Schieffer: Gov’t Shutdown, Obamacare Rollout the Dumb and Dumber of Washington

Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer put a pox on both the houses of the government shutdown and the troubled Obamacare rolllout on Sunday morning, comparing the twin disasters to the filmDumb and Dumber, and assigning them the status of Worse and Worser.

“Is ‘worser’ a word?” Schieffer wondered. “Turns out it is. We looked it up. The shutdown was the worst, but this thing is worser.”

“It was the Washington we’ve come to know: all talk, all the time,” Schieffer continued, denouncing both the poor rollout and the critics who were “foaming at the mouth” over it. “But at the end of the day, [it was] just another example of how government seems incapable of making things better, and it never seems to learn…There may be lesson here: if those involved would spend less time refining their talking points, and more time actually trying to make things work.”

“The way this thing is going,” Schieffer concluded, “it is a good thing we have a word like ‘worser.’”

Watch the full clip below, via CBS News:

Via: Mediaite.com

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[VIDEO] Romney: ‘You Have to Tell the American People the Truth’

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
November 3, 2013 11:25 am

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney again rejected President Obama’s comparisons between Obamacare and Romney’s health care policy while governor of Massachusetts Sunday on Meet The Press, saying Obama had failed to learn the lessons from that state-run plan and had been dishonest with the American people.

Referring to Obama’s infamous promise that “if you like your plan you will keep your plan,” Romney said that falsehood could undermine his entire presidency.

“Perhaps the most important lesson the president, I think, failed to learn was, you have to tell the American people the truth,” Romney said. “When he told the American people that you could keep your health insurance if you wanted to keep that plan, period, he said that time and again, he wasn’t telling the truth, and I think that fundamental dishonesty has really put in peril the whole foundation of his second term.”

Via: WFB

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[VIDEO] Feinstein: Take Down Healthcare.gov Until It’s Fixed

California senator Dianne Feinstein revealed on Sunday that she told the White House, in the wake of the botched rollout of the health-care exchanges, that the administration should pull down Healthcare.gov until it is functioning properly. Her advice was rejected. “They believe that they need to keep it running and that they can sort out the difficulties,” she said.

Feinstein also conceded that the president did not make clear that millions would lose their health plans as a result of the law. Though she indicated that she is murky on the details of the law, she told CBS’s Bob Schieffer that “I think that part of it, if true, was never made clear” and, with regard to individuals’ ability to keep insurance, “it is really very unclear, right now, exactly what the situation is.”

Nonetheless, the California senator cast some of the blame for the chaos and confusion surrounding the law on its Republican opponents and others who have spoken out against the law’s passage and implementation. “The big problem here is that there are so many destroyers in the House, in the public, in the private health-care sector that just want to destroy, and that’s not helpful,” she said.

Via: NRO
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CBS News Releases Photo of LAX Shooting Suspect Paul Ciancia

CBS News has obtained the first picture of suspected LAX shooter Paul Ciancia. Ciancia, a Los Angeles resident who grew up in New Jersey, was taken in by the police in and currently remains in critical condition at a hospital.

This is the photo released by CBS News.

Both Ciancia’s brother and father said they received texts suggesting he was contemplating suicide. NBC News’ Pete Williams reported that Ciancia harbors “anti-government views” and he was reportedly carrying a note on him saying he “wanted to kill TSA and pigs.”

Via: Mediaite.com

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Sharyl Attkisson: Insurance 'Death Spiral' Could Cause ObamaCare's 'Collapse'

Besides facing a "credibility death spiral" on the issue of ObamaCare, as political director John Dickerson recently put it, Sharyl Attkisson pointed out on Tuesday's CBS Evening News that the very structure of the so-called reform could encounter a separate "death spiral" due to the "enrollment fiasco" surrounding HealthCare.gov.

Attkisson cited unnamed health care analysts, who predicted a doomsday scenario for President's Obama's supposed signature achievement: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

SHARYL ATTKISSON: The 23 small co-ops across the country that are part of Affordable Care are intended to provide competition. As they adjust to stay afloat, some analysts worry that ObamaCare, as designed, might not. Their biggest fear is that with the website problems, more of the enrollees will be the sickest and most motivated. If that happens,insurers would have no choice but to raise premiums, and that could cause more healthy customers to flee. In the insurance industry, it's known as the 'death spiral', and experts say if that were to come to pass, the ObamaCare business model would collapse.

The CBS correspondent spotlighted one of these health insurance co-ops – Evergreen Health of Maryland – and noted how the CEO had to "blow up his business plan" because of HealthCare.gov's numerous failures. Evergreen Health had originally focused on signing up individuals, but is now pursuing small businesses "the old-fashioned way, with phone calls and TV ads."

Later in the segment, Attkisson revealed a sobering piece of information: the co-op's CEO stated that "he only knows for sure of a dozen people signing up for Evergreen so far". The journalist then added, "for context...the Affordable Care law is counting on signing up seven million people over the next six months. That averages to about 39,000 people a day.

Via: Newsbusters

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60 MINUTES: YES, AMERICA, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION LIED TO YOU ABOUT BENGHAZI

60 Minutes” ran a report on the Benghazi scandal Sunday night that confirmed its status as an enduring scandal with many questions still remaining to be answered.  Good thing the media was willing to cover for Barack Obama until he got re-elected, because this is some really damning stuff. 

For mainstream media news consumers, a lot of this will come as a total shock.  (CBS News, it should be noted, has been far more aggressive in pursuing the Benghazi story than its competitors; they say Sunday night’s report was a year in the making.)  Yes, America, you were lied to, early and often, by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and their crew.  They knew damn well it was a terrorist attack from the beginning.  They knew it was never a protest over a provocative YouTube video.  They looked right into the faces of the families who lost sons, brothers, and husbands in Benghazi and lied to them.

The important point to take away from this exhaustive report is that the Administration knew it was a terrorist attack before it happened.  Security officials in Libya knew al-Qaeda was going to launch an attack… because they said so.  They boasted online of plans to attack the Red Cross, the British, and the Americans.  ”They made good on two out of the three promises,” said Lt. Colonel Andy Wood, who was based in Tripoli and met routinely with Ambassador Christopher Stevens, and was at his post when terrorist forces tried to assassinate the British ambassador.  ”It was a matter of time until they captured the third one.”

Via: Human Events

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Report: First Western Eyewitness In Benghazi To Go Public Gives Account Of Attack

The first Western eyewitness to the deadly Benghazi terror attacks has given an account of the seven-hour assault on the U.S. outpost in Libya and says Americans knew such an incident was inevitable.

The witness -- a former British soldier who for decades helped protect U.S. diplomats and military leaders -- told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that Al Qaeda forces first attacked the U.S. Special Mission Compound in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. Then they launched a second attack on a secret CIA annex about a mile across the city.

“They knew what they were doing,” the security guard told CBS. “That was a well-executed attack.”

The guard said he was in his apartment about 15 minutes away from the attacks when he learned of them through a frantic phone call from a Libyan guard.

“I could hear gunshots,” said the guard, “And he said, ‘There are men coming into the mission’ … You could tell he was really scared and he was running.”

The guard said that when he asked for details the other guard said: “We're getting attacked. … They're all over the compound."

Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks.

Via: Fox News

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[VIDEO] Bob Schieffer on JFK Assassination: ‘Nothing Like This Had Ever Happened’

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it seems a metaphysical certitude there are going to be some really absurd statements made by the liberal media concerning this tragedy.

I suggest none will be as preposterous as CBS Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer actually claiming Sunday, “Nothing like this had ever happened” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

BOB SCHIEFFER, HOST: We want to turn now to a fateful day you're going to be hearing a lot about over the next month because November 22nd marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John Kennedy, a day that many believe changed America forever. The first word of it for many of us came from Walter Cronkite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER CRONKITE: From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official: President Kennedy died at 1:00 PM Central Standard Time, 2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHIEFFER: The nation was plunged into shock. Nothing like this had ever happened.

Yes, nothing like this had ever happened - as long as you ignore Abraham Lincoln being assassinated in 1865, James Garfield in 1881, and William McKinley in 1901.

Via: Newsbusters

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Limbaugh: How Were Journalists the Last People to Figure Out How Bad Obamacare Was?

With the Obamacare rollout becoming a trainwreck of sorts, even the liberal media can’t sugarcoat things, but what Rush Limbaugh wanted to know on Friday was why the journalists ended up being the last people to realize just how big of a disaster the health care law would end up being.

He cited recent reporting being done at CBS that appears to strike a tone of disappointment and shock that the health care law isn’t going as planned. Limbaugh was amazed that journalists ended up being reactive to the disaster of Obamacare instead of being active in warning people what was coming.

Limbaugh argued that government inefficiency and ineptitude is “the standard, day-to-day operation of a government-run entity” and the media should have anticipated it, but instead “they are now the last to figure all of this out.”

He sniped at liberals for being “surprised” at people looking at ways to get around the wall they’ve built up, and said the way Obamacare is angering and upsetting people is “undermining the very foundation of Obamacare, all of which was predictable.”

Listen to the audio below, via The Rush Limbaugh Show:

Via: Mediaite.com

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CBS Video: Obamcare Takes Away Woman's Health Care Choices

A new CBS report highlights the story of Natalie Willes, "one of the millions of Americans who already have private health insurance but whose policies do not comply with the Affordable Care Act."

Watch the video here.

"I was completely happy with the insurance I had before," Willes tells CBS. "Now I'm being forced to choose from a bunch of new plans that I don't want to choose from that are all more expensive."

The report shows a clip of President Obama saying at a rally in 2010 that "if you like your insurance plan, you will keep it."

Is it possible to characterize the president's promise as anything other than intentionally misleading?

Via: Weekly Standard

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RAHM TO RAISE CHICAGO CITY TAX ON CABLE TV TO PAY FOR MOVIES IN THE PARK

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to raise the city amusement tax for cable television customers. The tax hike will go toward enhanced cultural programming and to make a minuscule dent in the city’s whopping $369 million operating deficit, according to CBS Chicago.

CBS also reports, “At least some of the money will be used to bolster ‘Night Out in the Park,’ which brings concerts, circuses, movies, and dance programs to Chicago’s neighborhood parks.”

The city has a two-tiered amusement tax. Mid-sized venues are charged five percent and large sporting events are charged nine percent. Cable customers currently receive a five percent exemption, which will now be cut to three percent, increasing the amusement tax they pay from four percent to six percent, for an estimated $9 million in revenue.

City Hall insists the increase on taxpayers’ cable bills will only be a few dollars a month, according to the Sun-Times.

Chicago faces a $1 billion dollar deficit by the year 2015, and the city’s bond rating received an unprecedented triple downgrade from Moody’s S&P over the summer.

Over 2,400 city employees are paid more than $100,000 annually, totaling $276,097,550 of the city’s overall $2.4 billion payroll (not including teachers). The city is currently installing over 650 miles of protected bike lanes for $91 million and unveiled a new “Divvy” bike-share program this summer at a cost of $22 million to taxpayers.

The city of Chicago closed 50 public schools in mostly black neighborhoods earlier this year which it “could not afford” to keep open.

Via: Breitbart

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FWISD Investigating Allegations Of Teacher’s Racism

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Fifth graders at a Fort Worth elementary school told their parents a teacher separated them by race, and then insulted them and their families. The Fort Worth Independent School district said in a statement it was aware of the allegations, and would take appropriate action after the facts are known.

Parents said the incident happened in a music class Friday at Hazel Harvey Peace Elementary school. Sandra Lee said it was the first thing her daughter told her about after school.

“He called the class stupid, and when he separated the black kids from the white kids, he told the black kids I know where y’all from,” Lee said her daughter told her. “He said I can tell neither one of y’all get punished at home.”

Another student told CBS 11 News that he and some of his classmate were then told to leave the classroom.

Lee, who went to the school Monday to talk to administrators, said she was told all the students gave administrators written statements about the incident.

VIA: CBS DFW

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Clippers’ Chris Paul, Warriors’ Stephen Curry Urge Californians To Sign Up For Health Insurance

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul, along with Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, Monday urged Californians to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

Paul and Curry took part in an event, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, with the intention of communicating the message that health insurance and healthy lifestyles are essential.

“We can reach young adults,” Paul said. “We’re with kids all day, every day, and they’re watching our games, and we have an influence, so we have an opportunity to use our voice.”

While California’s Affordable Care Act site is producing smooth results, the federal government’s healthcare website remains riddled with breakdowns and malfunctions.

“Nobody is madder than me about the fact that the website isn’t working as well as it should, which means it’s going to get fixed,” President Obama said in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, in California, some consumers report that they have received notices from their health insurance providers, stating that, due to the Affordable Care Act, their new policies will run hundreds of dollarsmore per month than what they are paying now.

“I felt duped, because the President kept saying, ‘If you like your plan, you can keep your plan, your premiums will be going down,’” one California resident said. “And my premium is going up by 40 percent.”

Via: CBS LA

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Food Police Demand Pop Stars Stop Promoting ‘Disease-Causing‘ Pepsi

Pepsi and pop stars don’t mix, according to one food police group.

The D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) ran a full page “open letter” in Variety, telling pop singer Katy Perry to stop her work with Pepsi, on account of her influencing young fans. CSPI warned Perry that, “Soda companies are using you and other celebrities.” The letter then bashed her for not caring about her fans. ‘‘Drink Pepsi and you can be cool like Katy Perry’ is the takeaway message for your young fans. ‘Live for now’ – and worry about the health consequences later.” The letter ended by urging her not to “exploit that popularity by marketing a product that causes disease in your fans.”

This was not the first time CSPI has made ridiculous demands. Last November, CSPI sued Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, makers of 7Up, for misleading customers about there being vitamins in the fruit flavored 7Up varieties because there were pictures of fruit on the cans.

In the past few years, CSPI has gone after McDonald’s Happy Meals, Vitamin Water, and flavored cereals, among other things. The CSPI website warns of the dangers of milk, meat, salt, sugar, trans fats, food additives, artificial sugar, caffeine and alcohol, to name a few. Over the years, CSPI has gone after everything from vending machines to kids menus. It frequently equates common substances like sugar and salt to disease-causing agents, ignoring the fact that these foods can be enjoyed in moderation without adverse health effects. Though CSPI calls itself a consumer advocacy group, it has acted more like the food police.

It’s not just that CSPI hypes up the dangers of certain foods, but that it wants the FDA and other government agencies to ban these foods and ingredients from being allowed in the free market. It has tried to control restaurant menus, school lunches, and hospital vending machines. The organization has even filed several lawsuits against soda companies and restaurants for not subscribing to its ideal healthy menu.

As an alarmist, pro-government regulation group, of course it has been a media favorite for years.

Michael Jacobson, the group’s executive director, told CBS’ “Morning News” February 14, 2013, about his group’s campaigning for the FDA to require less sugar in sodas. “When you`re faced with a diabetes epidemic, the situation in which two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, the government has a responsibility to do something about that.”

Via: Newsbusters

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Networks blamed shutdown on GOP in 41 stories --- 0 for Dems

Republicans never expected to get a fair shake in the Big Three networks' coverage of the 16-day government shutdown, but the final tally of stories blaming the GOP is stunning: 41 stories blamed Republicans and zero blamed Democrats.

Nightly, 20 million Americans heard “a version of the shutdown story that could easily have emanated from Barack Obama's own White House,” said the new report from the Media Research Center.

The report, provided to Secrets, found that a total of 41 stories blamed Republicans for the shutdown. None blamed the Democrats. Another 17 blamed both sides.

In addition, those interviewed by the night news broadcasts by ABC, CBS and NBC whacked the Republicans by a six-to-one ratio, said the report.

“The broadcast networks invariably blamed Republicans for the impasse; spotlighted dozens of examples of how Americans were being victimized; and ran scores of soundbites from furloughed federal workers and others harmed by the shutdown — even as they ignored examples of how the Obama administration and Senate Democrats were working to make the shutdown as painful as possible,” said the report.

Via: Washington Examiner

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