WMAL Interview - CAL THOMAS 08.02.17

INTERVIEW -- CAL THOMAS – Syndicated columnist

TOPIC: His thoughts on the White House shakeups and what's next for Obamacare and tax reform

• EXECUTIVE ACTION ON HEALTHCARE? Rand Paul, one of the Senate’s leading conservatives, told reporters that Trump will consider taking executive action to address the many problems with the healthcare system after Sen. John McCain tanked an Obamacare repeal bill last week. Would you support Trump taking executive action on health care?
• Senate GOP pivots to tax reform fight after healthcare failure. Senators are digging in for a looming fall fight over tax reform, as Republicans look to move on from their setback on ObamaCare repeal. Leaders on both sides of the aisle are setting up early goal posts for the upcoming battle, with GOP leadership wanting to get a bill to President Trump's desk by the end of the year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) confirmed on Tuesday that Republicans will use the fast-track reconciliation process to move a tax reform bill, which will allow them to clear legislation without Democratic support.
• Senate Health Committee to hold bipartisan meetings on healthcare. (The Hill) -- The Senate Health Committee will begin holding bipartisan hearings the first week of September on how to stabilize and strengthen the individual insurance market, the panel's top Democrat and Republican announced Tuesday. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) — the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee — said the goal is for the panel to craft a bipartisan, short-term proposal by mid-September, as insurers must finalize how much their premiums will cost by the end of that month. “We need to put out the fire in these collapsing markets wherever these markets are,” Alexander said at the beginning of a HELP Committee hearing on nominations.