CNN's GUT CHECK for November 14, 2013
CNN's GUT CHECK | for November 14, 2013 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle
OBAMA: “WE FUMBLED”
In a long, riveting press conference, President Barack Obama apologized for the “rough” roll out of Obamacare and offered a fix for many Americans to keep their individual insurance plans for one more year.
- Obama to Democrats: ‘I’m sorry’ -
PRESIDENT OBAMA AT A WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING: "There is no doubt that our failure to roll out the ACA smoothly has put a burden on Democrats whether they are running or not because they stood up and supported this effort through thick and thin. And you know I feel deeply responsible for making it harder for them rather than easier for them to continue to promote the core values that I think led them to support this thing in the first place which is in this country, as wealthy as we are, everybody should be able to have the security of affordable health care."
- A few hours later, making the sell to America -
PRESIDENT OBAMA, IN CLEVELAND, OHIO, AT A STEEL COMPANY:
“You know, you may have read we had some problems last month with websites. I am not happy about that. I had a press conference today and I said we fumbled the ball in terms of rollout. But we always knew this was going to be hard. There is a reason folks that tried to do it for 100 years and hadn’t done it. It is complicated. There are a lot of players involved. The status quo is entrenched. So, yes, there is no question the rollout on the affordable car act was much tougher than we expected I want everybody here to understand I am going to see this through.”
SOME (2014) DEMOCRATS STILL PUSHING THEIR OWN FIX
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU, D-LOUISIANA, IN AN INTERVIEW WITH DANA BASH: “The president's guidance was welcomed and well received. We still may have to fashion some legislation and we are going to continue to work in that regard … I have a bill. There are other bills that have been filed. We are going to be working across the aisle not to repeal the ACA, not to defund the ACA, not to undermine the ACA, not to gut the ACA, but to fix it."
- Business: Obama’s fix may destabilize the market -
KAREN IGNAGNI OF AMERICA’S HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS, IN A STATEMENT RESPONDING TO OBAMA'S ONE YEAR DELAY: “Changing the rules after health plans have already met the requirements of the law could destabilize the market and result in higher premiums for consumers. Premiums have already been set for next year based on an assumption of when consumers will be transitioning to the new marketplace. If now fewer younger and healthier people choose to purchase coverage in the exchange, premiums will increase and there will be fewer choices for consumers. Additional steps must be taken to stabilize the marketplace and mitigate the adverse impact on consumers.”
- Cruz: ‘There was vindication’ ––
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, AT THE WASHINGTON IDEAS FORUM: "A few weeks ago there were lots of people, particularly in Washington that were saying, ‘Why are you guys fighting so hard no this?’ And with just the passage of a few weeks, people aren’t asking that anymore. I don’t get that question anymore. People all over are saying, ‘OK. Now I understand why all of you were fighting.’ And what I do think? There was vindication for the millions of Americans all across this country, who back in September, back in October, were standing up saying, ‘Obamacare isn’t working. It’s killing our jobs and it’s going to take away our healthcare.’ Now we’ve seen that those millions of Americans were right and I wish that Congress had listened to them before over 5 million people had lost their healthcare.”
MARKET WATCH: Dow and S&P 500 end at record highs after Fed chief nominee Janet Yellen's confirmation hearing.
TRAIL TRIVIA
(Answer below)
Where was President Kennedy headed when he drove through Dealey Plaza the day of his assassination?
the LEDE
Did you miss it?
Leading CNNPolitics: Ring of House Republicans to call for impeachment of Holder
A group of 11 House Republicans will introduce a resolution Thursday calling for the impeachment of Eric Holder, saying the Attorney General has lost credibility and trust over a string of issues in recent years. – Ashleigh Killough
Gloria Borger for CNN.com/Opinion: OBAMA IS 'MAD, FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY'
“Mad that his signature legislative achievement is stuck at the gate, frustrated that he's running out of time to fix it and angry that he's got a second-term agenda now going nowhere. He's so furious, in fact, that he stepped out of character to vent to an assembled group of top aides. ‘If I had known (about the website problems),’ the steaming President said, according to The New York Times, ‘we could have delayed the website.’" – Gloria Borger
Leading Drudge: FAIRY TALE
Earlier this week, former President Bill Clinton advised President Obama to "honor the commitment" he made and to allow Americans to keep their health care plans, if they like them. That was a central promise Obama made when he sold Obamacare, but one that turned out not to be true when Obamacare began to be implemented last month. – Daniel Halper
Leading HuffPo: Kevin McCarthy: 'I Don't Think Anyone Should Become President If They Haven't Been A Governor First'
House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) dealt a blow to such GOP presidential hopefuls as Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) during an appearance on MSNBC Thursday. – Paige Lavender
Leading Politico: 10 ways President Obama said he’s sorry
President Barack Obama on Thursday announced the White House would pursue an administrative solution to the millions of health insurance cancellations associated with the Affordable Care Act, striking a deeply apologetic tone for the disruption caused by the law and HealthCare.gov’s failure. Here are the 10 best lines from the news conference: – Jose Delreal
HOT SOTS
The political bites of the day
–McCain: 'a long way’ from repeal -
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN R-ARIZONA AT THE WASHINGTON IDEAS FORUM RE: THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: "This government shutdown was very harmful to my state and my citizens. It was an outrageous, stupid, pointless fight that we could not win. I’ve been in a lot of fights in my life and I know when I can win and I know when I can’t. It would take 67 votes in the United States Senate to repeal Obamacare. We’re a long way from there."
- McCain: ‘Disappointed’ in Kerry, calls friend a ‘wrecking ball’ -
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN R-ARIZONA AT THE WASHINGTON IDEAS FORUM RE: IRAN SANCTIONS: “Frankly I have never been more worried about the parameters of this deal. I am told yesterday that Secretary Kerry refused to give any details of the negotiations, position of the United States in these negotiations, and yet at the same time wants to rely on our good will. Look, this guy has been a human wrecking ball … Secretary Kerry, a good friend of mine. He is, but I am very disappointed. I’m very disappointed.”
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/14/mccain-calls-kerry-a-human-wrecking-ball-on-iran-negotiations/comment-page-1/
- Gadhafi had a higher approval rating than Congress -
REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST FRANK LUNTZ AT THE WASHINGTON IDEAS FORUM: “Well I know that they’ve been told that Congress has a 9% job approval rating. What they probably don’t know is that Muammar Gadhafi had a 15% approval rating and that was among the people who killed him.”
TOP TWEETS
What stopped us in 140 characters or less
Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty)
Suggested fix for policy cancellation problem: Build a time machine. Go back to 2008. Don't promise that if people like what they have....
Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN)
Obama: "When I do some Mon. morning quarterbacking on myself...we might have done more to make sure we were breaking the mold" with website
Luke Russert (@LukeRussert)
Obama just gave the #GOP a soundbite present: decrying red tape and regulation...while pushing a massive govt program.
Patrick Millsaps (@PatrickMillsaps)
ONLY IN AMERICA: So far this week, "incorrect promise" was invented & we learned that a committee "votes" to determine building heights.
Peter Sagal (@petersagal)
It's telling that Michelle isn't standing by her man at this press conference.
Deirdre Walsh (@deirdrewalshcnn)
Rahall says "heads should have rolled" at White House after failed Obamacare roll out
Dana Bash (DanaBashCNN)
Scoop: 2014 sen dem kay hagan just told @tedbarrettcnn she still wants landrieu legislation bc its permanent fix, not1 year
Aaron Blake (@AaronBlakeWP)
Pelosi on Boehner saying he won't go to conference on immigration: "I don't even accept that as a serious statement."
Linette Lopez (@lopezlinette)
Elizabeth Warren just asked Janet Yellen if she was ready to sink her teeth into Wall Street http://read.bi/1bxvymX
anna nishimura (@annanish)
Two Secret Service agents removed from president’s detail for alleged misconduct http://ift.tt/174BSka
Roger Simon (@politicoroger)
As somebody said, if Sarah Palin thinks the Pope is a liberal, wait until she meets Jesus.
Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA)
Just to clarify my comment to Jake Tapper about Pope Francis, it was not my intention to be critical of Pope... http://fb.me/UgbKkcyq
VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair)
Meet Bianca Levin, Cory Booker’s Alleged Gorgeous Yalie Lawyer Girlfriend http://vnty.fr/17wa9LD
TRIVIA ANSWER from @sarafischer
Nearly 50 years ago, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on his way to a luncheon at the Dallas Trade Mart. Shots were fired while the president and his wife were riding in a motorcade from the Dallas Airport through the suburbs of Dallas, waving to people crowded in the streets along the way.
Dallas Trade Mart is a building located in the Dallas Market Center. According to the Dallas Market Center’s website, President Kennedy was scheduled to give a speech to roughly 2,600 people at a sold-out luncheon on November 22, 1963. A commemorative statue called “The Eagle” sits outside of the main entrance today to commemorate the president.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the president’s death, CNN will be airing a documentary titled, “The Sixties: The Assassination of JFK,” tonight at 9 PM EST.
GUT CHECK WINNER’S CIRCLE
(why aren’t you in it)
Congrats to Melanie Parker (@parkerml) for correctly answering today’s Gut Check Trivia question.
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Well, CNN wasn't very interested in what I had to say today. I guess they're tired of me insulting them.
See ya tomorrow, Corporate "News" Network.
@Sniffit,
Now surely you are intelligent enough to know that what our President suggested as a "fix" is not possible, right? You know that insurance companies have actuaries that are already in place based on the ACA as the law of the land and cannot magically be changed. You know he can't tell insurance companies, by fiat, to just forget that part of the law and offer people what he has deemed "junk" policies, correct? You can kick and scream all you want about anything but you would never want any one person to have so much power to say "forget about that part of the law". Don't yell at me or be angry (although I'm a big boy and can certainly take it). Just please please acknowledge that the press conference today is no solution and not feasibly possible. I hope you have the guts to admit that. Feel free to chime in if you want, Real TP or Data. But please stay focused on what the president said today about the law and his intentions to "fix" it.
some repub ideas on healthcare that were never considered by the president:
Brings greater fairness to the tax code by extending tax savings to those who
currently do not have employer-provided insurance but purchase health insurance on
their own. This provision would provide an “above the line” deduction that is equal
to the cost of an individual’s or family’s insurance premiums.
• Provides immediate substantial financial assistance, through new refundable and
advanceable tax credits, to low- and modest-income Americans.
• Recognizes that many Americans who have not yet hit retirement age but may be
changing jobs or have lost a job often face higher health care costs. To help those
aged 55 to 64, the plan increases support for pre- and early-retirees with low- and
modest-incomes.
• Recognizes that one of the largest obstacles for many small businesses when it comes to
retaining current employees or creating new jobs is the cost of health insurance. The
plan allows states, small businesses, associations, and other organizations to band
together and offer health insurance at lower costs.
• Implements comprehensive medical liability reform that will reduce costly,
unnecessary defensive medicine practiced by doctors trying to protect themselves
from overzealous trial lawyers.
• Provides Medicare and Medicaid with additional authority and resources to stop
waste, fraud, and abuse that costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year.
• Creates incentives to save now for future and long-term health care needs by
improving health savings accounts and flexible spending arrangements as well as
creating new tax benefits to offset the cost of long-term care premiums.
• Gives financial help to caregivers who provide in-home care for a loved one.
"I am reading all over the place that many Dems sill favor a legislative fix. This could get real interesting. I will not be possible to pass a bill to fix without the support of House Republicans. Republicans have been saying since the bill was passed that bad things were going to happen and their predictions are all coming true."
Landrieu and Upton's bills are going nowhere. The RWNJ blogosphere...places like Red State, WND, Breitbart, etc....and Limbaugh and Beck et al...they're all making it very clear that any GOPer/Teatroll who votes to help fix the ACA is gong to get black listed. Obama is clearly indicating that any overly aggressive measures that would totally undermine the ACA, such as allowing insurers to keep offering bunk non-insurance plans indefinitely, is going to get vetoed. It probably doesn't even get that far because it may get filibustered...or Reid can just not allow a vote on it....perhaps demanding that if the GOP/Teatrolls in the House want a vote on it, they have to agree to allow a House vote on the Senate's immigration bill. I'd like to see that actually. Reid should do that tomorrow. What a fun Friday news dump that would be.
"Well, CNN wasn't very interested in what I had to say today. I guess they're tired of me insulting them."
I'm sure they love us...they're just so busy manufacturing narratives before events even occur to support them that they don't have any time to let us know.
5,000,000+ people blocked from obtaining Medicaid under the expansion as a result of GOP/Teatroll red state ideological tantrums and dogmatic party-line "we'll ruin the country before we let a Dem POTUS claim success" politics and yet CNN doesn't even have a breath of concern to spare for them. No no...the hand-wringing and pearl-clutching is all about the 3% who were buying non-insurance garbage plans (i.e., they were no different than those irresponsible people who refused to insure themselves and relied on everyone else paying for them) who now have to actually insure themselves.
the only thing obama is trying to "fix" is the blame for his lies being taken out on democrats in the 2014 & 2016 elections. he now wants to lay the blame on insurance companies and the states. nothing but the usual lies, deceit, smoke and mirror bs from this incompetent deceitful worse president in history. obama is the biggest snake oil salesman this world has ever seen.