memeorandum: Obama to call healthcare website glitches ‘unacceptable’ as fix sought (Reuters)

9:10 AM ET, October 21, 2013

Top Items:

Contractors See Weeks of Work on Health Site — Federal contractors have identified most of the main problems crippling President Obama's online health insurance marketplace, but the administration has been slow to issue orders for fixing those flaws, and some contractors worry that the system …

Discussion: CBS News, Talking Points Memo, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Betsy's Page, The Daily Beast and Prairie Weather

HHS.gov:

Doing Better: Making Improvements to HealthCare.gov — Over the past two and a half weeks, millions of Americans visited HealthCare.gov to look at their new health care options under the Affordable Care Act. In that time, nearly half a million applications for coverage have been submitted from across the nation.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Health Insurance Blog, Politico, Scared Monkeys, Right Wing News, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, The Hill and The Verge

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:

HealthCare.gov's glitches prompt Obama to call in more computer experts — The Obama administration said Sunday that it has enlisted additional computer experts from across the government and from private companies to help rewrite computer code and make other improvements …

Discussion: Power Line and The Week

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Lousy Medicaid Arguments — For now, the big news about Obamacare is the debacle of HealthCare.gov, the Web portal through which Americans are supposed to buy insurance on the new health care exchanges. For now, at least, HealthCare.gov isn't working for many users.

Discussion: Daily Kos and ThinkProgress

Louise Radnofsky / Washington Wire: ‘Tech Surge’ Planned to Fix Obamacare Exchanges

Jason Millman / Politico:
Tech ‘surge’ to tackle Obamacare websites

Discussion: Roger L. Simon and National Review

Reuters:
Obama to call healthcare website glitches ‘unacceptable’ as fix sought

Discussion: NPR and National Review

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

GOP, Boehner take shutdown hit in new CNN poll — Washington (CNN) — Just more than half the public says that it's bad for the country that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, according to a new national poll conducted after the end of the partial government shutdown.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Post Politics, The Week, Politico, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and Prairie Weather

Justin Sink / The Hill:

White House photographer weds in Rose Garden — President Obama hosted a wedding for White House photographer Pete Souza and Patti Lease on Saturday evening in the Rose Garden, according to a White House official. — “They ceremony was performed by [White House] Chaplain Rev. [Stan] …

Discussion: Reuters, CNN and The Impolitic

Justin Sink / The Hill: ObamaCare enrollees to join president in Rose Garden (Video)

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Pelosi: ACA site problems ‘unacceptable’

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Politico

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:

CONNECT — Cracks are showing in the Democratic coalition as the next round of budget talks gets under way, hurting the chances for progress toward a broad deal that changes the tax code and significantly narrows future deficits. — While Republicans are still smarting over nasty infighting …

Zach Carter / The Huffington Post:
Why Democrats Might Cave On Social Security Cuts

Discussion: Firedoglake, LewRockwell, Campaign for America's Future and Hullabaloo

Julian Hattem / The Hill:
Top Senate Democrat says ObamaCare is on its way to ‘substantial success’

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hinterland Gazette, The Moderate Voice and The PJ Tatler

Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Our choice for governor in 2013: none of the above — The Times-Dispatch is not endorsing a candidate for governor in 2013. — The words that follow should not come as a surprise. During recent months, numerous editorials in The Times-Dispatch have lamented the gubernatorial campaign.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Fix, Outside the Beltway, Politico and The Raw Story

NY Daily News:

Brooklyn group of black youths blocks white couple's car, bloody victims in racial attack: cops — Authorities say Ronald and Alana Russo were pummeled by attackers — ranging in age from 12 to 18 — who showered them with racial slurs. One Brooklyn teen says he was falsely arrested …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, UrbanGrounds, The Hinterland Gazette and Gothamist

Spiegel Online:

NSA Accessed Mexican President's Email — The NSA has been systematically eavesdropping on the Mexican government for years. It hacked into the president's public email account and gained deep insight into policymaking and the political system. The news is likely to hurt ties between the US and Mexico.

Discussion: CNET, Business Insider, NBCNews, VodkaPundit, TechCrunch, The Verge, The Hinterland Gazette, Gawker, NPR, Mediaite, emptywheel and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »

CBS News:

Dick Cheney's heart — The following script is from “Dick Cheney's Heart” which aired on Oct. 20, 2013. The correspondent is Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Michael Radutzky and Denise Schrier Cetta, producers. — Dick Cheney is one of the most polarizing figures in America.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Taegan Goddard's …, NPR and Gawker

Benjamin Bell / ABC News:

Jeb Bush to GOP: ‘Have a Little Bit of Self-Restraint,’ Offer Alternative to Achieve Obamacare Repeal — During an interview for “This Week,” former Republican Florida Gov. Jeb Bush encouraged the GOP to come up with an alternative and show some restraint if their aim was to repeal the president's signature healthcare law.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Conservatives4Palin and The Gateway Pundit

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Jeb Bush urges Cruz to show ‘self-restraint’

Discussion: Politico and his vorpal sword

Meredith Shiner / The World's Greatest …:

Reid: GOP Will Lose House if Government Shuts Down Again — Reid's interview with Univision aired Sunday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in an interview aired Sunday that Republicans would be at risk of losing their majority in the House …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Taegan Goddard's …

Greg Clary / CNN:
Rubio weighs in on McConnell's election fight

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

ThinkProgress:

Marco Rubio: Obama Has Undermined Immigration Reform By Refusing To Defund Obamacare — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) suggested on Sunday that President Obama's refusal to compromise with Republicans on Obamacare to re-open the government and raise the nation's debt ceiling has jeopardized …

Discussion: The Raw Story