| | | | GOP's last-ditch health care repeal/replace bill veers toward ditch | | The surprise story line over the last 24 hours has been that Republican attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act -- long assumed to be dead -- are, in fact, very much alive!
Sort of.
On Tuesday afternoon, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana -- the two main sponsors of the latest GOP repeal and replace effort -- as well as the rest of the Republican leadership held a press conference to insist that this thing might actually pass.
"I really believe we are going to get 50 Republican votes," predicted Graham. "We know how this movie ends if we don't change it. We are going to have a single payer healthcare system in this country."
The hard reality for Republicans is that if they don't find a way to get 50 votes for repeal and replace by the end of this month, the chances of doing it drop considerably -- since any future legislative effort would require 60 votes and there's no evidence they have or will have anything close to that.
"Everybody knows that the opportunity expires at the end of the month," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said at the presser.
That deadline, coupled with 7 years of promises to get rid of Obamacare and the ongoing pressure from the Trump White House to actually do it, leads to a decent dollop of fake-it-until-you-make-it-ism going on right now within Republican circles.
The math is still not there for any repeal/replace effort -- including this one. (The big difference between Graham-Cassidy and the past repeal/replace legislation is that it would eliminate Obamacare subsidies and instead block grant that money to the states to make their own decisions on how best to use it to deal with the health care system.)
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, is already a hard "no" on Graham-Cassidy. (Republicans can only afford to lose three of their own, assuming no Democrats vote for it. And two things happened Tuesday that suggest things are going, at best, sideways and perhaps into a ditch.
1. A group of 10 governors wrote a letter to McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urging them not to bring up Graham-Cassidy. That group included Bill Walker of Alaska, John Kasich of Ohio and Brian Sandoval of Nevada. The thinking is that the letter gives someone like Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, leeway to vote against the legislation.
2. Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins expressed deep skepticism about the new bill. "It seems to have many of the same flaws of the bill we rejected previously, and in fact, it has some additional flaws because there's some language that leads me to believe that people with pre-existing conditions would not be protected in some states," she said Tuesday.
If Republicans lose Paul, Murkowski and Collins, this new repeal and replace effort is as dead as the ones that have preceded it. And on Tuesday at least, it seemed like that was the way this is all headed.
Of course, the very fact that Republicans have a chance at repeal and replace again speaks to the back-from-the-dead quality of this effort. Which means that the smart money rules nothing out.
-- Chris | | REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: MENENDEZ TRIAL | | CNN's Laura Jarrett continues to send us some great courtroom dispatches from the trial of Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez. Here's her day eight update:
Tuesday had a sleepy start as prosecutors continued to march through a mountain of hotel brochures, invoices, customs forms, flight records and copied passport entries in an effort to show Sen. Bob Menendez was bribed by his friend, Dr. Salomon Melgen, with rides on private jets in return for political favors.
By my count, at least four jurors dozed off during stretches of particularly tedious testimony. But the coma lifted in the afternoon when prosecutors said they wanted to introduce evidence that Menendez also concealed his past travel (which he denies).
CNN's Dana Bash then made a cameo appearance on a screen in the courtroom, as prosecutors showed the judge a clip from her 2013 interview with Menendez.The judge ruled an edited portion of the interview should be admitted as evidence -- but the jury won't get to see the most salacious parts. | | | You knew this was coming: Elton John's "Rocket Man." (If you missed the reference, check out CNN's report on President Trump's UNGA speech). | | US President Donald Trump addressed the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday ... and his speech was definitely "Trumpian," as Chris described it. But the best things to come from the day were images of diplomats listening to the speech. CNN did a full video here. We took screen shots of several reactions. From top left to bottom right: Trump's aides; a diplomat from Iran; empty North Korea diplomat seats; and a diplomat from Syria.
Buzzfeed also rounded up 17 pictures of diplomats as they listened to Trump's speech. Bonus content: CNN's Jennifer Hansler took a look at memorable moments from the UNGA throughout history. | |  | | Here were two of the top Twitter trends in the United States on Tuesday. Yep, you read that right: "Kim Jong-un" and the "#IfIliveToBe100." Side by side. '\_(ツ)_/' | | Hillary Clinton reflected on "What Happened" on Monday evening during a sold-out event held at Washington DC's Warner Theatre. During the interview, conducted by Politics and Prose co-owner Lissa Muscatine, Clinton touched on everything from the Pizzagate conspiracy theory to the "resistance."
As the Washington Post's Ben Terris pointed out in his article, Clinton "picked the perfect town to kick off her book tour." Why? He writes:
"Here in this midsize city known as a bastion of liberal sensibilities that last year gave Clinton 90.1% of their vote, her weary fans -- from the itinerant flacks and Hill staffers, to the workers with deep roots in the local nonprofit and think-tank communities -- don't seem to mind her flaws. These disenfranchised residents, many of them tired of being belittled as swamp creatures by the new power elite running the country, see Clinton as the rare pol who is solidly on their side."
Ahead of the event, tickets that went for $55 to $75 were being sold for around $700 on Stubhub. If you didn't snag a ticket and want to watch ... Politics and Prose uploaded a clip from the interview here. | | | David Litt addressing attendees at his book launch party in Washington DC, held at Comet Ping Pong, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017. Photo credit: Cassie Spodak/CNN | | Meanwhile, across town at Comet Ping Pong...
Saba spoke with former speechwriter for President Barack Obama David Litt, whose book "Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years" hit bookshelves today. Litt, who now works as a head writer and producer for Funny or Die out of its DC office, began writing the memoir shortly after he left the Obama administration in January of 2016. Here's an excerpt from Saba and David's chat:
Saba: What made you want to write this memoir?
Litt: Originally I wanted to do a one-man show because I had all these fun stories about times I embarrassed myself in front of the President. I used to do stand-up comedy and improv. Then I talked to an author named Peter Godwin in 2015 and he said, you know, you're a writer, you really should write a book. And he has a British accent, so I said, OK, I'll do that! I'm glad I did because the idea of the book started out before the election, was very much just fun, engaging anecdotes. Those are all still in the book. But after Trump won, it sort of took on a new arc. It became about documenting this moment in history when politics, wasn't always perfect by any means, but it felt hopeful. We did some things that really mattered. You had all these young people, I got to be one of them, who went to the White House every single day thinking how do I be a small part of something big. That seems like so distant now that it felt like capturing it felt important.
Is that how the title came to be too?
Litt: To me, "Thanks Obama" felt like the perfect title. It's a phrase that started out purely as a joke, and now it's something to feel pretty sincerely. I think the book follows that same pattern. The first half is much more fun and light, like "here's the time I blacked out in front of the President." But by the end of the book I do try to reckon with this idea of, how is Obama's legacy changed, and how will it outlast Trump?
Did you talk to anyone else, like people who worked with you at the White House?
Litt: I sent it to a few people but for the most part I really just wanted to write my story. I didn't want to have something where I felt like I was trying to do too much. ... I thought, you know, I'm not an expert in Obama's legacy or an expert in politics. I'm an expert in how it felt to be young and in over your head during this important time in America.
So, what's the biggest misconception about being a speechwriter for the President? Is it that your life is like an episode of "West Wing?"
Litt: I do think there's a misconception that every White House staffer spends a ton of time with the President and that's because on TV they do. Everyone thinks the White House is either like the "West Wing" where everyone is hanging out with the President, or (that) it's like "Scandal" where everyone is having sex with the President. Really in the White House there are hundreds, really thousands of people, who work there. Many of them, myself included, this was our first job out of college. In any job you wouldn't get a ton of face time with your boss's boss. But especially when that person is the leader of the free world. | | | Before President Trump made his UN speech, Pyongyang representative Ja Song Nam left the room. Don't walk away from The Point, tell everyone you know to subscribe. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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