What’s interesting in the news today?

First up today, some interesting words from Rand Paul. I’ll be honest, my first thought was I wonder what Dad thinks?

From CNSNews  “Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said the mainstream media  try to ignore it but there is a “worldwide war on Christianity” being  waged by a “fanatical element of Islam,” and that U.S. policy towards  Syria has resulted in America now sending weapons to “Islamic rebels who  are allied with al-Qaida.”

“From Boston to Zanzibar, there’s a worldwide war on Christianity,”  said Senator Paul at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on Oct.  12.  “Christians are being attacked around the world, but you won’t  hear much about it on the evening news because the answer’s not  convenient. It doesn’t fit the narrative we have been told about radical  Islam.

“The president tries to gloss over who’s attacking and killing  Christians,” said Paul.  “The media describes the killings as  ‘sectarian.’ But the truth is, a worldwide war on Christians is being  waged by a fanatical element of Islam.”

Meanwhile, the war on Christians in the military continues here at home.

Also From CNSNews  “After the Obama administration, for the second Sunday in a row, continued to prohibit approximately 50 Catholic  priests from saying Mass and administering other sacraments at U.S. military facilities around the world, Father Ray Leonard, who serves as the  Catholic chaplain at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia, filed suit Monday against the Department of Defense, Defense Secretary Chuck  Hagel, the Department of the Navy, and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.

DOD is prohibiting Father Leonard and the other Catholic priests from administering the sacraments and providing other services to their congregations even though two weeks ago Congress passed, and President Barack Obama signed, a law that instructed DOD to maintain on the job and keep paying contract employees who were supporting the  troops.

DOD took this action because Hagel determined–after consulting with Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department–that civilian Catholic priests, working under contract as chaplains, did not, among other  things, “contribute to the morale” and “well-being” of service  personnel.”

Shocked? Me neither. After all, they’re more likely to support the people in the first link than they are Christians anywhere.

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In other news from the continuing shut down saga….

From TheWashingtonPost  “The Republican-controlled House canceled a vote Tuesday night on a plan to reopen the federal government and raise the debt ceiling after support from conservatives for the deal crumbled, leaving Washington without a clear path forward for avoiding a first-ever default on the nation’s debt.

Later Tuesday night, Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell moved to pick up the pieces of the shattered House effort, with aides to both senators expressing optimism a deal could be soon at hand.

“Senator Reid and Senator McConnell have re-engaged in negotiations and are optimistic that an agreement is within reach,” said Adam Jentleson, spokesman for Reid (D-Nev.).

“Given tonight’s events, the leaders have decided to work toward a solution that would reopen the government and prevent default. They are optimistic an agreement can be reached,” said Don Stewart, spokesman to McConnell (R-Ky.).”

I’d be more optimistic if McCain and Senate Republicans didn’t appear to be stuck in “Surrender Monkey” mode.

And the plot thickens as well. This should add a sense of urgency to the whole affair.

From CNBC  “Fitch Ratings put the US government’s “AAA” credit rating on ‘rating watch negative’ Tuesday, saying that the standstill on the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations risks undermining the effectiveness of the country’s government and political institutions.

U.S. stock index futures fell.

“Although Fitch continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon, the political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default,” the rating agency wrote in a statement.”

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Next up, only 6,964,000 to go. If you do the math, at this rate, no way they hit 7 million by their deadline, even if you go with the Mail’s 51 thousand instead of the 36 thousand here. And where will the money to fund it and keep it afloat come from without actual policyholders to pay for it?

From NationalReview  “Millward Brown Digital, a consultancy firm, released an analysis today estimating that only 36,000 people had signed up for insurance through the federal Obamacare exchange website.

According to Millward Brown Digital, there were 9.47 million unique visitors to healthcare.gov from the site’s launch on October 1 through October 5. Of those visitors, 1.3 million left the website for their state-run exchange and 3.72 million attempted to create an account on the site. Only 1.01 million successfully did so.”

“The analysis says that “Healthcare.gov was clearly unprepared to handle the huge spike in traffic witnessed on October 1st when it was visited by .9% (or 1 in 114) of everyone online in the U.S. This is roughly equivalent to the daily traffic on Target.com.”

Yeah…….. 🙄

Here’s more from the study, also not encouraging. 1 year delay? Sounds like 3 or 4 is more like it.

From TheWashingtonPost  “The number of visitors to the federal government’s HealthCare.gov Web site plummeted 88 percent between Oct. 1 and Oct. 13, according to a new analysis of America’s online use, while less than half of 1 percent of the site’s visitors successfully enrolled for health insurance the first week.”

“Based on a sample of two million users — or 1 percent of all online users in the U.S. — which Millward Brown Digital has permission to track, it suggests that the rush of traffic administration officials cited as the cause of the site’s problems trailed off within a matter of days.”

“And Aneesh Chopra, who served as the White House’s first-ever chief technology officer during President Obama’s first term, said the analysis actually captured the public’s sustained interest in signing up for health insurance on the federal exchange. He noted that while the total number of visitors to the site is interesting, it matters much more that one million Americans created an online account.

“Account creation is always the holy grail. That’s the moment that matters,” Chopra said in an interview. “In one week, a million people began a process that will result in affordable coverage. That means a lot of people are going to ultimately get the product.”

Not surprised the former Obama admin employee tries to put a good spin on things. But the reality is he’s wrong. His “Holy Grail” is useless. It means nothing. What it needs are paying customers. Signing up is easy, forking over the cash for an actual policy is quite another matter. That isn’t happening in large enough numbers yet.

And Forbes says people will be shocked when they find out the cost. They say the system is designed to get all your info first, then you get to see the prices. They say that’s the case because the numbers will scare folks away.

From Forbes  “A growing consensus of IT experts, outside and inside the government, have figured out a principal reason why the website for Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchange is crashing. Healthcare.gov forces you to create an account and enter detailed personal information before you can start shopping. This, in turn, creates a massive traffic bottleneck, as the government verifies your information and decides whether or not you’re eligible for subsidies. HHS bureaucrats knew this would make the website run more slowly. But they were more afraid that letting people see the underlying cost of Obamacare’s insurance plans would scare people away.

HHS didn’t want users to see Obamacare’s true costs

“Healthcare.gov was initially going to include an option to browse before registering,” report Christopher Weaver and Louise Radnofsky in the Wall Street Journal. “But that tool was delayed, people familiar with the situation said.” Why was it delayed? “An HHS spokeswoman said the agency wanted to ensure that users were aware of their eligibility for subsidies that could help pay for coverage, before they started seeing the prices of policies.”

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And last one for today, was the difficulty with the SNAP program over the weekend really a computer glitch? Or a dry run to gauge reaction for this?

From WeaselZippers  “The United States Dept Of Agriculture is the governmental body tasked with overseeing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or “SNAP.”

According to a memo dated Oct 11 2013 and circulated among SNAP program administrators for all states that participate, the USDA recommends they begin withholding benefits from citizens beginning in November.

Is the US Dept of Agriculture trying to create panic among program participants as we saw previously?“

Is this the next move in the make it hurt campaign the Obama admin is engaging in?

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