Opinion: Quid pro Trumpcare

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, March 17, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( Earlier this week, the chief executive of Anthem — the country’s second largest insurer — received a private meeting with President Trump and Tom Price, the secretary of health and human services. Why did the executive, Joseph Swedish, get the meeting? It probably has something to do with the fact that he has been one of the only outside voices to praise the Republican health care bill. And why might Swedish have praised the bill? No one can know his motives for sure, but it’s clear that he has a multi-billion-dollar reason to curry favor with the Trump administration right now. That tale is the subject of [my column]( this morning, and I hope you’ll read it. In other news, you can get ready for Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearing next week by reading [Linda Greenhouse]( learn more about Trump’s latest defeat in federal court by reading [Martin Redish]( and dive into Trump’s budget proposal by reading the [Editorial Board’s take](. The full Opinion report from The Times follows. David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist Editorial [Mr. Trump’s Tear-Down Budget]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The administration’s first budget is light on detail and substance but heavy on pain, including for the people who voted for Mr. Trump. Op-Ed Columnist [Let Bannon Be Bannon!]( By DAVID BROOKS President Trump has abandoned Steve Bannon’s governing philosophy, and with it, the benefits the working class counted on. Op-Ed Columnist [Christo Wraps Donald Trump]( By ROGER COHEN How to resist a president who believes the National Endowment for the Arts is worthless. Op-Ed Columnist [Conservative Fantasies, Colliding With Reality]( By PAUL KRUGMAN Government spending is full of pointless waste — until you try to cut it. Op-Ed Columnist [Trumpcare’s Lonely, and Seedy, Supporter]( By DAVID LEONHARDT A large insurer that has praised the Republican health bill also has a big incentive to make the president happy. ADVERTISEMENT Op-Ed Contributor [Green Beer and Rank Hypocrisy]( By FINTAN O’TOOLE Irish-Americans who remember what it is to be a scorned immigrant won’t be taken in by the Know Nothings in the White House. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [When the Irish Invaded Canada]( By TIMOTHY EGAN The gall. Yet at this very moment, some 50,000 undocumented Irish are living in our country! Editorial Observer [Even on Their Special Day, Irish Immigrants in America Have Reason to Fear]( By LAWRENCE DOWNES Despite words of praise, the president has spread fear among many ethnic, racial and religious groups. Editorial [A Dent in Europe’s Populism]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD It would be a mistake to assume the Dutch vote will translate into defeat for far-right candidates in other elections. Antoine Maillard [Sunday Review]( [Books Can Take You Places Donald Trump Doesn’t Want You to Go]( By HISHAM MATAR Books are central to our resistance to a too narrow vision of the world. Sunday Review [The Seasons Aren’t What They Used to Be]( By DAVID GEORGE HASKELL I’m nearly 50, so springtime has moved, on average, a full two weeks since I was born. And you? Op-Ed Contributor [George Soros: When Hate Surges]( By GEORGE SOROS President Trump claims his anti-immigrant policies will make the country safer. But the result has been an alarming increase in hate crimes. Op-Ed Contributor [Trump Takes Nashville]( By MARGARET RENKL The president was coming to this red state, and my blue town wasn’t happy. Op-Ed Contributor [Trump Is Not Above the Courts]( By MARTIN H. REDISH The administration’s recent assertion that it is immune from judicial review of its travel bans undermines the Constitution. Op-Ed Contributor [Rex Tillerson, America’s Low-Energy Top Diplomat]( By P.J. CROWLEY The foreign service is all about championing U.S. interests abroad, but that purpose is endangered by a vacuum in leadership. Op-Ed Contributors [The G.O.P. Health Care Plan’s Fatal Flaw]( By DANIEL HEMEL AND DAVID HERZIG The Byrd rule in the Senate may prevent Republicans from obliterating Obamacare. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [The Rise of the Paranoid Citizen]( By IVAN KRASTEV Conspiracy theories have come to dominate our politics. Can our democracies survive? ADVERTISEMENT Taking Note [For Want of a Comma]( By CARMEL MCCOUBREY The serial comma, unloved by many guides for writers, gets a starring role in a legal case. Letters [The Debate Over How to Fix Health Care]( Readers discuss how the G.O.P. bill will hurt children, the selfish reason that many members of Congress hate Obamacare, and more. SIGN UP FOR THE VIETNAM ’67 NEWSLETTER Examining America’s long war in Southeast Asia [through the course]( of a single year. FOLLOW OPINION [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytopinion]( [Pinterest] [Pinterest]( 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 Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018