Trump’s health care blundering soothes Democratic infighting


Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats

Just about every Democrat has voiced support for Nancy Pelosi’s efforts to defend Obamacare — even if they disagree about where to go from there. | Toya Sarno Jordan/Getty Images

House Democrats disagree sharply over where to take the nation’s health care system, but the infighting has eased — and for that they can thank President Donald Trump.

The Trump administration’s renewed assault on Obamacare has quelled for the moment the simmering tensions over “Medicare for All” between Democrats’ vocal progressive wing and more moderate members and leaders.

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Even the most ardent single-payer advocate knows it’s not happening overnight — and that in the meantime, they need to rally around Obamacare, both because they want to prevent millions of people from losing their insurance and because the Affordable Care Act and its protection for people with pre-existing conditions has become one of Democrats’ most potent political messages.

“I haven’t seen a single Democrat who isn’t committed to supporting the ACA,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a prominent and devoted supporter of Medicare for All. “And there’s nothing inconsistent with saying that we’re going to defend the Affordable Care Act to the hilt but we’re also going to fight for Medicare for All.”

Yet Democratic differences over how far and how fast to expand health coverage persist below the surface, and Republicans are eager to exploit them. The Republican-led Senate is considering a vote on Medicare for All purely to divide and embarrass Democrats — as they recently tried to do on the Green New Deal. And from the White House on down, the GOP is looking for every opportunity to paint Democrats as reckless socialists in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

But the ACA, which was incredibly divisive when the Democrats last held the House nearly a decade ago, is now the glue party leaders are hoping will hold the caucus together well into 2020.

“We’ve got to save what we’ve got,” said freshman Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), former President Bill Clinton’s health secretary and a close ally to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “The message [from leadership] is: We need to band together now. We’re open to other discussions, but step one is to defend the Affordable Care Act.”

The renewed legal battle, coupled with Trump’s recent pledges to repeal and replace the law after the 2020 elections, has been a gift to Democrats, who spent much of the year’s first three months hampered by infighting and straining to making concrete headway on the party’s top health care priorities.

House Democrats flipped 40 seats in November on vows to protect pre-existing conditions and lower prescription drug costs, a message that resonated in red and blue districts alike. But it’s proven difficult to follow through on those policies.

Now, about 100 days into power, the party has little to show for its efforts beyond passing a few toothless resolutions condemning Trump’s health agenda and a slate of bills that even Democratic lawmakers concede are “low-hanging fruit.”

“Who anticipated a 35-day shutdown? It’s actually been a fairly long recovery,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), echoing caucus-wide frustrations that the monthlong impasse over border funding set back Democrats’ agenda. “I think after this break, you’re going to see more action.”

Democrats have yet to agree on how to pay for the hundreds of millions of dollars their legislation would pour into shoring up the ACA and expanding subsidies for health coverage. And on drug pricing, Democrats remain split over how aggressively to tackle the issue, and how much to collaborate with Trump, who has outlined some steps of his own that break with Republican orthodoxy.

Many progressive Democrats want to force drug companies to negotiate their prices with Medicare or risk harsh penalties. Other policies are also in the mix, and Democratic leaders have sought discussions with the White House, touching off a fresh round of grumbling among the chamber’s liberals.

“We certainly have not yet delivered on our promise with reference to pharmaceuticals,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), who authored an ambitious Medicare negotiation plan that’s won endorsement from the chamber’s progressives. “I hope that we can.”

But Trump’s surprise legal attack on Obamacare has shifted the spotlight off Democrats’ struggles and back onto the GOP’s yearslong attempts to gut the law, easing pressure on top Democrats who have spent much of the year trying to keep the fractious caucus together.

The Trump Justice Department had originally backed only a portion of the Texas-led lawsuit to gut the law; it recently threw full support behind a judge’s ruling that the entire statute is unconstitutional and should be scrapped. That decision is now on appeal and could reach the Supreme Court smack in the middle of the 2020 campaign. Yet Republicans have so far shrugged off the need to develop a contingency plan if Obamacare falls.

“In the years I’ve been here, Republicans have never agreed on a health care plan. Not once,” said Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who has faced intense pressure from activists over his reluctance to hold a hearing on Medicare for All. “If he wants to have this battle over health care, I’m in.”

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), who chairs the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee and had heard similar criticism from the left over her ties to major drug industry donors and her biotech-heavy home district, appeared visibly relieved at the chance to turn public attention back on Republicans.

“Nice to start the day with a smile,” she said when asked about health care.

House Democratic leaders are hoping to regain their footing on health care after the April recess, when the chamber will tee up votes on its first set of drug pricing bills. And a package expanding Obamacare’s benefits and reversing major Trump health priorities could hit the floor by early summer, giving vulnerable members real legislative accomplishments to talk up on the campaign trail.

Centrist Democrats, frustrated by the publicity given to the party’s liberal wing, are counting on those actions to refocus attention toward a pragmatic agenda that plays the strengths of the swing-district moderates who flipped dozens of seats in 2018 on vows to protect Obamacare.

“You gotta love activists: They’re so passionate, they feel so strongly about it and it’s great,” said Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.). “But those of us who are in elected positions also have to deal in the world of reality and just what is feasible at the moment.”

Yet more disagreements on policy and strategy are certain to rear up in the months to come.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) angered some Democrats just this week with a high-profile rollout of his revised single-payer bill, right in the middle of efforts in the House and Senate to focus attention on drug pricing and the Trump administration’s Obamacare attacks.

“We were winning,” one senior Democratic aide complained to POLITICO the day of Sanders’ announcement. “This is just like when we were trying to save DACA [immigration protections for Dreamers] and some Democrats started calling for abolishing ICE.”

The progressive wing in the House is also determined to keep pushing the party left, rallying support for Medicare for All and encouraging activists to pressure committee leaders to hold hearings — much to the frustration of establishment Democrats.

But just about every Democrat, from the die-hard devotees of Medicare for All to centrists from swing districts wary of single-payer, has voiced support for Pelosi’s efforts to defend Obamacare in federal court, shore up its markets, and roll back the Trump administration’s executive orders aimed at weakening the law — even if they disagree about where to go from there.

“Nancy’s great at this, keeping us together,” said Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), an advocate for Medicare for All. On health care, you can have it both ways, but it’s a question of when. And the first thing is to do no harm.”

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Here’s what the White House is doing to help deploy 5G networks

Trump hearts 5G.
Trump hearts 5G.

Image: BOB AL-GREENE / MASHABLE

By Rachel Kraus

The White House is getting serious about 5G.

At a White House event on Friday, President Donald Trump and FCC chairman Ajit Pai will announce their plans to help boost 5G development in the United States, according to Axios. The FCC voted on several resolutions this morning that will begin the process of auctioning the rights to high-frequency airwaves that will enable the deployment of 5G infrastructure by private companies. This is part of the White House’s “5G Fast” plan, which seeks to support the widespread development and deployment of 5G across the country.

“Later this year, we’re going to be holding the biggest auction of spectrum in American history,” Ajit Pai told Bloomberg. “We will be allocating more spectrum for commercial 5G than all the mobile providers in America have today combined.”

SEE ALSO: What is 5G? — Clarification Please

5G, the next generation of mobile connectivity, promises super fast wireless speeds. Proponents say that 5G’s speeds and increased device capacity will usher in a new era of internet use — one where autonomous cars, phones, and devices of all kinds are communicating with each other seamlessly. 

To understand what the FCC’s announcement means for you, we need to get back to basics. 

Wireless networks run on radio waves. The FCC controls who gets to use these waves through an auction process. Friday’s announcement means that it’s opening up a whole new swath of frequencies that companies can use to run 5G. 

“Spectrum availability is a big part of the equation,” Pai said.

Right now in the U.S., 5G is in its infancy. Verizon launched its first 5G wireless network in Chicago and Minneapolis on April 3. Other carriers including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint have plans to deploy 5G later this year. But the availability is, and will be for quite some time, extremely limited — never mind that you actually need a 5G-enabled phone, and enough data to take advantage of 5G, to actually make use of the network.

An important step to building out 5G is having the rights to the radio waves on which the network runs. The FCC has held two prior auctions for high frequency waves. The auction it announced on Friday will be the largest of its kind. Giving private companies access to these frequencies means they’ll have the technical capacity to expand these networks beyond the limited urban hubs they’re working on today.

It also means that any plans for a national 5G network are likely dead. A White House source told Axios that the administration favors private sector development over a government-run network. One unified 5G network, like South Korea just launched, would have helped consolidate efforts in the race to 5G. But the FCC’s plan is to leave it to private companies to build out the network, and let them fight it out for users.

Trump’s 5G plan gives companies the airwaves it needs to make 5G a reality. It won’t necessarily speed up deployment, because that still requires a hefty amount of technical work. But it frees up space for the network of the future to realize its potential. 

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‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ trailer drops: Watch

The Force has awakened. Again. 

All of 483 days since the release of Episode VIII, better known as The Last Jedi, Star Wars fans finally got our first ever look at its sequel — and our first hints of how the entire 42-year Skywalker Saga will wrap up in this, the last episodic film.  

This first trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker unveiled on stage at Star Wars Celebration Chicago by director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, followed a star-studded panel with returning actors Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose) and the inimitable Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian. 

The trailer, of course, raised more questions than it answered, and we’ll have a full breakdown shortly. 

One thing we know for sure: when we finally see the full film on December 20, 2019, this is not going to go the way you think. 

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Celtics News: Danny Ainge Still Wants to Sign Kyrie Irving to Long-Term Contract

BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 17: General Manager Danny Ainge and Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics talk before the game against the Utah Jazz on November 17, 2018 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Steve Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

Steve Babineau/Getty Images

Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge remains interested in signing guard Kyrie Irving to a long-term contract extension.

According to SI.com’s Chris Mannix, Ainge responded with a “yes” when asked if he wanted to re-sign Irving and with a “no” when asked if anything has happened this season that would make him rethink his stance.

The 27-year-old can become a free agent during the offseason if he opts out of his contract. In his second season with the Celtics, Irving led Boston to a 49-33 record and the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, which sets the stage for a first-round playoff matchup with the Indiana Pacers that begins Sunday.

Boston has endured an up-and-down season, but Ainge talked about the respect he has for Irving’s desire to improve:

“There’s moments where he’s happy and things are going well [and] there’s moments where he’s frustrated and wishes things were different and talks about how can we get better. But one thing I like about Kyrie is he does want to get better himself. I mean he wants to take responsibility. He wants to carry a load and knows that he is capable, because of his experience and how a good player he is, that he’s capable of carrying a bigger load than a lot of guys on the team.”

At an event for season-ticket holders in October, Irving said that he planned to re-sign with the Celtics: “I’ve shared it with some of my teammates as well as the organization as well as everyone else in Boston. If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here next year.”

However, in the months since then, Kyrie has seemingly backed off his statement. In February, Irving said, “Ask me July 1,” when asked if he still planned to re-sign, according to Jay King of The Athletic.

On April 8, Frank Isola of The Athletic reported that many within the NBA view it as an inevitability that Irving and Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant will join forces and sign with the New York Knicks.

The Knicks had the NBA’s worst record in 2018-19 and figure to have a top pick that could land them Duke’s Zion Williamson or RJ Barrett or Murray State point guard Ja Morant.

Boston has a talented roster that includes up-and-comers Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier as well as veterans Gordon Hayward and Al Horford, but the team hasn’t meshed as well as expected.

After missing Boston’s playoff run to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season with a knee injury, Irving bounced back to average 23.8 points, 6.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game during the 2018-19 regular season.

The former No. 1 overall draft pick is a six-time All-Star and one-time NBA champion, and he will undoubtedly be among the top players on the open market if he hits free agency rather than re-signing with Boston.

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Cameroon’s deadly battle over language

Cameroon has found itself in deadly battle between the minority English-speaking and majority French-speaking regions. Francophones control Cameroon‘s government, which has been assigning French-speaking judges and teachers to courts and schools in Anglophone regions. Some English speakers say they’re denied equal representation and access, and the debate has escalated to a violent internal conflict that has claimed hundreds of lives.

In this episode of The Take, we look at how Al Jazeera has covered the conflict on the ground and what they’ve learned from the hundreds of WhatsApp messages the network’s Newsgrid programme has exchanged with Cameroonians. And we check in with an Al Jazeera English correspondent covering the coup in Sudan, which this week saw the overthrow of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir.

For more:

A look at Cameroon’s language divide

Is Cameroon persecuting its English-speakers?

Dozens of Anglophone separatists killed in Cameroon

Cameroon displaced speak of death, displacement, trauma 

The Team:

Ney Alvarez produced this episode with Priyanka Tilve, Jasmin Bauomy, Alexandra Locke, Dina Kesbeh, Morgan Waters and Amy Walters. Seth Samuel was the sound designer. Natalia Aldana is the engagement producer. Graelyn Brashear is the show’s lead producer.

Special thanks to Leah Harding, Hiba Morgan and Tafadzwa Chisvo.

Subscribe:

New episodes of the show come out every Friday. Subscribe to The Take on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen.

Follow The Take on Twitter at @thetake_pod and on Facebook.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera News

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‘Avengers: Endgame’ directors predict the ending of ‘Game of Thrones’

If one thing is clear from the Avengers: Endgame press tour so far, it’s that Joe and Anthony Russo absolutely do not, under any circumstances, want to talk right now about how their story ends.

How someone else’s story ends, though, is another story.

I spoke with the directors at the height of the Game of Thrones hype, exactly one week ahead of the final season premiere. 

Like many of us, the Russos were more than happy to speculate — but also like many of us, neither seemed particularly confident about their guesses. 

Joe told me that, even as a storyteller himself, it was “tough” for him to figure out how Game of Thrones might go. 

SEE ALSO: ‘Avengers: Endgame’ press conference left chairs empty to honor fallen comrades

“That show is so well-written that I can’t imagine it’s going to be predictable,” he said. “But then I try to go, Well, all right, how is unpredictable going to be satisfying? So it’s impossible to say.”

Anthony had some more concrete ideas about how the plot would unfold. 

“It feels like Winterfell is going to get destroyed, and it’s going to drive them south,” said Anthony. “So in your brain, you go, Well, everyone’s going to need a new home at some point, so a satisfying ending can’t be that everyone dies.” (Apparently, the Russos draw the line at half of everyone dying.)

Anthony seemed more certain about what he hoped would happen.

“Somebody’s gotta get on that throne, in a way there’s some benevolence moving forward,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s a really fucking depressing ending.” 

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This demon version of Beto O’Rourke is the best version

He's a little too clean for his own good.
He’s a little too clean for his own good.

Image: drew angerer/Getty Images

By Heather Dockray

There’s something about 2020 hopeful Beto O’Rourke that’s just a little too wholesome. Somewhere underneath his sunny exterior, there has to be a tiny demon spirit, just waiting to be released.

Comedian Alex Ptak understands this character type well. He recently released a parody video on Twitter, featuring a character he calls “Demon Beto.”

Folks, I’m spooked. The imitation is too good.

SEE ALSO: Beto O’Rourke got asked to prom and declined in a perfectly dorky way

Demon Beto really knows how to read the room, assuming the room is full of devils.

“Hungry Americans are looking for pious blood,” Demon Beto says in the video. 

Demon Beto also comes with a policy platform. 

“Being jealous is something we can do on a government level,” Demon Beto promises.

Folks on Twitter largely approved of the impression, while noting that Demon Beto didn’t do enough table-standing.

I am here for as much Demon Beto as I can get

— Joey (@iwolf6645) April 11, 2019

8/10, needs more table-standing

— Henry Curtis (@FakeHenryCurtis) April 12, 2019

Who’s that goat-legged fellow, I like the cut of his jib

— Sancho Panzadivision (@oathborker) April 12, 2019

hahaha this is so good and also reminded me beto existed!!

— Orli Matlow (@HireMeImFunny) April 11, 2019

Finally a democrat I can trust.

— Jesus Leyva (@anewday_3) April 12, 2019

It’s unclear who will win the Democratic presidential primary, but Demon Beto clearly has the devil vote all wrapped up.

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Game of Zones S6E1: The Dire Wolf

  1. The NBA Got Some Wild Techs This Season

  2. Jarrett Allen Is One of the NBA’s Hottest Rim Protectors

  3. Wade’s Jersey Swaps Created Epic Moments This Season

  4. Westbrook Makes History While Honoring Nipsey Hussle

  5. Devin Booker Makes History with Scoring Tear

  6. 29 Years Ago, Jordan Dropped Career-High 69 Points

  7. Bosh Is Getting His Jersey Raised to the Rafters in Miami

  8. Steph Returns to Houston for 1st Time Since His Moon Landing Troll

  9. Lou Williams Is Coming for a Repeat of Sixth Man of the Year

  10. Pat Beverley Has the Clippers Stealing the LA Shine

  11. LeBron Keeps Shredding NBA Record Books

  12. Young’s Hot Streak Is Heating Up the ROY Race with Luka

  13. LeBron and 2 Chainz Form a Superteam to Release a New Album

  14. Wade’s #OneLastDance Dominated February

  15. Warriors Fans Go Wild After Unforgettable Moments with Steph

  16. Eight Years Ago, the Nuggets Traded Melo to the Knicks

  17. Two Years Ago, the Kings Shipped Boogie to the Pelicans

  18. ASG Will Be Competitive Again If the NBA Raises the Stakes

  19. Will Harden Burn Himself Out Before the Playoffs?

  20. When MJ Wore #12 After His Jersey Was Stolen Before a Game

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It’s the Game of Zones Season 6 premiere!

Jimmy Butler turned the T-Wolves practice into a bloodbath. #GameOfZones

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