According to The Wall Street Journal, developing the health insurance exchange site so far . . .
. . . has cost at least $360 million, and possibly as much as $600 million.
Then there’s the F-22. Developing that baby cost a mere $42 billion and while the planes themselves are a steal at only $150 million per, it was nine years before a single production model was delivered to the Air Force. Wikipedia:
During the development process the aircraft continued to gain weight at the cost of range and aerodynamic performance, even as capabilities were deleted or delayed in the name of affordability
F-22 production was split up over many subcontractors across 46 states, in a strategy to increase Congressional support for the program.[29][30] However the production split, along with the implementation of several new technologies were likely responsible for increased costs and delays.[31] Many capabilities were deferred to post-service upgrades, reducing the initial cost but increasing total project cost.[32]Each aircraft required “1,000 subcontractors and suppliers and 95,000 workers” to build.[33] The F-22 was in production for 15 years, at a rate of roughly two per month.[34]
Now that’s some bureaucracy there! It’s really a marvel the thing flies.
You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy. But you cannot have both.
Whatever Works 
😆 And these are the “people” you wanted to trust with your healthcare and/or anything else of importance?
But…One thing that should be noted is the vague range of the health insurance exchange site’s costs. Like everything with ObamaCare, the government is refusing to tell anyone the facts and numbers. Thay should tell everyone something.
Finally, the Raptor was never a good plan in my opinion but it’s part of our long-standing High-Low Combat Aircraft Mix where we produce and use both an expensive, super high-tech fighter and a lesser one, e.g., the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Falcon.
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jonolan, based on my own personal experiences as a plain old citizen . . .yes, I trusted they’d get the ACA procedures right.
I think I’ve said before that I’ve interacted over the years with SS, Medicare and IRS online. And every time the experience has been good. Terrific sites. Very intuitive. Easy to navigate. And get you right where you want to go.
Ever tried to navigate a site like Comcast? It’s murder unless you’re there to order new service or buy something else. I’d say those Fed sites I visited were about the most user friendly I’d ever visited.
When it was time for me to buy supplemental Medicare, I started at the site of the people selling the stuff. It was frustrating as hell. Then I went to consumer sites. Finally I went to Medicare’s own site and looked for some clear info about what was what. Found it in a second, with clear comparisons and details.
So yeah, I figured they’d get it right. But then we refused to even consider the best approach from the get go. Medicare For All is what we needed.
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Lets look at this….
The cost of almost ALL Government contracts are wildly inflated…..
Remember wrenchs for thousands of dollars?
Part of the problem is what the righwingnut complain about….
They’re right…
If you want to buy a cup, you go buy a cup…
For the Govt to do it?
It takes 17 steps and 6 months….
Spreading Defense Contract’s around the country has NOTHING to do with anytghing except you have to build POLITICAL support to get a system signed off from Congress….
The F-22 is the culimination of both things I just mentioned AND….
The Air Force in LOVE with anything FAST….
There is NOT use for the F-22 right now..
No Air Force has anything that compairs to it….
As a matter of fact the F-16 and F-15 old war horses are doing fine….
The F-35 which is STILL working out it’s kinks and will be around for decades…
But you watch….
The Air Force is probabaly on the drawing boards right now with a NEXT GENERATION fas burning that will keep funding going……
They should have NEVER seperated the Air Force from the Army….
They would have saved TRILLIONS of dollars….
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And that why, james, the prospect of ‘sequester’ was assumed was supposed to scare Congress away from letting it happen. The assumption was that they would never want the defense contractor cuts in their districts.
Ha. They were wrong this time.
That 46-state strategy of the defense industry was brilliant.
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Thanks for putting the software cost into perspective, Moe. Compared to the cost of the F-22 shows the rollout to be peanuts. It’s also peanuts compared to the $24 Billion the shutdown cost, by the way. As for the F-22 program, both jonolan and jamesb are right about it being inefficient and unnecessary, but it’s important to note the root cause of that. It’s not bad program management, it’s Congress playing politics. One would think the Cold War was still on. Someone should tell the GOP. That’s the party that wants to eliminate the EPA and keep programs like the F-22 and F-35.
Speaking of the EPA, I read Joel Brinkley’s column in this morning’s paper where he reveals that massive poisoning of rice and other crops is occurring in China now, and that’s on top of their air becoming unbreathable.
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Jim, the most stunning part of the China air pollution is that they’ve no policy to mitigate it while they look to solve it. Doubt we’ll ever hear the numbers, but I bet thousands will die.
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@Jim
Eisenhower was very prophetic. Unfortunately very few people listen to presidents who make sense, especially if it will affect their investments. Carter is another prophetic president that nobody wanted to listen to. 40 odd years from knowing we needed to move away from oil dependency and guess what changed……………Nada. Starting to look an awful lot like the Roman Empire, well, towards the end that is.
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t4t – I’d say it’s more like we’re looking at a corporatist state like in Max Headroom (ever see that?).
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T4T,
Actually Eisenhower wasn’t prophetic. He was a politically grandstanding idiot. This is because he couldn’t understand the truths that I, James, and Jim (almost never in agreement) have stated in these comments.
We get these ridiculous military projects and other military spending that the military doesn’t even want do to politics. And it’s politically motivated because, in many districts, the government contractors ARE the core of the economy and these projects funnel federal tax dollars into local jobs, businesses, and taxable earnings.
Frankly, if we ran the military’s budget like any corporation would run a department’s budget, we could conservatively cut it by 40% without a single iota of loss of operational capacity. But no; we have to let Congress add things to it that were never asked for and often were directly counter to the military’s needs.
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That’s because its not about the military’s needs. Its about making money and rich America has poor America by the balls. The 1% is real.
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Nope. Wrong again. It’s about politicians keeping their jobs. The 1% don’t factor much into this equation at all because, overall, only a small % of their wealth is tied up in the military-industrial complex and what is tied up isn’t particularly dependent upon specific projects.
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@jonolan
Who the fuck do you think controls the politicians? Not little old you, or me for that matter. The financial boon that stems from the military-industrial complex isn’t limited to those industries. And for the most part it is next to impossible to completely unravel where the money comes from and goes to in regards to the 1%. You can banter all you want about Dems and Reps and health care and politics and all I see is the rich still getting richer and the poor, well, you know whats happening with them. 😦
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That’s a good chart, T4T, but check this one out:
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Sure the ACA so far is not the $ 42 Billion F-22. How can you compare a website to a military plane? It’s more like a $ 360 Million toilet seat. Less expensive, but far more ridiculous.
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Moe, the only difference is that when we go to war, Raptors don’t fall from the sky or explode on the runway.
This healthcare rollout perfectly encapsulates why half the country has little confidence in government. I’m really not surprised by the level of incompetence here. Are you?
The programmers had over three years to get this right, and they didn’t. What’s worse is that the site failed stress tests several days before the rollout, but the government went with it anyway.
If only the Republican Party just let Obamacare go without threatening to shut the government down. It’s really just the gift that just keeps on giving. The next shoe to drop is that only sick people will sign up for the insurance, driving up costs without the backstop of all the young people footing the bill.
That too, could have been avoided, but the penalty is so absurdly low that not signing up is the only economically rational decision for healthy young people.
The third shoe to drop will be elongated wait times for doctors (who are already in short supply). I wonder if people will wake up when baby boomers start dying because they can’t see a doctor on a timely basis.
The best thing for Republicans to do will be to sit back and eat popcorn while this disaster collapses under its own weight.
At this point, Americans are getting exactly the kind of government they voted for.
Enjoy!
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Sean – I’m optimistic on whether the program itself will work (if it ever gets off the ground). The incentives built in are meant to move away from fee for service which is a big part of our current model.
But I do agree with you about the roll out. I put up a post this morning with some good reporting that supports pretty much what you’re saying.
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@Sean
I think you have been getting exactly the kind of government you voted for for quite some time. I do believe you were over 10 TRILLION dollars in debt before Obama ever came around.
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@TitforTat,
I never said I supported George W. Bush’s push for Medicare Part D, or any of his deficit spending any more than I support President Obama’s.
However, if you’re going to spend money, I’d rather it be on defense rather than on a bloated federal program that won’t go away when the war does. At least you can cut defense spending. Entitlement spending, not so much.
@jamesb,
Ah, Obamacare is Bush’s fault. Of course! The old saw deployed with hamfisted alacrity half a decade after the man is long gone.
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And had the whole Economy mess dropped in his lap as you know who walked out the door…….
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@James
There isnt a lot of differences between any of the recent Presidents. Big money has them all by the short and curlies.
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@TitforTat,
Also, in regard to the $10 Trillion of debt – we’re now $17 Trillion in debt. In just five years, President Obama has nearly doubled our national debt, and unemployment is still over 7%.
Again, Americans are getting exactly what they voted for.
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Yup Sean…..
Healthcare….
Same-sex marriage…..
Gays in the Military….
Out of Iraq…..
A better Economy than 2009….
Unemployment at the Early 2008 level….
Strides in Immiigration…
Wall Street Reform….
CFPB….
Better US Image Oversea’s..
Two woman Supreme’s on the bench….
and some other stuff
Yup THAT’s waht we voted for…..
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90.6 million people over the age of 16 not working – an all-time high – an increase of 10 million since Obama took office
Only 3 people working for every 2 out of a job or not working
Lowest labor force participation rate since the 1970s
7.2% unemployment
Healthcare costs spiraling
Egypt falling apart
Libya falling apart with heavy weapons spreading to 12 other countries that have since had conflicts spurred by these weapons transfers (i.e., Syria and Mali)
For the generation of people actually working, the economy trumps everything you’ve cited, and things aren’t getting any better.
And this is after Obama increased the national debt by $7 trillion since he took office – a 70% increase from the amount of that left by the combined total of all his predecessors.
And how’s that Wall Street Reform working out? Or the useless CFPB for stupid people who can’t read contracts? Have you tried getting a loan these days?
Who gives a crap about cosmetics like two women on the Supreme Court? That doesn’t create jobs or feed my family.
And glad you’re focused on policies that make you feel good, but I’d rather have policies that actually help me put food on the table.
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Sean – I’d say that the national debt increased ITSELF. A $10trillion debt in a half decade of falling revenues to address it . . .
And those 90 million over 16 who don’t work? Would I be correct in guessing that includes the tens of millions of retirees and those who’ve never worked like many women, disabled, etc?
If so, it’s a bogus number. The only comparisons that really inform us are percentages reported the way we report unemployment, which is credible.
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If so, it’s a bogus number. (moe)
Lol, you think. 90.6 million not working, hmm, suspiciously not unemployed.
Lefty drug dealers Im sure. 😉
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