Trumpcare and North Korea: Today's news for March 7th

Fox News:

House Republicans release long-awaited ObamaCare replacement bill

House Republicans on Monday evening released the text of their long-awaited ObamaCare replacement bill, proposing to eliminate the various taxes and penalties tied to the original legislation while still preserving certain patient protections.

Aiming to deliver on their signature campaign promise after several election cycles trying to reclaim control of Washington, majority Republicans unveiled what they call the American Health Care Act. The sweeping legislation would repeal ObamaCare’s taxes along with the so-called individual and employer mandates – which imposed fines for not buying and offering insurance, respectively.

It also would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies, replacing them with tax credits for consumers. 

The bill would continue Obama's expansion of Medicaid to additional low-earning Americans until 2020. After that, states adding Medicaid recipients would no longer receive the additional federal funds the statute has provided.

...While subsidies would be repealed in the new bill, they would be replaced by monthly tax credits. The credits, worth between $2,000 and $14,000 a year, could be used by low-and-middle-income families who don’t get work- or government-sponsored insurance to buy state-certified plans.  

The credits would be based on age and family size, unlike the income-based version under ObamaCare. Conservatives have objected that that feature creates a new entitlement program the government cannot afford.

Explain the difference between a subsidy and a "monthly tax credit"? Paying the insurance company directly versus paying the insured directly for buying the insurance is a silly place to draw a line.

In fact, looking over this bill, I have to agree with Rand Paul:

However, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the bill "looks like ObamaCare Lite to me ... It's going to have to be better." 

Paul came up with a decent Obamacare replacement bill. I have no clue why the GOP prefers rearranging deck chairs on the Obamacare Titanic.

In other news...

Yahoo News (AFP):

North Korea missiles 'drill for strike on US bases': KCNA

Nuclear-armed North Korea said Tuesday its missile launches were training for a strike on US bases in Japan, as global condemnation of the regime swelled. 

Three of the four missiles fired Monday came down provocatively close to US ally Japan, in waters that are part of its exclusive economic zone, representing a challenge to US President Donald Trump.

Have we been here before? Certainly. North Korea likes to rattle sabers every year, like an insecure child begging for attention. But they also know where the line is drawn: If they do any actual damage to any other country, they risk all-out war, which they will lose.

But this non-story leads into this:

Fox News:

US moves part of missile defense system to South Korea

U.S. missile launchers and other equipment needed to set up a controversial missile defense system have arrived in South Korea, the U.S. and South Korean militaries said Tuesday, a day after North Korea test-launched four ballistic missiles into the ocean near Japan.

The plans to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, by the end of this year have angered not only North Korea, but also China and Russia, which see the system's powerful radars as a security threat.

Note the part about angering "China and Russia"?

Now look at the same story from CNN:

CNN:

Missile defense system that China opposes arrives in South Korea

The first pieces of a US-built missile defense system designed to mitigate the threat of North Korean missiles arrived at the Osan Air Base in South Korea Monday night, according to the US military.

The announcement comes just a day after North Korea test-fired four ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.

China has voiced opposition to the proposed placement of the military hardware known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which it sees as a threat to its own security.

Nowhere in the rest of the article is Russia even mentioned. Why would the writers leave Russia out of this story? Russia is a significant player in Asian affairs.

Was Fox News making up the part about Russia? I doubt it:

RT:

China, Russia agree to strengthen opposition to US’ THAAD missile system

China and Russia have agreed to intensify their opposition to the US’ controversial THAAD missile defense system which is set to be deployed to South Korea, both countries have announced.

“Both sides said they will continue to strengthen their coordinated opposition to THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system),” the Chinese Foreign Ministry wrote on its website on Wednesday.

The statement follows a Tuesday meeting between China’s assistant foreign minister, Kong Xuanyou, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov in Beijing.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement, saying that “both parties emphasized that collective political and diplomatic efforts should be stepped up to ease tensions and initiate the process of military and political detente across the board in Northeast Asia, in order to create conditions conducive to resolving the nuclear issue, as well as other issue, on the Korean Peninsula.”

By the way, RT is short for "Russia Today". RT is a Russia-based news organization, so I would consider them semi-reliable for Russian government diplomatic positions.

So Fox News wasn't lying about Russia's opposition to THAAD. But that leaves open the question of why would CNN leave that important fact out of their news story?

The only answer is that it doesn't fit CNN's world view. Because they see the Trump administration as firmly under Russia's influence, any story must be buried which shows the Trump administration doing something against Russia.