US Politics Mega-thread - Page 7127

Things aren't looking great for the Republican health care bill after the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would lead to 24 million more people without insurance and skyrocketing costs for older customers.

But the White House and GOP leaders say that's only part of the story.

The Republicans' "American Health Care Act" is only "Phase One" of their plan. In "Phase Two," the White House will lower premiums with tweaks to regulations. In "Phase Three," they'll pass new legislation to fill in gaps that can't be addressed through the budget process.

"The fact of the matter is with our whole plan every single American will have access to coverage," Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said on the "TODAY" show Tuesday.

But Republican critics of the bill are skeptical it can be salvaged with vague promises of future action.

"There is no three-phase process," Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) told radio host Hugh Hewitt this week. "There is no three-step plan. That is just political talk, it's just politicians engaging in spin."

As Cotton noted, the "Phase Three" bill is far-fetched since it would need significant Democratic backing to pass with the needed 60 votes in the Senate. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also called the idea of passing a second bill with Trump's wish list a "fantasy" in a "TODAY" interview on Wednesday.

Democrats, meanwhile, are outright dismissive.

"This bill digs them so deep in a hole that no regulations are going to get them out of that," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told NBC News. "We think this bill is so bad there's no way to make it better."

So far, the administration has put out only a broad outline of what it plans to pursue in "Phase Two" and a White House aide told NBC News that "everything is on the table."

There there are some avenues, though, that supporters of the bill and some policy experts say the White House is likely to pursue to lower premium costs. But the process is uncertain and there are core provisions in the House bill that would likely put insurance out of reach for many of the most vulnerable Americans.

The biggest "Phase Two" item on the menu has to do with a provision of Obamacare called "Essential Health Benefits," a 10-point list of health care categories that every insurance plan on the individual market has to cover.

(CNN)Dina Powell, President Donald Trump's senior counselor for economic initiatives, is switching roles at the White House and will named deputy national security adviser for strategy, a senior administration official tells CNN.

Powell, a former executive at Goldman Sachs, served as director of personnel under President George W. Bush. She was born in Egypt and speaks Arabic.

Powell will work closely with K.T. McFarland, who has been the acting deputy for strategy. Though some national security experts speculated that McFarland would leave following Michael Flynn's ouster as national security adviser earlier this year, a senior administration official said that she will remain.

Politico first reported Powell's move.
Powell, the official said, will focus on long-term planning for the National Security Council and with closely with national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

Powell has been a policy adviser for Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

Notably, Powell was part of the meeting this week between Trump and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

On March 16 2017 10:33 TheTenthDoc wrote:
Looks like Trump's revised travel ban has been blocked again. And again, a large part is something he can't possibly change-his past rhetoric. Maybe if it happens a third time he will learn that words matter-though I think that and the wiretapping thing may have taught him that lesson.