Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 9-29-17

White House News
Republicans’ Obamacare ‘Kill Bill’ Is Dead, For Now
Senator And Former U. S. Atty. Says He Is 99% Sure There Will Be Indictments For Russia-Gate
Criminal charges against two former top advisers to Presi- dent Donald Trump are vir- tually certain, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday.
Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort are almost sure to be indicted as a result of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the Con- necticut senator told POLITICO.
“I'm about 99 percent sure there will be some criminal charges from this investigation,” said Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Blumenthal has also served as a U.S. attorney and spent 20 years as his state's attorney gen- eral.
Blumenthal said he is less certain Trump himself would end up facing charges, including for possible obstruction of jus- tice for his firing of FBI Director James Comey.
The Cross Is On Fire:
Republican leaders de- cided not to vote on Oba- macare repeal legislation this week, effectively ending the party’s latest effort to wipe away the 2010 health care law, for now.
When, and whether, they will try again remains to be seen. But at least for the mo- ment, the GOP’s seven-year crusade to undo the Afford- able Care Act lies in shambles ― and insurance for the mil- lions of Americans who de- pend on the law remains intact.
The decision to shelve re- peal legislation came during a weekly caucus lunch on Capi- tol Hill, as leaders acknowl- edged that the the latest proposal, from Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lind- sey Graham (R-S.C.), lacked the support it required to pass.
“We don’t have the votes,” Cassidy said afterwards.
Sen. Susan Collins (R- Maine) had announced her intention to vote against the measure on Monday, joining two of her colleagues, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.). That left Republicans with just 49 votes, one short of the 50 they
White House Press Person Says Trump Was Absolutely Appropriate For Calling Colin K. A ‘SOB’
Senate Finance Committee member Sen. Bill Cassidy (R- La.) listens Monday during a hearing about the proposed Graham-Cassidy health care bill.
needed.
And the clock was ticking,
because special authority al- lowing Republicans to pass repeal with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes it takes to overcome a filibuster, ends on Sept. 30.
“We basically ran out of time,” said Sen. Ron John- son (R-Wis.), a co-sponsor of the repeal bill.
Even on Tuesday, Repub- licans were vowing not to give
up.
Many in the party already have their eyes on a new push for repeal, using the same special legislative authority, once they are done working on an upcoming bill to cut taxes.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huck- abee Sanders defended President Donald Trump after comments he made on Friday during a rally suggest- ing that the NFL should fire any “son of a b***h” who kneels during the national an- them.
Sanders said that it was “absolutely appropriate” for Trump to attack the protests and the players who were kneeling in the way that he did because he was standing up for the country and the national anthem.
“This isn’t about the presi- dent being against anyone, this is about the president and mil- lions of Americans being for something,” Sanders said. “I think it’s always appropriate of the president of the United States to defend our flag, to de- fend our national anthem and to defend the men and women who died to defend them.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders defends Trump’s ‘SOB’ com- ment.
The debate about protests during the national anthem has been pushed to the fore- front as more and more ath- letes protest at football and baseball games alike.
The anthem protests gained notoriety after Colin Kaepernick took a knee dur- ing the national anthem and who has since been BLACK- BALLED by the NFL, and other players joined him in protest of discrimination and police brutality in the United States.
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