#I do wish there was more conservative or orthodox rep

[rysingsun]

I think most of what I know has been said but I wanna keep the joy train (hmm or maybe goy train? haha) going!

The Chosen People thing is pretty well known but I don’t think most people know what they are chosen to do. Loosely put, to be kind people and help people out! Jewish people are known for banks (due to historical reasons of Christians refusing to do it for religious reasons but still needing/wanting to use the service) but I think people should talk more about all the Jewish hospitals and homeless shelters and food banks that are apparently out there. No strings attached, unlike some Christian-run places that require people to convert to Christianity/go to Mass. Now that, to me, is true Unconditional Love. Based.

Jewish people have separate sects(unless that word is just for Christianity uhh)/groups that refer to how they practice Judaism. For example Reform Jews are less likely to follow all of the rules of kosher eating and wearing kippah/cultural garments/…beard???(that’s a thing right?) all the time and whatnot compared to say… Orthodox Jews— though like in any religion it varies a bit by individual. There are more than just those two but my mind is going blank because I haven’t heard the others in a long while. Is Conservative one? Oh and atheist Jews exist. I forgot I didn’t know that at one point, now it just feels like a given.

There are also different terms for cultures of different diaspora. Ashkenazi are well-known as the descendants of those who were in Europe for some time. Sephardi in Latin America. Mizrahi in the Middle East? (Sorry if I’m misremembering). And the different cultures will have variations on the traditions from different food on holidays to different languages derived from Hebrew: Yiddish for Ashkenazi Jews, Ladino for Sephardi Jews.

Getting slightly more serious here… The term zionism has been getting a bad rep due to it being conflated to solely mean kahanism (the word for the supremacy conquering thing that far too many gentiles have been trying to claim is synonymous with all of zionism— this is like saying every sect of Christianity is Evangelical or every feminist is a radfem). But at its core in its broadest meaning it means the desire for Jews to have a country in which they have self-determination— not necessarily a Jewish-only country, but one where their safety and human rights are guaranteed (If you wonder why that’s deemed necessary you probably do not know enough about Jewish history). Ideally in their native land but I think it’s open to any land of significance? Don’t quote me on that last sentence I’m treating this like a pop quiz and not double checking. Like many ideologies it has many subcategories, but most Jewish people agree with some form of it.

I truly hope there will be a time where all Jewish people feel safe in their jewishness, and no longer need the millennia worth of generational trauma to keep their wits about them in that way. Your ancestors went through so much and you are still feeling echoes of it if not experiencing some of it firsthand. I wish the world were kinder and I hope you all have and find people that truly care about you.

I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned about a Jewish mentality is the celebration of life. You are kind now not for a happy afterlife but to be kind here and now in life. A man Christians celebrated as a martyr this last year for taking his life was mourned greatly because Living is prioritized above Sacrifice. I see posts looking forward to the Sabbath, Yom Kippur, and Rosh Hashanah as they come and I’m glad you still find joy in these things and others even when the world has become more openly hostile. Judaism and the Jewish culture is about Life, Memory, and Community. I hope you will have more days of thriving than surviving, the memories of loved ones will continue to be a blessing, and you will find more genuinely compassionate people than you can count.

'punch a nazi!!' how about we start small and you can name two jews who feel comfortable talking about judaism openly around you

[evilwickedme]

who are the top 3 characters from any fandom(s) that you or others hc as Jewish, and who are your top 3 favourite canonically Jewish characters from any fandom? also please tell us why!!

Oh this is a delightful ask thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to answer this!!!

My longest lasting Jewish headcanon is for Lily Potter nee Evans, for several reasons. One is she gives me the Vibes. Secondly, I love a good angsty story about Petunia choosing to assimilate and punishing Harry for trying to reconnect with his heritage later on. I also think James converted for her and just... Fell in love with Judaism, as a religion, as a culture. One day I will write a fic with all of these headcanons put together but as of right now all I have up (on ff.net, not ao3) is a short chanukah fic that is honestly not worth reading. Also this headcanon is to spite JKR specifically

My next hc isn't so much a headcanon as much as an affront to God it isn't text yet. We all know Peter B Parker steps on a glass at his wedding making him Jewish - and also the only canonically Jewish Peter Parker. There is no version of Peter Parker that isn't Jewish, even Tom Holland's, who, when asked, outright said Peter Parker isn't Jewish, creating an enemy for life. You know the story of that guy who got hired to draw for marvel comics and the first thing he did was fix the slightly crooked M in Spider-Man that had been bothering him his entire life? Me forcing marvel to hire me to write for them and then making Peter Parker both Jewish and bisexual fite me

Another big one I used to be more involved with is Crowley of Good Omens. If you look far enough back in my Good Omens tag - like shortly after the show released - you'll see a bunch of really good posts by other people explaining why, but basically the same reasons Crowley is a demon are the reasons he'd be a fantastic Jew.

As for canon, Willow Rosenberg might be shitty jewitch representation, but BTVS is so important to me and seeing any sapphic representation at all when I was that young, let alone that of a Jewish one, was so so so important to me as a 12-13 year old. And still now, even as I grapple with the shittiness of having Willow hang crucifixes in her room or the bi erasure of the character.

Another one I like despite its problematic~~~ aspects is Annie Edison from Community. It's one of my comfort shows, and the way she insists on her Jewishness specifically in the context of Shirley's bigotry is often very satisfying to watch. I'm not personally a Shirley hater, fyi, but you can't deny she's an evangelical asshole whenever she encounters anyone who doesn't believe exactly the same as her. It's an underrated dynamic to watch.

I have mixed but mostly positive feelings for the Jewish rep in Crazy Ex Girlfriend. I feel like it doesn't try as hard to deconstruct Jewish stereotypes as it does sexist and ableist ones, but I appreciate that it's coming from the lived experiences of a Jewish woman at the narrative helm.

Bonus: I can't remember if the Jewish rep in ASOUE is canon or not. Somebody tell me so I know how to feel about it lmao

Anyway thank you for asking this was a fun question to think about!!!

[feedbaylenny]

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. There’s too much going on, between job stuff, the news and that last blog post I wrote.

It was about being attacked on Facebook by someone who was angry I don’t think Barack Obama is my favorite president and made nasty knee-jerk comments when I simply asked my friend who’d made the post, “Favorite? Really?”

I didn’t see or refer to anything this crazy person had written, but she was obviously too thin-skinned and took it as a personal assault, and lazy and dumb because she couldn’t refute anything I wrote. She resorted to claims of “disrespect” and name-calling.

https://twitter.com/feedbaylenny/status/1018555725004660738

I’m glad someone commented on that Facebook exchange with a radical liberal after I’d already published the post. That’s when I learned about the new group #WalkAway. It’s called #WalkAway Campaign and it’s no more than a few weeks old.

NEXT: Details on what it’s about and who’s in it, plus should actors’ orientations play a role in their casting? Why Scarlett Johansson retreated under pressure and what’s expected in the next Frozen.

And please, don’t miss out. If you like what you read here, subscribe to CohenConnect.com with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. I’m also available for writing/web contract work.

The group describes itself this way:

I wouldn’t go as far as the group describes itself – it was founded by a New York hairdresser – but I hope it becomes a place for moderates to respectfully discuss issues, because I’m so tired of the extremists on both sides and also both political parties. (I have to say I wish money was out of politics.) They seem so dirty to me and I don’t like the idea of politicians having to choose sides, to be aligned with one side and work against the other. We’re all independent with different subjects important to us, and different views on them.

https://www.walkawaycampaign.com/

I don’t know if this will lead to a third party, and we know those haven’t worked in America, but I think most of us are sick of holding our noses and voting. That’s not how it should be. Neither should it be voting down either party’s line because there are good people on both sides.

Notice I said “voting” and not staying home because if you stay home, then you have no say. Remember “No taxation without representation?” Americans fought a war for independence. Much later, women and blacks finally got the right to vote, even though blacks had to wait another hundred years to do so without fear of violence or a poll tax.

Voting is not a right to be taken for granted.

Showing I voted. Yes, in Philadelphia. Not in Miami and definitely not the Tri-Cities!

President Trump may have been elected by people on the left who didn’t like Hillary Clinton. I’m not judging but simply stating what I believe to be fact. (I don’t know if anyone but the insiders know enough about Russian influence to make a firm decision. I’m certainly not.)

Tell me, looking back, if all the people who stayed home on the day of the election rather than vote for a flawed candidate (and they were both flawed), would Trump be president? Do those people I’m referring to regret what they did (or didn’t do)?

There is one thing that bothers me about the #WalkAway group and it’s easy to find on Facebook. This group, probably about a week old, has too many rules and regulations, and too many moderators rejecting posts.

This is no way to gain support!

The hand print after a name in the photo above is supposed to mean the person joined the group within the past two weeks. (I had one yesterday but not today, for what it’s worth.) The shield with the check mark means the person is one of 18 who manages the membership and posts. Something doesn’t sit right with me on all that.

I was told to put my story in the “Random Stuff” section, which is already on Part Three, which contains almost a thousand posts like mine.

  My comment was probably not noticed by the rulers of the page but besides my story, I let them know they’re probably shooting themselves in the foot if they’re going to continue being so strict. They’ll alienate possible supporters and there are many, considering how many signed up to join the group and had to be accepted. Hopefully they’ll get that right.

Speaking of radical liberals, there are some in the transgender community and their supporters who didn’t think Scarlett Johansson should play a transgender role in the movie Rub & Tug.

https://twitter.com/feedbaylenny/status/1015236919964422145

They ought to be pleased – if there’s any way to please them – Johansson has decided to pull out.

The dissenters claimed the role should’ve gone to a transgender actor instead, and said it proved how limited opportunities are for transgender actors – as if casting people are allowed to ask.

In early 2016, The Advocate reported,

“A television show inspired by the life of Dan Savage encountered a snafu when it sought to cast a gay actor for the part of a gay teen.

“Todd Holland, a producer of The Real O’Neals, was alarmed to learn that he is prohibited from asking actors about their sexual orientation.”

That’s California law, meant to protect everyone of all genders, gender identities and orientations. Unfortunately, if you can’t ask, there’s also research and word-of-mouth.

Remember, this is acting and there shouldn’t be discrimination in any form. (Actually, it would probably matter in the adult film industry but I’ll leave that to the lawyers.)

Holland got lucky.

The Advocate reported,

“It was very important to me [to cast a gay actor], and I was in a panic,” Holland said.

“Ultimately, the ABC show … did find a gay actor for the role: the 21-year-old Noah Galvin. The AP reports that Holland had a ‘sense’ that Galvin was gay and that he overheard the young man speaking about coming out to his parents.”

By the way, Galvin is half-Jewish (on his mother’s side, which makes it absolutely certain if you’re Orthodox or Conservative) but his character comes from a strictly Irish Catholic family. And Jay R. Ferguson plays his father, but he’s not, and he plays a police officer, which he’s also not.

But back to reality.

Johansson was cast in Rub & Tug as a mob-connected massage parlor owner who was a woman but lived as a man.

According to the Associated Press,

“Johansson was initially quite defiant and told anyone who had a problem with her casting to speak to the director.

“She said in a statement: ‘Tell them they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman’s reps for comment.’”

All three are cisgender but played transgender characters.

Definition for the record, since this subject is new to so many people – good people – who just don’t know and it’s not their fault.

Also, it’s not a very old word.

But speaking to Out magazine, Johansson said something diffferent than earlier.

“I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement.

“While I would have loved the opportunity to bring Dante’s story and transition to life, I understand why many feel he should be portrayed by a transgender person.

“I am thankful that this casting debate … has sparked a larger conversation about diversity and representation in film.”

And for the bean-counters out there, Variety reports bisexual actress Evan Rachel Wood (who I never heard of) is in talks to take on a voice actor role for the sequel to 2013’s Disney film Frozen, and some fans hope Wood will play Elsa’s girlfriend.

This scriptwriter (and radical liberal, if you read her Twitter posts) is even demanding it!

https://twitter.com/Hajabeg/status/1017885518745366528

She just proved my earlier point, “if there’s any way to please them,” and I suggest she spend a very long time quietly counting the number of LGBTQ+ roles versus the number of LGBTQ+ actors. I want specifics on L, G, B, Y, Q and +, so nobody can say they’re left out. We wouldn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. And if there aren’t enough roles to go around, then she should stop writing on Twitter and do her job.

By the way, “Frozen 2” is supposed to hit theaters Nov. 27, 2019. The original hit nearly $1.3 billion in box offices worldwide and won the Academy Award for best animated film in 2014.

Also, something to think about: The many roles of straight, cisgender characters in TV, the movies and the stage.

What if no sexual minority actors were offered any of those roles because they’re not straight, cisgender people? And you have to admit, numerically, characters without any love interest would probably be assumed to be straight and cisgender, since they’re the majority.

Does anyone have an answer to that?

Just know the earlier issues are being discussed and things are getting better. No whining or demanding necessary.

Please leave your comments in the section below, and don’t miss out. If you like what you read here, subscribe to CohenConnect.com with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. I’m also available for writing/web contract work.

More moderation in politics, casting calls coming I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. There’s too much going on, between job stuff, the news and…

[yes-dal456]

Donald Trump Says He'll Have His Own Obamacare 'Replacement' Plan Soon

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WASHINGTON ― At his first post-election press conference on Wednesday, president-elect Donald Trump said he will release his own plan to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act shortly after taking office. What he didn’t say is what that plan will be or how it will work.

After Election Day, Trump and Republican leaders in Congress immediately started laying out a plan to repeal the health care reform law President Barack Obama enacted in 2010 that has reduced the national uninsured rate to its lowest level ever. So far, they have failed to tell the public what they would rather do instead.

If Trump actually follows through on his vow, his will be providing one of a growing number of competing ― and vague ― GOP proposals to remake the health care system, which doesn’t portend rapid action in Congress. 

Trump said his new administration will present its ideas about health care reform after Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) is confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“We’re going to be submitting, as soon as our secretary is approved ― almost simultaneously, shortly thereafter ― a plan,” he said. “It’ll be repeal and replace. It will be essentially simultaneously. It will be various segments, you understand, but will most likely be on the same day or the same week, but probably the same day ― could be the same hour.”

Yet congressional Republicans are in increasing disarray about when and how to take on the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, so there’s reason to doubt the president-elect’s assertion that Congress could act on his unseen health care proposals the same day, or even the same hour, that he sends them to Capitol Hill.

Trump called his plan “very complicated stuff,” but insisted, “We’re going to get a health bill passed, we’re going to get health care taken care of in this country.” 

“You’re going to be very, very proud of what we put forth having to do with health care,” he added. “We’re going to have a health care that is far less expensive and far better.”

These are easy promises to make and very difficult promises to keep ― not least because, as Trump noted, health care policy is complicated. And his previous statements and proposals make it impossible to guess what he really wants to do.

The only thing consistent about Trump's views is that whatever comes after the Affordable Care Act will be 'terrific' and 'better' and 'less expensive.'

Trump’s positions on what the health care system should look like have shifted wildly since his presidential campaign began.

At times, he’s promised government-funded universal health care and praised Canada’s single-payer system. He’s also talked about letting health insurers set up shop in states with the laxest regulations and allowing them to sell skimpy policies by “getting rid of the lines” between the states.

After winning the election, Trump revised his proposals to bring them closer to orthodox Republican ideas like cutting Medicaid funding and promoting tax-free health savings accounts. The only thing consistent about his views is that whatever comes after the Affordable Care Act will be “terrific” and “better” and “less expensive.”

And Congress is nowhere close to being in a position to advance a new set of health care reforms at the same time it votes to undo the Affordable Care Act because Republicans can’t agree on the procedural steps, let alone the policy they would put in place. After years of attacking Obamacare, the GOP has never even reached a consensus about what the goals of health care reform are.

The Affordable Care Act sought to reduce the uninsured rate, to implement stronger consumer protections, including guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and to provide financial assistance to low- and middle-income people who couldn’t afford health coverage in the past.

The law plainly succeeded on the first two counts, but has had mixed success on the third. Subsidies cut off for people earning four times the federal poverty level ― which is $48,000 a year for a single person ― leaving families who aren’t wealthy to pay the full premium for their health insurance. That burden increased this year when rates increased much more than during the first three years of Obamacare enrollment.

We don’t want to own it politically. President-elect Donald Trump, referring to Obamacare

At his press conference on Wednesday, Trump lamented that some Obamacare plans carry very high deductibles that reduce their value for people who’d have to spend thousands of dollars out of pocket before their benefits kick in.

“You have deductibles that are so high that after people go broke paying their premiums ― which are going through the roof ― the health care can’t even be used by them because the deductibles are so high,” Trump said.

That’s true for a portion of people who have this coverage. But the cumulative impact of all plans conservative intellectuals and Republican lawmakers are circulating would be to expose people to even higher out-of-pocket medical costs.

And none of the policy outlines Republicans have promoted would dedicate the level of funding required to maintain what the Affordable Care Act already does, let alone make insurance cheaper and available to more people.

This includes Price’s plan, which would claw back regulations on the insurance industry, effectively allowing companies to cover fewer services and impose higher co-pays and deductibles ― and making it harder for people with pre-existing conditions to get decent coverage in the first place.

Throw in the fact that Price’s proposal, like all Republican plans, would dramatically cut funding for Medicaid, which provides insurance to millions of low-income Americans, and the result would be more crippling medical bills for the American public, not fewer.

Democrats oppose the idea of Price assuming leadership of Health and Human Services and have raised ethics questions about the physician and six-term lawmaker’s investments in health care companies, but he will likely enjoy enough support from Senate Republicans to be confirmed.

The Senate Finance Committee hasn’t scheduled Price’s confirmation hearing, but he is expected to appear before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next Wednesday.

Trump, meanwhile, has been clearer on his political calculations than he is on his policy wish list. The way he describes it, he and the GOP are generously offering to relieve Democrats of the problems the Affordable Care Act created or failed to solve. In his stated view, the best political course for Republicans would be to do nothing and allow Obamacare’s shortcomings to mount so they can blame Democrats for enacting it in the first place.

“We don’t want to own it politically. They own it right now,” Trump said.

That’s an unusual view of how the public might react to the collapse of the health insurance system during a time when the Republican Party controls the entire federal government and most state capitals.

The Urban Institute projects that congressional GOP leaders’ preferred plan ― dubbed “repeal and delay” because they would pass legislation to repeal major parts of Obamacare but leave most of them in place for up to four years while they devise a new policy ― could destabilize the health care system and result in as many as 30 million people losing their health benefits.

Moreover, Trump ― like other Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) ― overstates the current difficulties facing the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges.

“Obamacare is a complete and total disaster,” Trump said. “ It’s imploding as we sit.” Trump predicted that 2017 would be “the bad year” and “catastrophic.”

This is at odds with the latest evidence.

The Department of Health and Human Services reported Tuesday that enrollment on the exchanges for this year, which ends Jan. 31, is ahead of where it was at this time last year. The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s reported last month that the financial status of health insurers participating in the exchanges is improving ― after many suffered losses last year ― and projected that these marketplaces and the prices consumers pay will stabilize in the future.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from http://ift.tt/2jEHXle from Blogger http://ift.tt/2jwsgZm

[imreviewblog]

Donald Trump Says He'll Have His Own Obamacare 'Replacement' Plan Soon

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WASHINGTON ― At his first post-election press conference on Wednesday, president-elect Donald Trump said he will release his own plan to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act shortly after taking office. What he didn’t say is what that plan will be or how it will work.

After Election Day, Trump and Republican leaders in Congress immediately started laying out a plan to repeal the health care reform law President Barack Obama enacted in 2010 that has reduced the national uninsured rate to its lowest level ever. So far, they have failed to tell the public what they would rather do instead.

If Trump actually follows through on his vow, his will be providing one of a growing number of competing ― and vague ― GOP proposals to remake the health care system, which doesn’t portend rapid action in Congress. 

Trump said his new administration will present its ideas about health care reform after Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) is confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“We’re going to be submitting, as soon as our secretary is approved ― almost simultaneously, shortly thereafter ― a plan,” he said. “It’ll be repeal and replace. It will be essentially simultaneously. It will be various segments, you understand, but will most likely be on the same day or the same week, but probably the same day ― could be the same hour.”

Yet congressional Republicans are in increasing disarray about when and how to take on the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, so there’s reason to doubt the president-elect’s assertion that Congress could act on his unseen health care proposals the same day, or even the same hour, that he sends them to Capitol Hill.

Trump called his plan “very complicated stuff,” but insisted, “We’re going to get a health bill passed, we’re going to get health care taken care of in this country.” 

“You’re going to be very, very proud of what we put forth having to do with health care,” he added. “We’re going to have a health care that is far less expensive and far better.”

These are easy promises to make and very difficult promises to keep ― not least because, as Trump noted, health care policy is complicated. And his previous statements and proposals make it impossible to guess what he really wants to do.

The only thing consistent about Trump's views is that whatever comes after the Affordable Care Act will be 'terrific' and 'better' and 'less expensive.'

Trump’s positions on what the health care system should look like have shifted wildly since his presidential campaign began.

At times, he’s promised government-funded universal health care and praised Canada’s single-payer system. He’s also talked about letting health insurers set up shop in states with the laxest regulations and allowing them to sell skimpy policies by “getting rid of the lines” between the states.

After winning the election, Trump revised his proposals to bring them closer to orthodox Republican ideas like cutting Medicaid funding and promoting tax-free health savings accounts. The only thing consistent about his views is that whatever comes after the Affordable Care Act will be “terrific” and “better” and “less expensive.”

And Congress is nowhere close to being in a position to advance a new set of health care reforms at the same time it votes to undo the Affordable Care Act because Republicans can’t agree on the procedural steps, let alone the policy they would put in place. After years of attacking Obamacare, the GOP has never even reached a consensus about what the goals of health care reform are.

The Affordable Care Act sought to reduce the uninsured rate, to implement stronger consumer protections, including guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and to provide financial assistance to low- and middle-income people who couldn’t afford health coverage in the past.

The law plainly succeeded on the first two counts, but has had mixed success on the third. Subsidies cut off for people earning four times the federal poverty level ― which is $48,000 a year for a single person ― leaving families who aren’t wealthy to pay the full premium for their health insurance. That burden increased this year when rates increased much more than during the first three years of Obamacare enrollment.

We don’t want to own it politically. President-elect Donald Trump, referring to Obamacare

At his press conference on Wednesday, Trump lamented that some Obamacare plans carry very high deductibles that reduce their value for people who’d have to spend thousands of dollars out of pocket before their benefits kick in.

“You have deductibles that are so high that after people go broke paying their premiums ― which are going through the roof ― the health care can’t even be used by them because the deductibles are so high,” Trump said.

That’s true for a portion of people who have this coverage. But the cumulative impact of all plans conservative intellectuals and Republican lawmakers are circulating would be to expose people to even higher out-of-pocket medical costs.

And none of the policy outlines Republicans have promoted would dedicate the level of funding required to maintain what the Affordable Care Act already does, let alone make insurance cheaper and available to more people.

This includes Price’s plan, which would claw back regulations on the insurance industry, effectively allowing companies to cover fewer services and impose higher co-pays and deductibles ― and making it harder for people with pre-existing conditions to get decent coverage in the first place.

Throw in the fact that Price’s proposal, like all Republican plans, would dramatically cut funding for Medicaid, which provides insurance to millions of low-income Americans, and the result would be more crippling medical bills for the American public, not fewer.

Democrats oppose the idea of Price assuming leadership of Health and Human Services and have raised ethics questions about the physician and six-term lawmaker’s investments in health care companies, but he will likely enjoy enough support from Senate Republicans to be confirmed.

The Senate Finance Committee hasn’t scheduled Price’s confirmation hearing, but he is expected to appear before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next Wednesday.

Trump, meanwhile, has been clearer on his political calculations than he is on his policy wish list. The way he describes it, he and the GOP are generously offering to relieve Democrats of the problems the Affordable Care Act created or failed to solve. In his stated view, the best political course for Republicans would be to do nothing and allow Obamacare’s shortcomings to mount so they can blame Democrats for enacting it in the first place.

“We don’t want to own it politically. They own it right now,” Trump said.

That’s an unusual view of how the public might react to the collapse of the health insurance system during a time when the Republican Party controls the entire federal government and most state capitals.

The Urban Institute projects that congressional GOP leaders’ preferred plan ― dubbed “repeal and delay” because they would pass legislation to repeal major parts of Obamacare but leave most of them in place for up to four years while they devise a new policy ― could destabilize the health care system and result in as many as 30 million people losing their health benefits.

Moreover, Trump ― like other Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) ― overstates the current difficulties facing the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges.

“Obamacare is a complete and total disaster,” Trump said. “ It’s imploding as we sit.” Trump predicted that 2017 would be “the bad year” and “catastrophic.”

This is at odds with the latest evidence.

The Department of Health and Human Services reported Tuesday that enrollment on the exchanges for this year, which ends Jan. 31, is ahead of where it was at this time last year. The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s reported last month that the financial status of health insurers participating in the exchanges is improving ― after many suffered losses last year ― and projected that these marketplaces and the prices consumers pay will stabilize in the future.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from Healthy Living - The Huffington Post http://huff.to/2iHiJhV