Today’s News Brief by American Newzine®
The top US and world news that matters most
President Obama at a White House press conference on Obamacare during which he apologized to the American people and his Democratic Party for problems associated with it on November 14, 2013 (C-SPAN – Screenshot)
Obamacare: President Obama made another attempt at apologizing and rectifying the situation over his troubled signature legislation on healthcare reform and how his administration “fumbled” the rollout of its website.
During a televised press conference at the White House, and in the wake of reports that millions of Americans have received cancellation notices from their health insurers, President Obama said, “…I completely get how upsetting this can be…”
He offered an “idea” to address the problem. “Today, we’re going to extend (the grandfather provision of the Affordable Care Act)… insurers can extend current plans that would otherwise be canceled into 2014, and Americans whose plans have been canceled can choose to re-enroll in the same kind of plan,” the president declared. This re-enrollment order, if acted upon, would expire shortly after the 2014 Mid-term Elections. It’s constitutionality is in question since the president does not have the authority to unilaterally rewrite federal law, although previous exemptions and suspensions ordered by his administration were unchallenged by Congress.
The president admitted that he was mistaken on the effectiveness of the “grandfather” provisions of the ACA. ” my expectation was that for 98% of the American people, either it genuinely wouldn’t change at all, or they’d be pleasantly surprised with the options in the marketplace, and that the grandfather clause would cover the rest.”
“With respect to the pledge I made that if you like your plan, you can keep it, … there is no doubt that the way I put that forward unequivocally ended up not being accurate. It was not because of my intention not to deliver on that commitment and that promise. We put a grandfather clause into the law, but it was insufficient,” the president admitted.
He also also stated, “I think we have to ask ourselves some hard questions inside the White House as opposed to why we didn’t see more of these problems coming earlier.”
The president apologized to his fellow Democrats for the political fallout. “There is no doubt that our failure to roll out the ACA smoothly has put a burden on Democrats, whether they’re running or not, because they stood up and supported this effort through thick and thin. And I feel deeply responsible for making it harder for them rather than easier for them.”
Even though the president acknowledged that “this fix won’t solve every problem for every person” he remained steadfast against efforts to “repeal the overall law.” The ACA, commonly known as Obamacare, was enacted largely along party lines in 2010.
The president has called a meeting for today with some health insurance executives to discuss his “idea” for a “fix.” The association of state insurance commissioners quickly responded to the president’s “idea” by questioning the practicality of it.
No comments were offered by the president, nor were any questions posed regarding the privacy concerns that have arisen since Healthcare.gov was launched on October 1. The security of the personal data of registrants on the site has prompted some people to recommend against using the site, at least until all concerns are addressed. One attorney recently revealed screenshots of the private information of another registrant that was sent to him via email in error.
In response to the president’s “idea,” Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-OH, said, “This problem (the ACA) cannot be papered over by another ream of Washington regulations. Americans losing their coverage because of the president’s health care law need clear, unambiguous legislation that guarantees the plan they have and like will still be allowed. That’s why the House will be voting on the Keep Your Health Plan Act tomorrow, and the president should support it.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, said that rather than go backwards like the Republicans want, “The fix proposed by President Obama today is an important step towards addressing a problem that has arisen and if we need to do more, we will.”
Other Democrats are not waiting on the White House. “I have a bill. There are other bills that have been filed. We’re going to be working across the aisle,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who faces a competitive race next year. “Anybody who wants to work with me or anybody else to fix it, I’ll be willing.” Republican senators, including John Barrasso, MD of Wyoming, also introduced a bill, this one would allow states to “opt-out” of Obamacare.
Meanwhile, posing a significant potential problem to the financial sustainability of the ACA, the healthcare insurance exchanges are reportedly attracting fewer young, healthy Americans than expected or needed.
Editor: Normally we do not cover stories this extensively in our News Brief. However, given the gravity of the situation in which the health insurance, and by extension the healthcare of millions of Americans is in jeopardy, we made this exception.
WH Transcript | C-SPAN Video | Boehner Response | Reid Response |Reuters – Insurer Mtg | The Hill – Insurance Commissioners | AP – Young Americans | The Hill – Landrieu Bill | Official – Barrasso… Bill
FBI Director James Comey giving Senate testimony in Washington on November 14, 2013 (C-SPAN – Screenshot)
Security & Defense & Snooping Scandal: FBI Director James Comey, National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen, and acting Homeland Security Secretary Rand Beers testified at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs yesterday. They said that cyber attacks and domestic terrorism, or “homegrown” terrorism, remained the biggest national security threats.
Two U.S. newspapers are reporting the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been collecting records of international money transfers, using the same law the National Security Agency (NSA) used to collect telephone and Internet records. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that former and current U.S. officials, speaking anonymously, confirmed the existence of the program.
Meanwhile, in a speech yesterday, NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander revealed that the NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, leaked as many as 200,000 classified U.S. documents to the media this year.
Also yesterday, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report that said that some of the TSA’s airport screening techniques have only a 54% chance of success. The techniques are referred to as SPOT, which refers to observance of human behavior as a criteria.
Later in his press conference of yesterday, President Obama urged Congress on Thursday not to add new sanctions against Iran as world powers attempt to negotiate a deal on Iran’s controversial nuclear program. But he said his administration is not changing its bottom line despite the potential for a nuclear deal with Tehran.
C-SPAN – Threats | The Hill – Whistleblower | VOA – Wire Transfers | GAO – HT FNC | VOA- Iran
Syria:
In a pair of rare public appearances to mark an important Muslim holy day, the head of Lebanon’s Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement reaffirmed the group’s support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, proclaimed that victory over the al Qaida-linked groups that are fighting to topple Assad was an imperative for all religions and endorsed Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the West. McClatchy
Business: Dow and S&P 500 closed again at record highs. Yahoo! Finance
First Amendment:
The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have threatened legal action to block the sale of T-shirts that ridicule these two powerful government agencies. But the T-shirt designer says NSA and DHS are the ones breaking the law by assaulting free speech, a pillar of democratic society. VOA + Video
US Atty Gen’l Eric Holder – (Official/Wikipedia)
Justice:
A total of 20 House Republicans signed on to a proposal Thursday calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Eric Holder. The lawmakers — led By Texas Republican Rep. Pete Olson — charged Holder with perjury, failure to comply with subpoenas and failure to discharge the duties of attorney general. VOA
China: China has announced a series of wide-ranging reforms, including relaxing its decades-old one-child policy and abolishing its re-education through labor camps. The moves, announced Friday by the official Xinhua news agency, are an expanded summary of decisions from a key Communist Party meeting that ended earlier this week. VOA
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