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From The Reporter’s Notebook
President Barack Obama encouraged Democrats in a meeting Wednesday to consider engaging with Republicans on the possibility of improving the Affordable Care Act if they pivot away from their hardline position on repealing the law, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest. “If Republicans change their tune, recognizing these complexities, and say ‘All right, Democrats. We acknowledge that tearing this down is not going to be good for the country and is a little more politically complicated than we anticipated. But you guys gotta admit there are some things that we can do to improve this proposal.’ That’s a conversation of an entirely different color,” Earnest said. “And that is a conversation that the President encouraged Democrats to consider engaging Republicans on.”
Agree or Disagree?
Josh Marshall: “The AMA, which has been rather comically pro-Trump to date, came out today and told Republicans that they shouldn’t repeal Obamacare without a clear replacement. Notably, even two of the most conservative health care economists at AEI, came out yesterday and said that ‘repeal and delay’ would be a disaster. The truth is that ‘repeal and delay’ is the policy equivalent of taking off from JFK to Heathrow with 2,000 miles worth of gas and saying you’re going to figure it out en route. No one who knows anything about health care economics, even people who are staunch free marketeers and hate Obamacare, think that makes any sense.”
Say What?!
“Very strange!”
– Donald Trump on Tuesday night claimed that his planned briefing with intelligence officials on cyber attacks carried out by Russians was delayed until Friday; officials disputed that it was delayed.
BUZZING: Today in the Hive
From a TPM Prime member: “It seems to me that Trump represents something more nefarious and subtle than we readily understand—than he understands—whereby attributes such as emotional maturity, self awareness, knowledge, and of course facts, give way to the immediate satisfaction of the exposed id. Knowing that any story can go viral in ten minutes, and that a media outlet, a company, and even a nation can be directly influenced by the most impulsive person with the most Twitter followers makes me wonder just how relevant the old values still are.”
Related: Trump told Republicans in a series of tweets Wednesday to “be careful!” and make sure that Democrats take ownership of any failures of the Affordable Care Act.
Have something to add? Become a Prime member and join the discussion here.
What We’re Reading
Rockette management tells dancers to “tolerate intolerance” in the wake of inauguration backlash. (Marie Claire)
Inside the million-dollar get-rich doula clique. (BuzzFeed)
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