A letter I received from Joaquin Castro and Trey Martinez Fischer had the link to the video below.  By way of explanation, the letter started out as follows:

Today, San Antonio’s Judge Carlo Key, a Republican County Court Judge, is the latest elected official to leave the Republican Party and join Texas Democrats.

I wonder if Ted Cruz appreciates just how good a job he may be doing in finally turning around Texas politics.

C-SPAN broadcast the President’s Remarks.  As of this writing, I cannot embed the video here, but you can click on the preceding link to see it.

The President talked about all the benefits of the ACA that do not require you to use the troubled website.  He promised that the website will be fixed.

He provided a link to See 4 ways you can apply for coverage. Will the mainstream media finally start telling their viewers and readers about the alternatives to the healthcare website instead of exclusively covering the failures of the website? Or will they continue to follow NBC’s philosophy that it is not their duty to inform their viewers with useful information?

One of the ways to get the insurance is by telephone.

To apply by phone, call 1-800-318-2596, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (TTY: 1-855-889-4325). A customer service representative will work with you to complete the application and enrollment process.

The President mentioned that there have been only 1 minute wait times on the phone (expect the waits to get longer now that he has publicized the phone number). It takes about 25 minutes to go through the phone process to finish the application process.  For a family plan it may take 45 minutes.

Another way is to  Get in-person help in your community.  The URL for the previous link is localhelp.healthcare.gov.  I tried the link to see what help there is in Massachusetts.

If you live in Massachusetts, the Health Connector is the Health Insurance Marketplace to serve you. Instead of HealthCare.gov, you’ll use the Health Connector website to apply for coverage, compare plans, and enroll. Visit the Health Connector now to apply.

The President mentioned that unlike after Thanksgiving shopping, these deals will not run out. He could have also mentioned, that there are millions of people who are willing to withstand long waiting times to get the bargains on Black Friday, and they aren’t even shopping for something as important as life-long health insurance.

Was the Darwin Award invented for those people who will not get health-insurance because they are influenced by the lies on Faux Noise?

Think of all the people who are stuck in dead-end jobs that they do not like because of the need for health insurance for their families, but if it weren’t for the insurance problem, would prefer to start their own businesses.

Think how much better the economy will be when these creative entrepreuners are set free to follow their dreams.

Talking Points Memo has the article One Big Problem With Heritage’s New Obamacare Study.

The conservative Heritage Foundation released last week a new report on insurance premiums under Obamacare, and the conclusion was that favorite of conservative talking points: people are going to pay more for insurance under Obamacare.

Only the foundation left out one key variable in the equation, one that undermines their conclusion that “individuals in most states will end up spending more on the exchanges.”

They didn’t account for the financial help that the Affordable Care Act gives uninsured people to purchase insurance, one of the law’s central provisions.

So, when you hear Republicans talk about the harm ACA is doing, the jobs that have been lost, and the working hours cut, just repeat after me, “They are lying.” It seems a pretty safe bet that you will be right. So what else about the Republican plan for this country should you doubt?

Just once, when Ted Cruz and others start with their tirades, it would be nice to hear a reporter ask, “Can you prove any of this?”