News Nuggets 1373

DAYLEE PICTURE: French Station at Dumont d'Urville in East Antartica.  From Reuters.

UP-FRONT OBAMACARE NUGGETS!!
Don’t Believe the Hype: Health Insurers Think Obamacare is Going to be Fine (Sarah Kliff) from the Washington Post
"Obamacare's troubled rollout hasn't scared insurers out of the marketplace. Instead, speaking to thousands of health-care investors gathered in San Francisco, plan executives describe the Affordable Care Act as, at worst, a fixable mess and, at best, a major growth opportunity. The executives' commentary was a reminder that the health-care industry doesn't set its watch by the election cycles which dominate Washington. They expected Obamacare to be a bit of a mess in 2014 -- but they're in it for the long haul."

Too Late, Guys (Josh Marshall) from Talking Points Memo
"I don't want to be pollyannaish on this. I think supporters and opponents should be realistic. It's not a slam dunk; it's not "Mission Accomplished." But the effort to use guerrilla policy warfare to collapse Obamacare with a 'death spiral' has failed. The numbers show it. The stakeholders know it. The Obamacare dead-enders gave it their best shot, pushed the limits, spent lots of money. They even got a massive assist from the administration in the website debacle of October and November. But they failed. And now it's too late."

Obamacare Enrollment 'Surge' Continues Into 2014 In Some States from Reuters
"The late-December surge that pushed enrollment in private health insurance plans under Obamacare past 2.1 million people continued into 2014, officials of several state-run insurance marketplaces said on Wednesday. It was encouraging news for White House hopes of signing up 7 million Americans by March 31, the deadline for 2014 coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare law."

What Can Republicans Do If Obamacare Isn’t A Disaster? (Henry Decker) from the National Memo
"... there’s a question that should keep every Republican strategist up at night: What happens if health care reform isn’t the electoral albatross that Republicans assume? It’s not an unrealistic proposition."

Mideast Disasters (Fareed Zakaria) from the Washington Post
"U.S. involvement has made things worse."

Lessons of Benghazi (Eugene Robinson) from the Washington Post
"The bipartisan report on Benghazi released Wednesday by the Senate intelligence committee should finally convince conspiracy theorists of the obvious: There is no there there. Administration officials did not orchestrate any kind of attempt, politically motivated or otherwise, to deceive the American people. In their public statements, including the infamous talking points, they relied on what intelligence analysts told them.

Pope Defrocked 400 Priests in Two Years from the Associated Press
"A document obtained by The Associated Press on Friday shows Pope Benedict XVI defrocked nearly 400 priests over just two years for sexually molesting children. The statistics for 2011 and 2012 show a dramatic increase over the 171 priests removed in 2008 and 2009, when the Vatican first provided details on the number of priests who have been defrocked."

America is Becoming More Liberal (Rosenthal) from the Washington Post 
"The country is getting more diverse, and as the proportion of white voters shrinks, so, too, does the conservative base. As demographics shift, so do political preferences — in this case, toward the left. A close examination of U.S. attitudes in the past decade-plus reveals that the United States is steadily becoming more progressive."

McDonald's Can Afford to Pay More (Christopher Flavelle) from Bloomberg 
"The takeaway here isn't that a higher minimum wage won't increase costs for restaurants, though it's likely the association is exaggerating the magnitude of that effect. It's that even if a higher minimum wage pushes up prices by a few percentage points, the data show that most restaurants -- and fast-food restaurants in particular -- can pass those increases onto consumers without cutting into their revenue."

Poll: Utah (Utah!) Now Split Evenly on Whether Gay Marriage Should Be Legal (David Weigel) from Slate
"A new Salt Lake Tribune poll of Utah, four weeks after a court struck down Amendment 3, finds the state divided 48–48 on whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, and totally decided—72–25 in favor—on letting gays form domestic partnerships. "

Goodbye (For Now) to Voter ID in Pennsylvania (Jamelle Bouie) from the Daily Beast
"A judge has struck down the state’s identification law, citing its violation of the fundamental right to vote."

A WTF! ENVIRONMENTAL NUGGET!!
Water-Relief Tankers Filled from Charleston Water System from the Charleston Gazette [of West Virginia]
"West Virginia American Water pulled its bulk water tankers out of service in Kanawha County Thursday evening, after complaints that the water being distributed to residents had the same odor as the chemical-tainted water from last week's Freedom Industries spill into the Elk River. ... Water company spokeswoman Laura Jordan said the tankers had been filled near the plant after zero levels of the chemical "Crude MCHM" were recorded."

Christie Lane Closure Aide says He'll Talk, but Only in Exchange for Immunity (Jed Lewison) from Daily Kos
"David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official and Chris Christie appointee who was ordered by Christie's former deputy chief of staff to create "traffic problems in Fort Lee," says he'll talk — but only in exchange for immunity from prosecution."

Chris Christie’s Crisis Plunges Republican Party Deeper Into The Wilderness (McKay Coppins) from BuzzFeed
"The establishment freaks out as another favorite son falls from grace. “There are definitely people jumping ship.” ... the Republican establishment is warily scanning its bruised and bloodied field of potential 2016 standard-bearers — and many of the party poobahs are on the brink of panic."

The Right’s “Narrative Skewing”: How it Dupes Itself Over Obamacare, Benghazi and Christie (Brian Buetler) from Salon
"I don’t claim to be clairvoyant, but I think the likelihood that Obamacare is collapsing, Hillary Clinton is collapsing, and Chris Christie is brushing off Bridgegate, all at the same time, is about zero percent. And yet, judging by the things they say and write, conservatives are certain that all three things are true. This isn’t an accident."

GOP Leaders Lack Faith in their Own Agenda (Jay Bookman) from the Atlanta Journal Constitution
" Judging from their behavior over the past four or five years, Speaker John Boehner and other House leaders want nothing to do with actual bills or proposals. It's time to actually do something. Put it on the table, ladies and gentlemen. Let's see what you've been hiding for so long."

Tea Party Hatches Quiet-but-Insane Plot Against Democracy: Meet the “12 Percent Solution” (Paul Rosenberg) from Salon
"I listened in to a recent conference call with conservative activists. Their latest scheme? Nullify laws they hate."

Even Paul Ryan Can't Please Conservatives Anymore from the National Journal
"This week's spending-bill fight revealed deepening fractures within the GOP, spelling trouble for 2016. ... Ultraconservative groups are furious over the omnibus appropriations package that coasted through the Republican-led House on Wednesday."

BRITISH HISTORY NUGET!!
Scientists Find Remains of Alfred The Great Or King Edward The Elder (Nico Hines) from the Daily Beast
"Archaeologists believe they have unearthed the remains of Alfred the Great, the 9th-century monarch who laid the foundations for the English Kingdom."

COOKING NUGGET!!
These 10 Spices That Will Instantly Make You A Better Cook from the Huffington Post
"For all of you out there who think you just can't cook, we have something to tell you: yes, you can. ... Stock your kitchen with the 10 spices below and you'll quickly see a change in the dishes you put together. These spices, when added to the right dish, will add flavor and punch where blandness existed before."