First Draft on Politics: Pushing on Health Care

The G.O.P. is seeking votes even as opposition grows to their health plan. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, June 26, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, has only days before Congress’s recess to persuade his colleagues to support the health care bill.]( Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, has only days before Congress’s recess to persuade his colleagues to support the health care bill. Doug Mills/The New York Times Good Monday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - With criticism mounting over their bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, top Republicans are cutting deals and [cajoling members to get to 50 votes](. Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has only a few days before Congress’s recess to persuade his colleagues to get behind the bill. - Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has [found himself out of sync]( especially on Middle East policy, with President Trump and his top advisers Jared Kushner and Stephen K. Bannon. - Mr. Trump’s refusal to acknowledge Russia’s cyberattacks last year, as well as the threat of future incursions, [has dismayed fellow Republicans](. - Their children died at the hands of undocumented immigrants, and their anguish forms [the emotional cornerstone of the president’s signature issue](. - In towns already hit by steel mill closings, [thousands of workers face unemployment as retailers struggle]( to adapt to online shopping. But even as e-commerce grows, it isn’t absorbing these workers. — The First Draft Team HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL NEWS TIP? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn More »]( ADVERTISEMENT [Trump’s Agenda]( We’ll keep you updated on the recent legislative action by the Trump White House. [• Sign up »]( Values Revealed [The Health Debate Shows What Both Parties Care About Most]( By NEIL IRWIN [In March 2009, President Obama and others listened to Mr. McConnell, then the Senate minority leader, at a White House forum on health care.]( In March 2009, President Obama and others listened to Mr. McConnell, then the Senate minority leader, at a White House forum on health care. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Economists believe what people do more than what they say. It’s called revealed preference: People’s actions are the best indication of what they actually want, not their words. The same applies to political parties. This is plain to see in the Senate health care bill, which would eliminate large parts of President Barack Obama’s [health care overhaul](. More so than speeches and slogans ever could, the content of the Affordable Care Act and the Better Care Reconciliation Act, or Obamacare and Trumpcare, reveal the different values of the two parties. It’s hard to imagine a clearer statement of priorities than the competing approaches to health care in the United States. In short, Democrats are focused on trying to maximize the number of people who have decent health insurance, and are willing to accept whatever tax increases and arrangements with health insurers and other private interests are needed to make that happen. They seek the broadest possible availability of health care, whatever the cost and political trade-offs it takes to achieve it. Republicans are focused on trying to minimize taxes, especially on investment income, and keeping federal subsidies for health care to a minimum. They are willing to accept the wrenching consequences that attaining those goals might have for Americans’ insurance coverage, betting that lower taxes and smaller government will fuel a more vibrant economy. [Read more »](  [Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India is set to visit the White House on Monday.]( [With Trump Set to Meet Narendra Modi, Many U.S. Indians Are Hopeful]( By AVANTIKA CHILKOTI Political analysts say last year’s election has ignited a wave of political engagement among Indians in the United States, and that is also driving interest in this week’s meeting. [A Red Line train pulling into the Metro Center station in Washington on Friday. Two electrical interruptions on the line snarled morning commutes for many riders.]( [Is Washington’s Metro Improving? After $150 Million, Maybe]( By NICHOLAS FANDOS Officials say a maintenance blitz on the subway system was a success, but transit leaders agree that millions are needed each year for upkeep. [Lindbergh Bay beach in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Memorial Day weekend.]( [After Puerto Rico’s Debt Crisis, Worries Shift to Virgin Islands]( By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH With debts piling up and lenders growing nervous, the U.S. Virgin Islands is approaching the same kind of fiscal crisis that engulfed Puerto Rico. [President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, right, welcomed United States Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, left, at the Presidential Palace in Ambouli, Djibouti, in April.]( [White House Pushes Military Might Over Humanitarian Aid in Africa]( By HELENE COOPER African and American military leaders worry that shifting to a military-heavy presence on the continent could hurt America’s long-term interests by failing to stimulate development. [Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, speaking last month in San Francisco. He has embraced a public role since the election as a kind of elite-level organizer against certain policies of the Trump administration.]( [Bloomberg’s Next Anti-Washington Move: $200 Million Program for Mayors]( By ALEXANDER BURNS Michael R. Bloomberg will announce an initiative to give funds to large cities as an extension of his advocacy for largely liberal policies. [Armed men identified by the Syrian Democratic Forces as American Special Operations forces in the Syrian province of Raqqa last year.]( [Commando Raids on ISIS Yield Vital Data in Shadowy War]( By ERIC SCHMITT Risky Special Operations missions targeting midlevel figures can prove valuable for unearthing information about the Islamic State’s inner circle. Right and Left: Partisan Writing You Shouldn’t Miss Read about how the other side thinks. We have collected political writing from around the web and across ideologies.  From the Right • [Philip Klein]( in [Washington Examiner]( “For opponents of Obamacare evaluating the proposal, the question boils down to whether to place more emphasis on the spending in the coming years or in the promised reforms in the next decade.” Mr. Klein is dissatisfied with the [health care bill put forward by Senate Republicans]( writing that the proposed legislation “reads less like an Obamacare repeal bill and more like an Obamacare rescue package.” He argues that, in the short term, the bill “spends a substantial amount of money to prop up Obamacare’s failing insurance markets” and funds [Medicaid]( expansion until 2021. He sees no reason to believe “that the long-term spending reforms will ever see the light of day.” [Read more »]( _____ From the Left • [Zoë Carpenter]( in [The Nation]( “The question is whether the GOP legislation improves on Obamacare and current coverage. It doesn’t come close — unless, of course, you happen to believe that we provide too much help to the poor and elderly, and not enough tax cuts to the wealthy.” Ms. Carpenter agrees with some of her counterparts on the right when she argues that the Senate health care bill doesn’t repeal the Affordable Care Act. But she comes to a different conclusion, writing that “it just makes Obamacare worse.” Moreover, she argues, the Senate bill’s plan to phase out Medicaid is even more cruel than what was proposed in the House bill “because it affects people who are currently enrolled in the expansion, not just those who would become eligible in the future.” [Read more »]( _____ [More selections »]( ADVERTISEMENT HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [washington-newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:washington-newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). 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