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Republican Repeal Plan

Last night, House Republicans unveiled their plan to repeal Obamacare. Predictably, the left hates it. Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi blasted the bill and pledged to do everything they can to stop it.

At the same time, conservative members of the House and some senators, such as Rand Paul, say it doesn't go far enough. Add to the mix the concerns of moderate senators and it equals a dilemma for the GOP.

Satisfying critics on the right risks losing a handful of Republican senators, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has only a two-vote margin to work with. Reforming entitlement programs is never easy. Off the top of my head, I can't think of one that was ever repealed.

As this debate progresses, we will provide more details about the various issues involved in unraveling Obamacare.

But the problems for Speaker Ryan, Leader McConnell and President Trump are compounded by another major issue on the GOP agenda -- tax reform -- which is caught up in Obamacare. There are significant tax issues involved in Obamacare and there are tax credits in the Republican repeal proposal. The longer the debate drags on, the less time Congress will have for other significant legislative items.

Something Did Happen

It's been three days since President Trump made assertions of surveillance by the Obama Administration. Of course, the media aggressively defended Obama and insisted that Trump had no proof. But SOMETHING happened.

In a column yesterday, Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor and respected legal analyst, summarized much of the media's reporting. He wrote:
 

"The specter of an investigation -- breathless media reports of FISA-court applications, wiretaps, surveillance of agents of a foreign power, and mysterious servers; painstaking analysis of shady financial transactions involving Russian banks and funding streams -- seems to make the outlandish conspiracy impossible to dismiss out of hand."

Again, based on all the media's reporting, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey concluded:
 

"I think [Trump's] right in that there was surveillance and that it was conducted at the behest of the attorney general -- at the Justice Department. . . I think the president was not correct certainly in saying that President Obama ordered a tap on a server in Trump Tower. However, I think he's right in that there was surveillance, and that it was conducted at the behest of the Justice Department through the FISA [court]."

My good friend Mark Levin, former chief of staff to Attorney General Ed Meese, outlined the list of media reports referring to the investigation of Trump -- reports that were allegedly based on sources in the intelligence community. Levin told Fox & Friends: "The issue isn't whether the Obama Administration spied on the Trump campaign or the transition or surrogates; the issue is the extent of it. . . These are police state tactics."

Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge was on Tucker Carlson's show last night discussing the subject. Here's what she said about the information that was leaked and who had access to it:
 

"I think it is important for people at home to know that some of the intelligence we're talking about, such as these transcripts between former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn and the Russian ambassador, I've spoken to people who will go 30 years in the U.S. intelligence community and they will never see an NSA transcript. That's because it is so closely held. So this was information at the senior most levels of the intelligence community that was leaked for, I would say, partisan purposes. . . Only a very small pool of people have that raw information. . . the fact that that was leaked to reporters . . . was a threshold we have not crossed before."

Here's what the American people, fair journalists and every member of Congress should be asking themselves right now:

What should be most disturbing: That hackers associated with Russia hacked the DNC and released embarrassing emails? Or the increasing evidence that the Obama Administration may have "hacked" its political opponents?

In the first case, you've got an American adversary doing what it has done for decades.

In the second case, you've got elements of our own government misusing the resources of the intelligence community to tilt the political process. Who are you supposed to rely on to deal with that?

By the way, politicians really concerned about Russian influence peddling should be investigating Tony Podesta, the brother of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. Podesta was paid more than $20,000 a month by Russian banks to lobby against Obama's sanctions.

Real Threats

While elements of the national security apparatus and the media continue to wage war against the White House, one hopes they have enough time to combat the very real threats posed by Iran and North Korea.

Both nations, which already cooperate on missile and nuclear technology, have engaged in provocative and dangerous operations. The media are saying that North Korea is test-firing missiles that could be used to hit American bases in the region. Several experts say that the Stalinist regime is really planning for war.

In Iran's case, the Islamic Republic is once again challenging U.S. ships and testing its own missile capabilities, which are clearly meant to threaten U.S. military forces in the region.

A Day Without Women

Tomorrow, the left is calling for a one-day general strike by women. Some school districts are closing because so many teachers are putting left-wing feminism ahead of their students. Ironically, many working women are now facing a tremendous burden, scrambling at the last minute for childcare because of the closed schools.

The "Day Without A Woman" manifesto is strongly pro-union. It also includes a plank calling for "solidary with the sex workers' rights movement." (Don't ask.)

But here's a fact that has my blood boiling: One of the organizers is Rasmea Yousef Odeh. She was convicted in 1969 of a terrorist bombing that killed two Israelis. She was released ten years later in a prisoner exchange. Just one more example of the left and Islamists working hand-in-hand.

Planned Parenthood is also one of the big organizers. So maybe this is really a day without pro-abortion women.