You know you have always wanted to do this:
Archives for April 2019
All the Campaign Websites are Tire Fires
Good luck finding a policy position anywhere. The only one who has that is Warren, and for some reason her braintrust has decided to put that on medium instead of on… her fucking campaign website.
All the Campaign Websites are Tire FiresPost + Comments (44)
Speaker Pelosi on 60 Minutes
I haven’t seen the whole interview yet, but The Post has a top five points compilation up on YouTube:
I’m glad she said this:
“The Mueller report is about an attack on our elections by a foreign government. And we want to know about that. We want to know about that in terms of being able to prevent it from happening again. So it’s bigger even than Donald Trump.”
There was a tinge of sarcasm in that last sentence, as was fitting. She’s absolutely correct, and while I don’t think it was Trump’s strategy to make it all about himself (that’s his default setting), he largely succeeded, which is just one of the many ways he’s failed utterly to live up to the oath of office.
Anyhoo, boy, did Pelosi ever hit the nail on the head here, when asked to describe Trump’s abilities as president:
Pelosi: “I think that there’s nobody in the country who knows better that he should not be President of the United States than Donald Trump.”
Stahl: “You think he knows it himself?”
Pelosi: “I think he does, yeah.”
No wonder Trump rushed to Twitter to lamely attacked Pelosi as soon as he saw the program. The truth hurts.
On the future of the party, Pelosi said this:
I think our future is strong enough, is built on a strong enough foundation to withstand everything, including the current occupant of the White House. I don’t think for two terms, though.
Agree with that too.
Meanwhile, moments ago, Elizabeth Warren just busted out a plan to manage public lands. I don’t know if she’ll win the nomination, but she seems to be writing the 2020 party platform. Works for me!
Open thread!
Washington State’s public option and premium spreads
Washington State is on the verge of passing a public option for their individual market. The bill that will soon go to the governor’s desk is here. I want to highlight one section that illustrates a problem for standardized plans.
(1) The exchange, in consultation with the commissioner, the
11 authority, an independent actuary, and other stakeholders, must
12 establish up to three standardized health plans for each of the
bronze, silver, and gold levels.
14 (a) The standardized health plans must be designed to reduce
15 deductibles, make more services available before the deductible,
16 provide predictable cost sharing, maximize subsidies, limit adverse
17 premium impacts, reduce barriers to maintaining and improving health,
18 and encourage choice based on value, while limiting increases in
health plan premium rates.(iii) The actuarial value of nonstandardized silver health plans
27 offered on the exchange may not be less than the actuarial value of
28 the standardized silver health plan with the lowest actuarial value.
These two sections are in tension for any non-monopoly county.
I’ve been banging the drum on Silver Gapping which is the spread between the cheapest Silver plan and the benchmark Silver plan for years now. The benchmark plan is the second least expensive silver plan in a buying region.
Premiums for a given plan are a function of network costs, actuarial value, plan type and incentive effects of the benefit design. Standardized benefit designs eliminate actuarial value and incentive effect differences between competing insurers. Instead they will compete on who can get better pricing from providers and how restrictive their plan designs are (PPO vs. HMO basically.)
If there are two or more insurers offering a standardized silver plan in a region, the standardized plan design will compress the premium spread as Insurer #2 will offer a plan that is only slightly more expensive than the cheapest Silver plan. Price sensitive buyers who are subsidy eligible will be seeing fairly sparse discounts. This means the risk pool is smaller and sicker than it otherwise would be.
Standardizing plans reduces the complexity of the choice structure. That is valuable. However, it also makes net of subsidy premiums higher for quite a few people. This is a tension that states have to grapple with.
Washington State’s public option and premium spreadsPost + Comments (7)
On the Road and In Your Backyard
Good Morning All,
Happy tax day, US readers, I hope this year didn’t screw too many of you!
Attentive readers may have noticed that my name is no longer “Alain the site fixer”. This is because for the next while, I won’t be; while the rebuild and associated changes are made, I’m not doing squat. Once the dust settles, we’ll see what’s what. So it made sense for me to remove that part of my nym. I’m still here and if things come up, I’ll jump in to help, of course, but for now it makes sense to remove this extra cook from the kitchen.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Monday Morning Open Thread: Strong Women Are Our Hallmark
Hillary Clinton: "I am absolutely delighted to see this incredibly diverse field, and especially to have more than one woman running for president of the United States is exciting." pic.twitter.com/Fdd03pKbJS
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 13, 2019
We deserve better than a president who stokes hate and division in an attempt to divide us. pic.twitter.com/TyTcqZoCGG
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 15, 2019
I like how the women in the Democratic presidential primary are all trying to outdo each other in how transparent and awesome they can be. https://t.co/ixut9Rl0x5
— Elizabeth Rogers (@ahumorlessfem) April 14, 2019
.@realDonaldTrump’s dangerous video must be taken down. I have spoken with the Sergeant-at-Arms to ensure that Capitol Police are conducting a security assessment to safeguard Rep. @Ilhan Omar, her family & her staff. They will continue to monitor & address the threats she faces. pic.twitter.com/Grb9c8S18d
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 14, 2019
Thanks for watching! We will continue to do our work #ForThePeople. pic.twitter.com/uMTeRGJL8C
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) April 15, 2019
And some happy news out of London — from the Guardian, “Michelle Obama gets rock star reception at London O2 interview”:
With homemade signs and spontaneous Mexican waves, it was an audience fit for the most famous musician. Speaking to a 15,000-strong audience of mostly women at the O2 Arena in London, the former first lady Michelle Obama called on those who were unhappy with the Trump White House to “roll up your sleeves”.
She was welcomed on stage at the event on Sunday night – part of an international book tour – with a standing ovation and screams. Asked by the US television host Stephen Colbert how she liked her reception, she said it gave her hope in difficult political times.
“I think it’s a testament to how much we all have in common around the world,” said Obama. “The fact that people are finding themselves in the story of this little girl, Michelle Robinson, on the south side of Chicago … is not a testament to me and my story, but it’s a reminder that we’re OK, folks. We’re going to be OK.”…
“I have to remind people that Barack Obama was elected twice in the United States. That really did happen,” she said. “That wasn’t make-believe. The country actually did accomplish it and half the people who voted in the last election, if they could have, they would have voted for him for a third term.
“We have to remember that what is happening today is true, but what happened before was also true … that should give us some solace at some level.”…
Monday Morning Open Thread: Strong Women Are Our HallmarkPost + Comments (171)
Early Morning Open Thread
Here’s a post because nobody should have to wade into the two preceding threads in search of a insomniac/early riser company. I bailed about a quarter of the way through each, and I usually enjoy sniping that’s not directed at me. Jesus Christ!
Have you noticed the past several days have been especially fraught, politically speaking, remarkable even in a time of galloping craziness? It’s like we’re standing on a rickety-ass bridge over alligator-infested waters, listening to the rebar pop and watching the stress fractures spider out beneath our feet. It’s no surprise folks are a bit tense.
Sometimes looking at fuzzy things can be calming. Here’s a pair of busy limpkin parents:
And here are two of the fuzzy chicks who are keeping them busy:
I think there are five chicks altogether, but it’s hard to get an accurate count because they move fast, darting between cypress knees and taking cover in vegetation. They are guests under my dock, and I welcome my fuzzy overlords.