The morning of April 15 had an indication that it would contain an historic moment. Sarah Kliff, formerly of the Washington Post Wonkblog and now with General Electric Vox, appeared to be finally breaking through her liberal coccoon. Yes, she tweeted some actual Obamacare criticism of the administration over the suspicious changes in the way the Census Bureau measures the uninsured. Alas, it was not to be. With startling speed, Kliff got her "mind right" with a correctional tweet in less than an hour after a Ministry of Truth talk with an administration offical.
Let us now go back to that bright moment on April 15 when our Miss Kliff appeared to be awakening from her long liberal stupor:
Getting worked up into an increasingly heated health nerd rage about the Census changes. We're losing our best data source on Obamacare.
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) April 15, 2014
Kliff's initial distress comes from very convenient changes in the way the recently politicized Census Bureau measures the uninsured. Here is how Megan McArdle views this obvious cooking of the books:
I’m speechless. Shocked. Stunned. Horrified. Befuddled. Aghast, appalled, thunderstruck, perplexed, baffled, bewildered and dumbfounded. It’s not that I am opposed to the changes: Everyone understands that the census reports probably overstate the true number of the uninsured, because the number they report is supposed to be “people who lacked insurance for the entire previous year,” but people tend to answer with their insurance status right now.
But why, dear God, oh, why, would you change it in the one year in the entire history of the republic that it is most important for policy makers, researchers and voters to be able to compare the number of uninsured to those in prior years? The answers would seem to range from “total incompetence on the part of every level of this administration” to something worse.
And for a brief, shining moment Sarah Kliff seemed to concur until...
New reporting on Vox: Census changes are being implemented early enough to capture one year of pre-Obamacare data. http://t.co/MvL1ULTXsU
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) April 15, 2014
And what was the reason for the sudden change of mind/heart? Kliff explains how she was reprogrammed by someone from the administration Ministry of Truth:
An admin. official tells me the new Census Qs will be used for 2013 survey, making the change less alarming than I'd initially thought.
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) April 15, 2014
Unfortunately, many of her Twitter followers were skeptical bordering on sarcastic:
Who was that..? The same official who says that "7.1 Million Americans Have Enrolled in Private Health Coverage...?"
ahh, good. They are a totally trustworthy source. "If you like your data, you can keep it. Period."
Did you get a cookie with your kool-aid?
Translation of "Making the change less alarming": "Pretend this isn't bad or the White House will shun you."
At least let us give credit to Sarah Kliff for very briefly approaching reality before relapsing. Perhaps someday she will be manage to break free from her liberal cocoon, spread her shimmering wings in the warm light of truth, and fly, Butterfly, FLY!!!
