Friends,
While the majority of the country dealt with frigid temperatures, in the nation’s capital, the block, as they say, remained (blazingly) hot. Kamala Harris publicly called for nationalizing the health care industry, bipartisan appropriations negotiators began immigration talks, Venezuela’s socialist dictator threatened another Vietnam war and Trump disagrees with his own intelligence chiefs… what else is new.
Let’s dig in.
Medicare for All
Kamala Harris, junior Senator from California, is the most well known (official) Presidential candidate. Ever since announcing her bid for the Oval Office on Good Morning America ten days ago, Harris has been seemingly everywhere. She is blitzing the airways with a tactical and effective campaign rollout.
The culminating event of her initial push was a CNN town hall where she announced her support for “Medicare-for-all,” a proposal to provide government healthcare to every single American citizen. Sounds pretty great, right?
Well yes but there’s a catch, as there always is.
First the plan would increase government spending significantly. Studies, from both think tanks and universities, liberal and conservative, peg the cost of the program at between $24.7 trillion and $34.7 trillion over a 10 year period.
Very simply, it could not be sustained without substantial tax increases. According to Senator Bernie Sanders, who has a conservative estimate the overall cost it would require:
- A 6.2 percent income-based health care “premium” (tax) paid by employers
- A 2.2 percent income-based “premium” (tax) paid by households
- Increasingly Progressive income tax rates:
- 37 percent on income between $250,000 and $500,000.
- 43 percent on income between $500,000 and $2 million.
- 48 percent on income between $2 million and $10 million.
- 52 percent on income above $10 million.
While some may be able to stomach inevitable, significant tax increases to provide health care for all, Harris also supports doing away with private insurance all together. In short, if you like your insurance plan now and Medicare for all was passed in full, you’d be forced to join the government system.
Here is her direct quote:
Tapper: “I believe it will totally eliminate private insurance. So for people out there who like their insurance, they don’t get to keep it?”
Harris: “Well, listen, the idea is that everyone gets access to medical care, and you don’t have to go through the process of going through an insurance company, having them give you approval, going through the paperwork, all of the delay that may require. Who of us has not had that situation, where you’ve got to wait for approval, and the doctor says, well, I don’t know if your insurance company is going to cover this? Let’s eliminate all of that. Let’s move on.
Shortly after her comments sparked controversy the Senator’s press secretary made it clear she’d be open to other options but Medicare for all is her preference.
What do Americans, more broadly, think about single payer Health Care?
As you can see a majority of Americans favor Medicare-for-all. However, when you inform respondents that the majority of Americans will be required to pay more in taxes, 6 in 10 oppose the plan. The same number oppose the plan when reminded they wouldn’t be able to pay for private insurance.
National Security Briefing
Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence, and Gina Haspel, Director of the CIA, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. The pair provided lawmakers with an assessment of major security threats to the United States. Three aspects of their report stood out:
1. North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons.
“We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its [weapons of mass destruction] capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival,” Coats said
2. Iran is in compliance with the Iran Nuclear Agreement entered into by Obama and terminated by Trump
CIA Director Gina Haspel, who also spoke at the hearing, said Tehran, “at the moment, technically they’re in compliance” with the deal.
3. ISIS is not dead
“ISIS is intent on resurging and still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria,” Coats said, adding that the terror group
This is noteworthy because the assessments from the top security officials are a departure from public statements issued by the Trump administration. After a June Summit between Trump and Kim Jung Un, the North Korean President, Donald Trump tweeted this:
President Trump was also rebuked on ISIS. In December the President posted a video, via Twitter, in which he declared, “We’ve won against ISIS”.
Most shocking was Haspel’s assessment on Iran which is, we now know, in compliance with the Iran Nuclear Deal signed under Obama. The Trump Administration withdrew from the accord even as the rest of the world remained committed to its success. Trump has famously called it the worst deal ever made.
Trump, who is known not to read intelligence reports, fired back:
Senator Schumer called on Coats and Haspel to educate the President, calling his ignorance a threat to American security… sounds about right.
PS: Neither Coats nor Haspel mentioned the security “crisis” on the border.
Venezuela
The European Parliament joined the Trump Administration in its condemnation of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and recognized Juan Guaido as the rightful leader of the country.
The Trump administration has yet to rule out of the use of force to which Maduro responded that if “the US intends to invade us, they will have a Vietnam worse than they can imagine.”
Immigration Talks
Very quickly, here is the latest on immigration negotiations:
· Republican Senators want to do everything possible to avoid another shutdown
· Democrats in the special conference committee are not taking money for a physical barrier completely off the table
· The White House is preparing to use emergency executive powers to build the wall if it does not get enough money from Congress. Such a move would trigger immediate legal challenges.
· Speaker Pelosi continues to reject any funding for a wall
Negotiations will start in earnest this week. They have until Feb. 15 to strike a deal. Look out for an update on Monday.
Bite Sized Politics
· Virginia’s Democratic Governor Ralph Northam is under fire for stating that if a nonviable or badly deformed infant survived birth a woman and doctor could have a “discussion” about what to do next. The comments came in connection with a narrowly defeated abortion bill in the state legislature that would have loosened restrictions on third-trimester abortions. Currently, the state requires three doctors to certify late-term abortions, the bill would lower that requirement to one doctor. Additionally, instead of requiring doctors to determine a pregnancy would “substantially and irremediably” impair a woman’s health they’d be only required to certify that a woman’s health was impaired.
· Another Trump-Kim summit is planned for late-February
· Trump’s hardline policy toward Venezuela is key to his 2020 chances in Florida.
· Mitch McConnell described a Democratic plan to make election day a holiday as “a power grab” a position that is, if you ask me, fundamentally un-American.
· Robert Mueller’s office on Wednesday accused a Twitter account with apparent ties to Russia of altering and disclosing more than 1,000 files that the special counsel shared in an active criminal case, all in a bid to discredit his investigation.
· Herman Cain, a former pizza company executive, is being considered by President Trump for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board. Cain’s bid for the Presidency was ended amidst sexual harassment and infidelity accusations
· Stacey Abrams, former candidate for Governor of Georgia, will deliver the Democratic response to the State of the Union.
Thanks,
Crawford
The Lens 