The Senate health care bill will finally go public today, but The Washington Post got an early look at what will certainly be a divisive document, and that’s just within the Republican Party. Some, uh, highlights: Deep cuts into Medicaid funding, big tax cuts for the wealthy and an end to funding for Planned Parenthood.
If you want to know why the Senate bill has been kept under wraps, all you need to know is this: It’s said to be about 70-to-80 percent the same as the extremely unpopular House version, which even Donald Trump has pronounced as “mean.” Via The Washington Post. Writing for New York magazine, Jonathan Chait says that, in fact, the Senate version of Trumpcare is just as mean as the House version.
One insurance company CEO has come to Washington to lobby against TrumpCare, and he doesn’t understand why the rest of the companies, all wary of the bill, aren’t there with him. Via Vox.
If you can recall as far back as the 2016 presidential campaign, you might remember the emphasis Trump placed on America’s opioid-addiction crisis. That’s why it may be surprising how little Trumpcare would do to address the issue. Via The New Yorker.
Democrats are, of course, unhappy about their loss in the Georgia special House election, and some of them are pointing the finger at Nancy Pelosi. Via The Washington Post. But not everyone sees it that way. Writing in Vox, Matt Yglesias says that while Democrats are 0-for-4 in special elections since Trump’s presidency, they have overperformed each time, which could mean that Republicans are in more trouble than it seems for 2018.
California Republicans love Karen Handel, especially in Orange County where four GOP congressman are being challenged in districts that look very much like Georgia’s 6th CD. If Democrats can’t win those targeted seats in Orange County, they have almost no chance of retaking the House. Via Politico.
Ross Douthat: The big question, he says, is if Republican economic plans are unpopular and the country is moving increasingly to the left on social issues, why do Democrats keep losing elections. He thinks he may have found an answer. Via The New York Times.
In a lawsuit filed by prisoners tortured by the CIA, depositions from participating psychologists, obtained by The New York Times, reveal new details about the brutal interrogations and the psychologists’ role in planning them.
From The National Review, Elliott Abrams explained how the Saudi king scrambled the line of succession by naming his son as crown prince, which isn’t the way it usually works there, and what it all means.
Two former chief White House ethics lawyers, one for Barack Obama and one for George W. Bush, explain why Trump is right to be scared to death of Robert Mueller and why he’d better not try to do anything about it. Via USA Today.
Photo by Images Money, via Flickr: Creative Commons
