Some random thoughts on the passing political scene…
— Anyone who thinks millions upon millions of American losing their existing health care insurance coverage isn’t on purpose is in need of their own medical care. This article in the Los Angeles Times tells you everything you need to know. In order for Obamacare to actually work, they have to force you out of your plan and into the exchange.
— Today is election day in the San Diego Mayor’s race. Publicly released polling has made two things clear — no single candidate will achieve a majority of total votes cast and be elected today, and Republican Kevin Faulconer will definitely be in the run-off election. The only question that remains is whether progressive Democrat Councilman David Alvarez or Republican turned Independent turned Democrat Nathan Fletcher will grab the number two spot.
— Of course virtually no one who currently has healthcare wants to be in an Obamacare exchange health care plan. Did you know that the list of medical providers in an exchange plan offered by a health insurance company that offers a private plan is significantly smaller, in some case less than half of the doctors are willing to participate in the exchange plans?
— You should take the time to read this thoughtful column by San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed over at CalBuzz. It’s not often that sanity surfaces over there.
— Much attention has been placed on how few people have actually signed up for Obamacare exchange healthcare plans. And while some blame has rightly been put on the man-made disaster surrounding the national exchange website, you have to wonder how many people get onto it and then quickly realize their own doctor is not participating in the program?
— My prediction is that Fletcher will fare much worse today than pundits have been willing to say. As voters make their final decisions on whom they will support in what will be a relatively low-turnout special election, hardline Democrat voters will reject the all-over-the-map political opportunism of Fletcher, and “come home” to Alvarez. In the meantime Republican voters in the city are now well aware of the fact that Fletcher is no longer in their party. Fletcher could very well end up with a smaller percentage of the vote tomorrow than he received in last year’s June Mayoral race where he came in third place.
— 106,185. That’s the number of Americans that have signed up for Obamacare as of last week (a decent percentage of those in California) according to this article on Time magazine’s website. Given that the “big talk” from the Obama Administration was a target of 7 million sign ups, for those without a calculator handy, I will help out — they are running at about 2% of the signups they had expected.
— Republican State Senator Bill Emmerson recently, and unexpectedly announced he was quitting the office to which he has been re-elected last November. He said in a brief statement, “In these past few months, my passion has waned and my constituents deserve a Senator with the level of commitment that I once had.” — Anyone wondering the price tag for taxpayers to pick up the cost of an election to replace a Senator who says sayonara barely a year into his four-year term? Over a million bucks, reports the Sacramento Bee.
— Of course no one could explain why liberals are panicked at the failure of Obamacare better than Charles Krauthammer.
— IDIOT OF THE WEEK: SANTA ANA MAYOR MIGUEL PULIDO: You can’t make this stuff up. It has been uncovered by the Voice of OC that the Mayor of Santa Ana (and members of his family) were sold a home in the nearby city of Westminster back in 2011 that had been owned by the owner of a NAPA Auto Parts store in Santa Ana (the home was later transferred completely into Pulido’s name). Pulido then voted to give a BFC (big fat contract) from Santa Ana to this NAPA Auto Parts store — which now, I might add, has a contract to exclusively provide the city all of the auto parts for its sizable fleet. Oh yeah, the house in Westminster was sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars below its appraised value.