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Presidential News
Even With An Unfavorable Court Ruling, Much Of Obamacare Would Live On
President Obama Says Israeli P.M.’s Speech To Congress Offered Nothing New
Unlike the case the court considered in 2012, which could have erased the Afford- able Care Act entirely, this one concerns the application of only one provision of the law, and only to certain states. A ruling for the plaintiffs in the case, King v. Burwell, would carry huge consequences in many states, but 15 million of the people estimated to get in- surance under the law would still get it, according to an Urban Institute estimate.
The case before the Supreme Court this week will not wipe Obamacare off the books.
The list of policy changes that would be untouched by any legal ruling is very long. The law’s Medicaid expansion, now covering more than nine million poor Americans, will endure. Regulations on health insurance, limiting insurers’ ability to impose lifetime caps
on coverage or exclude cus- tomers who have pre-existing illnesses, will remain. Young adults will still be able to stay on their parents’ insurance until they reach 26.
Major changes in the way Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, designed to make
health care safer and more ef- ficient, will continue. Work- places will still need to provide places for lactating mothers to pump breast milk. Chain restaurants will still need to publish the calorie counts of their menu items. Drug com- panies will still need to report the money they pay to doctors.
If the Supreme Court rules to eliminate insurance subsi- dies in certain states, the num- ber of uninsured Americans would rise. But it would still be lower than without the Afford- able Care Act.
A Reduction, Not an Era- sure.
Victory For President Obama: Congress Funds Homeland Security Dept.
The House voted Tuesday to fund the Homeland Secu- rity Department through the end of the budget year, ending a protracted standoff that cen- tered on objections to Presi- dent Obama's controversial immigration actions.
The House voted 257-167 for the legislation, which in- cludes no immigration provi- sions, and was carried over the finish line with mostly Democratic votes. In a state- ment late Tuesday, Presi- dent Obama said he would sign the legislation as soon as it reached his desk.
"On behalf of the approxi- mately 225,000 men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, we thank those in Congress -- Democ- rats and Republicans -- who
voted for this bill and, in par- ticular, those in Congress who showed the leadership neces- sary to get the job done," DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement Tuesday after- noon.
The result is a victory for the Obama administration. Republicans had tried to use the DHS funding bill as the vehicle to reverse Obama's immigration executive ac- tions. But Democrats repeat- edly blocked the move, insisting they pass the spend- ing bill with no riders at- tached.
House Speaker John Boehner, faced with dimin- ishing options, earlier in the day told fellow Republican lawmakers he would drop the immigration demands.
Supporters of Obamacare rallied at the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
President Barack Obama has reacted scathingly to a speech by the Israeli prime minister that castigated his policy towards Iran.
In a speech to the U. S. Con- gress, Benjamin Ne- tanyahu warned that a deal under discussion on Iran's nu- clear program could "pave Iran's path to the bomb" rather than block it.
But President Obama said Netanyahu had offered no viable alternative.
Other senior Democrats - and Iran - also criticized Mr. Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader's visit was
controversial from the start, because the Republican speaker invited him without consulting the White House.
President Obama an- nounced he would not meet Prime Minister Ne- tanyahu, who is fighting in a closely contested national election in just two weeks' time.
Talks on Iran's nuclear pro- gram are nearing a critical late-March deadline for an outline agreement to be reached.
In a speech to the U. S. Con- gress regularly punctuated by standing ovations, Ne- tanyahu depicted Iran as a "threat to the entire world".
Mr. Netanyahu's critics say he's manipulating the close relationship between Is- rael and the U. S. for political advantage. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said she was close to tears during the speech - because it was conde- scending and insulted the in- telligence of Americans.
But there's no doubt that Mr. Netanyahu sees the threat from Iran as real, and his skilful rhetoric will connect with many Americans.
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015