I have often lamented how there does not appear to be any real sense of accountability left in Washington. (For a column, click here). Billions of dollars are wasted or programs are run into the ground, but rarely are people held accountable. Part of the reason is the duopoly of power. Politicians have so convinced voters to adopt this red state/blue state paradigm that Democrats and Republicans will no longer tolerate any criticism of their respective leaders or parties. It is, to put it simply, nothing short of a scam. We have become so programmed by the respective parties that any negative story about our respective party automatically unleashes an attack on how much worse the other party is or would be in a given area. It is the same phenomenon that we saw during the Bush Administration where Republicans remained silent in the face of failed policies and poor administrative decisions. We have become a nation of apologists.
One of the greatest examples that I have previously discussed is the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Democrats deserve ample criticism first for a law that was poorly drafted and vetted (when I spoke on Capitol Hill before its passage, I said I was in favor of national health care but thought this was one of the worst crafted major pieces of legislation I had seen go to the floor of Congress.). After doing a uniquely bad job in drafting the law, the Obama Administration then did an absolutely appalling job in managing the program in its critical rollout despite years of planning and billions in costs. Now, the independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) has completed its investigation of the disastrous rollout and found gross negligence that drove up costs and crippled the start of the program. The response? Crickets. Nothing.
The GAO concluded that the Obama Administration lacked the most basic management discipline in creating “effective planning or oversight practices” for Healthcare.gov — the key component of the rollout. Investigators found gross negligence with the Administration constantly changing directions to contractors, widespread confusion among Administrators, and millions of unnecessary cost overruns. It also included over 40 instances where Obama Administration officials increase expenditures without authority. In the meantime, insiders benefitted from the gushing of federal funds like Jonathan Gruber who received almost half a million dollars as a consultant. The government has spent some $840 million on Healthcare.gov and its supporting systems. Almost one billion on a website that failed.
Take the computerized sign up system. Thousands of companies have such systems in business. However, the Obama Administration drove up the costs from $56 million to more than $209 million from Sept. 2011 to Feb. 2014 and still produced a dysfunctional system. The verification system for information was allowed to grow from $30 million to almost $85 million. A contract for fixes to the website, also grew from $91 million in January to $175 million as of last month. Website fixes went from $91 million in January to $175 million as of last month. That’s right, the costs are increasing for such fixes. At any private business, such a record would result in massive firings and a stockholder revolt.
Contractors who were widely criticized for negligence were warned but ultimately paid in full. Take Virginia-based CGI Federal, which built HealthCare.gov. The system failed on the first day and led to a snow balling catastrophe. However, the Administration paid all of CGI’s $12.5 million in fees, withholding only $267,000. We previously discussed the company’s highly dubious record.
While the Administration and former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius later said that they were entirely unaware of the problems, that was obviously the problem. It was their job to be fully aware — not just to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at problems and hope everything was fine for the rollout. The problems were so extensive that contractors refused to sign off on the rollout. CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner had to personally sign off (an unusual act) because no one else would. Wasn’t that a bit of an indicator that the system was not ready?
None of this matters of course. For Democrats, any criticism of Obamacare is treated as a criticism of Obama in today’s encoded political discourse. Ironically, the negligence of the Obama Administration in the rollout helped worsen the view of voters toward the law and the Democrats. Disapproval of the law now stands at 55 percent and Obamacare is featuring prominently in the backlash. This could have been quite different if the Administration had done a competent job at the rollout. The Democrats are at risk of losing both houses and many of those losses may prove to be self-inflicted wounds from simple negligence and the lack of accountability.
Here is the report.
John:
I was scrolling up looking for some substantial discussion of the issues and the first one I came across that remotely appeared to do so was yours. Unfortunately, you’ve demonstrated that you don’t have the slightest understanding of the constitution – even from a conservative viewpoint.
Carry on.
The GAO is continuing to investigate Obamacare, This Ponzi scheme healthcare “system” batted .083 when undercover investigators submitted what were false immigration, social security, etc. documents that the GAO said should have been easy to pick up.
Mike A. isn’t assuming anything. He stated the truth. It appears some people have a problem with that.
Anonymous, you have had a comment deleted in violation of our civility rule.
MikeA, You are assuming some facts not in evidence and not privvy to other facts. But, as evidenced on this thread, I’m trying to stop this. Raff will not. We agree this needs to stop. Have you read the thread entirely? If you would care to discuss this in some other venue I would be happy to do so. You have access to my email. This is the kind of toxic stuff that was rampant here @ one time. It no longer is, and I aim to keep it that way out of respect to our host and commenters.
Nick S.:
I’ve heard about enough. I thought I had made it clear that no one’s comments on this site have ever been deliberately left to mold in the spam folder. You have permitted personal attitudes to poison your judgment. You are no longer working in the prosecutor’s office investigating low-lifes or tracking down recalcitrant witnesses. The comment that you could not PROVE a suspicion cannot be bootstrapped into evidence that you had probable cause to be suspicious in the first instance. Indeed, you have never had a reason to even advance a conjecture on the subject.
Secondly, the conceit that anyone’s comments are so brilliantly perceptive and discerning that a guest blogger would somehow feel threatened and plot to bury them is absurdly presumptuous.
I have come to know all of the guest bloggers, past and present, over the last several years (with the exception of the newest addition). We have all communicated privately on a number of occasions concerning possible ways to ameliorate the spam problem, and the technically adept (which excludes me) have had a number of useful suggestions. It can sometimes be a real nuisance, and all of us would rather be doing other things than tracking down waylaid posts. But we all do it without complaint, and I will attest to the fact that on no occasion has it ever been suggested even privately that the posts of a particular individual should be deep-sixed.
In short, the I-know-you-did-it-but-I-just-can’t-prove-it form of passive-aggressive belligerence is puerile and needs to stop. And it needs to stop now. There is plenty of substance in the topics on this site to occupy your talents for observation and analysis. The paranoid fantasies should be stored away with the rest of your closed files.
Everyone,
I would like this tit-for-tat to end on this thread so that people can return to discussing actual issues in our society. I make deletion decisions on the blog when there are violations of the civility rule. When comments are in moderation, I try to review them but Darren has been magnificent in taking on this role. He is absolutely fair. On occasion, other weekend bloggers will take the time to try to assist. I have seen no evidence of bias in such actions. If someone feels aggrieved, they can email me. However, weekend bloggers do not move comments into moderation or delete them except in cases of spam or profanity. Any violations are raised with me to guarantee a consistent approach. These weekend bloggers offer a tremendous service to this site of their time and their writings. Before they are accused of bias, I would hope that the matter is raised with me first as a matter of course — and simply good form. While some may disagree with our weekend bloggers (who often disagree with my writings), their integrity and commitment to this blog is beyond question in my view. If there are mistakes or concerns of bias, let me know. Otherwise, let us return to a discussion not of each other but the issues that surround us in this world.
John, When you have to defend Obama on so many lies, and so much lawlessness, hypocrisy is the only tool.
Where’s the anti-corporatist lobby on the insurance company bailouts?
http://thefederalist.com/2014/07/31/valerie-jarrett-delivers-insurance-company-bailouts/#disqus_thread
Tit for tat is frowned upon by JT. Basta.
Nick,
That is crap. You are not being forthright about anything. All you are saying is that I can’t prove the falsehoods I am spreading and still spreading to this day. As you often say, man up.
We seem to be living in a world of absolutes. That being the case it would be a no brainer if my only choices were the government or the ‘free’ market……..
PRIVATIZATION
Preamble – government limited to security and infrastructure – all industries conducted in the private sector without governmental interference.
Government – Justice, Tranquility, Common Defence, General Welfare
Private Sector – Blessings of Liberty
Money goes where it is attracted and market forces generate efficiency and effectiveness.
A system of justice exists and citizens have the right to petition government for redress of grievances (in the context of the Constitution of 1789 including the overriding right to private property, not the context of the Marx’s manifesto).
Eliminate the “dictatorship of the proletariat.” It is unconstitutional, understanding the context in the Preamble.
End governmental control of the economy and redistribution in all forms.
Freedom and self-reliance.
That could be a good first step in starting to dismantle the duopoly.
John, There is a dysfunctional dynamic regarding Congress. People hate Congress[single digit approval] but like their Congressman. We need an election where voters unite and clean out the House, EVERY member voted out! God, that would be so lovely.
“Darren is correct to say voters should hold the politicians to account.”
That is Civics 101.
Of the 65% on average that turn out for the general election, 90% apparently believe their elected representative is not responsible or should be held to account. When the average voter has no idea exactly what government is supposed to be doing then the old saying is true; we get the government we deserve.
The best weapon against this duopoly is an energized, self-reliant, civically literate electorate.
” the ACA job should have been done on time and with good quality. Clearly, no one was paying attention, or, didn’t have a clue on how to fix the problem.”
But you’re making the mistake in believing that the politicians or appointees care about the result. They don’t. They only care that money was given to certain corporations and/or consultancies. That is a success because when they leave office they will get employment from those same entities.
Dan, “The reason no one is ever fired is because there is no one to fire. The contractors are contractors, not employees. ”
The reason is apparently b/c the right language isn’t in the contract. Contracts can have penalties built in. Can an individual be fired? No, but the contract have carrot and stick provisions that make it possible for the hirer to have some control over what is being done.
Some development teams just don’t have what it takes to produce the product. I was reviewing specs from such a team. Terrible specs, no way could the product be produced. I saw several iterations of the specs that showed no improvement. (I suspect my comments never made it back to the development team). Eventually I was brought in to answer a few technical questions. The team (including the management!!) wasn’t capable of asking the questions for which they needed answers! I volunteered answers to the management anyway: no spec, no plan, no one on the team who can provide either, de-commit your ship date, find a team leader who has (particular qualities described). The project eventually proceeded with a new plan, a completed design, and competent team leader.
Another project had a team leader who didn’t believe in creating a plan. As a result, a very competent team was frustrated beyond reason when the team leader kept changing assignments. Each assignment required the designer to learn the new area and work the design. The design wouldn’t be finished and it was musical chairs again. When it all hit the fan, the team leader was replaced with someone who worked with the team to create a pert chart (a plan that shows who does what on what schedule) of the design phase, served as liaison with all the dark suits and very serious ties that showed up for status updates. The project got back on track. One of the designers was opposed to the change but later admitted that It couldn’t have happened without the plan.
With a good plan and good communication within the team, assuming some level of competence, the ACA job should have been done on time and with good quality. Clearly, no one was paying attention, or, didn’t have a clue on how to fix the problem.
Indeed, let’s junk the ACA. It’s cheaper and far better to have universal, single payer. Dan is correct to say that this work was done by contractors and they don’t have any accountability. Darren is correct to say voters should hold the politicians to account.
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2014/july/two-falsehoods-on-single-payer
Two falsehoods on Single Payer.
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2014/july/expand-medicare-for-all-americans
Expand Medicare for all Americans.
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2014/july/medicare-is-worthy-model-to-provide-health-care-for-all
Medicare is a worthy model to provide health care for all.