Battle lines on health, education
Seven years seen as long enough for Manning
A new analysis that at least 18 million people could lose health insurance in the first year if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act without replacing it intensified the battle this week over the landmark healthcare law as US President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans try to figure out how to dismantle it.
Democrats seized on the report, issued by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, to discredit Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare and rally Americans who are insured under the programme. The report underscored the political peril that Trump faces in trying to meet one of his top campaign promises — and also the discord among Republicans about how to do it.
The political and public-relations battle over the ACA is now at full speed, with Democrats holding rallies across the country and inviting Americans to Capitol Hill to describe how their lives were improved or even saved by the law.
Republicans accused Democrats of distorting the truth about the much-debated programme — but also revealed signs of disunity about how US President Barack Obama commuted the 35-year prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, an Army private convicted of taking troves of secret diplomatic and military documents and disclosing them to WikiLeaks, after deciding that Manning had served enough time.
The President’s last-minute clemency action was surprising for an Administration that has brought more leak prosecutions than all previous ones combined. Obama took office pledging to bring a new era of transparency to government, but during his eight years, his Administration has presided over at least nine leak cases.
But officials said the President thought that in Manning’s case, seven years behind bars was enough punishment and that she had been given an excessive sentence — the longest ever imposed in the United States for a leak conviction.
“Chelsea Manning is somebody who accepted responsibility for the crimes she committed,” a senior White House official said. “She expressed remorse for committing those crimes. She began serving the sentence that was handed down. The President’s concern was rooted in the fact that the sentence handed down is longer than sentences given to to meet their promise of repeal without political fallout among voters or economic calamity in the insurance market. The fact that Trump has begun to sketch out his own healthcare proposal has injected a new element of uncertainty.
On another front, Democrats attacked Betsy DeVos, Trump’s education nominee, calling her unfit for the job during a contentious confirmation hearing, while Republicans defended her as a bold reformer.
DeVos told sceptical senators that she looked forward to working with them to improve the nation’s schools. But she sidestepped several issues important to Democrats on guns in schools and handling sexual assault on college campuses. She called the ideas of Senator Bernie Sanders about free college “interesting”. A Michigan billionaire, DeVos has lobbied for decades to expand charter schools and taxpayer-funded vouchers for private and religious schools, but she has no professional experience in public schools, never attended public schools and did not send her own children to public schools. She also has not held public office. other individuals who committed comparable crimes.”
Republicans said the commutation would encourage others to leak sensitive documents.
“This is just outrageous,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said. “President Obama now leaves in place a dangerous precedent that those who compromise our national security won’t be held accountable for their crimes.”
Since 2014, Obama has commuted 1385 sentences, more than the previous 12 presidents combined.
Manning, 29, will be set free in four months, on May 17, instead of in 2045.
White House officials said the President’s decision had nothing to do with a recent pledge by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that he would agree to be extradited to the US if Manning’s sentence was commuted.
“Thank you to everyone who campaigned for Chelsea Manning’s clemency,” read a statement attributed to Assange on the WikiLeaks Twitter feed. “Your courage & determination made the impossible possible.”