Health Exchange Sites Crushed By Demand; Shutdown Blanks Other Gov't Sites

An anonymous reader writes "The launch of a national health exchange site was marred by overloaded servers in several states around the country. In a White House press conference, President Obama said that by 7 a.m., there were over a million users, and he likened the capacity problems to the glitches that Apple experienced after discovering bugs in their rlease of iOS 7. 'I don't remember anybody suggesting Apple should stop selling iPhones or iPads, or threatening to shut down company if they didn't,' the president argued." Meanwhile, a number government websites went blank as a result of the shutdown, instead of simply lying dormant until personnel could return. The National Science Foundation, NASA, the FCC, and the Library of Congress are a few examples.

Comments

Re:Most "shutdowns" are completely unnecessary

[smpoole7]

> Most of the sequester cuts were planned ... to have a negative impact.

My wife works for the federal government, so I think I know a bit about what's going on. :)

You are absolutely right. The fact is, during a "shutdown," the government can decide which employees are "essential" and which can be furloughed. My wife is considered "essential," so she WILL go to work. She just may not get paid on time if this thing drags on.

Both parties are guilty of this: when there's a shutdown, they decide whom to send home, and they will inevitably play to their base(s) and try to get the public angry at the other party. It's all political theater. They ought to wear makeup and costumes. And really: is there any geek here who doesn't know how to leave a Web server running overnight or on weekends? :)

Hey, it's not like they didn't know this has been coming MONTHS in advance, is it? And to REALLY cheer you up, remember that we have a debt ceiling debate coming up in a couple of weeks. How much you wanna bet this wink, wink "shutdown" will continue past THAT debate? :)

Re:Here is the difference Mr. President

[sandytaru]

No, the current proposal from the GOP is to strip out funding for the ACA and replace it with "..." - they don't have alternate suggestions. That's the problem. Also, the Senate has been asking the House to have a joint budget conference since last May, but the House only thought that was a good idea on September 30th.

Re:Bad Analogy

[taiwanjohn]

I assume the GP was referring to the fact that the ACA is based very closely on the Massachusetts healthcare plan signed into law by Gov. Romney in 2006. And he/she is correct in noting that a sizable chunk of people who "do not approve" of the ACA are actually disappointed because it didn't go far enough. Remember, nationwide, there was well over 70% support for the so-called "public option", but that got tossed out before the "discussion" even began.