So I feel some obligation to comment on the Big News Items that the GOP (White House and Congress) threw out into the commentariat today.
1. I am at my Mom's house, helping her through some difficult decisions. My time and inclination to do deep dives into policy debates are highly limited.
2. Trump's Muslim Ban Lite seems particularly tailored toward avoiding the self-inflicted wounds of the original botched Muslim Ban while largely implementing same. It ignores any internal and external arguments that the countries in question have nothing to do with the (limited, compared to the overall murder rate) bloodshed of Muslim immigrants to the US, but that's beside the point.
Within the universe of the current White House, it's useful to (a) block swarthy non-Christian, non-WASP immigrants from the US, and (b) fulfill campaign promises. Other considerations, factual or policy-based, are not worth considering.
3. The House GOP plan for replacing the ACA with the (oh so intentionally named) AHCA is a lovingly crafted bill to not only repeal the principle of health care as an needful right for American citizens, but to roll back Medicaid as a whole, to underfund all health care efforts, as well as cut back access to contraception and abortion. And, of course, it's being fast tracked for passage prior to the next time congresscritters will be in recess and back home in front of their constituents.
4. And nobody lose sight that both 2 and 3 were thrown out there with timing to both distract from one to the other, and to distract from still-unanswered questions about ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
