Poll: Health care rollout draws big audience, underwhelming reviews Poll: Health care rollout draws big audience, underwhelming reviews ADVERTISING WASHINGTON — The debut of the government’s health insurance marketplaces drew a huge audience — and underwhelming reviews. Just 7 percent
Poll: Health care rollout draws big audience, underwhelming reviews
WASHINGTON — The debut of the government’s health insurance marketplaces drew a huge audience — and underwhelming reviews.
Just 7 percent of Americans say the rollout of the health exchanges has gone extremely well or very well, according to an AP-GfK poll.
The reaction was somewhat better among supporters of the new health care law, but still middling: 19 percent said the rollout went extremely well or very well.
Among the uninsured — a key audience for the health exchanges — 42 percent said they didn’t know enough to judge how well the rollout had gone, suggesting an ongoing lack of awareness about the program in its early days.
Despite the bumpy rollout, plenty of Americans are giving the system a try.
Ex-Detroit mayor sentenced to 28 years in prison for corruption
DETROIT — A former Detroit mayor was sent to federal prison for nearly three decades Thursday, after offering little remorse for the widespread corruption under his watch but acknowledging he let down the troubled city during a critical period before it landed in bankruptcy.
Prosecutors argued that Kwame Kilpatrick’s “corrupt administration exacerbated the crisis” that Detroit now finds itself in. A judge agreed with the government’s recommendation that 28 years in prison was appropriate for rigging contracts, taking bribes and putting his own price on public business.
It is one of the toughest penalties doled out for public corruption in recent U.S. history and seals a dramatic fall for Kilpatrick, who was elected mayor in 2001 at age 31 and is the son of a former senior member of Congress.
While Detroit’s finances were eroding, he was getting bags of cash from city contractors, kickbacks hidden in the bra of his political fundraiser and private cross-country travel from businessmen, according to trial evidence.
Kilpatrick, 43, said he was sorry if he let down his hometown but denied ever stealing from the citizens of Detroit.
Freeze of aid to Egypt whips up anti-American sentiment
CAIRO — Washington’s decision to withhold millions of dollars in mostly military aid to Egypt is fueling anti-U.S. sentiment and the perception that Washington supports Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist president the military ousted in a July coup.
That could boost the popularity of the military chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, whom the U.S. is trying to pressure to ensure a transition to democracy and ease the fierce crackdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
The aid freeze could also embolden Morsi’s supporters to intensify their campaign of street protests in the belief that the military-backed government is losing the goodwill of its top foreign backer. The protests, met by a fierce response by security forces that has left hundreds dead, have kept the new government from tackling Egypt’s pressing problems after 2 ½ years of turmoil.
Jury finds Toyota not liable in incident that led to woman’s death
LOS ANGELES — A jury says Toyota Motor Corp. is not liable for the death of a California woman who was killed when her 2006 Camry apparently accelerated and crashed despite her efforts to stop.
Toyota spokeswoman Carly Schaffner said jurors reached their decision Thursday and concluded the vehicle’s design didn’t contribute to the death of Noriko Uno. She died in August 2009 when her car struck a telephone pole and tree.
The outcome of the bellwether case could help predict whether Toyota Motor Corp. will be held responsible for sudden unintended acceleration in other cases filed in state courts.
By wire sources
