Social Issues

On Friday morning, in the aftermath of Trump's surprising victory forcing the GOP Healthcare bill repealing Obamacare through the House, we noted that Goldman's DC analyst Alec Phillips responded that, somewhat paradoxically, the impact on Trump's broader economic agenda would actually be more adverse than most economist and pundits expected, stating that "the main effect of House passage is to delay the consideration of tax legislation, which looks even more likely than before to be delayed until 2018."

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra apparently doesn't think that $858 million is nearly enough taxpayer money to fight the Trump administration.  That is precisely the amount that California's state budget proposal, laid out by Governor Jerry Brown in January, allocated to Becerra's Justice Department but in testimony before the Senate Budget committee yesterday Becerra said he needs even more to attract and keep qualified lawyers to defend the state.  Per The Hill:

Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

The US House of Representatives voted today to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. Unfortunately, those who use the phrase "repeal and replace" are greatly exaggerating the extent to which the Affordable Care Act is actually repealed. 

While perhaps a tiny step in the right direction, the new legislation signals no departure whatsoever from the long-established trend of expanding the role of government programs in subsidizing and regulating the healthcare industry. 

After months of internal discord, House Republicans finally approved a bill to overhaul Obamacare, which they have been attacking since it was enacted in 2010.  While there are various nuances, here are the bill's main provisions courtesy of Reuters:

COVERAGE

During his early days on the force, 30-year-old, rookie Chicago police officer, Scott Tracz, was described by colleagues as an "upbeat" cop who had always dreamed of becoming a police officer to help people in his city.  That is, until he sat in a black sports car outside his girlfriend's suburban house late last year, put his gun to his head and took his own life.  Per Reuters: