Shut Down - '"We’ve been training for two years at CrossFit for this hike — no kidding,” Hart said. She added that the shutdown should be as inconvenient for the Washington politicians who caused it as it is for average citizens.'

The GOP have agreed to fund the parks. Obama said he will veto.

16. Historic Restaurant Open During Last Shutdown Forced to Close - "An iconic Philadelphia restaurant has been forced to close its doors and turn away booked parties because of the government shutdown. …

"Restaurant public relations director Molly Yun said they were notified there was a possibility a closure might happen, but they were allowed to remain open during the last government shutdown 17 years ago."

The restaurant is part of the federal park system, which the GOP have agreed to fund. Obama said he will veto the funding.

17. Obama Shuts Down a Road Tha Goes Through CO Park: "The Forest Service announcement, in turn, led the Pitkin County commissioners to order that Maroon Creek Road be shut down at the height of the colorful leaf-changing season. Ahead of what is to be one of the busiest weekends of the fall, the road is to be closed to vehicles at T-Lazy-7 Ranch, pending a resolution to the government shutdown."

The GOP have agreed to fund the parks. Obama said he will veto that compromise funding.

18. Residents Plan Protest of Cape Hatteras Closing - "Businesses and residents on the Outer Banks have planned a peaceful protest of the closure of Hatteras Island's beaches due to the government shut down.

"The U.S. House Wednesday passed a measure to reopen national parks and monuments. It will now go to the U.S. Senate."

In the unlikely event the Democrat Senate passes the bill, Obama has threatened a veto of any compromise legislation opening the parks.

19. Obama Blocks People From LOOKING at Mt. Rushmore - "Blocking access to trails and programs at South Dakota’s most popular attraction was one thing, but state officials didn’t expect Congress’ budget stalemate to shut down a view of Mount Rushmore.

"The National Park Service placed cones along highway viewing areas outside Mount Rushmore this week, barring visitors from pulling over and taking pictures of the famed monument.

The cones first went up Oct. 1, said Dusty Johnson, Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s chief of staff. The state asked that they be taken down, and federal officials did so with some of them. The state was told the cones were a safety precaution to help channel cars into viewing areas rather than to bar their entrance."

20. Crucial USDA Websites Taken Down - "The U.S. Department of Agriculture has turned off its entire website in response to the government shutdown, leaving farmers, reporters and others with no way to access any of the agency's information online. …

"USDA's total website shutdown goes far beyond the response of other federal agencies, and seems to be part of an effort to make people feel the effects of the shutdown. Thursday morning calls to USDA's press office seeking an explanation were not answered."

This website is down and yet the ObamaCare and White House websites are up.

21. St. Louis Gateway Arch Closed - The GOP have agreed to compromise legislation funding the parks. Obama has threatened a veto.

22. Park Shutdown Bounces Rowers from Potomac - "The ripple effect of a government shutdown has pushed rowers from the Potomac River.
"Multiple high schools rent space at the Thompson Boat Center in Georgetown. But like other places controlled by the National Park Service, it closed Tuesday morning."


23. Thompson Boat Center Closed In DC - The GOP have agreed to fund the parks. Obama said he will veto.


24. Obama Closes Military Commissary - "Military members, veterans and families who shop at local tax-free store are shocked to discover the store's doors locked; no progress to end stalemate in Washington." Working class military personnel have lost their tax-free store privileges.
Military personnel and their families have never lost these privileges in previous shutdowns.
 
25. Arizona Offers to Fund Grand Canyon, Obama Says 'Drop Dead' - "Obama has ordered the Grand Canyon to stay closed, even after the state of Arizona and local businesses have offered to cover the costs necessary to keep it open.