June 23, 2017 01:31 PM UTC

Get More Smarter on Friday (June 23)

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• by: Colorado Pols

Trumpcare and Russia: That’s pretty much the extent of the news today, but here are a few more headlines worth following. It’s time to Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Senate Republicans on Thursday released their plan to kill as many Americans as possible make massive changes to healthcare in this country. Vox.com breaks down the Senate Trumpcare bill — officially called “The Better Care Reconciliation Act” — into a handful of “winners” (rich people) and “losers” (pretty much everyone else). As Sarah Kliff explains in a separate story for Vox.com, the Republicans’ primary argument for supporting its healthcare efforts is a complete sham:

Republican lawmakers consistently claim that the Obamacare marketplaces are collapsing, so they need to pass a bill to repeal and replace the health law…

…The marketplaces, though, have refused to cooperate. They are not working perfectly — but they are far from ruinous demise, experts say. But the Republican replacement plan, introduced Thursday, could change that. It contains several provisions that could accelerate the crumbling of the marketplaces and leave millions of Americans with no health care options.

“Honestly, the marketplaces are in okay shape,” says David Anderson, a research associate at Duke University who studies the individual market. “The amount of competition isn’t where some people would like it to be, but this isn’t collapse.”

Republicans such as Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) are all over the place on their talking points; Gardner, for example, was part of the Senate working group on the healthcare legislation, yet he insists that he never saw any of the bill’s proposed language until it was released to the public. And then there’s this nonsense from Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.

► Jennifer Rubin, the conservative columnist for the Washington Post, doesn’t understand what Republicans are doing with Trumpcare:

Instead of getting run over by the right wing of their party, as their House counterparts did, Senate moderates have the chance to strike out on their own and come up with reforms that bolster the exchanges and that improve Medicaid. They can test Democrats’ promise to work constructively across the aisle. Conservatives, meanwhile, should understand that the bill is nothing more than a repudiation of their seven-year fight to repeal the ACA. They will leave a legacy that amounts to: Obamacare, but worse!

► President Trump announced on Thursday that there are no tapes of his conversations with former FBI Director Jim Comey. Trump Tweeted the news a full 41 days after he first floated the idea on Twitter that such tapes might exist.

The Washington Post does a deep dive into how the Obama administration handled (or failed to handle) information that Russia was trying to influence the 2016 election. Regardless of how Obama handled the information, it is indisputable that Russia’s meddling was intended to help Trump win the Presidential election.

► Vice President Mike Pence is in Colorado Springs today to speak at a “Focus on the Family” anniversary event. Not everyone is happy to see the VP.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► According to poll results from AARP, only 3 in 10 Colorado voters over the age of 50 are feeling good about Trumpcare:

Roughly three in 10 likely voters in Colorado age 50 or older support the U.S. House-passed version of the American Health Care Act, according to a poll released Thursday by the AARP that also found the state’s residents are overwhelmingly against cutting Medicaid funding.

The survey found that 81 percent of likely Colorado voters age 50 or older don’t want any Medicaid dollars cut — including 70 percent of Republicans and 91 percent of Democrats.

► Two of Colorado’s top elected officials — Senator Michael Bennet and Gov. John Hickenlooper — are voicing strong opposition to Senate healthcare efforts.

► Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican who is among the most vulnerable incumbents in 2018, says he will not support the Senate healthcare plan unless major changes happen first.

► Democratic candidates for Attorney General in Colorado weigh in on a controversial legal case being pursued by current AG Cynthia Coffman.

► Local elected officials from Western Colorado are lobbying the federal government to approve a natural gas project in Oregon.

► Senate Republicans are being widely criticized for crafting their latest healthcare measure in secret, but they may be planning a similar strategy for a tax reform measure. 

► The private company that operates toll lanes on I-25 and U.S. 36 is proposing new changes that could increase fees for drivers.

► The City of Fort Collins is looking for a new police chief.

► The NBA Draft was Thursday night. The Denver Nuggets made some very uninteresting moves.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► “Fox and Friends” is to journalism what Cheez Whiz is to fine cuisine.

► Please go away, Eric Nelson.

ICYMI

► The New York Times is keeping a definitive list of all of the lies peddled by President Trump. This is a big job. 

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