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Monday, November 17, 2014

Krugman and CNBC Agree: Obamacare Works

     It's not a surprise that Krugman thinks so.

     "Then there’s health reform. As usual, much of the national dialogue over the Affordable Care Act is being dominated by fake scandals drummed up by the enemies of reform. But if you look at the actual results so far, they’re remarkably good. The number of Americans without health insurance hasdropped sharply, with around 10 million of the previously uninsured now covered; the program’s costs remain below expectations, with average premium rises for next year well below historical rates of increase; and a new Gallup survey finds that the newly insured are very satisfied with their coverage. By any normal standards, this is a dramatic example of policy success, verging on policy triumph."

       http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/opinion/paul-krugman-when-government-succeeds.html?_r=0

        However,  CNBC agrees about Obamacare's recent success:

       Obamacare—like love—appears to be better the second time around.        

       Open enrollment season appears to be off to a much smoother start this year, but not without a few bugs in the online insurance marketplaces.

        More than 1 million people were able to successfully navigate HealthCare.gov over the weekend, according to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell.
        That was a dramatic difference from Obamacare's first open-enrollment launch one year ago, when a technological meltdown prevented all by a handful of people from creating accounts or applying for coverage, much less signing up for health plans.

        http://www.cnbc.com/id/102191544

        So what do all the government haters have to say about this? Maybe they can do a Scott Sumner and deny that Obamacare is part of the government-he now has a new measure of recessions that have nothing to do with GDP. 

         http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2014/11/how-sumner-explains-japanese-recession.html

         
      

      

4 comments:

  1. Srinivas PrathavurnthaNovember 18, 2014 at 11:39 PM

    Many times after a good press conference by the President Obama, I often consider all of the good times I have experienced in life. It seems his soothing voice puts me in a reflective, relaxed state of mind.

    One strange but spectacular memory comes to mind in particular…

    Once, while on a voyage of the mind, body, and soul with my man friend…

    We were floating in a small boat in the vast ocean when suddenly, monstrous bubbles came to the surface just under our little row boat, almost capsizing us. A very potent, harshly foul odor was soon realized. I almost fainted and vomited simultaneously, while my friend began to hallucinate. It might be worth mentioning that we also had some strange substances with us on this voyage.

    So, it got me to wondering…

    Do Whales Fart?

    My friend did some research and found the following -

    The short answer is yes, whales do indeed fart, flatus or pass gas depending on how you like to phrase it.

    In fact whales, dolphins and porpoises are all marine mammals belonging to the cetacean species and they are all known to fart.

    Today there are around 80 – 90 known species of cetacea currently in
    existence and they encompass all of the worlds major oceans from the
    tropics to the coldest of the northern and southern polar hemispheres.

    When it comes to passing gas, farting is a common characteristic that
    most land and marine mammals have in common with one another.

    Passing gas allows animals to release air that is trapped inside
    their stomach, which could lead to digestive problems, stomach cramps or
    other complications if not removed from the body.

    When an animal passes gas or farts the air that comes out of the body comes primarily from two main sources.

    The first source comes from oxygen that is pulled in through the air either while breathing (inhaling and exhaling) or when consuming food or drinking water; and since all mammals eat food and require oxygen to survive they all take in air.

    The second source of air or gas comes from food that is broken down
    by enzymes, stomach acids and bacteria in the stomach, which creates
    toxic gasses that need to be removed from the body to prevent it from
    doing harm to the individuals digestive system.

    In order to release these gases animals need a way to expel them from
    the body and for most mammals this means that the toxic gas has to exit
    through either the mouth, which causes burping or through the anal
    tract which causes farting.

    The gases that are expelled from a fart are mostly composed of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane.

    The reason some gasses smell worse than others is because of the breakdown of the foods involved.

    Certain foods can cause obnoxious orders when released as gas while others do not.

    From some of the statements researchers have made about whales
    farting they have concluded that yes, it stinks when a whale farts.

    When a whale farts or passes gas underwater the sound is believed to
    be suppressed by the surrounding water making it silent or at least
    quite compared to the gas that is expelled from land based animals.

    In some cases bubbles or clouds can be seen rising to the surface of the water when a whale passes gas.

    Those most likely to experience whales farting are likely to be
    researchers involved in following whales and researching their dung or
    gathering information about their gestation period, habitat, social
    structure and other important factors.

    In some cases this may also be observed by tourists and whale
    watchers that are hoping to get a glance of these marine mammals in
    their natural habitat.

    Unfortunately not much research has been done on this topic, however
    there have been researchers who have experienced and confirmed that yes
    whales do indeed fart.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It seems you put a lot of thought into this which is kind of sad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Srinivas PrathavurnthaNovember 19, 2014 at 5:04 PM

    Thank you for your response to my comment. I much enjoy reading and posting on blogs. You have a good blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ok as long as you're getting something from it, terrific!

    ReplyDelete