Why The GOP O’Care Bill Terrified Moderates, Trump Considers Amending The 1st Amendment, And An Island Getaway Gone Awry

May 1, 2017 10:02 a.m.

Start your day with TPM.

May 1, 2017

The Gist: Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA), the co-chair of the centrist Tuesday Group, says he and his colleagues have so many concerns about the core policies in the plan that Republicans should consider starting over. “We need to change the paradigm,” he told reporters Friday. “I think the bill has got too many problems, and they need to rework it from the center out.” Specifically, Dent and other holdouts cite the bill’s deep cuts to Medicaid, rate hikes for older Americans, and insufficient protections for people with pre-existing conditions. But GOP leaders are not heeding his advice, and are instead vowing to keep trying to get the same Obamacare repeal bill to President Trump’s desk in the weeks to come. These are the not-yet-addressed concerns that will come back to haunt them.

Trump Campaign Going Up With $1.5 Million Ad Buy Promoting First 100 Days

The Gist: President Donald Trump’s campaign on Monday morning announced a $1.5 million ad buy to tout his first 100 days in the Oval Office. The buy includes a 30-second television ad and digital ads, the Trump campaign said in a statement unveiling the ad buy. The television ad promotes Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, claims that Trump has created jobs in the U.S., and touts his work to undo regulations passed under President Barack Obama.

Congress Reaches Deal To Fund Federal Government Through September

The Gist: Congressional leaders on Sunday night reached a deal to fund the federal government through September, setting Congress up to vote on the legislation this week and avoid a government shutdown. Democrats appeared to be happy with the compromise funding measure, which will not include money to build a border wall.

From The Reporter’s Notebook

White House aide Sebastian Gorka, best known for his affiliation with a Nazi-linked knightly order and his harsh rhetoric about Muslims, is reportedly being forced out. According to TPM’s Allegra Kirkland, a flurry of new stories published over the weekend say his departure is expected within weeks.

Agree or Disagree?

Josh Marshall: “A central challenge for President Trump was always that he started his presidency distinctly unpopular. He was a minority rather than a plurality, let alone a majority, President. And he began his presidency with deep and entrenched opposition. On the other hand, he had congressional majorities which should have given him or at least his party a relatively free hand. That didn’t happen. A big problem was that Trump didn’t have any legislation or even a plan of governance ready. He barely even had a government at all in the sense that most key jobs were left (and remain) unfilled. He proceeded to fritter away his first months in office with a mix of scandal, disorganization and legislative ineptitude.”

Say What?!

“There are refugee camps that are true concentration camps.”

– Pope Francis asserted that some migrant holding centers in Europe amount to “concentration camps,” even after Jewish groups urged him to stop using the loaded term.

BUZZING: Today in the Hive

From a TPM Prime member: “The Chelsea Clinton trolling is the most pointless and offensive stuff I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks. I mean usually you offend someone with a comment or stance about something that matters. Chris Cillizza is a provoke – trolling his audience on sexist grounds. This is really not acceptable. How can the WaPo and the NYTimes allow their columnists to troll readers, critics and paying customers out in the public like that? The Chelsea Clinton stuff is sexist by design, why do these newspapers allow their employees to go after nobodies in public who have a reasonable reaction to their comments?”

Have something to add? Become a Prime member and join the discussion here.

What We’re Reading

A Tech Bro Charged Thousands for an Island Getaway That Turned Into The Hunger Games (Gizmodo)

Canada Fought The war On Science. Here’s How Scientists Won. (Vox)

Start your day with TPM.

TPM Staff

Have a tip? Send it Here!