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e.g. the election created a 3+ month freeze on HHS publicly visible work That's not precise. There was no legal requirement that HHS freeze publicly visible wo

e.g. the election created a 3+ month freeze on HHS publicly visible work That's not precise. There was no legal requirement that HHS freeze publicly visible work around election time. The administration, for campaign reasons, didn't want ongoing work to trigger anything that might get in the way of the re-elect. Remind me again which party is obviously oh-so-serious about governing.

hga 13y ago
I was trying to be polite. But in all seriousness, this is the first major entitlement program passed without bipartisan, widespread political support (more from me here on that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622456 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622456). The Administration was insane not to factor in that there would be all sorts of "glitches" in the development process because of that. Someone deadly serious and competent, like the shivved Tom Daschle (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622284 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622284), should have been working on this the day after it was signed, if not before. Then again, very few people seem to have that much power in this Administration ... see again the possible object lesson of Daschle.
- twoodfin 13y ago
  I'd take Tom Daschle over Harry Reid running the Senate (or at HHS over Sebelius) any day, but I am skeptical of the theory he was "shivved". You're right that the car service issue should not have been enough to sink him, but I think that was a convenient out: IIRC, Republicans were getting ready to ask some uncomfortable questions about his wife's lobbying efforts, and I can understand why neither he nor the President were excited about going down that road. Also keep in mind that his tax troubles came to light after Geithner's and others', so there was less slack left to give.
  - hga 13y ago
    Urk, I left out "possibly" in front of shivved, follow the link and I'm much less certain, and in fact still lean towards my initial opinion which you've fleshed out/reminded me more about. Still, suppose this was the one decision that sinks Obamacare.... Well, that's 20/20 ... erm, forcasting??? And, yeah, Sebelius was a known disaster when picked (I live right across the border from Kansas); I mean, she let the state run out of money one month (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Sebelius#Tax_revenue_crisis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Sebelius#Tax_revenue_c...), rather a surprise as I remember. I strongly suspect she follows in the usual Obama Administration pattern Cabinet members being figureheads and cheerleaders instead of true executives, which we'll likely be about to guess about when she testifies this week. Reid ... I'll just go with a Wall Street Journal writer's description of his coming across like a "slightly overeager undertaker" ^_^.

hga 13y ago

I was trying to be polite. But in all seriousness, this is the first major entitlement program passed without bipartisan, widespread political support (more from me here on that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622456 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622456). The Administration was insane not to factor in that there would be all sorts of "glitches" in the development process because of that. Someone deadly serious and competent, like the shivved Tom Daschle (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622284 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622284), should have been working on this the day after it was signed, if not before. Then again, very few people seem to have that much power in this Administration ... see again the possible object lesson of Daschle.

twoodfin 13y ago
I'd take Tom Daschle over Harry Reid running the Senate (or at HHS over Sebelius) any day, but I am skeptical of the theory he was "shivved". You're right that the car service issue should not have been enough to sink him, but I think that was a convenient out: IIRC, Republicans were getting ready to ask some uncomfortable questions about his wife's lobbying efforts, and I can understand why neither he nor the President were excited about going down that road. Also keep in mind that his tax troubles came to light after Geithner's and others', so there was less slack left to give.
- hga 13y ago
  Urk, I left out "possibly" in front of shivved, follow the link and I'm much less certain, and in fact still lean towards my initial opinion which you've fleshed out/reminded me more about. Still, suppose this was the one decision that sinks Obamacare.... Well, that's 20/20 ... erm, forcasting??? And, yeah, Sebelius was a known disaster when picked (I live right across the border from Kansas); I mean, she let the state run out of money one month (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Sebelius#Tax_revenue_crisis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Sebelius#Tax_revenue_c...), rather a surprise as I remember. I strongly suspect she follows in the usual Obama Administration pattern Cabinet members being figureheads and cheerleaders instead of true executives, which we'll likely be about to guess about when she testifies this week. Reid ... I'll just go with a Wall Street Journal writer's description of his coming across like a "slightly overeager undertaker" ^_^.