VA Fiasco: How DUMB Does Obama Think We Are?

Quiz: How Dumb Does Obama Think We Are?

The Veterans Affairs policy fiasco is magnified by an insulting-public relations strategy.

By Ron Fournier, The National Journal

News quiz: President Obama and his communications team hope that Americans are: 1) Dumb; 2) Distracted; 3) Numb to government inefficiency; 4) All of above.

Answer: 4, all of the above.

That answer along with utter incompetence are the best explanations for why the White House thought it could get away with claiming that the departure of Veterans Affairs official Robert Petzel was a step toward accountability for its scandalous treatment of war veterans.

Fact is, the department announced in 2013 that Dr. Petzel would retire this year.

"Well, Secretary Shinseki accepted Dr. Petzel's resignation this afternoon. He was due to retire early next month, and obviously there has been a nomination made for his replacement," White House Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough told CBS's Major Garrett last week. "I leave to Rick the explanation of his decision, but there is no question that this is a termination of his job there before he was planning to go."

No. This was neither a termination nor a housecleaning. It was a scapegoating. For all of its 21st-century savvy in the field of campaign technology, the Obama White House has repeatedly proven that its communications philosophy is stuck in the 20th century. Before the Internet gave voters instantaneous access to information, including every public utterance of the president and his team, White House strategists could hope to wear out the truth: If you said a lie enough, people might believe it.

It's harder to BS the public these days. White House press secretary Jay Carney still tries. On Monday, he repeatedly suggested that the American Legion had praised the move.

Via: National Journal

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WH: Don't tax Olympians on medals

The White House said Thursday that President Obama still believes American Olympians shouldn’t have to pay income taxes on the medals they win.

“The president believes we should support efforts to ensure that we’re doing everything we can to honor and support our Olympic athletes who have volunteered to represent our nation at the Olympic Games,” White House spokesman Bobby Whithorne told Yahoo News. “We still support this effort.” 

During the 2012 presidential campaign, the White House said those who medaled in the summer games should be exempt from taxes on their winnings.

“If it were to get to his desk, he would support it," White House press secretary Jay Carney said of proposed legislation.

But a bill by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) never moved in the Senate.

"Our tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax imposed on Olympic medal winners is a classic example of this madness," Rubio said in 2012. "Athletes representing our nation overseas in the Olympics shouldn't have to worry about an extra tax bill waiting for them back home."

U.S. athletes are paid cash prizes when they place in Olympic events: $25,000 for a gold, $15,000 for a silver and $10,000 for a bronze.

How much athletes pay back to Uncle Sam will depends largely on what other income they report for the year. But according to an analysis by the anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform, gold-medal winners in the top tax bracket could see nearly $10,000 of their $25,000 winnings taken by the government. 

Even athletes in the lowest tax bracket could fork over as much as $2,500 on a gold medal prize, $1,500 on a silver and $1,000 for a bronze.

Via: The Hill
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[VIDEO] ‘WE HAVE A DUTY TO CONTINUE TO PUSH’: GUESS WHICH MAINSTREAM MEDIA JOURNALIST IS SAYING THAT

Take a moment to read the following quote in the Washington Post, and then try to guess who it comes from:

“I believe we have to be willing to ask tough questions but also not always be willing to accept a non-answer. When the answer is not responsive, I think we have a duty to continue to push. I don’t see it as going in there to be confrontational [but] as being pretty insistent about getting straight answers.”

That may sound like the life mission statement of a conservative journalist, vowing to be a watchdog of a liberal administration.

But it’s not — at least in the traditional sense.

Jonathan Karl (Source: ABC News)

It’s from Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl at ABC, which has never had to defend itself as a stalwart of conservatism. But Karl’s many run-ins with Press Secretary Jay Carney — and his defense of such actions — has him sounding more like a red-leaning writer than the liberal Boogey Man that many conservatives fear dominate the White House press room.

Professionally, Karl has been unafraid to challenge Carney. Case in point: Nov. 4. That’s whenCarney got so upset with Karl’s probing on the failed Healthcare.gov rollout that he openly mocked him:

And then there was Dec. 18, where Karl mocked the recent “brosurance” ads featuring colloquial language and attempts at being hip.

Via: The Blaze

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[VIDEO] ABC Reporter: Is Anybody Going to Buy Health Care Because Barack O’Breezy Tells Them To?

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
December 18, 2013 5:02 pm

ABC’s Jon Karl pinned White House Press Secretary Jay Carney Tuesday, asking whether Obamacare’s latest advertising campaigns urging young people to sign up will have any real effect:

JON KARL: What do you make of some of these efforts by Obamacare supporters to reach out? I mean, some of them – the upside-down keg stands and whatnot. I mean, is anybody going to buy health care because “Barack O’Breezy” tells them to buy it because it’s hot?”

Carney could only respond that he was “not an expert,” in advertising campaigns, but said the current Obamacare ads were an effort to “reach potential consumers…where they live”.

Via: WFB

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Healthcare.gov ‘may already have been compromised,’ security expert says

Not only is healthcare.gov at risk, it may already have been compromised, a security expert testified before the Senate.

“Hackers are definitely after it,” said David Kennedy, CEO of information security firm TrustedSEC before a House Science, Space, and Technology committee hearing on security concerns surrounding the problematic Healthcare.gov website.

“And if I had to guess, based on what I can see … I would say the website is either hacked already or will be soon.”

Kennedy told FoxNews.com he based this on an analysis revealing a large number of SQL injection attacks against the healthcare.gov website, which are indicative of "a large amount" of hacking attempts.

'I would say the website is either hacked already or will be soon.'

- David Kennedy, CEO of information security firm TrustedSEC

"Based on the exposures that I identified, and many that I haven’t published due to the criticality of exposures – if a hacker wanted access to the site or sensitive information – they could get it," he told FoxNews.com.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the nation's new healthcare website, did not immediately respond to a request to for more information.

Via: Fox News

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[VIDEO] Obamacare Success Story Now an Embarrassment

Washington Free Beacon Staff

November 19, 2013 4:09 pm

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was pressed during Tuesday’s press briefing over the story of Jessica Sanford, a Washington resident once touted as an Obamacare success story by the President, but who is now unable to affordhealthcare due to a miscalculation of her tax credit eligibility.

When asked by CNN’s Brianna Keilar on whether she could receive a subsidy, Carney said that the problem lied with the state and not the federal exchange, and referred reporters to the Washington Health Benefits Exchange.

Keilar continued to press Carney on Sanford’s predicament and why she had shifted from an Obamacare success story to a prototypical Obamacare embarrassment. When Carney began to list off unrelated benefits of the Affordable Care Act, Keilar noted, “Some people, like Jessica, may just fall through the cracks?”

Carney could only respond that he did not know Sanford’s personal circumstances.

Via: WFB

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[VIDEO] Obama Shifts: 'We've Always Understood' That Enrolling by Website Isn't for Everyone

(CNSNews.com) - "It turns out that purchasing insurance, for a lot of folks, is complicated," Obama told his supporters in a Monday night in an online conference call.

“What I want to do is make sure everybody on the phone call understands, we’ve always understood that we’re going to have enroll people by mail, we’re going to have to enroll people on the phone, we’re going to have to enroll people in person,” he said.

Obama said his administration has a "strong plan" in place, not only to "fix the website," but also to "make sure there are other ways that people can sign up."

Earlier on Monday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the White House may let people sign up for Obamacare directly through the insurance companies.

"I certainly wouldn't rule that out," Carney said. "It's something that we've talked about and are working on. We're interested in engaging or opening as many channels for enrollment as possible because the goal here is, again, not to have the best possible website -- and we're far from that.

Via: CNS News

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Carney dodges on Duncan comments

The White House on Monday sidestepped a brewing controversy over whether Education Secretary Arne Duncan had erred when he said last week that "white suburban moms" were opposing new education standards.

Press secretary Jay Carney said he had not seen Duncan's "full comments" and had not spoken to President Obama about the remark.

But he also defended the apparent spirit of Duncan's comments, in which the secretary said it was "fascinating" that opposition to the Common Core standards was coming from “white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”

"If his point was that we need to be honest with kids and parents about whether we're providing the skills they need to succeed, I think we can all agree on that," Carney said. "So, again, I haven't had a discussion with the president about that, but I think the broader point that we need to be honest about whether we're providing the skills these — our children need to succeed, I think we can agree on that."

Asked if it was "appropriate" for Duncan to single out white mothers for their opposition to the standards, Carney again declined to respond.

"I can just tell you that the secretary of Education and everybody on the president's team dedicated to this effort is focused on making sure that we do everything we can, working with states and others, to ensure that our kids are getting the education they need for the 21st century," he said.

Duncan's remarks about the Common Core standards were reported by The Washington Post.

The controversial federal initiative is designed to standardize a single set of education criteria for English and Math studies from kindergarten through 12th grade. All but five states have adopted the standards, which are supported by a $4.35 billion stimulus grant.

Via: The Hill

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[VIDEO] ObamaCare Freefall: Massively Low Enrollment Numbers, Democrats Panicking and Obama Scrambling

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White House tries to salvage Obamacare, Democrats in distress

The White House scrambled Wednesday to find solutions for the glaring failures in Obamacare as rebellious congressional Democrats pressured the administration over their increasing political predicament.

In a closed-door meeting at the Capitol, House Democrats blasted administration officials over their handling of the Obamacare rollout, and the White House’s failure to address Mr. Obama’s broken promise to Americans that they could keep their health insurance plans.

Top Senate Democrats, meanwhile, were giving more support to a legislative proposal that would allow people to keep their insurance plans. The White House said the proposal from Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat, has more merit than a House Republican plan scheduled for a vote Friday.

Presidential aides wouldn’t commit to a specific fix.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the president is trying to reassure congressional Democrats that he will decide on a solution “sooner rather than later."

“The frustration that Democrats who strongly support the Affordable Care Act and who strongly believe that it is the right thing to do … [feel] is similar to the frustration the president feels,” Mr. Carney said. “Nobody is satisfied.”

The reasons for the Democrats’ rising anger are clear. With website glitches and millions of constituents receiving insurance cancellation notices, lawmakers who supported the president’s health care reform plan are feeling more vulnerable about their re-election prospects next year, and many who fought for Obamacare are worried that its promise is being threatened by incompetence.

Via: Washington Times

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Carney hints at Obamacare changes to offset plan cancellations

White House spokesman Jay Carney ducked questions about former President Bill Clinton’s dramatic call for President Barack Obama to let people keep their current insurance, but said Obama is considering regulatory help for people whose insurance has been canceled.

In a Tuesday interview, Clinton said people should be allowed to keep their current insurance programs past January, principally because Obama promised they could keep their insurance.

“The president has asked his team to look at ways to address that problem,” Carney said, when asked about Clinton’s comments.

At least three million Americans’ individually-purchased insurance has been canceled by Obamacare.

“We haven’t announced one way or the other. … For details of what is under consideration, we haven’t announced any potential fixes,” Carney said. He declined to provide further details, “until [Obama] has chosen which option to pursue.”

However, he suggested that Obama could let people sign up early for 2014 insurance under pre-Obamacare rules, and that state regulators have some leeway to delay federal mandates.

He also said that federal regulators have the legal authority to allow some people to keep buying pre-Obamacare insurance, and that Obama wants to reduce the cost of buying Obamacare-compliant insurance.

However, Obama’s suggestion that he would change the rules creates new problems for his Obamacare network.

Via: Daily Caller
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White House doesn't say whether Todd Park will testify Wednesday

White House press secretary Jay Carney called the Republican-issued subpoena of Chief Technology Officer Todd Park an “unnecessary step,” declining to say whether the central figure in the construction of healthcare.gov would testify before lawmakers on Wednesday.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, has demanded that Park discuss the botched rollout of the federal health care website with lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday.

Just a day away from the House Oversight hearing, Carney said it was “not a matter of if, but when” Park would testify. Obama’s top spokesman said the administration would respond to the request but did not telegraph whether it would be honored.

Before taking his current job, Park was tasked with developing the Obamacare website for the Department of Health and Human Services. Even in his new post, his biggest job is now fixing that same website.

Via: Washington Examiner

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Photo ID required to take a tour of the WH but not to vote

America rejoiced when the White House announced it would re-open for tours after cuts to funding from sequestration. But in a blatant display of irony, visitors to President Barack Obama’s home must show a government-issued photo ID to enter, but not to vote.

Tours of the White House resumed after a seven month hiatus, with the first official tour given to tourists yesterday. But for visitors looking to head inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., they must show valid, government-issued photo ID.

“All guests 18 years of age or older will be required to present a valid, government-issued photo identification … . All foreign nationals must present their passport,” it states on the White House’s ‘Tours & Events’ page.

This criterion is particularly ironic given the fact that the man living inside the White House adamantly opposes voters showing photo ID before heading the the polls.

“This administration believes it should be easier for eligible citizens to vote, to register and vote,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in July. “We should not be imposing unnecessary obstacles or barriers to voter participation.”

But not so much for those looking to tour the taxpayer-funded White House.

Since the United States Supreme Court deemed Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional, states likeTexas and North Carolina have begun to put voter ID laws in place.

The Obama administration, though, has struck back against these two states, filing lawsuits on the grounds that voter ID laws “disproportionately impact Hispanic and African-American voters.”

But don’t forget that ID if you want to tour the White House, America.

Via: Red Alert Politics

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WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN MELTS DOWN OVER OBAMACARE APPLICATION LIES

Yesterday we learned, thanks to the diligent efforts of House Republican investigators, that the ObamaCare phone lines and paper applications are a huge fraud, just like the rest of the program.  President Obama and his spokespeople were blatantly lying – and they knew it - when they desperately stalled for time by telling enraged survivors of the HealthCare.gov crash to enroll via phone or mail.  That doesn’t work, because the same busted computer system is ultimately required to process the application.  It’s just a waste of the American people’s time – something this Administration holds to be utterly without value, at least when compared to their political viability.

As luck would have it, the intrepid Jonathan Karl of ABC News confronted White House Spokesman Jay Carney – who is, as Karl noted, one of the people who falsely told Americans they could enroll over the phone – with these embarrassing revelations during  Monday afternoon press conference.  Hilarity ensued.

Carney’s “defense” boils down to a modified version of the insult Obama apologists have taken to throwing at the American people, when they claim he merely “mis-spoke” when repeatedly promising that no one would be forced to give up their existing insurance policy under ObamaCare, period.  Carney claimed he said frustrated consumers could “get on the phone and call and the paperwork is filled out of them and the process is taken over from there.”

Via: Human Events

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Tucker Carlson: Jay Carney attack on Jon Karl ‘shows you the depths to which they have sunk’

On Monday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Daily Caller editor in chief Tucker Carlson explained how White House press secretary Jay Carney’s mocking of ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl’s line of questioning was indicative of the Obama administration’s desperation amid the lackluster rollout of Obamacare.

“It’s a Potemkin application process,” said Carlson, who is also the co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend.” “The operator is there to make you feel good, but it doesn’t expedite your application at all. It goes to the same place the rest of them go, which is into the ether. To watch Jay Carney attack Jon Karl of all people, who is really a good reporter and fair and smart person, really shows you the depths to which they have sunk. It’s just appalling — like it’s Jon Karl’s fault for asking a totally straightforward and honest question. Carney, 20 years as a reporter, part of him has got to know this is not an adequate response to a straightforward question, but I don’t think they have another answer. So, it’s just another sign of their desperation, I would say.”

Via: Daily Caller

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[VIDEO] JAY CARNEY SEEMS TO LOSE IT OVER ABC REPORTER’S TOUGH OBAMACARE QUESTIONS: ‘I GIVE UP’

White House press secretary Jay Carney and ABC News reporter Jon Karl got into a tense back-and-forth Monday, with Karl pressing Carney to explain the continued failure of the Obamacare website.

The discussion became charged when Karl repeatedly asked Carney to explain President Barack Obama’s claim that Americans need not worry about the faulty healthcare.gov website because they can always enroll through phone or paper applications.

“I’m going to go back to what the President said, he said you can bypass the website, and apply by phone or in person, and it could be done in 25 minutes, but these memos say that ‘at the end of the day, we are all stuck in the same queue, we all have to go through the same portal,’” said Karl.

The problem with this promise, Karl continued, is that phone and paper applications still have to go through the program’s error-riddled website — contrary to the president’s promise.

Things didn’t get any better as Karl persisted, prompting Carney to mock the ABC News reporter.

“Jon, I get it, but the person who calls isn’t the one who continues to wait after the paper application is filled,” Carney said, imitating Karl’s mannerisms.

“Your mocking is entertaining,” the reporter said, “but the President said you can apply within 25 minutes, that’s not true.”

Carney became increasingly flustered.

“You can have this soliloquy by yourself,” he said. “I think everybody else here understands what I’m saying. I’m sorry I can’t say the same for you.”

“Everyone else seems to get it Jon, except for you. I give up,” he concluded:

Via: The Blaze
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CARNEY: OBAMACARE ENROLLMENT WILL BE LOW

Via: Breitbart

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JAY CARNEY: FOOD STAMPS ARE THE ‘MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO COMBAT HUNGER AND FOOD INSECURITY’

\Anticipating what Democrats have already called the “food stamp cliff” reduction in benefits to take effect on Nov. 1, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday that food stamps are “the most effective way of to combat hunger” and accused House Republicans of wanting to “punish” people who receive them.

He was also clear that the Obama administration wants Americans receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to be able to get off the program the right way by reaching a better economic condition.

The “food stamp cliff” is the expiration of the temporary increase in SNAP funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the stimulus act. Without an increase, a single adult’s benefits will reportedly be cut by $11 a month to a total of $189.

White House press secretary Jay Carney, wearing a cap of the World Series baseball champion Boston Red Sox, arrives for the daily press briefing a the White House in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. (AP)

“These cuts come at a time when many hardworking American families are still struggling to make ends meet in the wake of the worst recession in decades and last year the additional resources provided by the SNAP lifted 7 million people out of poverty,” Carney said. “That is why the president acknowledged this need when he proposed an extension of the recovery act adjustment through 2014 or until March 2014 in his 2014 budget request and why the strategy currently under way in the House to reduce SNAP by removing millions of low income families from the program does not make sense.”

Via: The Blaze

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ERIC BOLLING: WHY HEALTHCARE.GOV WEBSITE FAILURE MATTERS...BIG TIME!

It’s a failure of leadership

It’s a failure to manage

It’s a failure of competence

The ObamaCare website failure is a national embarrassment… for our government…America successfully innovates and creates *but* we do it from the private sector…Think:

AT&T 
Microsoft
IBM
Apple
Google

All multi-billion dollar success stories…

On the other hand…When left in the hands of the government, we are colossal failures… Think:

The Post Office
The DMV
Amtrak
Green Energy (Solyndra, Fisker, Many More)

All multi-billion dollar failures…

The Healthcare.gov website is a major black eye to the Obama administration… And will be for a long time…Unless fixed soon (which is extremely unlikely), President Obama’s legacy will be this screen:

Most importantly, however, we have to ask the question and really think about the answer...:

If they can’t get a basic website up and running in three years… How on God’s green Earth are they going to administer health care to 300 million Americans?

So, with billions upon billions of health related communications clearing through the government medicine portal annually, our very health will be hanging in the balance…

Therefore, you must conclude: The Obama administration has our lives in their hands…

Ask yourself… Do you trust President Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Kathleen Sebelius and Jay Carney with your life?

I certainly do not!

Via: Fox News

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Obama's healthcare promises return to haunt him

WASHINGTON — As the pitchman for his landmark healthcare law, President Obama promised to make buying insurance as easy as buying a plane ticket online or a "TV onAmazon." It would be simple, he said.

If there were problems, the president predicted, they would be "glitches."

And he said, "If you like the plan you have, you can keep it."

Such claims have come back to haunt the president and his allies less than a month into the launch of the online insurance marketplaces at the heart of his healthcare legislation. With the federal website hobbled by bad design and thousands of policyholders receiving cancellation notices, Obama's promises are not being met — prompting charges of deception from some Republicans and concessions from some allies that elements of the law were oversold.

The fallout is only the latest chapter in this White House's three-year struggle to sell the public on the Affordable Care Act, which could come to define the president's legacy. Since signing it into law, the president has variously defended it, promoted it, simplified it and hyped it. But polling shows he has never fully sold, nor educated, the public on the vast new government healthcare program.

Publicly, the White House continued Tuesday to defend the president's pre-launch salesmanship.

"The purpose here wasn't to do anything beyond encourage people to make themselves aware of the options available to them," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

Behind closed doors, some officials who worked on the rollout say they wish they'd left themselves a little wiggle room. They could have done more to play up ways to sign up other than through the website, such as the call centers, said one official, requesting anonymity to discuss the planning process.

After taking heat from allies for not finding a crisp way to explain the complex law, the White House tried to boil it down to its simplest elements, the official said, and some nuance was inevitably lost.

Via: LA Times

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Reporter To Carney: “Why Did FL Woman’s Health Insurance Jump From $50 To $500″

Via: Weasel Zippers

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