Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and their allies are also seeking guarantees that Qatar’s government will stop its alleged financing of Middle East extremist groups and sever relations with the political leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, a global Islamist movement, according to these officials.
.. These Arab states severed diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday and closed their land and air borders, claiming the gas-rich monarchy was destabilizing the Mideast
.. However, Germany and Turkey made a show of support for Qatar on Wednesday, weighing in on a regional crisis that is beginning to drive a wedge between the U.S. and some of its closest allies.
.. But the Trump administration stressed it needed a clear list of grievances to pass on to Qatar’s leadership, and that Washington wouldn’t necessarily endorse them... Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E, and Egypt, in particular, charge Qatar has used Al Jazeera to try to destabilize their countries. One Arab official said reining in the media network will definitely be among the demands on the list.
The guardrails can’t contain Trump
Donald Trump’s character — volatile, impulsive, often self-destructive — had not changed since the campaign. But it seemed as if the guardrails of our democracy— Congress, the courts, the states, the media, the Cabinet — were keeping things within bounds.
Then came the past 10 days. The country is now caught in the internal maelstrom that is the mind of Donald Trump. We are in the realm of the id. Chaos reigns. No guardrails can hold.
.. Layers of falsehoods giving the impression of an elaborate coverup — in the absence of a crime.
.. Trump insists there’s no there there, but acts as if the there is everywhere.
.. Trump had three top officials come out and declare the disclosure story false. The next morning, Trump tweeted he was entirely within his rights to reveal what he revealed, thereby verifying the truth of the story.
.. The White House hurriedly issued a statement denying the story. The statement was unsigned.
.. this would be seen by millions as an establishment usurpation to get rid of a disruptive outsider. It would be the most destabilizing event in American political history
Explaining the Health Payments That Trump Is Threatening to End
The government provides a subsidy to help buy a policy, but about seven million people also get help with their out-of-pocket costs when they go to the doctor or fill a prescription. The government pays the insurance companies extra — $7 billion last year — to offer plans with discounts on the usual deductibles and co-payments that might make medical care unaffordable for relatively poor consumers.
.. There is no language in the bill explicitly linking the subsidies to a permanent funding source, but the Obama administration argued that Congress intended for the money to be paid alongside other subsidies, and the subsidies have been paid over the last three years.
House Republicans said what the Obama administration was doing was unconstitutional, and they brought a lawsuit to stop the payments.
.. Killing the cost-sharing subsidies would be a huge and immediate hit to insurance companies offering Obamacare plans. The companies are still required by law to offer their customers discounts, but they could lose the money to help fund them. Without the government payment, they would need to find another way to make up the difference.
.. Insurers could raise the price of insurance for everyone
.. estimated premiums for a plan would go up by an average of 19 percent without the funding
.. A decision to do away with the subsidies would also send a key signal to the insurance companies that the Trump administration and Congress have decided not to stabilize the market, which has been particularly shaky in some areas. Without the subsidies, insurance could get very expensive in some places in the country. In other areas, no insurance options might be available.
.. encourage Republicans in Congress to pass an appropriations bill that explicitly funds the subsidies
.. A broad coalition of insurance companies, hospitals, doctors and patient groups want the subsidies to be paid. Democrats in Congress are also strong supporters of the cost-sharing reductions. A letter to the White House this week urging a resolution of the issue was signed by insurers, hospitals, doctors and even the solidly Republican Chamber of Commerce.
.. that does not mean that all Republicans in Congress want to see Obamacare markets in their home state fail. In fact, several key Republicans in Congress, including Greg Walden of Oregon, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, have said that they would prefer Congress to pass legislation explicitly funding the subsidies.
.. some people in the Trump White House believe that preserving the risk of market failures could create political pressure for a deal on a larger Obamacare replacement bill.
Trump, citing no evidence, accuses Obama of ‘Nixon/Watergate’ plot to wiretap Trump Tower
Trump was angry and told his top aides that he disagreed with the attorney general’s decision and that he thought the White House and Justice Department should have done more to counter the suggestion that Sessions needed to step away. The president told staff he wanted to see them fight back against what he saw as a widespread effort to destabilize his presidency