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Barack Obama Just Revealed What Advice He Gave to Donald Trump in Hopes of Saving Obamacare, and We Get It
Former President Barack Obama revealed on Thursday that he advised President-Elect Donald Trump to "just change the name" of Obamacare and "claim that you made those wonderful changes."
What do you do when you have more guinea pigs than you can name? That’s what happened to The Portland Guinea Pig Rescue (PGPR), an all-volunteer, foster-based 501(c)(3). The organization was overwhelmed with guinea pigs after a few hoarding situations converged and they lost half of their foster space. Director Kate Brownlie and volunteer Dominique Chishti kept up their spirits with occasional visits to the blog Lewis and Quark.
The blog is a labor of love run by research scientist Janelle Shane. In it, she documents her use of neural networks—a sort of A.I. that uses datasets in a way that mimics actual human learning—to create things like 1980s action figure names (Action Bun, anyone?) and potential Dr. Who episodes (Planet of Lime sounds promising).
Democrats took to the floor of the Senate for hours Monday night to protest the fact that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is writing the Senate's version of the American Health Care Act behind closed doors, in secret, with an all male Republican working group without a single committee hearing.
McConnell reportedly hopes to have a vote on the bill before Senators leave for their July 4th recess, which means a vote would have to be held next week, despite the fact that no one has seen the final language of the bill, the CBO has not scored it and not one committee hearing has been held.
Doctors, hospitals, and insurers have come together to fight the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The bill was passed yesterday in the House of Representatives despite the unity of these groups, who all issued statements condemning the House's move.
“The bill passed by the House today will result in millions of Americans losing access to quality, affordable health insurance and those with pre-existing health conditions face the possibility of going back to the time when insurers could charge them premiums that made access to coverage out of the question,” American Medical Association President Andrew W. Gurman, MD, said.
Last night, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel got serious in his monologue. While discussing the birth of his son, William John Kimmel, he revealed that his baby had a heart defect. Kimmel then used Billy's story to make a tearful plea to protect the health care coverage provided through Obamacare.
He opened his monologue by saying, "I have a story to tell about something that happened to our family last week. Before I go into it, I want you to know it has a happy ending."
Trumpcare has returned, and now has the backing of the House Freedom Caucus thanks to a new amendment to the bill. That amendment includes language that would allow members of Congress and their staff to keep benefits that the American Health Care Act will eliminate for ordinary citizens.
The amendment was designed to allow states to create plans that do not include popular coverage for items such as preexisting conditions, maternity care, prescription drugs, and mental health. If states apply for a waiver it is automatically granted, making it easier to change benefits.