The Gist: Just before fleeing Washington for the April recess, Republicans unveiled a new amendment they said would revive their struggling bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act—a policy based on a program in Maine that aims to bring down health insurance premiums by funneling older and sicker people into a separate individual market subsidized by the federal government.
The Gist: Nearly three months into his presidency, and President Donald Trump appears to still sit alone in the morning with Twitter while watching the news.
The Gist: During a town hall event last week, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) tried to defend Republican legislation rolling back an Internet privacy rule by arguing that Americans don’t have to use the Internet.
From The Reporter’s Notebook
Rep. Todd Rokita (R-IN) faced tough questions on Saturday at a breakfast event with local chambers of commerce, which are typically friendly territory for Republicans, TPM’s Caitlin MacNeal reported. Members of the audience repeatedly interrupted Rokita as he tried to answer questions, prompting the congressman to ask the crowd to be civil, the Journal-Review reported. The congressman also addressed House Republicans’ failed attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, arguing that Republicans need to take their time replacing the law.
From a TPM Prime member: “Another part of this is to take the long view. Those Trump votes didn’t get this way overnight, they got there over the course of (at least) 50 years of well-funded continual right-wing propaganda. In my aunt’s house, Fox news was just always on in the background. At our former vet’s office, Limbaugh was always there on the radio. Watch and listen to people like that day and day after years after year, and they start sounding perfectly reasonable. One discussion or two or ten, even with the best-marshalled facts and logic, won’t do it. This is Gandhi and Mandela-style timescales. (Not that I’m any more patient than anyone else in practice.)”