CFIF 10/25/2013

	The Infomercial President If there is something unbecoming about a Commander-in-Chief using the same grounds where Abraham Lincoln once agonized his way through the Civil War to pitch his new website, it is doubly so when he's forced, only days later, to use the same real estate to issue a discomfited mea culpa. So it was on Monday when Obama was forced to apologize for the widespread failures that marked the first few weeks of ObamaCare's online exchanges. Read more now.
	A Stunning New Court Defeat for ObamaCare Things just went from awful to worse this week for ObamaCare, and the Obama Administration more generally. Nearly a month into its disastrous debut, it's clear that the ObamaCare website isn't just "glitching," it's completely melting down. ... Now, a new federal court ruling may legally doom ObamaCare before it ultimately collapses under its own unsustainable weight. Read more now.
	Room on the Right for Middle Ground In the wake of conservatives' abject surrender in this month's budget talks, the sniping between "moderates" and "Tea Partiers" has reached epic proportions. In public print (or cyber-print) and in private conversations and chat-rooms alike, it seems as if far more energy is expended politically cannibalizing each other than in attacking the left or in actually helping conservative superstars such as Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli. It doesn't need to be this way. Read more now.
	Podcast: Excuses Won't Fix Problems with ObamaCare Troy Senik, CFIF Senior Fellow and Senior Editor at Ricochet, discusses the disastrous ObamaCare roll-out, lack of confidence that the system can be fixed and infighting in the GOP in the wake of the shutdown. Listen to the interview now.
EDITORIAL CARTOONS View more of Michael Ramirez's latest cartoons now. QUESTION OF THE WEEK Which one of the following individuals did not serve on the U.S. Supreme Court? A) William Howard Taft B) Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar C) Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. D) Robert Hanson Harrison Get the correct answer now.
	JESTER'S COURTROOM Plaintiff Didn't "Like" This Prank A middle school assistant principal sued five students and their parents for creating fake social media accounts in his name. Adam Matot, assistant principal at Judson Middle School in Oregon, charged the students and parents with "cyberbullying" after the fake accounts were used to post material, some of it obscene, which "caused his reputation to be diminished." Matot was seeking relief under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ("CFAA") and for defamation of character. However, the court recently disagreed with Matot's CFAA claim, saying it simply didn't hold up, even under the broad definitions of "unauthorized access." Read more now.
	QUOTE OF THE WEEK The Editors, Chicago Tribune, On the Problems With ObamaCare: "The problems with Obamacare go much deeper than a few million lines of faulty code and a sign-up system that swallows enrollee applications in a single electronic gulp. "The bugs aren't just in the software. They're in the law itself. "Consumers are finally seeing insurance rates and plans. In many cases, insurance premiums, deductibles and co-pays are rising. Illinois officials said premiums here would be lower than expected. But a Tribune analysis of 22 of the lowest-priced plans showed that those plans required huge annual deductibles of more than $4,000 for an individual - and $8,000 for family coverage. "Lower premiums also come with a troubling tradeoff: access to a narrower networks of hospitals and doctors. If people aren't careful in choosing coverage, they may be shocked to find they have to pay much more for out-of-network care to go to their preferred doctor or hospital." Read more of this week's notable quotes now.
	FREEDOM LINE HIGHLIGHTS Ramirez Cartoon: The ObamaCare Launch Company Behind Failed Obamacare Website Wins Award for Steering People Away From Obamacare Healthcare.gov's Intentional Inconvenience Podcast: The Affordable Care Act's Privacy Threat ObamaCare Takes Teachers From Special-Needs Students Ramirez Cartoon: Oversold Load The Federal Government Bribes Mexican Male Prostitutes with Your Tax Dollars Federal Employees Run Up High Tab During Vegas Jaunt Taxpayers Get More Tricks Than Treats at Halloween CFIF Technotes