* You could tell by the way Trump started his day that he was worried about what Sally Yates’ would have to say about Michael Flynn at the Senate hearing today.
In other words, “Don’t blame me. Blame Obama.”
* But here’s what really happened:
Former President Obama warned President Donald Trump against hiring Mike Flynn as his national security adviser, three former Obama administration officials tell NBC News.
The warning, which has not been previously reported, came less than 48 hours after the November election when the two sat down for a 90-minute conversation in the Oval Office.
* So President Obama warned Trump in November. As Sally Yates testified today, she warned the administration in January. But the question remains, why did Flynn continue to have a job until mid-February? Josh Marshall explains:
There were a series of articles which began on February 9th. The real blockbuster was the article published by the Post on February 13th, which i discussed here. Flynn resigned a short time later. These made Flynn’s continuance in office impossible. He resigned a short time later. We can’t know for certain why Flynn was forced to resign at that moment. But there is every reason to believe that that series of press reports led the White House to fire Flynn. As long as it remained secret, Flynn could stay.
* Trump has once again flip-flopped on an issue. This time it’s about the House Republican health care bill. Last Thursday it was “a great plan,” which was “very, very incredibly well-crafted,” and which the Senate should pass right away. On the very same day, Politico reported this:
…inside the White House, senior administration officials say no one “really loves the legislation,” in the words of one official. Trump has expressed misgivings — particularly over fears that people will lose health care and blame him.
* Meanwhile, members of the Trump administration seem to believe in gold dust and fairy tales.
Slashing $880 billion from Medicaid will help make the program “more responsive” to users, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said. During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, Price repeatedly dodged questions about whether the cut in Medicaid amounted to a “broken promise” from President Donald Trump, who had vowed during the campaign there would be no cuts in Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office analysis of a previous version of the bill said Medicaid would be slashed by $880 billion, which would translate into 14 million people losing Medicaid coverage.
* House Republicans who voted for the bill seem to think that we’ll all believe their lies.
A conservative Republican congressman from Idaho is drawing criticism for his response to a town-hall attendee’s concerns about how his party’s health-care bill would affect Medicaid recipients.
“You are mandating people on Medicaid to accept dying,” the woman said.
“That line is so indefensible,” said Rep. Raúl R. Labrador, a member of the influential House Freedom Caucus. “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care.”
The boos instantly drowned him out.
* Let’s be honest. The only way to defend the AHCA is to tell lies. That’s probably why this is happening:
They cheered on the House floor and celebrated at the Rose Garden, but most Republicans who voted for the health bill aren’t holding town halls to talk about it.
A POLITICO review of TownHallProject.com, a crowd-sourced database, found that only 14 of the 217 House Republicans who voted for the bill last week — less than 7 percent — are listed as holding town halls with their constituents.
* Finally, let’s all remind these folks that there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
