Terrific commentary on the GOP/TPer duplicity ~ of course there will be glitches in any roll-out ... and especially in a roll-out this size ~ could it have been better? ~ sure ~ but the GOP/TPer "memory bank" seems to have "conveniently forgotten" the Medicare Part D roll-out ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

Complaints for the sake of complaining
10/24/13 09:57 AM
By Steve Benen

The House Energy and Commerce Committee just started the first of several congressional hearings on the Affordable Care Act’s website, but this will not be a normal discussion between lawmakers and Obama administration officials.

Let’s note at the outset that there’s nothing wrong with congressional oversight hearings. On the contrary, this is one of Congress’ key functions, and even those who champion “Obamacare” have no reason to complain about lawmakers checking up on the administration and demanding the best possible performance.

But therein lies the rub: that’s not quite what Republicans have in mind today. Alec MacGillis had a good piece on this the other day.


Theoretically, that’s exactly right. The ostensible point of today’s hearing – the first of several such panels that will all make the same point – is that Congress is dissatisfied with the well-publicized website glitches and wants the administration to do much better.

But the trouble is, Republicans are crying what Matt Miller aptly described as “crocodile tears.”


I’ve watched Congress for quite a while, and I’ve been to more congressional hearings than I can count, and I honestly can’t think of anything similar to the charade we’ll see today. The Republican majority is complaining about the functionality of a website that they’d just as soon destroy. They’re furious Americans are struggling to sign up for benefits that Republicans don’t want them to have. They’re demanding better performance of a system they’ve spent years deliberately trying to sabotage, and have no intention of trying to help fix.

The hearing will give the appearance of a committee that wants to see improvements, except those responsible for calling the hearing – the one who’ll complain the loudest – don’t want improvements at all. Their stated preference would be that the website that doesn’t work as it should to stay that way indefinitely.

And so what is, exactly, the point of the exercise? Part of this is simply an excuse to grandstand. Republicans took a beating when they shut down the government, and so they’ll take advantage of the opportunity today to release some frustration and go on the offensive by shouting at Obama administration officials for a few hours. I’m sure it’ll be quite cathartic.

The other part is to advance the GOP’s public-relations goals. A hearing like this produces media coverage that questions the administration’s competence, while possibly even discouraging consumers from signing up for coverage – which is the Republicans’ ultimate goal anyway.

To see the hearings’ theatrics as a sincere exercise related to substance and oversight is to overlook every relevant detail. If Republican policymakers want to talk about playing a constructive role in improving the system, making federal law more effective, and easing the process through which Americans get coverage, there’s ample room for that conversation.

But since they don’t want any of those things, today’s discussion is less of a hearing and more of a joke.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/complaints-the-sake-complaining

But ... but ... but this is different ~ personally, I only see ONE difference ~ ~ Sooz

Barton vs. Barton in a ‘monkey court’
10/24/13 11:45 AM
By Steve Benen

If you’ve spent any time this morning watching the farcical House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on healthcare.gov, you may have noticed Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) becoming quite animated during the proceedings. It’s worth contrasting his antics this morning with his approach at a similar point six years ago.

Today, Barton was lashing out wildly, accusing contractors of violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), getting confused about what “source code” is, and making false claims about personal health information submitted through the health care website. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) grew so frustrated with Barton’s nonsense that he eventually broke decorum, interrupted Barton, and condemned the hearing as a “monkey court.”

But watching Barton’s outbursts got me thinking about what the congressman was up to after the last major expansion of public health benefits.


That excerpt comes by way of a new report from American Bridge, a progressive super PAC, which helped document the differences between how congressional Republicans are behaving now as compared to late 2006 and early 2007, when the Bush/Cheney administration was overwhelmed with problems implementing Medicare Part D.

Then, Barton said, “This is a huge undertaking and there are going to be glitches.” Now, when others use those exact same words, Barton condemns the argument as a ridiculous cop-out.

It may be tempting to think the hypocrisy runs both ways on this, but it really doesn’t. In early 2007, Democrats, who opposed and voted against the Bush/Cheney policy, could have taken steps to undermine Part D, but they did the opposite – it was the law of the land and Democratic lawmakers helped implement it.

We just didn’t see Dems throwing these kinds of tantrums at the time, calling on Bush cabinet officials to resign, accusing contractors of crimes, and trying to score cheap points.

As for Barton, who’s perhaps best known for apologizing to BP after its oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, I’ll look forward to his explanation as to why Congress and the nation needed to be patient with Part D breakdowns six years ago, but should be impatient now.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/barton-vs-barton-monkey-court