U.S. Ranks Behind Romania in Press Freedom Index

46th

The United States’ ranking out of 180 nations in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index.
Conor Friedersdorf
: “Countries that scored better include Romania, South Africa, Ghana, Cyprus, and Botswana. And 40 others. Put simply, it’s an embarrassing result for the country that conceived the First Amendment almost 240 years ago.”

One in Five Obamacare Enrollees Failed to Pay Premium

20%

Of people who signed up for health insurance under the new health care law failed to pay their premiums on time and therefore did not receive coverage in January, the New York Times reports. “People could have many reasons for not paying their premiums. Some decided they did not want a health plan for which they had applied. Some never received an invoice from the insurance company, or received it late. In addition, phone lines of some health plans were overwhelmed.”

No Deaths Resulted From N.J. Retaliatory Bridge Closure

0

Number of deaths caused by the closure of access ramps to the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee, N.J., according to a comprehensive review by the Associated Press: “A traffic jam deliberately orchestrated by members of Gov. Chris Christie’s staff that caused days of gridlock in northern New Jersey appeared not to lead to anyone’s death or seriously compromise their medical care.”

Six GOP Senators Changed Vote on Debt Ceiling Issue

6

Number of Senate Republicans who switched from ‘nay’ to ‘aye’ on the critical vote allowing the nation’s debt limit to be extended, a copy of the official Senate vote tally sheet provided to Roll Call suggests. “The tally sheet is the only record of which senators may have switched their votes because the Senate clerk — in a break with tradition — didn’t name names during the nearly hourlong vote. Capitol Hill reporters are protesting that change, still within the rules, as lacking transparency.”

Perkins: Rich Americans Should Have More Votes

The Tom Perkins system is: You don’t get to vote unless you pay a dollar of taxes. But what I really think is, it should be like a corporation. You pay a million dollars in taxes, you get a million votes. How’s that?

— Venture capitalist Tom Perkins, suggesting that “only taxpayers should have the right to vote — and that wealthy Americans who pay more in taxes should get more votes,” CNN Money reports. “The audience at the Commonwealth Club reacted with laughter. But Perkins offered no immediate indication that he was joking.”

Biden: ‘There Is No Republican Party’

There isn’t a Republican party. I wish there were, I wish there was a Republican party. I wish there was one person we could sit across the table from and make a deal and make the compromise and know when you got up from the table that the deal was done. … There is no — all you had to do was look at their response to the State of the Union, what were there, three or four? I think we should get a little focused here, let’s get a little focused.

— Vice President Joe Biden, on the state of the Republican Party, quoted by the Washington Post.