Nicholas Kristof: Make America Sick Again?

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Thursday, January 5, 2017 [The New York Times] [NYTimes.com/Kristof »] [Nicholas Kristof] Thursday, January 5, 2017 [President Obama greeting workers at the Capitol on Wednesday, after a meeting with Congressional Democrats about the Affordable Care Act.] President Obama greeting workers at the Capitol on Wednesday, after a meeting with Congressional Democrats about the Affordable Care Act. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times [Make America Sick Again?] By NICHOLAS KRISTOF Here’s the paradox of 2017: Obamacare is saving lives, and it is unpopular. So President-elect Trump and Congressional Republicans are rushing to repeal it — without disclosing what will replace it. It seems to me they’re perpetrating a hoax, and that’s the subject of [my column today]. This is such an important issue, with many thousands of lives at stake, and I hope people will speak up. [Read!] It has been remarkable to watch Trump engage the intelligence community — by scorning it. He has suggested that Julian Assange is a more reliable source of intel than the U.S. intelligence community, and hinted that the intelligence community had been forced to delay a briefing to Friday about Russia so it could gin up more evidence. In fact, he had bad intel, for the briefing was always set for Friday. And when a president-elect is feuding with the intelligence community, that’s not good for anyone. Partly because of a different Trump tweet, there has also been much-needed attention on North Korea, which I believe will be one of the major foreign policy crises of the next few years. The basic problem is that North Korea is not only adding to its nuclear stockpile but also improving its long-range missiles so that they could deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental United States. The U.S. is likely to put much more military and economic pressure on North Korea as a result, and one never knows how North Korea will respond. So keep an eye on Kim Jong Un in 2017. I haven’t been able to return to North Korea since my last trip a decade ago, but I’m still trying. I was also struck by [the discovery] of new papers indicating that President Nixon tried to block a peace deal in Vietnam as he was running for president in 1968, for fear that it would help his opponent. More than 25,000 Americans and countless Vietnamese died in that war after that time. Somebody asked me what I read for news, so my answer: I read The New York Times thoroughly and browse the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. I get lots of my news from Twitter, following links to read articles, and read The Economist thoroughly while dipping into other magazines. I’m also an NPR junkie, especially while running (I run most mornings). And now [my column] on health care in America, and how the Republican “plan” for replacing Obamacare remains a national secret, and will probably cost thousands of lives. If you disagree, please post your comments. [But do read!]  ADVERTISEMENT  I welcome suggestions for what to include in this newsletter. You can connect with me on [Twitter], [Facebook], [Google], [Instagram] and [Pinterest]. If you have friends who might enjoy this newsletter, forward this email; they can [sign up here].  Recent Columns [Laredo International Airport in Texas, July 23, 2015.] [Lessons From the Media’s Failures in Its Year With Trump] In 2017 we need to focus on substance, not celebrity. [“The Lamentation” by Marco Basaiti shows the mourning for Jesus after his body was removed from the cross.] [Am I a Christian, Pastor Timothy Keller?] A prominent evangelical considers a skeptical journalist’s doubts.  Nicole Sganga [My Blog] My blog, On the Ground, expands on my twice-weekly columns, sharing thoughts that shape the writing but don't always make it into the 800-word text. It also features contributions from other writers.  [My Columns] Explore a searchable collection of my previous columns dating back to 2001. ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NICHOLAS KRISTOF [Facebook] [FACEBOOK] [Twitter] [@nickkristof] [Instagram] [Instagram] Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »] | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »] ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Nicholas Kristof newsletter. [Unsubscribe] | [Manage Subscriptions] | [Change Your Email] | [Privacy Policy] | [Contact] | [Advertise] Copyright 2016 The New York Times Company | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018