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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKrugman: The ACA Surge Blackout
Its not in itself that big a deal, but Im somewhat amazed by what amounts to a de facto blackout by major news media on a developing story thats really obvious if you read the invaluable Charles Gaba, or even the White House blog: a huge surge in Obamacare enrollments in the final days of the signup period. The print sources I read are still putting out basically downbeat reports about the ACA, with maybe a mention 10 paragraphs in that exchange enrollments passed the 6 million mark last week. I dont watch cable news, but from what I hear its all still Malaysian airways.
In the end, I guess it wont matter in a direct sense; the final number for year 1, which looks likely to be very close to the original 7 million projection, will eventually come out. But you wonder why news media that are happy to speculate about the 2016 election arent interested in at least putting out a heads-up about the strong possibility of a bombshell number next week.
And where I think this does matter is that it shows a persistent slant in much reporting toward emphasizing the negatives about health reform. The website woes were, and deserved to be, a big story; the quite amazing comeback somehow doesnt fit the preferred narrative, and is being ignored and this despite the fact that, as Gaba notes, it offers great visuals too.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/the-aca-surge-blackout
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)so it was inevitable same would be for ACA. Human nature thing.
Wasn't it like 146 signups in the first month of that in MA or some such low number? Then as it went on and in the last month, boom, things went big. And the apocalypse hasn't hit the state since then either.
IronLionZion
(45,447 posts)and all your doctors fled to Canada, er ... or to some red state like Texas, and your state went bankrupt and needs bailouts, and
Yes, I've heard those types of lies about Romneycare from Republicans.
Blue_Adept
(6,399 posts)It's how we trick everyone into thinking things are normal here.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)the media is really reporting what the majority believe and are going to hear, no matter what is written or is the truth. I find it quite sad.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Noticed the so called Corporate News (CBS-NBC-ABC and of course the False Equivalency-F*X)ramped up their reporting of ACA horror stories,and you could tell the real from the staged,in markets that are the new swing voters. Every station here in Vegas started their news(gag me)with some negative ACA thing since Wednesday. Of course,we had the Parade of Want A BE's over at Sheldon's House,which was the second story of the day that and 27 dogs needing a home. Have yet to see or hear a single positive piece about ACA in this area. There was and is a huge signup program going on at a the Cashman Center. Nothing in the print media and a 10 second thing on the news last evening. Talk about so called Liberal Media,bullshit,wait till the Culinary Folks shut down this town in a few weeks,then things will start to pop.
This is Nevada and have yet to hear a peep from Harry Reid supporting ACA. What are you afraid of Harry,you had the majority of votes in Clark and Washoe counties.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)jimlup
(7,968 posts)They need to stand up for what they support. We've given in America access to Health Care. This is a big deal. Democrats need to stand behind it or risk being decimated in '14. They don't have to adopt the stupid mainstream media/republican narrative here. They need to stand up and write their own narrative.
malaise
(269,022 posts)is busy breaking news about a missing aircraft.
Pluuuuuuuuuuuz - you expect them to stop to comment on Obamacare surges?
That is not the meme
BumRushDaShow
(129,053 posts)and this weekend here in Philly. There has been alot of coverage on the music stations targeting the demographics that the ACA was designed to help.
As to this -
Ever since the man was inaugurated, with the negative press about whether the couple million expected to turn out, would actually turn out in the bitter cold to watch that historic event, they have done nothing but "emphasizing the negatives".... about everything he has said and everything he has done... including self-same pundits and reporters continually manufacturing "negatives" whenever they could.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)posted here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024754810
Dirty Socialist
(3,252 posts)Our corporate whores err..."Mainstream Media" isn't reporting this!
geretogo
(1,281 posts)Last edited Sun Mar 30, 2014, 09:18 PM - Edit history (1)
wanted the world to hear . The Corporate media is the same here .
One day there will be no such thing as " democracy " and no America as we
have known it .
mucifer
(23,547 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)We see the results daily, not just in November. The relentless media drive to depress the voting base of Democrats to get them to NOT VOTE and riling up the rightwingers TO VOTE is every day of the week, every week of the year and it takes its toll.
This entire country has been in permanent election mode since the Nixon era. The GOP knows this and their media issues their line of thinking in every venue daily. There is no opposing voice in conservative owned venues, no matter if they throw us a few liberal pundits in to appear fair. And they are increasing their control of media worldwide.
National elections are not all there is, as D.C. is full of people from the red and blue states that have fallen to talk radio, television and cable stations and other organs of propaganda.
They're NOT giving people the tools they need to fight the lies of the GOP and RWNJs. They daily give them more ground. Why don't we admit it on DU and elsewhere that the battle is not just after primaries are done, when the proof is right in front our faces as we report the RW lies?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/110215862
In 2010, after death threats and the Koch brothers Tea Party being full coverage all year long, look what they failed to report on:
The truth about the ACA, from 2010! What media refused to show!
President Obama Makes Surprise Call To Gail O'Brien
Uploaded on Sep 22, 2010
President Obama made a surprise call yesterday to Gail O'Brien, a woman in Keene, NH, who is benefiting from the Affordable Care Act, which was passed six months ago today. Gail was previously uninsured and diagnosed with high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Thanks to the new law, Gail now has insurance through the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan that will pay for her treatments, and she is responding very well.
That was September 2010 before the midterms. Want to talk about conspiracy? What was on the air the entire year?
The Tea Party and their astroturf protests about the horrors of the ACA and Death Panels, etc. is what all the cable networks went with instead of telling the truth, giving Americans some information they could use.
The 2010 elections were a set up from the Koch brothers to lie about the ACA, fast track Keystone and keep the Bush tax cuts. That led to the Sequester and all the rest. And we are still fighting the lies about Obama and Obamacare after all of this time.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/110219820
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)indicators when they revised upward as has happened for the last three reporting periods. I had to hear it on the radio...economic growth revised up, consumer confidence revised up, housing starts revised up when weather factored, spending up, jobs created up and inventories down...which means good news. Of course the stock market speaks for itself. It is inverse to jobs. It seems that Obama is one man in a face off with his own nation...or rather the world.
spanone
(135,841 posts)they're still talking about the disastrous website rollout....
redqueen
(115,103 posts)Cha
(297,270 posts)alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Then the website 'disaster' won't have actually been disastrous. That's the problem. CBO says 7 million. What if it comes in at 6.2? 6.6? 6.9? Then you have to go back and say, oh well, maybe the website glitches were normal glitches and the low enrollment in October was simply what would have happened even if the thing was smooth as silk.
No worries, I can already hear the insipid Obama haters' response: "Well then OBAMA should have lowered expectaaaaaations! If Obama was as smart as I am, tra la la." The predictable stupidity of the Obama haters is now just boring, as the ACA starts to really hit its benchmarks. they're exposed as the know-nothing shitheads they've always been.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)...one, "cooking the books": http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024756163
Whisp
(24,096 posts)There are sooooo many that are smarter, eh?
It's kills me with laughter when you can imagine all the puffery and pomp when those words are chosen.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)match wits with the President is transparent as hell. Some really ridiculous assertions are being passed off a: well he should have... or why doesn't he.
It's one thing to discuss strategy, but another thing entirely to constantly pretend he has no idea what he's doing, and your plan would work.
It's like the people who were sure he would lose the election giving him advice on how to campaign...because he's not doing it right.
IronLionZion
(45,447 posts)deliberately designed to stop people from signing up. The Koch brothers tried to scare and bribe young people in particular.
Plus human nature to wait until the last minute or to even not bother or be aware of the deadline or fully understand the importance of having insurance in case something serious happens.
We'll eventually get the numbers from private sites, brokers, direct from insurance companies, and who decided to march into the boss's office and finally sign up for their employer group plans if they had not bothered to before. Those totals should win us the election in November if they can be procured in time.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Spot on, and it goes for a lot of the folks apparently greiving that it's working.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)Yeah that seems pretty popular.