Risk-filled sump, update: If everyone knew the risk pool on the Obamacare exchanges would be sicker-than-normal — as the last sentence of this NYT piece suggests — then why throw the hapless unsubsidized people (e.g. singles making $46,000) into that pool, where their policies will inevitably be more expensive, with more restrictions, than if they were in a more normal pool? Did Obamacare’s designers think they’d be happy about it? This seems like the program’s core flaw, no? It’s why, despite all the seemingly impressive numbers, Obamacare leaves a bad taste. … $350,000 a year lawyers with fancy employer plans get care from the best doctors and check into Sloan Kettering if they need it, while even previously insured $46,000-a-year suckers can’t, and are told that’s just the price of insuring the uninsured. Or else they have to choose between good docs and good hospitals. … [Is this fixable? I’m sure Vox can explain-ed With enough subsidies anything is possible. Even Vox.]
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Jamie Alter Lynton is not happy with new L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s timidity on education. ….
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If Democrats had known how ineffective Karl Rove’s Crossroads spending would be they might have doubled its tax deduction. …
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According to Buzzfeed‘s Evan McMorris-Santoro, a “top Census official” says the White House did not have “anything to do with the changes” in the Census’ questions on health care (changes that may or may not make gauging the impact of Obamacare more difficult than necessary). But later in the same piece McMorris-Santoro says:
“The Obama White House did play some role in crafting new survey questions.”
So they didn’t have anything to do with it but crafted the new questions? Editor! …
P.S. How many political appointees does it take to screw up a survey? The official also says, “We only have three political appointees within the Census Bureau.” Um, how many does it take? Anyway, there are telephones in the White House. They also seem to have e-mail. If they can communicate suggested questions they can communicate other things, even to nonpolitical appointees. … Does the “top Census official” think he’s calming the fears of anyone who was worried about the survey’s politicization? (Or maybe, like all administration officials who use crap arguments from now on, he is brilliantly “trolling” by enraging Republicans, per Major Garrett and John Dickerson‘s “stray voltage” theory. … ‘See those Republicans! They’re prolonging the tedious health care debate!’ … But I’m not sure Obama wants too extended a focus on Obamacare.) …
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