memeorandum: Ossoff, Handel, and Gray Emerge as Frontrunners (us13.campaign-archive2.com)

12:35 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, 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

CNN:

CNN/ORC poll: Public splits on revoking individual mandate — Washington (CNN)Americans are sharply divided on revoking Obamacare's mandate that individuals obtain health insurance coverage, according to a new CNN/ORC poll, a change that's a key provision of a newly-released Republican plan to repeal and replace the 2010 law.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Times and Politico

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Conservatives pan House Obamacare repeal bill — A handful of House conservatives on Monday evening criticized GOP leadership's newly released Obamacare replacement bill, foreshadowing trouble for the repeal effort even after leaders tried to assuage the far-right.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Vox, Daily Kos, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Week and Axios

Wall Street Journal:

The Health Bill You've Waited For — Our plan removes taxes and mandates, while offering tax credits to help Americans afford coverage. — 'ObamaCare is collapsing," President Trump said during his address to Congress last week, “and we must act decisively to protect all Americans.

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

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

House Republican plan would create Obamacare cliff for 2020 presidential election — House Republicans on Monday released their long-awaited healthcare bill, but the plan would only repeal major parts of Obamacare starting in 2020 — when the political world will be engulfed in the next presidential election.

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

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

Heritage Action for America:
GOP PLAN FAILS TO MOVE PAST OBAMACARE'S PROGRESSIVE PROMISE

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

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

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

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’

Discussion: Business Insider and Politicus USA

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

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

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

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, Health Affairs Blog, Talking Points Memo and The Atlantic

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

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

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, Axios, Mashable, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, The Verge, emptywheel, The Truth Division, Sputnik International, Althouse, The Week and twitchy.com, more at Mediagazer »

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

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider and Mediaite

John Crudele / New York Post:
Why Dems will regret a probe into Russian election hacking

Discussion: BizPac Review

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

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

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

Discussion: CNNMoney and Eschaton

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 Insider, Press Release, The White House, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Mashable and The Week

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

Discussion: USA Today, The Week and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »

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

Jdolin / NARAL Pro-Choice America:
Groups To Democratic Senators Regarding Gorsuch: “We Need You To Do Better”

Discussion: The Daily Caller and National Review

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.

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

Elaina Plott / Washingtonian:

Is Katrina Pierson Actually Doing Anything? — On the eve of President Trump's State of the Union address, Katrina Pierson strolls into the Trump Hotel lobby, her face buried in her gold bedazzled phone. She's just arrived from a Fox News hit, and the suit-clad men gathered at the bar, sipping Manhattans, notice.

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Victor Davis Hanson / National Review:

The Ancient Laws of Unintended Consequences — Eight years of a fawning press have made the Left reckless. — The classical idea of a divine Nemesis ("reckoning" or “downfall") that brings unforeseen retribution for hubris (insolence and arrogance) was a recognition that there are certain laws …

Discussion: Instapundit