Tap dance all you want, the reality is that I did take a look at your cite, and others too that reported that most of your numbers did come from adding all contracts to the government.
The person in charge of the system states the cost is about 630 million and you keep arguing?
The cost is for the entire “system”. The website is part of the “system.”
Because the number was almost the same as the one previously mentioned in reference to the cost of “all of the company’s contracts for a Health and Human Services Department program over the last seven years.”
Also, as pointed many times before that was not the number reported by the ones that did check, and as people like Sebelius under oath mentioned $174 million, I have to go for the likely explanation that the number mentioned by the person in charge does include more than just the website and adds the immediate cost of the additional help.
Indeed, more likely to be around 300 million when we go for larger assumptions. Still less than 600 million and still way less than the billions wasted by the Republicans in the effort to defeat the law.
Its ok, they can make that up not feeding poor children. Win win.
And yet…
So we asked Julie Bataille, spokeswoman for the agency overseeing HealthCare.gov, for the total taxpayer cost committed for the federal exchange, and she said, “Total IT spending is in the neighborhood of about $630 million.”
Note: “total cost for federal exchange”. Not “all of the company’s contracts for a Health and Human Services Department program over the last seven years”. And “total IT spending”. As in “for the website”. Oh and final note: $630 million.
But keep twisting yourself in a pretzel trying to pretend it’s less.
No need to, you are ignoring conveniently number that came from the testimony made under oath: $174 million.
And one more note: There were 24 billion dollars wasted by the republicans on the effort to defeat the law. Once again, that is what I do keep in mind too, so, sorry if the outrage level I have for the efforts of the republicans regarding the defeat of the law does not match the one you have for the costs for the site.
Rand Paul is preparing a proposal to control costs on ophthalmology care. That’ll be a cite for sore eyes, you betcha!
I haven’t seen any reference to 7 years for that number, the only reference I have seen is the one from the dept spokeswoman, but it’s true that we don’t know what exactly that covers (I did see something that indicated part of the contract included support for next 2 years also).
I agree that Sebelius mentioning 174 carries some weight and is contradictory to the spokeswoman’s statement, so it’s not clear what is being discussed in either case.
Having said that, I have read that they are not allowed to just add other people and pay them, there are restrictions regarding the actions they can take.
Because some of the tech people in the surge have been on leave from their respective companies, it makes me think any additional help is time being donated for whatever reason.
I realize I am a skeptic, but I wonder (sometimes) if the anti- Obama people could or would make sure the web site was not working right. The critics have been trying since the Day President Obama was sworn in , to try to make anything he did fail. Just like people Who are like Snowden.? I can predict that Fox stations will be against anything the president does or says.
Well, perhaps if Republicans in 36 states hadn’t spitefully refused to set up exchanges at the state level, thus forcing the federal government to do it for them, and perhaps if several of those states hadn’t passed laws making it harder for the navigators to do their jobs…