BACK IN THE USSR is written by Larry or LC, who also writes DiscConnected, a blog that addresses all things music. BACK IN THE USSR is a politically incorrect forum (my favorite kind), in which various policies of the government are examined under the microscope. As LC says in his header: "On this blog, I'm going to leave the CD's on the shelf and vent my frustrations with the current state of political affairs. Our country has problems. Our tax burden is worse than our founding fathers fought a revolution over. Our Federal government has grown into a monstrosity that would make Paul Revere start riding again. We're back...in the United States' Socialist Republic!"
And your traveling music:
SEBELIUS UNDER FIRE by DiscConnected
11/6/13
In an exchange with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas., Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stated Wednesday that it was possible convicted felons could be hired as ObamaCare ‘navigators,’ giving them access to personal information like Social Security numbers and addresses of anyone signing up for the program.
Sebelius made the admission during a Senate Finance Committee
hearing, the second time in a week she was on Capitol Hill, forced to
defend the problem-plagued ObamaCare website.
“Isn’t it true that there is no federal requirement for
navigators to undergo a criminal background check,” Cornyn asked her.
“That is true,” Sebelius answered. “States could add in
additional background checks and other features, but it is not part of the
federal requirement.”
Cornyn pressed, “So a convicted felon could be a navigator
and could acquire sensitive personal information from an individual unbeknownst
to them?”
Sebelius answered, “This is possible.”
The last time Sebelius testified before a House committee,
she fell on the sword, personally apologizing for the failures.
“Hold me accountable for the debacle,” she said. “I’m
responsible.”Lawmakers from both parties have harshly criticized the health insurance exchange website rollout and her agency’s lack of foresight about the massive problems.
“In short, Madam Secretary, I believe you were given advice,
counsel and warning from experts inside your agency and out that the health
care exchanges were not going to be ready. Furthermore, I believe to protect
the administration, you chose to ignore these warnings, and as a result, you
have put our entire health care system and one-sixth of our economy in
jeopardy.”
“You have said America should hold you for — accountable,
which is why today, Madam Secretary, I repeat my request for you to resign,” he
said.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the
abrupt retirement of the chief information officer, in the first high-level
departure since the botched HealthCare.gov launch last month.
In my opinion, the computer glitches should not be the focus.
In the past, I’d have said the focus should be the
constitutionality of the bill, but quite frankly, today’s admission concerns
me.
The idea that my employer is required by the federal
government to perform background checks on all employees who handle personal
health information (we subcontract with Medicare health plans), but the federal
government does not impose the same requirement on their own employees is one I
find very alarming.
With identity theft as rampant as it is, we're not going to screen who we allow to access our citizen's personal information?
Doesn't that seem a little short-sighted?
Can't this administration do anything right the first time?
If you are interested in another viewpoint on what is happening in this country, I encourage you to visit BACK IN THE USSR.
