In an appearance on Face the Nation, Donald Trump says he guarantees that pre-existing conditions will be covered in any version of an Obamacare replacement that comes out of Congress. But when pressed, he doesn’t — or can’t — say how. Via The Washington Post. The full transcript of the show from CBS News.
In a move that shocked both critics and his own aides, Trump had what he described as a “very friendly” conversation with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, yet another strongman praised by Trump. Duterte is not simply an authoritarian human rights abuser. He has bragged about his role in extra-judicial killings of drug dealers, which didn’t stop Trump from inviting him to the White House. Via The New York Times.
Just days after Trump declared that South Korea should pay for the THAAD anti-missile system to be set up there, National Security Adviser McMaster says the United States will pay for it after all. Via Fox News.
If you’re starting to daydream about 2020, you’re not the only one. Democrats are already lining up to run in 2020. Just as one example, Joe Biden, 74, spent his Sunday in New Hampshire making his case to working-class voters. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are also on the trail. And as it stands now, it could be Biden, Warren, Sanders and a next-generation cast of thousands. Via The New York Times.
The lesson the anti-Trumpists can take from Trump’s first 100 days is that resistance is not futile. As protesters continue to march in the streets, they’ve shown that though Republicans control all branches of government, they can still be thwarted. Via The Guardian.
The Los Angeles Times goes to Pueblo to find the Trump voters who turned the reliable Democratic stronghold into Trump country. One hundred days in, they appear to have no regrets with their decision.
A tentative deal with Florida shows one way in which the Trump administration is taking on Medicaid. There will be others. Via The New York Times.
Byron York writes of what he calls the piety, the Trump bashing and the sheer awfulness of the Trump-less White House Correspondents Dinner, which drew criticism from left, right and center. Via The Washington Examiner.
On the same night, Trump went to Harrisburg, Pa., to slam the, uh, dishonest media in what may have been the most divisive speech given by a president in modern history. The crowd, of course, ate it up. (And, for good measure, chanted “lock her up” as a nod to the 2016 campaign that will never end.) Via The Washington Post.
Theo Epstein was a critical factor in ending the Boston Red Sox’s 86-year championship drought and then the 108-year Chicago Cubs’ losing streak. Could he pull off a similar miracle for the Democrats? Via Politico.
And so we now have the banal horror of the Arkansas executions. As the use of capital punishment slows around the country, Arkansas speeded up the execution of four murderers in order to beat the expiration date of one of the drugs used in the lethal cocktails. Jelani Cobb writes in The New Yorker that the schedule came to resemble a lethal clearance sale.
Photo by Rick Kimpel via Flickr:Creative Commons
“A select group of top Democratic Party strategists have used new data about last year’s presidential election to reach a startling conclusion about why Hillary Clinton lost. Now they just need to persuade the rest of the party they’re right.”
If you want to know why Alex Roarty believes Mrs. Clinton was able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory you’ll have to read the article. Hint: The Obama-Trump voters. Via McClatchy DC Bureau
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article147475484.html
As president Barack Obama disparaged big banks and warned about a growing inequity in America. But, as they say, actions speak louder than words and now the former president has eagerly accepted an invitation to speak at a health care conference hosted by a Wall Street investment bank. For $400.000. Via The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/us/politics/obama-speech-fee.html
Mrs. Clinton, of course, points out other factors she believes caused her failed presidential bid like WikiLeaks, Russia, FBI Director James Comey and misogyny. A.B. Stoddard disagrees. Via Real Clear Politics.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/04/21/dems_tell_hillary_to_go_back_to_the_woods_133672.html#2
President Trump has had success in his first 100 days in office. Via the Washington Examiner
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-trumps-100-days-an-executive-success/article/2621041
Does having health insurance mean living a longer life? Not under Obamacare. Via The Federalist.
http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/25/running-numbers-mortality-rates-suggests-obamacare-killing-people/