Politics
An Early Look at the Senate’s Health Reform Bill H.R. 1628
Republican senators have finally revealed their version of the health care bill, H.R. 1628. The bill, called the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, is the proposed replacement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, popularly known as Obamacare). The Senate had promised a total overhaul of the House health care bill (aka Trumpcare) passed earlier this year. Early signs, however, indicate that the Senate’s version contains only modest changes, retaining the overall structure of the House’s version. Below, I touch upon a few of the highlights of the Senate bill.
The Individual Mandate and Medicaid
The Senate bill removes the individual mandate instituted by the ACA. Republicans have made the individual mandate a central talking point in their criticism of the ACA. Ironically, it was the Republican party that strongly supported the concept of the individual mandate back in the 1990s. The GOP pushed this feature when President Clinton made a failed attempt at health care reform in 1993. Mitt Romney made the individual mandate part of his health care reform in Massachusetts while he was governor. The GOP continued to support the concept when Governor Romney ran for president in 2008. The GOP started opposing the individual mandate in 2009 when President Obama incorporated it into the ACA. This turnaround is blatant partisanship and hypocrisy, regardless of one’s opinion about the nature and legality of the individual mandate.
The bill makes some serious changes to Medicaid. This is at odds with then-candidate President Trump’s repeated promises to not touch Medicaid if elected. The bill removes payments by the federal government to states made as incentives to expand Medicaid. Furthermore, it removes the capital gains tax implemented by the ACA, primarily affecting the wealthiest Americans, and helps fund Medicaid. Current estimates state that cutting the capital gains tax removes billions from Medicaid. If the bill passes, then President Trump will have supported cutting Medicaid, the exact opposite of what he said multiple times while campaigning.
Other Features
The bill allows insurers to charge the elderly five times as much as the young. It prohibits individuals from using federal tax credits to purchase insurance that includes abortion coverage. We have consistently seen that the majority of people do not support either of these features.
Insurers are required to insure people with pre-existing conditions. However, the bill allows states to waive the federal mandate on exactly what insurance companies must cover. This means that it is legal for insurers to provide policies that would not provide adequate coverage for pre-existing conditions. It appears that the Senate is shifting the possibility of blame to the states. This is a brilliant move since the GOP has consistently championed for less federal oversight and for an increase in states’ power, and yet they are rigging the game. If people complain about any changes instituted by states, then the federal government, led by the GOP, can reassert federal oversight and behave as the protectors of the plebians.
Opposition and Criticism
This version of the health care bill has not even gone before the senate for a vote and already four prominent members of the GOP have publicly denounced the bill: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Ron Johnson. Some moderate Republicans, such as Dean Heller and Susan Collins, have voiced concerns over the current draft.
Many organizations have expressed concerns about the bill, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, AARP, the American Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
One of the cornerstones of Trump’s presidential campaign was the repeal and replace of the ACA, and the GOP has championed this for eight years. If H.R. 1628 passes, then President Trump has followed through on one of his campaign promises. This would also be his first participation in major legislation since he won the presidency. As a party, the GOP will have achieved serious political capital. However, if the bill puts any hardship on citizens, we could very well see reaction reflected during the next round of elections and the GOP could find itself in the minority. Of course, this is only supposition since we have only seen a first publicly released draft and we should expect changes as people make their opinion known.
What are your thoughts on the proposed health care bill?
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is traveling to Washington, D.C., to meet with Republican lawmakers who will probably lead committees that regulate the tech sector.
Republican representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Darrel Issa of California, and Cathy McMorris Rogers of Washington are among those with whom Cook has booked meetings.
The meetings were probably planned several weeks, if not months, beforehand. Top conservatives have criticized Apple since the beginning, and many of them have joined with Twitter CEO Elon Musk in their recent dispute with Apple.
Jordan has publicly expressed his support for Elon Musk, as Bloomberg notes.
When the GOP wins over the House in 2023, Jordan is also set to serve as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s chairman is most likely to be McMorris Rodgers.
They both will play a key role in developing the GOP’s technology policy agenda for 2023.
What is particularly on the agenda is unclear. Even when he is not called to testify about big tech, Cook travels to Washington, DC, on several occasions each year.
The goal is to make sure marginalized people are considered in environmental decisions.
According to Reuters, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a new office to assist underserved communities in coping with the additional responsibilities of pollution and climate change. 200 EPA workers from the Washington headquarters and 10 regional bureaus will work in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.
“The establishment of a new office dedicated to advancing environmental justice and civil rights at EPA will ensure the lived experiences of underserved communities are central to our decision-making while supporting community-driven solutions,” remarked Kamala Harris, vice president of the US.
As part of a $60 billion investment in environmental justice, one of the main responsibilities of the new office will be to supervise the distribution of $3 billion in grants for environmental justice that were made possible by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. Additionally, it will ensure that other EPA initiatives adhere to President Biden’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of certain government spending go to underserved communities. Finally, it will assist localities in obtaining funds, upholding human rights legislation, and resolving environmental disputes.
The opening of the new office took place in Warren County, North Carolina, the scene of demonstrations against the disposal of toxic waste there in 1982. While the 22-acre dump was not stopped as a result of the civil disobedience actions and arrests that followed, the current environmental justice movement was born. Participants remembered the protests’ 40th anniversary last week.
The competition between Pewdiepie and T-Series has been going on for quite a while. I say this mostly because if Pewdiepie was in the middle of a smear campaign, I would certainly believe that it was all a ploy by T-Series in order to make him lose popularity. However, it seems like T-Series doesn’t have to do much as Pewdiepie is no stranger to getting himself into trouble.
So, what did Pewdiepie do this time? Well, in his most recent edition of “Pew News,” a semi-satirical series where Pewds offers his own take on news events or YouTube discussions, he dedicates the last portion of the video to shouting out smaller YouTube creators he enjoys watching. One of those creators is E;R (otherwise known as “EsemicolonR”), an essayist who often includes anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic, and cruel language in his videos.
At least that’s what TheVerge and so many outlets/other YouTubers are saying. I took a look at E;R’s content and saw mostly meme videos about political stuff. The guy even made a tribute to Tay AI. You can see a whole documentary made about this by Internet Historian down below:
However, the subjects tackled in the videos can be a bit more problematic because of the current political climate with Pewdiepie. As such, we can assume that a lot of people don’t find this very funny and even reprehensible. Especially when the US is caught in the middle of tension thanks to laws like FOSTA, which are an indirect cause of Tumblr’s collapse right now.
Ever since Pewdiepie has made the shoutout, the channel has gained over 15,000 Subscribers. Of course, this also means that the ire of the people who are against him has risen even more. As such, we’re in this situation where Pewdiepie has gotten himself into trouble yet again despite knowing that the current situation is tense. I guess some people will never learn.
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