Page 8A
NATION
East Oregonian
Friday, November 11, 2016
Mr. Trump comes to Washington
By JULIE PACE
AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pres-
ident-elect Donald Trump took
a triumphant tour of the nation’s
capital Thursday, holding a cordial
White House meeting with President
Barack Obama, sketching out prior-
ities with Republican congressional
leaders and taking in the majestic
view from where he’ll be sworn in
to office.
Trump’s meeting with Obama
spanned 90 minutes, longer than
originally scheduled. Obama said
he was “encouraged” by Trump’s
willingness to work with his team
during the transition of power, and
the Republican called the president
a “very good man.”
“I very much look forward to
dealing with the president in the
future, including his counsel,”
Trump said from the Oval Office.
He’ll begin occupying the office on
Jan. 20.
While Trump noted that he
and Obama had never met before,
their political histories will forever
be linked. Trump spent years
perpetrating the lie that Obama was
born outside the United States. The
president campaigned aggressively
against Trump during the 2016
campaign, warning that his election
would put the republic at risk.
But at least publicly, the two
men appeared to put aside their
animosity. As the meeting concluded
and journalists scrambled out of
the Oval Office, Obama smiled at
his successor and explained the
unfolding scene.
“We now are going to want to
do everything we can to help you
succeed because if you succeed the
country succeeds,” Obama said.
From the White House, Trump
headed to Capitol Hill for meet-
ings with House Speaker Paul
Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
of Kentucky to discuss the GOP
legislative agenda. Ryan, who holds
the most powerful post in Congress,
was a sometime critic of Trump and
never campaigned with the nominee.
Emerging from the meetings,
Trump sketched out priorities for his
presidency.
“We’re going to move very
strongly on immigration,” he said.
“We will move very strongly on
health care. And we’re looking at
jobs. Big league jobs.”
Ryan took Trump on a tour of the
Speaker’s Balcony overlooking the
National Mall, the scene of Trump’s
upcoming inauguration. The view,
Trump said, was “really, really
beautiful.”
Trump was also beginning the
process of putting together his White
House team. Republican National
Committee Chairman Reince
Priebus, who worked his way into
Trump’s inner circle during the
election, and top campaign official
Kellyanne Conway were emerging
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., left, shows President-elect Donald Trump, his wife Melania and Vice president-elect Mike Pence the view
of the inaugural stand that is being built and Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Speaker’s Balcony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania walk with
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. on Capitol Hill,
Thursday after a meeting.
President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump shake
hands following their meeting in the Oval Office of the White
House in Washington, Thursday.
as possible picks for White House
chief of staff, according to two
people familiar with the transition
planning.
A third person said conservative
media executive Steve Bannon
was also in the mix, though others
insisted Bannon would not have a
White House role. Those involved
in the process insisted on anonymity
because they were not authorized
to discuss the planning publicly. A
decision on chief of staff is expected
in the coming days.
First lady Michelle Obama met
privately in the White House resi-
dence with Trump’s wife, Melania,
while Vice President Joe Biden saw
Vice President-elect Mike Pence late
BRIEFLY
Protests continue around country
NEW YORK (AP) — Demonstrators in both red and
blue states hit the streets for another day Thursday to express
their outrage over Donald Trump’s unexpected win, while
the president-elect sniped back in a Twitter post.
Vocal demonstrations occurred from New York to Los
Angeles and each typically drew a few hundred people,
fewer than the thousands that gathered in various protests
that surged after it became clear Trump had won Tuesday’s
election.
Late Thursday night, Trump went on Twitter to take on
the protesters. Trump tweets: “Just had a very open and
successful presidential election. Now professional protesters,
incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”
High-spirited high school students marched through
San Francisco’s downtown, chanting “not my president”
and holding signs urging a Donald Trump eviction. They
waved rainbow banners and Mexican flags, as bystanders
in the heavily Democratic city high-fived the marchers
from the sidelines.
“As a white, queer person, we need unity with people of
color, we need to stand up,” said Claire Bye, a 15-year-old
sophomore at Academy High School. “I’m fighting for my
rights as an LGBTQ person. I’m fighting for the rights of
brown people, black people, Muslim people.”
Russia eyes better ties with Trump
MOSCOW (AP) — A top Russian diplomat and
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Thursday that Russian
experts were in contact with some members of President-
elect Donald Trump’s staff during the presidential
campaign, a period in which the United States accused
Russia of hacking into Democratic Party emails systems.
A spokeswoman for Trump denied the assertion, but it
raised the ongoing suspicions about the president-elect’s
relationship with Putin’s government that had dogged his
campaign with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Russia is hopeful that a Trump presidency will herald
improved relations with the United States. But, in a sign
of the cold realism that Putin is known for, Moscow is not
betting on an immediate drastic turnaround in the strained
relationship.
And while Trump himself has said he wants to be
friends with Russia and join forces in the fight against
terrorism, he has outlined few specifics as to how he
would go about it. President Barack Obama began his
presidency with a similar goal, only to see progress
unravel over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told The Associated
Press in an interview in New York that Russian experts
had contacts with people in both the Trump and Clinton
campaigns. He said such contacts are “quite natural, quite
normal.”
Thursday. Trump’s team was said to
be sketching a robust role for Pence,
an experienced Washington hand,
that would include both domestic
and foreign policy responsibilities.
Obama and Trump met alone,
with no staff present, White House
press secretary Josh Earnest told
reporters following the discussion.
“The two men did not relitigate
their differences in the Oval Office,”
Earnest said. “We’re on to the next
phase.”
Trump traveled to Washington
from New York on his private
jet, breaking with protocol by not
bringing journalists in his motorcade
or on his plane to document his
historic visit to the White House.
Trump was harshly critical of the
media during his campaign and for
a time banned news organizations
whose coverage he disliked from his
events.
At the White House, Obama
chief of staff Denis McDonough
was seen walking along the South
Lawn driveway with Jared Kushner,
Trump’s son-in-law. A handful of
Trump aides trailed them.
The show of civility at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue contrasted
with postelection scenes of protests
across a politically divided country.
Demonstrators from New England
to the heartland and the West Coast
vented against the election winner
on Wednesday, chanting “Not my
president,” burning a papier-mache
Trump head, beating a Trump
pinata and carrying signs that said
“Impeach Trump.”
Officials at the Pentagon and
State Department said they had not
yet been contacted.
As president-elect, Trump is enti-
tled to the same daily intelligence
briefing as Obama — including
information on U.S. covert oper-
ations, information gleaned about
world leaders and other data gath-
ered by America’s 17 intelligence
agencies. The White House said
it would organize two exercises
involving multiple agencies to help
Trump’s team learn how to respond
to major domestic incidents.
What will happen to Obamacare?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald
Trump’s election ushers in a time of high
anxiety for people with health insurance
under President Barack Obama’s law,
which expanded coverage to millions
but has struggled to find widespread
public acceptance.
While repeal now seems likely, that
may take Congress months. A replace-
ment for the 2010 health care law could
take even longer, and may retain some
of its features. Republicans are saying
they want to protect people who now
are covered from losing health care in
the shift. While Congress labors, look
for the Trump administration to use its
regulatory powers to make changes.
Voters “don’t want Washington to fix
Obamacare, they want to make health
care affordable,” said House Ways and
Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas,
whose committee oversees much of
health care. “I’m confident we will have
more truly affordable health care for just
as many Americans.”
“It’s our goal to dismantle Obamacare
and actually focus on lowering the cost
of coverage for people,” said Sen. John
Barrasso, R-Wyo., a member of the
Republican leadership. “It’s a commit-
ment on behalf of Congress and the
president-elect to get this done.”
The rhetoric may sound familiar,
but the circumstances couldn’t be more
different. Up until now, repeated Repub-
lican attempts to repeal the Affordable
Care Act have been practice runs. This
will be real, and so will the conse-
quences. Trump will have a four-year
term in the White House, but Congress
faces the voters again in two years.
With HealthCare.gov’s sign-up
season underway, there’s little chance
the program will come to a crashing halt.
Still, that’s not very reassuring for people
like Lodiza LePore of Bennington,
Vermont, a photographer who pays
about $80 a month for her policy. The
coverage is skimpy, she says, but it’s
there if she has a health problem.
“I think they are just going to destroy
everything Obama has done, and that’s
going to leave a lot of people with no
health care,” said LePore. “It’s going
to turn this country into a Third World
country.”
As many as 30 million people could
be affected. Most directly hit would be
some 10 million who like LePore have
private coverage through the law’s
subsidized markets, and about 9 million
covered under its Medicaid expansion.
Another 5 million to 9 million people
who buy individual policies outside the
health law markets are exposed to its ups
and downs.
Republicans don’t want to make
millions uninsured, said Mike Leavitt,
Health and Human Services secretary
for former President George W. Bush.
“There is a widely held aspiration that
people have health insurance, and that
the solution isn’t simply to say that it’s
OK if some people don’t,” he said.
Can they deliver? There’s no final
GOP plan and no decisions have been
made. But here’s a look at some of the
major pieces in a complex puzzle:
REPEAL: THE ‘EASY’ PART?
Republicans don’t have 60 votes in
the Senate, so to pass a repeal bill they
would have to use special budget-related
procedures that allow a simple majority
to work its will. There’s a template for
that in the GOP repeal bill that Obama
vetoed this year. Trump would sign it.
But using the special procedures
means Congress must first pass a budget,
which can take several months. Going
that route also would leave in place parts
of the health care law that are not related
to the budget.
Congress may delay the effective
date of a repeal law to give it time to
pass a replacement for the ACA.
REPLACE: A CHANCE FOR
BIPARTISANSHIP?
“Obamacare’s” requirement that
individuals get insurance or face fines
doesn’t stand a chance, but other
provisions would likely survive in a
replacement bill. That includes keeping
young adults on parental plans until age
26 and doing away with lifetime dollar
limits on coverage.
Republicans also want to avoid a
return to the days when people were
denied coverage because of medical
problems. They would protect those
who maintain “continuous” coverage
and fund “high-risk” insurance pools for
patients who fall through the cracks.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has
proposed tax credits to help people buy
health insurance.
Republicans and Democrats may
also be able to find common ground on
dealing with the health law’s Medicaid
expansion, which a number of GOP-led
states have adopted. “Medicaid is going
to be the crucial issue,” said GOP econ-
omist Douglas Holtz-Eakin. “There is a
practical political reality there.”
Democrats are going to be striving
to keep as many people covered as
possible.
A replacement bill could take a
couple of years to hash out.
TRUMP UNILATERAL
While Congress labors away, expect
the Trump administration to take admin-
istrative and regulatory actions to chip
away at his predecessor’s signature law,
or reshape it.
Those could include making it harder
for people to sign up for coverage
outside of open-enrollment season,
supporting legislation that would waive
tax penalties for uninsured people in
communities with no choice of insurers,
or even supporting a lawsuit by GOP
lawmakers that challenges some of the
law’s subsidies.
‘POTTERY BARN’ RULE
The old retail store rule is “if you
break it, you buy it.” The same applies to
health care. Obama and the Democrats
have paid a political price for trying to
fix the problems of the uninsured and
having some of those fixes generate their
own complications.
The same could happen to Republi-
cans if they’re not careful.
“If people get mad at you, they will
find a way to get you,” said GOP econ-
omist Gail Wilensky, a former Medicare
administrator. “If you really miss the
mark of where the people are, they will
get you.”