Response to Gaba's Garbage

I tried to post a response on Charles Gaba's website, but he decided it best to block me after writing a hit piece on me.   He definitely does not like it when anyone disagrees with him, especially if his facts are wrong.  Here is what I tried to post on his website, in response to his hit piece.  Sorry he is not man enough to accept a differing point of view.

For those who want a factual response to Mr. Gaba' s piece, read it quickly. He will most likely delete it.

The key is in three sentences of Peter Lee's letter.

1. "The number of people who have picked a Covered California health insurance plan now tops 1 million." I have no quarrel with that number. I accept that 1 million have picked a plan. Picking a plan is just like selecting a book on Amazon. It goes into your shopping cart. Picking a health care plan on Covered California does not mean the person picking it is enrolled.

Enrollment is a process, whereby one lists pertinent information, such as dependents, etc.

2. "The health insurance companies report that more than 85 percentof those who have enrolled are paying their premium and getting coverage." This may also be true. However, the insurance companies did not say that 85% of those who picked healthcare plans are now enrolled. That number is not presented by Mr. Lee. Mr. Gaba assumes that the number is everyone who picked a plan, which may or may not be true. It may be 100,000, 500,000; could be more or less that either of those numbers.

3. "That means 850,000 Californians are on their way to coverage through Covered California." Actually Mr. Lee may be correct, if he believes 850,000 Californians who have "picked" healthcare insurance plans will eventually enroll. There is nothing in his letter that indicates the insurance companies have reported that 850,000 people have actually enrolled.

It's a very carefully worded marketing letter, for which I give Mr. Lee kudos. He walks up to the line, but stops short of saying 85% of people who picked healthcare plans are now enrolled and have paid. There is no question that Mr. Lee wants you and Mr. Gaba to infer those numbers.

If Mr. Lee had to testify, under oath, there is no way he would testify that 850,000 people have actually paid for their healthcare plans. In fact he is careful to not make that statement in his letter. He is selling the fact that 1,000,000 people have picked a plan and let's you infer 85% of them have paid. If he were under oath, Mr. Lee would do as Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, has done with respect to healthcare.gov. Mr. Lee would say, "Those numbers are not yet available."

As for the shots Mr. Gaba took at me in the piece; no harm done. I took a few shots at him as well. We are both big boys and can take it.

I will address one item; he wondered why I only wrote about Athem Blue Cross of California. I picked it because it represented the largest numbers on his spreadsheet, suggesting that checking his facts with respect to that company might be worthwhile; to perform some due diligence on the facts in his blog.

Sorry Charles, I couldn't get all of this in 140 characters, so I thought it best to respond here, rather than on twitter. Although your facts are totally wrong, I am flattered that you wrote this piece especially for me. Thanks for unblocking me long enough to respond. Have a great evening

Chris Cuomo Says I Owe Him An Apology

Once again, in his effort to produce the big "aha" moment in an interview, Chris Cuomo went after a guest who is suing a casino.  The gambler's issue with the casino is that it gave him enough alcohol to impair his judgement, then let him run up his losses, even doubling his credit limit after he was impaired.  He lost a total of $500,000.

Does the gambler have a case?  I am not sure.  However, the credit limit is a contract between the casino and the gambler and contracts are not enforceable when one party to the contract is impaired while entering into the contract.  

Assume the gambler was not impaired when he entered into the contract that set up a $250,000 line of credit.  His claim that he was too impaired to renegotiate the contract when the casino doubled the line of credit may be valid.  Actually, the gambler says he has no memory of an agreement to double the credit line.

Chris Cuomo made the allegation that the gambler is wrong in this instance because he had lost more than $500,000 in past gambling outings, and that he drank in the past when he gambled.  Cuomo never considered that those two facts, admitted by the gambler, might indicate that there was something different about this incident.  Perhaps the gambler is upset because he was duped out of his money while impaired, instead of making a conscious decision to place bets, make rational decisions while playing his cards and allowing his credit limit to be doubled, if he even knew it was being doubled.

The fact that the gambler has lost more than $500,000 in the past, apparently more than one time,  and sued no one for his losses indicates to me that he may have a valid objection this time.  Perhaps, in the past he made a conscious decision to lose his money; this time he was denied a conscious decision by the casino.  Chris Cuomo never even considered that possibility. 

I tweeted my opinions to Chris Cuomo, pointing out that he did not think about some possible relevant issues before he made allegations.  Chris tweeted back that I was wrong and should apologize to him.  He knows I do not owe him an apology, any more than he owes me one because he does not agree with my opinions.  No apologies are in order from either side of the issue.  

Chris Cuomo's issue with me stems from his interviews with Dennis Rodman that caused Pastor Kenneth Bae to be moved from a hospital facility to a death camp in North Korea.  Shortly after Cuomo's two hit piece  interviews with Rodman, calling attention to Kenneth Bae while diplomatic efforts to free him may have been in progress behind the scenes, Pastor Bae was moved to a North Korean death camp.

Chris would probably say his interview had nothing to do with the transfer of Bae.  Wrong!  Kim Jung Un, the dictator of North Korea, made the transfer from a prison hospital to a death camp prison to keep focus on the story, a story that Chris Cuomo never should have brought up during an interview that was supposed to be about a group of American basketball players in North Korea.  The basketball game was the news of the day until Cuomo made it about Pastor Kenneth Bae

Chris pointed out that Kim Jung Un has imprisoned Kenneth Bae for no good reason.  I totally agree with Cuomo on that point.  However, Kim Jung Un is a dictator who does not allow the promotion of religion in his country.  Pastor Bae was charged with promoting religion in North Korea and a madman dictator found him guilty.  That is the way it is done in North Korea.  Is that wrong?  Absolutely, but Cuomo's hit pieces did not make it better.  He made the situation worse for Kenneth Bae, probably insuring a death sentence for Bae!  

Cuomo doubled down during a second interview with Dennis Rodman, stating that he would go to North Korea with Rodman and ask Kim Jung Un some tough questions.  I have two issues with Cuomo's statement.  He faulted Rodman for going to North Korea to play basketball, but sees nothing wrong with going to North Korea to further his career with CNN?  Also, no matter how much he makes the "macho" claim here in America, there is no way Chris Cuomo will sit in front of Kim Jung Un and ask him tough questions.  

Cuomo knows he would be sharing a hard floor cell with Kenneth Bae if he tried to do a hit piece on Kim Jun Un, while sitting on North Korean soil.  Of course, it makes him look tough while sitting comfortably in front of a camera with his make up and hair in perfect shape for the audience.  Even his most loyal viewers know he will not take on Kim Jung Un while sitting in North Korea, but for some reason he expected Dennis Rodman to do it.

Apologies owed?  No, none between Chris Cuomo and me.  We are two people who disagree with each other on the issues.  He believes he is right, I know I am right.  He would reverse the previous sentence and I understand that.  That is the way it goes.  He has a right to be wrong!

Is an apology owed to Kenneth Bae and his family by Cuomo?  Absolutely!  In my opinion, Cuomo also owes the American people an apology for turning a trip by a group of former NBA players into a diplomatic incident that further endangered the life of a fellow American.

As Chris likes to tweet with hash tags; He should #dobetter on #NewDay.  I'll add one; he should grow some #toughskin and realize that everyone does not believe he is the golden boy who is always right.