A war of words has broken out over the GOP’s Obamacare replacement bill, with Democrats branding the legislation “Trumpcare” in an attempt to derail it, The Hill reports.
“The White House is rejecting the term, which Democrats from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) on down are using to attack the Republican push to repeal large portions of the Affordable Care Act.”
“As someone who may have lost my congressional seat voting for the ACA, I have never regretted it. I assure you that knowing you’ve protected the lives of millions is more valuable than protecting your own political career.”
— Former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA), on Facebook.
“Alabama lawmakers began laying the legal groundwork Tuesday to impeach their governor over his alleged adulterous affair with his former top political adviser,” NBC News reports.
“The deliberations of the Alabama House Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee got underway as the state’s Attorney General’s Office was simultaneously pursuing a criminal investigation of Gov. Robert Bentley.”
Birmingham News: “A growing number of Alabama lawmakers — black and white, Republican and Democrat — are fed up with Gov. Robert Bentley and want to get on with getting him out of office. The attorney general, grand juries and ethics investigators can get in line behind them.”
A new Quinnipiac poll finds 52% of American voters say that Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearings and 51% think he should resign.
In addition, 61% are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about President Trump’s relationship with Russia.
David Wasserman: “President Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton was among the narrowest in history, and the country is deeply split on his job performance so far. But if you feel like you hardly know anyone who disagrees with you about Trump, you’re not alone: Chances are the election was a landslide in your backyard.”
“More than 61 percent of voters cast ballots in counties that gave either Clinton or Trump at least 60 percent of the major-party vote last November. That’s up from 50 percent of voters who lived in such counties in 2012 and 39 percent in 1992 — an accelerating trend that confirms that America’s political fabric, geographically, is tearing apart.”
“I have no doubt we’ll pass this because we’re going to keep our promises. This is a monumental, exciting conservative reform. I’ve been working on this for 20 years. This is exciting. This is what we’ve been dreaming about doing.”
— Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), quoted by the Washington Post, on the conservative backlash against the GOP health care bill.
“A fight is brewing among congressional Republicans over whether a planned tax overhaul should pay for itself,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The plan favored by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) aims to be revenue-neutral: Lowering taxes without increasing the deficit—though their math comes with some caveats.”
“But President Donald Trump hasn’t signed onto that budgetary straitjacket, and some lawmakers are sympathetic to the idea of dumping the revenue-neutral goal.”
Rick Klein and Shushannah Walshe: “Get ready for Trump at war. That’s what it will take if President Trump hopes to salvage his health care bill – and it is his bill now – against the accumulated weight of the AARP, the House Freedom Caucus, GOP senators including Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, Heritage, the Club for Growth, tea party groups and even, yes, Breitbart News. This is new ground for a president who had expected to enjoy the fruits of united government. This conservative rebellion threatens to stall his entire legislative agenda, and we haven’t even heard the cost or the coverage consequences yet.”
“Remember that repealing and replacing Obamacare was supposed to be the unifying part of Trump’s lawmaking, given the nearly unanimous agreement the slogan drew among Republicans. But this is developing into a clear example where Republican leaders can’t match legislation to their words, and the more complicated rhetoric offered by the president. Call it Obamacare-lite, or Ryancare, or Trumpcare. But don’t call it law – not like this, not anytime soon, unless Trump puts his full weight into this push.”
FBI director James Comey said he plans to serve his entire 10-year term as FBI director in his remarks at a conference on cybersecurity, Politico reports.
Said Comey: “You’re stuck with me for another six and a half years.”
Comey noted that he would neither take questions from the press nor questions that he didn’t want to talk about: “I’m very slippery.”
“Steven Mnuchin’s picks for the top ranks of the U.S. Treasury are stalled due to resistance from White House aides, including one recruit whose Twitter account was scrutinized for potential criticism of Donald Trump,” Bloomberg reports.
“Bogged down are Mnuchin’s choices for his senior management team — deputy secretary, undersecretaries for domestic finance and international affairs, general counsel and several other posts, these people said. Mnuchin has complained privately to friends that President Trump’s advisers are hindering him as he tries to get the Treasury up and running.”
NBC News: “They rarely agree on much, but health care experts on the left, right and center of the political spectrum have found consensus on the House GOP’s Obamacare replacement: It won’t work.”
“Let’s start with the primary objection from the center and left: It’s very likely people will lose insurance coverage if the GOP plan became law, taking full effect in 2020. Possibly a lot of people…”
“Republicans have long argued that the goal of a replacement should be to reduce the cost of insurance and health care procedures rather than simply hand money over to individuals to buy it. But experts complain that the GOP plan leaves out the most prominent proposals (especially among conservatives) that might drive costs down. And some of its features could potentially drive prices higher.”
A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll finds President Trump with a positive 47% to 44% approval rating.
Nonetheless, he is the first president in modern times not to score majority approval at this early point in his tenure.
“The Trump administration, searching for money to build the president’s planned multibillion-dollar border wall and crack down on illegal immigration, is weighing significant cuts to the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies focused on national security threats,” the Washington Post reports.
“The proposal also would slash the budget of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides disaster relief after hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. The Coast Guard’s $9.1 billion budget in 2017 would be cut 14 percent to about $7.8 billion, while the TSA and FEMA budgets would be reduced about 11 percent each to $4.5 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively.”
“The plan puts the administration in the unusual position of trading spending on security programs for other security priorities at the southern border, raising questions among Republican lawmakers and homeland-security experts.”
Wall Street Journal: “The budding feud between two men who share the unique bond of membership in the commander-in-chiefs’ club is a fresh distraction in a Trump presidency that has been struggling to enact its agenda. The rift also is distancing Mr. Trump from a former two-term president who had offered to give private advice and counsel as the onetime businessman settles into his first job in public office… They haven’t spoken, although Mr. Trump tried to call Mr. Obama to thank him for the traditional letter that one president leaves for his successor in the Oval Office. Mr. Obama was traveling at the time and the two never connected.”
“Keeping a low profile in post-presidency, Mr. Obama had decided he wouldn’t respond to every intemperate Trump tweet… But he was livid over the accusation that he bugged the Republican campaign offices, believing that Mr. Trump was questioning both the integrity of the office of the president and Mr. Obama himself.”
New York Magazine: Everything’s different now that Obama isn’t required to be civil to Trump.
Playbook: “Republicans have one chance to replace the health care law. Because of the rules of budget reconciliation — and President Donald Trump’s desire to overhaul the tax code on his second go-round — if Republicans screw this one up, they’re in trouble. They don’t really have a second chance.”
For members: The GOP’s Last Chance to Repeal Obamacare
A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds 56% of voters support appointing a special prosecutor to investigate alleged ties between President Trump’s campaign staff and the Russian government, while just 30% do not.
Politico: “Republicans have railed for seven years against the ‘budget gimmicks’ and lack of transparency they say Democrats used to help pass Obamacare. But now as they start debate on their repeal bill, Republicans say the plan’s price tag and estimates of how many people it will cover aren’t really important.”
“Anticipating that their plan will leave fewer Americans insured than Obamacare and potentially cost the federal government more, Republican leaders on Tuesday launched a preemptory strike against forthcoming predictions from Congress’s independent scorekeeper, the Congressional Budget Office.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.