MORNING MESSAGE
The Republican Bid to Kill the ACA Is a Trojan Horse
The
changes that House GOP leaders are proposing for our health care are radical —
far more radical than repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) standing alone.
The House GOP plan uses ACA repeal as a Trojan horse for throwing health care
for more than 74 million people into chaos. That’s the number covered by
Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, including everyone from
newborns to the very old.
ELLISON HAS AN EDGE
The
Hill declares Keith Ellison in the lead for DNC Chair: “The Hill has
identified the stances of 240 DNC members, either through their private
responses to a survey circulated over the past week or from public endorsements.
Out of those who responded, Ellison leads with 105 supporters to Perez’s 57. The
remaining major candidates have less than a dozen supporters each … it appears
likely the race will head to multiple rounds … each campaign claims that their
private whip lists promise even more votes …”
Howard
Dean endorses Mayor Pete Buttigieg. W. Examiner: “Buttigieg is ‘the
outside-the-Beltway’ choice Dean said on Morning Joe on MSNBC Wednesday. ‘Our
party is old and creaky, including me,’ Dean said, citing Buttigieg’s age, 35 …
Dean argued Buttigieg …could win the chairmanship race on the second ballot,
calling him ‘everyone’s second choice.'”
GOP
eager to tar Sen. Warren. Politico: “…Republicans are in search of a figure
so reviled by the conservative base that he or she motivates donors to open
their wallets and voters to go the polls. Party strategists believe the liberal
Massachusetts senator’s brand of politics is a serious turnoff to voters outside
the coasts — and will be a liability for at least five Democrats up for
reelection in states President Donald Trump easily won … It’s not a surefire
play for Republicans. Warren electrifies the Democratic base more than perhaps
any other senator…”
TRUMP MOVES ON DEPORTATIONS
Trump’s
Homeland Security sets policy to allow for increased deportations. NYT:
“Documents released on Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security revealed
the broad scope of the president’s ambitions: to publicize crimes by
undocumented immigrants; strip such immigrants of privacy protections; enlist
local police officers as enforcers; erect new detention facilities; discourage
asylum seekers; and, ultimately, speed up deportations … For now, so-called
Dreamers … will not be targeted unless they commit crimes [but] millions of
immigrants in the country illegally now face a far greater likelihood of being
discovered, arrested and eventually deported.”
Mexico
pushes back. Politico: “The Trump administration riled Mexican officials by
choosing Tuesday — on the eve of visits by the U.S. Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to Mexico City — to release
sweeping guidelines on deportations and a border wall … It also could hurt
America’s ability to gain Mexico’s cooperation on enforcing the new guidelines …
When it comes to deportations, for example, ‘you can’t just leave people in the
middle of a bridge — this has to be negotiated with the Mexicans,’ said [a U.S.]
diplomat…”
Deportations
could hurt economy. Bloomberg: “…one study [is] suggesting that removing all
of them would cost the economy as much as $5 trillion over 10 years … [The plan]
would hit industries that already complain of worker shortages …”
And
housing market. Bloomberg: “Legal and otherwise, immigrants, long a pillar
of growth in homebuying, are no longer feeling the warm welcome and optimism
necessary for their biggest purchase … A third of the 11 million unauthorized
immigrants in the U.S. live in a home that they or a family member or friend own
… New arrivals are expected to account for more than a third of growth of
homeowners this decade …
“White
House creates confusion about future of Trump’s travel ban” reports
Politico: “The Justice Department told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last
week that Trump will ‘rescind…and replace’ the original order … But White House
press secretary Sean Spicer said at the conclusion of his daily briefing Tuesday
that Trump will not rescind the original order. Instead, the first order is
being updated … His statements seemed to leave open the possibility that there
could be two orders in effect at once — a situation that could complicate
efforts to defend the new order in court.”
Speaker
Ryan visits border today. Politico: “The visit comes just weeks before Trump
will formally ask Congress for a boatload of money to fund construction of the
wall … While waiting on the president’s request, which could reach as much as
$20 billion, Republican leaders have discussed moving a border security bill …
[But] Trump and Homeland Security have not even finalized their own plan …
Democrats on the Congressional Border Caucus, meanwhile, are on a
counter-mission, hosting a series of meetings in border towns about how Trump’s
wall will harm [their] communities.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Trump
may pursue version of school vouchers. Politico: “The Trump administration
is considering a first-of-its-kind federal tax credit scholarship program that
would channel billions of dollars to families from working-class households to
enable their children to attend private schools, including religious schools …
Public school advocates say such a tax credit is a voucher program in disguise
and would divert tax dollars from struggling public schools … Critics on the
right, meanwhile, worry such a plan would increase the federal role in
education…”
Iowa
farmers warns Sen. Chuck Grassley not to take away his insurance. HuffPost:
“A pig farmer confronted Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) at a town hall meeting …
Chris Peterson, 62, told the senator that he has diabetes and that he would not
be able to afford health insurance if not for the Affordable Care Act. ‘You’re
the man that talks about the death panel,’ Peterson said at the packed town hall
in Iowa Falls. ‘We’re gonna create one great big death panel in this country
[if] people can’t afford to get insurance. Don’t repeal Obamacare, improve
it.'”
Deadline
for Dakota Access Pipeline protesters. NYT: “… the Army Corps of Engineers
and North Dakota’s governor have ordered that the largest protest camp — which
sits on federal land — be cleared by 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday because of
flooding concerns … It remained uncertain how many of those still camped out
would heed the evacuation order and how the authorities would respond to anyone
who refused to leave. But Mike Nowatzki, a spokesman for Gov. Doug Burgum, told
The Associated Press that arrests were possible if people refused to leave.”
Trump
may rollback transgender protections. NYT: “The administration signaled that
an announcement was imminent on the question of whether transgender students
should be able to use the bathroom of their choosing — and that Mr. Trump could
well come down differently from his predecessor … Mr. Trump believes that ‘this
is a states’ rights issue and not one for the federal government,’ Sean Spicer,
the White House press secretary, told reporters on Tuesday.”
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