Batting Averages, The Weather, Businesses & Obamacare Co-ops

In baseball being successful 3 out of 10 times at the plate will likely get you into the Hall of Fame.

A meteorologist forecast projecting out 10 days is right about 40% of the time. 

The Farmers Almanac claims a success rate of 80%.

Start up businesses - according to the SBA - make it beyond the first year 50% of the time. 

According to a Harvard study, new businesses using venture capital succeed 25% of the time.

So what about those non-profit, government funded, competition enhancing, Obamacare Co-ops? You know, the newly formed "insurance companies" that would create more competition and force the big bad insurance industry to play fair and quit price gouging with high premiums to pay fat cat CEO's and shareholders fists full of money.

Well, they are batting a whopping .174 - below the Mendoza Line. Of the 23 co-ops that actually got off the ground (there were 24 but we won't count the Vermont debacle) as of 2018 only 4 will remain. One of them, Montana, took measures last year to halt enrollment amid concerns they wouldn't be able to meet their financial obligations.

What's worse than the 17% success rate? That would be the "venture capital" we (taxpayers) gave Co-ops for start up funds. Of the $2.4 billion low/no interest loans given, the four remaining Co-ops received $402 million - a loss of close to $2 billion.

Yet government wonders why we don't trust them to be good stewards of our hard earned money.