Trump Budget Bashes Poor
"Trump Budget Plan Declares War on ‘War on Poverty’ Programs," reports Bloomberg: "President Donald Trump’s budget proposal to Congress calls for eliminating social programs dating to President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and would cut spending on assistance to needy counties in Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta as well as hungry schoolchildren in Cambodia. Grants for rural water projects, funds for local transit systems and a host of regional economic-development commissions would end ..."
Budget is "red meat to GOP base" says Politico: "The blueprint is expected to call for taking an ax to programs and agencies that Republicans love to hate like EPA, Energy, Interior, State, HUD and Commerce; foreign aid; the federal workforce; and Education and Labor training programs, while boosting defense spending by roughly $54 billion ... Yet long-time Republican budget leaders and staffers remain skeptical of Trump’s first stab at budget politics because it will lack so many key details. [It] will not tackle mandatory spending like Medicare or Social Security ... which Republicans have long wanted to overhaul."
Tight Committee Vote on Health Bill Expected Today
House Budget Committee considers bill today. The Hill: "Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), who’s both the loudest of the House critics and a member of the Budget Committee, told The Hill he will vote against the bill Thursday unless some planned administrative actions to eliminate insurance regulations — now part of the GOP’s second phase of ObamaCare replacement — are tucked inside the GOP bill ... Brat may not be alone ... GOP leaders can afford only three defections..."
Republican senators want House bill to fail. The Hill: "'I’ve heard that maybe the best thing is that this doesn’t get out of the House so we’re not the ones who ditch it,' said a Republican senator who has publicly voiced concern about the bill but requested anonymity..."
HHS Sec Price grilled during CNN town hall. Politico: "Brian Kline, a cancer survivor who said Medicaid expansion 'saved' his life [asked] 'Why do you want to take away my Medicaid expansion?' ... The answer, however, did not satisfy Kline, who said of the proposed plan: 'This is not going to help me.'
California eyes universal health care. The Nation: " Last month, the Legislature introduced SB 562, which would create a single-payer system for all of California’s 38 million citizens, including the undocumented ... There aren’t many details in the bill ... [Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom is proposing] a kind of hybrid between the managed-care craze of the 1990s and the socialized medicine of Britain’s National Health Service."
Travel Ban Blocked Again
Two judges ice travel ban. Bloomberg: "After [Judge Derrick] Watson issued a temporary ban Wednesday on the entire order, [Judge Theodore] Chuang reinforced the decision by halting enforcement of a single paragraph aimed at stopping the entry of nationals from Syria, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan ... The decision ... will almost certainly be appealed ... Watson said[,] 'The notion that one can demonstrate animus toward any group of people only by targeting all of them at once is fundamentally flawed.' ... [After] considering the statements by Trump and others connected to the order, [Watson found] that a reasonable person would conclude it 'was issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion.'"
Decision rests on anti-Muslim campaign rhetoric. CNN: "The judge specifically said it was that intent to create this Muslim ban that violated the Constitution's establishment clause ... [Prof. Alan Dershowitz noted] 'It's the first case in which the Supreme Court has been asked to take into account what a political figure said while running for office and use that to interpret the words of a statute.'"
Breakfast Sides
Tom Perez begins overhaul of DNC. NBC: "...Perez on Wednesday tapped a wide range of Democrats for a transition advisory committee that will work over the next month or so to provide advice and recommendations. The 30 members of the committee were selected to represent and highlight the party's broad coalition, from former Alaska Sen. Mark Begich to Black Lives Matters activist Deray McKesson to former South Carolina Gov. and DNC Chair Don Fowler to undocumented immigrant activist Astrid Silva ... in a nod to Bernie Sanders allies, the committee includes freshman Rep. Pramila Jayapal..."
State AGs fight fuel efficiency rollback. The Hill: "Democratic attorneys general in 10 states are rushing to block President Trump’s pledge to roll back vehicle emissions standards set in motion by the Obama administration ... The filing would allow [California and New York] to defend the mandates, which will require auto manufacturers to hit fuel economy standards of 54.5 miles per gallon by the year 2025."
Gorsuch defended torture. NYT: "In December 2005, Congress handed President George W. Bush a significant defeat by tightening legal restrictions against torture ... Neil M. Gorsuch — then a top Justice Department official — sent an email to a White House colleague in case he needed 'cheering up' ... [He] linked to articles about a less-noticed provision in the act that undercut the rights of Guantánamo Bay detainees ... 'The administration’s victory is not well known but its significance shouldn’t be understated,' wrote Judge Gorsuch, who had helped coordinate the Justice Department’s work with Congress on the bill ... In November 2005 ... Gorsuch visited Guantánamo [then offered] a glowing review.
