Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 12-29-17

White House And Political News
Despite President Trump’s Rampage Against It, 9 Million Sign Up For Obamacare
Royal Happiness: Meghan Markle Attends First Public Event With The Queen Of England
In a remarkably strong show of consumer demand, nearly 9 million people signed up for “Obamacare” next year, as gov- ernment numbers out Thurs- day proved predictions of its collapse wrong yet again.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said more than 8.8 million people have signed up in the 39 states served by the federal Health- Care.gov website.
That compares to 9.2 mil- lion last year in the same states — or 96 percent of the previous total.
The level exceeds what ex- perts thought was possible after another year of political battles over the Affordable Care Act, not to mention market problems like rising premiums and insurer exits.
On top of that, the Trump administration cut enrollment season in half, slashed the ad
budget, terminated major pay- ments to insurers, and scaled back grants for consumer counselors.
“This level of enrollment is truly remarkable, especially given the headwinds faced by the program,” said Larry Levitt of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
President Donald Trump insistently predicted “Obamacare” would implode as he pursued unsuccessful efforts to repeal it in Congress.
This week he incorrectly de- clared the GOP tax bill had es- sentially repealed it.
Despite all that, more than 1 million new customers signed up last week, ahead of a Dec. 15 deadline for HealthCare.gov.
That’s a sign of solid interest in the program, which offers subsidized private health insur- ance to people who don’t have access to job-based coverage.
Meghan Markle smiled and gave a brief wave in her first public appearance with the queen of England on Mon- day.
Queen Elizabeth II and senior members of the royal family — along with Merkle, Prince Harry‘s American fi- ancée — attended a Christmas church service on Monday as a crowd of local residents gath- ered.
Meghan and Harry stopped to talk with several lo- cals on their way back to the queen’s residence.
The queen was joined by her husband, Prince Philip, and close family members. Prince William and his wife, Kate, also attended.
The crowd was larger than in past years, perhaps because of curiosity about Markle.
The queen 91, and her hus- band, Philip, 96 had a private lunch with the family after
Meghan Markle and her fiance, Prince Harry leave church on Monday.
church.
This is the first Christmas
the family is joined by Markle. The actress and Prince Harry plan to marry at Windsor Castle in May.
According to reports, Markle seemed comfortable walking to the church arm-in-
arm with Harry. She and Kate curtsied in front of the queen after the service was over.
Queen Elizabeth said in her brief broadcast that the royal family looks forward “to welcoming new members into it next year.”
White House Denies President Trump Made Offensive Comments About Black Immigrants
The White House is disputing a New York Times report that President Trump al- legedly made offensive com- ments about Black immigrants — specifically Haitians and Nigerians. But low confidence in the president combined with his history of controversial com- ments about immigrants and Black people have led some to approach the White House's de- nial with disbelief.
During a June Oval Office meeting attended by top White House officials, the president was supposedly angered by just how many immigrants had re- ceived visas to enter the U.S. in 2017, according to six officials who attended or were briefed about the meeting.
Trump had won the 2016 presidential election after promising to be tough on immi- gration, and his immigration
ban was constantly facing push- back and criticism from ac- tivists, some members of his own party and the courts.
The Times reported that Trump had read a list reveal- ing the number of immigrants that had entered the country:
Haiti had sent 15,000 people. They “all have AIDS,” he grum- bled, according to one person who attended the meeting and another person who was briefed about it by a different person who was there.
Forty thousand had come from Nigeria, Mr. Trump added. Once they had seen the United States, they would never “go back to their huts” in Africa, recalled the two officials.
White House press secretary
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
attacked the Times reporting Saturday in the White House denial.
General Tells Troops: ‘War Is Coming’
The commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps told around 300 Marines stationed in Norway they should prepare for a "big- ass fight."
General Robert Neller told the Marine rota- tional force at the Norwegian Home Guard base near Trond- heim: "I hope I'm wrong, but there's a war coming.
"You're in a fight here, an in- formational fight, a political fight, by your presence," he said, in comments reported by Military.com.
The general later said he ex- pects the Pacific and Russia to be the focus of future conflicts outside of the Middle East.
"Just remember why you're here," Sergeant Major
General Robert Neller told the Marine Rotational Force, ‘he hope’s he is wrong, but war is coming.”
Ronald Green told the Marines, according to the mili- tary news site.
"They're watching. Just like you watch them, they watch you. We've got 300 Marines up here; we could go from 300 to 3,000 overnight. We could raise the bar.”
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL-BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2017