memeorandum: White House aides struggle to defend Trump wiretap claims (Ashley Parker/Washington Post)

12:55 PM ET, March 7, 2017

Top Items:

Avik Roy / Forbes:

House GOP's Obamacare Replacement Will Make Coverage Unaffordable For Millions — Otherwise, It's Great — That's not an ironic headline. Leading House Republicans have included a number of transformative and consequential reforms in their American Health Care Act, the full text of which was published Monday evening.

Ezra Klein / Vox:

The GOP health bill doesn't know what problem it's trying to solve — After seven years of drafting a replacement plan, we get ... this? — Have you read Sarah Kliff's thorough look at the GOP Obamacare replacement? You have? Good. Some thoughts. — Little in politics shocks me.

Discussion: Politico, Hit & Run, The Hill, RedState, NBC News, EconLog, New York Times, Hullabaloo and CNBC

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Republican Obamacare plan signals that liberalism has already won — In releasing their healthcare plan on Monday, House Republican leaders sent a signal loud and clear: liberalism has already won. — Barring radical changes, Republicans will not be passing a bill that ushers in a new era of market-based healthcare.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Instapundit and National Review

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

GOP Sen. Roy Blunt: House GOP health care plan ‘may not be a plan which can get a majority of votes to pass’ — (CNN)Republican Sen. Roy Blunt said Tuesday that the House Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act may not be able to get a majority of votes to pass.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Business Insider and Politicus USA

Heritage Action for America:

GOP PLAN FAILS TO MOVE PAST OBAMACARE'S PROGRESSIVE PROMISE — Washington — Monday evening, House Republican leaders released text of their long-anticipated American Health Care Act (AHCA). Despite widespread conservative criticism and the lack of score from the Congressional Budget Office …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, CNN, Business Insider, The Week and The Atlantic

Rachael Bade / Politico:
Conservatives pan House Obamacare repeal bill

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, Vox, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, The Week, Axios and portman.senate.gov

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
House Republican plan would create Obamacare cliff for 2020 presidential election

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, Instapundit and Mother Jones

CNN:
CNN/ORC poll: Public splits on revoking individual mandate

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Times and Politico

Wall Street Journal:
The Health Bill You've Waited For

Discussion: ABC News, The Week, twitchy.com and Fox News Insider

Michael F. Cannon / Cato Institute:
The House GOP Leadership's Health Care Bill Is ObamaCare-Lite — Or Worse

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review and Vox

New York Times: The Parts of Obamacare Republicans Will Keep, Change or Discard

Sarah Kliff / Vox:
The American Health Care Act: the Republicans' bill to replace Obamacare, explained

Discussion: Health Care Policy …, CNBC, Columbia Daily Tribune, AOL, The Verge, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, The Daily Item, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Managed Healthcare Executive, ACASignups.net, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Atlantic, Politicus USA, ThinkProgress and Hot Air

Chris Massie / CNN:
Maine Gov. Paul LePage says he's ‘very discouraged and disappointed’ by GOP health care plan

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Progress Pond

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
THE INSIDE SCOOP: Obamacare replacement politics ... RAND PAUL joins with Freedom Caucus …

Discussion: Washington Post and AOL

New York Times:
House Republicans Unveil Plan to Replace Health Law

Discussion: Slate, ThinkProgress, BostonGlobe.com, AOL, Business Insider, FiveThirtyEight, Talking Points Memo, Vox, The Resurgent, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, TalkLeft, Mashable, The Hill, RedState, Washington Post, Politico and Liberal Values

Speaker.gov:
Statement on Introduction of the American Health Care Act

Discussion: ThinkProgress, KTLA, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Conservative 101, TheBlaze, Balloon Juice, NBC News, The Last Refuge, The Daily Signal and Business Insider

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:
Column The GOP's Obamacare repeal plan is out—and it's even worse than anyone expected

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Forbes, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Daily Caller

Paul McLeod / BuzzFeed: The Republican Health Care Plan Includes A Tax Break For Insurance CEOs

kff.org:
Tax Credits under the Affordable Care Act vs. Replacement Proposal: An Interactive Map

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo, Health Affairs Blog and The Atlantic

Margot Sanger-Katz / New York Times:
G.O.P. Repeal Bill Would Cut Funding for Poor and Taxes on Rich

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, The Guardian, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Speaker.gov, Vox, Mother Jones, WKRG-TV, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Kos, CBS New York, Business Insider, AOL, NPR and KTLA

New York Times:

WikiLeaks Releases Trove of Alleged C.I.A. Hacking Documents — WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks on Tuesday released thousands of documents that it said described sophisticated software tools used by the Central Intelligence Agency to break into smart phones, computers and even Internet-connected televisions.

Discussion: Mother Jones, JustOneMinute, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Mashable, Althouse and twitchy.com, more at Mediagazer »

Greg Miller / Washington Post:
WikiLeaks says it has obtained trove of CIA hacking tools

Discussion: Business Insider, Mediaite, Axios, Mashable, The Verge, emptywheel, The Truth Division, Sputnik International and The Week

Eric Geller / Politico:
WikiLeaks dumps alleged secret CIA hacking files

Discussion: Hot Air, Mashable and Axios

Extra:

Alec Baldwin Might Not Play Trump on ‘SNL’ Much Longer — Star Alec Baldwin has quickly become a fan favorite playing President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” but the actor isn't sure how much longer he will do it. — “Extra's” Mario Lopez sat down with Alec to talk about his new movie …

Discussion: The Hill, USA Today, Washington Post, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Deadline and Mashable

Peter W. Stevenson / Washington Post:

That time Trump surprised a White House tour group in front of a portrait of Hillary Clinton — White House tours resumed Tuesday after being on hiatus during the presidential transition and inauguration. And within a few short hours, one tour group got just about all the access it could hope for.

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit and The Week

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
White House appears to copy from Exxon Mobil release

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RedState, The Daily Caller, Scared Monkeys, Mediaite, Business Wire, Business Insider, The White House, Washington Post, Mashable, Talking Points Memo and The Week

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
White House aides struggle to defend Trump wiretap claims

Discussion: USA Today

Eugene Scott / CNN:

Chaffetz: Low-income Americans will have to choose health care over iPhones — Chaffetz: Invest in healthcare over iPhone — House Republicans introduced a bill Monday that would scrap Obamacare's individual mandate and change the way Medicaid is administered

Discussion: The Atlantic

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Chaffetz: Americans May Have To Choose Between New Phone, Health Insurance

Discussion: CNNMoney and Eschaton

Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:

Trump's Wiretap Tweets Raise Risk of Impeachment — The sitting president has accused his predecessor of an act that could have gotten the past president impeached. That's not your ordinary exercise of free speech. If the accusation were true, and President Barack Obama ordered …

Discussion: The Resurgent, Washington Post, Raw Story, AOL and Business Insider

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:

FBI Investigating Hundreds of Refugees, Many From Now Banned Countries, For Terror Ties — The FBI is investigating at least 300 refugees admitted to the U.S. for ties to terrorism after vetting from the countries they came from failed. Fox News Chief Intelligence Correspondent Catherine Herridge has the story:

Discussion: Fox News, Scared Monkeys and Washington Free Beacon

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Liberals threaten to primary over Gorsuch — Left-leaning groups are sending a stern message to Democrats who consider backing President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court: Do it and risk a primary challenge in 2018. — Liberal activists say Senate Democrats are not doing enough to focus …

Discussion: America Rising and Hot Air

Justin Holcomb / Townhall.com:

Iran Launches Two Ballistic Missiles, Sinking an Offshore Barge 150 Miles Away — Over the weekend, the Islamic Republic of Iran test-fired two ballistic missiles into the Gulf of Oman, with one sinking a floating barge approximately 155 miles away, according to Fox News.

Discussion: Fox News and AOL

Mitch Smith / New York Times:

Omaha's Answer to Costly Potholes? Go Back to Gravel Roads — OMAHA — After living more than 40 years along a road plagued by potholes, Jo Anne Amoura was excited to see city crews shred her block of Leavenworth Street into gravel. — “I thought, 'Oh my gosh, this is great.

Michael Crowley / Politico:

Kremlin-backed media turns on Trump — Kremlin-controlled news outlets used to root for Donald Trump's election. Now they're reveling in the chaos and division of his early presidency. — “Sessions Scandal: ‘U.S Headed to Constitutional Crisis,’” reads a March 3 headline on the website …

Discussion: Politicus USA and Daily Kos