Pros And Cons Of Obamacare *Open Thread* UPDATED

Update at the bottom of the post.

“Pros to Obamacare,” you might ask? Well, yes, if you are in a union. No doubt you remember the brouhaha the Unions raised when they realized they were going to be held to the same standards as the rest of Americans, even though they spent a boatload of money supporting Obama – twice. They were none too happy about it, and threw a BIG ol’ hissy fit at the White House.

Well, their tantrum seems to have paid off. After initially telling them to get over it, Obama seems to have figured out a way to pay off another group of supporters, elevating them above the rest of their fellow citizens. Megyn Kelly has the story in the video below (h/t Helenk):

Can you believe that?? A $600 MILLION payoff while regular Americans are being faced with much higher premiums and higher deductibles?? This is simply outrageous. And again, the PRESIDENT cannot make these changes unilaterally. The law applies to everyone, or no one. Cannot have it both ways, Obama. (If you prefer to read the details, you can click here.)

UGH, this makes me so mad. So over the political machinations of this president and the Democrats to pay off their cronies. But it’s a real Pro to have prostituted yourself for this President and his flagrant lies about Obamacare, as it turns out.

But there are also Cons to Obamacare as we know. But what we just found out on Wednesday during additional testimony from Kathleen Sebellius is the effect Cons, as in CONVICTS, can have on Obamacare. As it turns out convicted felons can get a job as an Obamacare Navigator:

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted Wednesday that it was possible convicted felons could be hired as ObamaCare ‘navigators,’ giving them access to personal information like Social Security numbers and addresses of anyone signing up for the program.

[…]

“Isn’t it true that there is no federal requirement for navigators to undergo a criminal background check,” Cornyn asked her.

“That is true,” Sebelius answered. “States could add in additional background checks and other features, but it is not part of the federal requirement.”

Cornyn pressed, “So a convicted felon could be a navigator and could acquire sensitive personal information from an individual unbeknownst to them?”

Sebelius answered, “This is possible.” […] (Click here to read the rest.)

Oh, this is just awesome and I am sure will instill tremendous faith in this new system. Surely you will be more than willing to provide your Social Security number and other personal information on this fabulous website knowing how few safeguards are in place for those applying, right?? Right?? I mean, really – it’s fine, folks, just trust them! Ahem.

And speaking of signing up for Obamacare, the numbers continue to underwhelm. Well, that’s if you can even get on. As it turns out, the site can only handle 1,100 people at a TIME. No, seriously – that’s all:

A test on a central component to the ObamaCare website conducted the day before launch revealed that the system could only handle 1,100 concurrent users before overloading, according to internal documents released by House Republicans.

“Currently we are able to reach 1,100 users before response time gets too high,” reads the document, released by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (D-Calif.).

The report also indicated that government contractors began working to “tune” the system to “handle maximum load” following the test. It also found that contractors tasked with running the site planned “more thorough testing” designed to reach targets of 10,000 simultaneous users in the days following the launch.[…] (Click here to read the rest.)

Wow, they are hoping to get at least 10,000 on at one time? REALLY?? Do they not realize that MILLIONS use sites like Amazon at once with no problems. Perhaps they should have gotten some kid who lives in his/her parents’ basement to craft this website. It would HAVE to be better than what we have going on now at the expense of hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars.

The numbers of those able, or willing, to sign up is still extraordinarily low. Delaware has a whopping FOUR people. You read that right – FOUR people out of the entire state have signed up. Meanwhile, the rest of us are paying more, or have lost our coverage. That’s just jake.

What a crock. I hope those who will be voting in 2014 are not fooled by the recent, ABRUPT, change of heart by those who were all gung-ho for this law before (talking about you, Sen. Mary Landrieu, among others). I hope they don’t buy into their new-found drive to make changes to the law when they dismissed Senator Enzi’s plan out of hand in 2010.

Turns out, Enzi was right in a BIG way. From Townhall:

His Democratic colleagues ignored him. Others even mocked him. But, now, congressmen who accused him of fearmongering are holding their tongues, for everything Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wy.) predicted about Obamacare has turned out to be true. Megyn Kelly brought Sen. Enzi on her show Tuesday to list for viewers his completely accurate warnings back in September 2010.

1. “Americans will eventually be forced to buy the kind of health insurance the federal government thinks you should have.”

Check.

2. “Employers will be less likely to hire new workers and probably even lay off workers.”

Check.

3. “Most businesses the administration estimates between 39 and 69 percent will not be able to keep the coverage that they have.”

Check.

4. “This new regulation appears to ignore the impact it will have in the real world. it’ll drive up costs and reduce the number of people who will have insurance.”

Check.

I’d say he nailed it. Those sixteen Senators who made a beeline to the White House on Wednesday pushing for some changes will hopefully be held to account for their previous refusals to address these concerns. They deserve to be relieved of duty after saddling us, well, MOST of us, with this monstrosity of a law.

Seems to me there are far more Cons than Pros with this law. Now it’s your turn to weigh in!

UPDATE: The Daily Caller has more on those 4 people who signed up for Obamacare in Delaware. Wanna guess how much it cost? Oh, you’ll be DELIGHTED at the use of your taxpaying dollars: Delaware boasts 4 Obamacare enrollees at $1 million a pop. Yep, a MILLION DOLLARS A PIECE!!!!!!!! Awesome, just freakin’ awesome. What a WONDERFUL program this is, huh? Yeah. Right. Click here to read the rest.