Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

HealthCare.gov: Still Not Working (For Me)

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HealthCare.gov—the U.S. government’s web site that is meant to facilitate health insurance sales under the Affordable Care Act (‘ObamaCare’)—went live, at least in a sense, on October 1. I decided to give it a shot a week or two later and see what it would cost to insure myself under President Barack Obama’s (D) signature law. I didn’t get very far.

It’s old news now that the site didn’t work properly for the vast majority of visitors, and it didn’t work right for me either. So I waited a few more weeks. The media kept telling me that it was getting better every day, and, sure enough, my second attempt let me get all the way through the application process . . . only to fail at the very end with a cryptic, nonsensical error. Oh well.

Then I tried again a couple of days later, and the site told me that it was unable to verify my identity. Funny, the government usually has no problem verifying my identity. The Internal Revenue Service accepts my identity when I send them my taxes. The Federal Communications Commission accepted it when I got my General Mobile Radio Service license. The Social Security Administration sends me estimates of how much money I will get if the system is still working when I retire. The Transportation Security Administration lets me get on planes. The Federal Bureau of Investigation approves my firearm purchase every time I go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. I’ve been through a Department of Defense background check too. The Department of Education happily accepts my student loan payments.

But HealthCare.gov—which is supposedly ‘fixed’ now for the ‘vast majority’ of users—still can’t figure out who I am, and it still won’t let me proceed through the identity verification step. An unexpected error occurred. It gives me the option to call the ‘Marketplace Call Center’ to try and work through the issue, and occasionally I get an inexplicable screen telling me to call the Experian help desk—a private credit rating bureau—because, you know, the government needs Experian’s help to figure out who I am.

Anyway, I don’t feel like sitting on hold for six hours to satisfy my idle curiosity. Maybe this time next year, when the employer mandates kick-in and we all get dropped from our employer plans, the site will let me see what plans I’m eligible for. In the mean time, this is about all that the new and improved HealthCare.gov has to offer me:

Consistency and the ‘Nuclear Option’

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Last Thursday, I sat in a hospital waiting room in Richmond, Virginia, while my wife was undergoing abdominal surgery. A bit after noon, my phone buzzed. It was a CNN ‘breaking news’ alert:

The Democratic-controlled Senate today voted to invoke the so-called nuclear option out of frustration over Republicans who have been blocking President Barack Obama’s nominees.

The controversial move is a rules change that could make a partisan environment even more divisive because it takes away the right for the Senate’s minority party to filibuster.

Under the old rules it took 60 votes to break a filibuster. The change now allows most filibusters of Obama nominees to be stopped with 51 votes—a simple Senate majority.

I could do without CNN’s amateurish characterization of the Democratic senators’ motivations, and a bit more context would have been welcome (although I do understand that news alerts must be brief) . . . but still, I got the point. The Democratic majority in the United States Senate managed to do exactly what a Republican majority considered doing in 2005, before being stymied by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and the bipartisan ‘Gang of Fourteen.’

The ‘filibuster’ is an unusual nuance of the Senate rules that allows senators the privilege to speak as long as they want on any topic they want, and they can only be stopped by a vote of ‘cloture’—which requires a three-fifths (sixty-vote) super-majority. In practice, an individual senator can hold-up or stop a vote on a bill by simply talking, and talking, and talking . . . unless enough fellow senators can be convinced to vote to make him stop.

Read more . . .

Virginia Senator Deeds Stabbed

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Virginia Senator Creigh Deeds (D-VA 25th), the Democratic Party’s 2009 candidate for Governor of Virginia, was stabbed multiple times in the face and torso at his home in Bath County this morning. Deeds managed to walk to a nearby road where he was picked up by his cousin, who was coincidentally passing by at the time. He was airlifted to the University of Virginia Hospital and was listed for a time in critical condition, but he has since been upgraded to fair condition and is now expected to recover. According to a Virginia State Police spokesperson, Deeds was conscious and able to make statements to law enforcement officials.

Deeds’s son, Austin ‘Gus’ Deeds, was found at the home suffering from a gunshot wound and died at the scene. Police officials believe that Gus Deeds stabbed his father and then killed himself, and the assault is now being investigated as an attempted murder-suicide. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Gus had been held yesterday on an emergency custody order, and was evaluated for mental health problems, but was released to family custody due to a lack of available psychiatric beds in the western Virginia region.

Governor Bob McDonnell (R-VA), who was elected in 2009 after facing Deeds in the gubernatorial race, described Deeds as an “exceptional and committed public servant” and has asked all Virginians to join in praying for him to make a complete recovery. Many other notable political figures, including Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe (D-VA), have made similar statements.

Election 2013 Results (Final)

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Ballot Races
Virginia Governor
Ken Cuccinelli (R):45.22%
Terry McAuliffe (D):47.74%
Robert Sarvis (L):6.52%
Other:0.53%
Virginia Lt. Governor
E. W. Jackson (R):44.52%
Ralph Northam (D):55.10%
Other:0.37%
Virginia Atty. General
Mark Herring (D):49.88%
Mark Obenshain (R):49.87%
Other:0.25%
Virginia House, 87th
John Bell (D):49.34%
David Ramadan (R):50.26%
Other:0.40%
Ballot Issues
Loudoun Park Bonds
Yes:54.20%
No:45.80%
Loudoun Transp Bonds
Yes:68.07%
No:31.98%
Loudoun Fire Bonds
Yes:76.85%
No:23.15%
Loudoun School Bonds
Yes:67.56%
No:32.44%

Read more . . .

I Voted; Make Sure You Do Too!

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I Voted, 2013
I Voted, 2013

This morning, I went to my local polling place and cast my ballot (for the various candidates and offices that I have endorsed). There were no delays and things were running smoothly. There are reports this morning that some Loudoun County precincts are experiencing check-in delays due to a computer problem, but mine seems to have been unaffected.

I spoke briefly to one of the poll workers, who said that there was a steady stream of voters coming through, but it was pretty light (especially compared to presidential years). This is anecdotal information, of course, but it seems consistent with the turnout levels we usually expect to see in off-year elections in Virginia. For some reason, the average American tends to be more interested in the relatively remote presidential elections rather than the local and state elections that have more real-world impact on their lives.

But I digress. Every November, as I cast my ballot for my selected candidates and issues, I am reminded of how lucky we are to live under a free, republican government (small-r). In Virginia, as in the rest of the United States, we get to decide who is going to lead us. We get to shape our commonwealth in our own image. If we act prudently in making our choices, we will be better off. If we act imprudently, we will be harmed. It is up to us to research, consider, contemplate, analyze, and vote. It is up to us to pay attention, and hold our leaders accountable. It is up to us to choose leaders who respect our rights and defend our liberties.

If you live in a state that is holding a vote today, and if you are legally eligible to vote, then it is your right and your responsibility to read about the candidates, research the issues, come to a well-informed, conscientious decision, and go to the polls to make your voice heard. I have my opinions—strong ones, at that—about who the best choices are this year. I hope you’ll read my endorsements and give them honest consideration. But whether you agree with me or not, I hope you’ll take your civic responsibility seriously and go to the polls today.

And tune back in to Off on a Tangent later tonight where I will be providing live coverage as the results come in!

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.