Trumpcare Dies, Obamacare Repeal on the Table: Today's News for July 18th

Associated Press:

2 more GOP senators oppose health bill, killing it for now

The latest GOP effort to repeal and replace "Obamacare" was fatally wounded in the Senate Monday night when two more Republican senators announced their opposition to legislation strongly backed by President Donald Trump.

The announcements from Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas left the Republican Party's long-promised efforts to get rid of President Barack Obama's health care legislation reeling. Next steps, if any, were not immediately clear.

Lee and Moran both said they could not support Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's legislation in its current form. They joined GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, both of whom announced their opposition right after McConnell released the bill last Thursday.

If Will Rogers were alive today, he could say, "I am not a member of any organized party — I am a Republican."

Seriously, the amazing thing is that Mitch McConnell thought he could suggest any kind of dog food, and the Republicans would just eat it.

On to plan B...

Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2017

Fortunately, Mitch McConnell read the writing on the wall (or in this case, the writing on Twitter):

Axios:

McConnell: Next step is a straight repeal vote

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell bowed to pressure tonight from conservatives — and President Trump — to bring up a straight repeal of most of the Affordable Care Act as the next step now that the Senate health care bill appears to be dead. It will be based on the repeal bill Congress passed in 2015, which then-President Barack Obama vetoed.

His statement: "Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful. So, in the coming days, the Senate will vote to take up ... a repeal of Obamacare with a two-year delay to provide for a stable transition period to a patient-centered health care system that gives Americans access to quality, affordable health care."

Reality check: It's highly unlikely to succeed, but conservative groups won't consider the GOP's health care promises to be fulfilled until Republicans have at least tried a straight repeal vote. It will put enormous pressure on the moderates, who are sure to have reservations. But as conservatives will remind them, most of them already voted for straight repeal in 2015 — and it will be hard to explain why they wouldn't do it again.

This is perfectly reasonable. The only thing worrisome is they think it will take two years to write a health care law. Anything that takes two years to write tends to be fiction.

In other news....

StarTribune:

Woman was fatally shot through door of Minneapolis police car, sources say

A 40-year-old woman who family members said called 911 to report a possible assault in the alley behind her home Saturday night was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer.

The shooting happened at the end of the alley on W. 51st Street between Washburn and Xerxes avenues S. in the city’s Fulton neighborhood.

The woman, Justine Damond, from Sydney, Australia, and her fiancé lived in the 5000 block of Washburn.

Three sources with knowledge of the incident said Sunday that two officers in one squad car, responding to the 911 call, pulled into the alley. Damond, in her pajamas, went to the driver’s side door and was talking to the driver. The officer in the passenger seat pulled his gun and shot Damond through the driver’s side door, sources said. No weapon was found at the scene.

On the surface, there doesn't appear to be any reason for this shooting. But let's add some more current information:

StarTribune:

Medical examiner: Justine Damond died from gunshot wound to abdomen

While many of the details about what happened Saturday night in the city's southwest corner have not been disclosed, this much was: She called to report a possible assault in the alley behind her house in one of the city's safest neighborhoods and was unarmed when officer Mohamed Noor shot her.

...The Hennepin County medical examiner said Monday evening that Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Noor, a second-year officer whose identity became public Monday, has retained a lawyer. Attorney Thomas Plunkett said in a statement that Noor "takes these events very seriously." 

...Sources identified Noor's partner on the scene, who did not fire any shots, as officer Matthew Harrity, 25, who earned his peace officer's license last year. 

Noor, the second-year officer, sees a woman dressed in pajamas approach her partner, the rookie Harrity. Noor knows they are there to investigate the report of a possible assault. They are in a well-lit alley, so whatever Damond does is well-seen by both officers. What happens next?

Let's play devil's advocate here. Rookie Harrity orders the woman to step away from the police car. She doesn't comply, perhaps asking why, or going into an explanation that she was the woman who called 911. Noor is in a bad position to hear what Damond is saying, but he knows his partner Harrity just issued an order and Damond isn't complying, maybe even hearing something in Damond's tone of voice that makes him suspicious of her intentions, or perhaps he misheard something she did say. Or maybe she tries to reach into the window to shake the officer's hand, and Noor thinks she is reaching for Harrity's gun. Or maybe she tried to reach into her pocket, and Noor thought she was going for a gun.

We can play with hypotheticals all day long, but there is one TRUTH we can take away from this: A 40 year old woman died unnecessarily due to a gunshot wound from a cop. When dealing with police officers, regardless of why, you are walking on glass. Treat the situation as though he is pointing the gun at you already, because he is.