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Page 8A NATION/WORLD East Oregonian Saturday, September 23, 2017 GOP’s ‘Obamacare’ repeal all but dead; McCain deals the blow WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain declared his oppo- sition Friday to the GOP’s last- ditch effort to repeal and replace “Obamacare,” dealing a likely death blow to the legislation and, perhaps, to the Republican Party’s years of vows to kill the program. It was the second time in three months the 81-year-old McCain emerged as the destroyer of his party’s signature promise to voters. “I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried,” McCain said of the bill, co-written by Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, his best friend in the Senate, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. “Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will affect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it.” McCain, who is battling brain cancer in the twilight of a remark- able career, said he could not “in good conscience” vote for the legislation. That all but ensured a major setback for President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and appeared likely to deepen rifts between congressional Republicans and a president who has begun making deals with Democrats out of frus- tration with his own party’s failure to turn proposals into laws. During the election campaign Trump had pledged to quickly kill President Barack Obama’s health care program — “It will be easy,” he contended — and he has publicly chided McConnell for not winning passage before now. With the Arizona senator’s defection, there are now two AP Photo/Cliff Owen, file In this July 27 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks to re- porters on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCain says he won’t vote for the Republican bill repealing the Obama health care law. His statement likely deals a fatal blow to the last-gasp GOP measure in a Senate showdown expected next week. declared GOP “no” votes on the repeal legislation, the other being Rand Paul of Kentucky. With Democrats unanimously opposed, that’s the exact number McConnell can afford to lose. But Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins said Friday she, too, is leaning against the bill, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was also a possible “no,” making it highly unlikely that McConnell can prevail. So once again, the GOP seems destined to fail on a campaign promise that every Republican agreed on — right up until the party obtained full control of Congress and the White House this year and was actually in position to follow through. There was no immediate reaction from Trump. But Vice President Mike Pence said the fight wasn’t over. “This is not going to be easy. Some have gone so far as to announce their opposition already,” he said. “President Trump and I are undeterred.” Graham, too, vowed in a state- ment to “press on,” and reaffirmed his friendship with McCain. Up until McCain’s announce- ment Friday, close McConnell allies were still optimistic McCain’s relationship with Graham might make the difference. GOP leaders hoped to bring the legislation to the Senate floor next week. They face a Sept. 30 dead- line, at which point special rules that prevent a Democratic filibuster will expire. Democrats hailed McCain’s announcement and pledged to commit to the bipartisan process he sought. GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington have been working on a package of limited legislative fixes to the “Obamacare” marketplaces. “John McCain shows the same courage in Congress that he showed when he was a naval aviator,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “I have assured Sen. McCain that as soon as repeal is off the table, we Democrats are intent on resuming the bipartisan process.” The Graham-Cassidy bill would repeal major pillars of Obama’s law, replacing them with block grants to states to design their own programs. Major medical groups are opposed, saying millions would lose insur- ance coverage and protections, and a bipartisan group of governors also has announced opposition. Yet Republican congressional leaders, goaded by GOP voters and the president himself, were determined to give it one last try. Trump spent much of August needling McConnell for his failure to pass a repeal bill, and Republican lawmakers back home during Congress’ summer recess heard repeatedly from voters angered that after seven years of promises to get rid of “Obamacare,” the party had not delivered. The House passed its own repeal bill back in May, prompting Trump to convene a Rose Garden cele- bration, which soon began to look premature. After the Senate failed in several attempts in July, the legislation looked dead. But Cassidy kept at BRIEFLY Dam failing as scope of Puerto Rico’s disaster becomes clear SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rican officials rushed to evacuate tens of thousands of people downstream of a failing dam and said they could not reach more than half the towns in the U.S. territory as the massive scale of the disaster wrought by Hurricane Maria started to become clear on Friday. Government spokesman Carlos Bermudez said that officials had no communication with 40 of the 78 municipalities on the island more than two days after the Category 4 storm crossed the island, toppling power lines and cell phone towers and sending floodwaters cascading through city streets. Officials said 1,360 of the island’s 1,600 cell-phone towers had been downed, and 85 percent of above-ground and underground phone and internet cables were knocked out. With roads blocked and phones dead, officials said, the situation may be worse than they know. “We haven’t seen the extent of the damage,” Gov. Ricardo Rossello told reporters in the capital. More than 15 inches (nearly 40 centimeters) of rain fell on the mountains surrounding the Guajataca Dam in northwest Puerto Rico after Maria left the island Wednesday afternoon, swelling the reservoir behind the nearly 90-year-old dam. Authorities launched an evacuation of the 70,000 people living downstream, sending buses to move people away and sending frantic warnings on Twitter that went unseen by many in the blacked-out coastal area. “This is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION,” the National Weather Service wrote. “All the areas around the Guajataca River must evacuate NOW. Your lives are in DANGER.” The 345-yard dam, which was built around 1928, holds back a manmade lake covering about 2 square miles. Obama-era guidance on sexual assault gets scrapped WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday scrapped Obama-era guidance on investigating campus sexual assault, replacing it with new instructions that allow universities to require higher standards of evidence when handling complaints. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said that President Barack Obama’s policy had been unfairly skewed against those accused of assault and had “weaponized” the Education Department to “work against schools and against students.” The change is the latest in Trump’s broader effort to roll back Obama policies. Women’s rights groups slammed Friday’s decision, saying it will discourage students from reporting assault. The guidance released in 2011 and then updated in 2014 instructed universities to use a “preponderance of the evidence” standard when assessing and investigating a claim of sexual assault. DeVos’ new interim guidelines let colleges choose between that standard and a “clear and convincing evidence” standard, which is harder to meet. Those rules will be in place temporarily while the Education Department gathers comments from interest groups and the public and writes new guidance. “Schools must continue to confront these horrific crimes and behaviors head-on. There will be no more sweeping them under the rug. But the process also must be fair and impartial, giving everyone more confidence in its outcomes,” DeVos said in a statement. Trump weighs new travel restrictions as ban nears end WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is weighing the next iteration of his controversial travel ban, which could include new, more tailored restrictions on travelers from additional countries. The Department of Homeland Security has recommended the president impose the new, targeted restrictions on foreign nationals from countries it says refuse to share sufficient information with the U.S. or haven’t taken necessary security precautions. The restrictions could vary by country, officials said. Trump’s ban on visitors from six Muslim- majority nations, which sparked protests and a flurry of lawsuits, is set to expire this coming Sunday, 90 days after it took effect. “The acting secretary has recommended actions that are tough and that are tailored, including restrictions and enhanced screening for certain countries,” Miles Taylor, counselor to acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, told reporters on a conference call Friday. But officials refused to say how many countries — and which countries — might be affected, insisting the president had yet to make a final decision on how to proceed. Trump huddled with Duke, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, his director of national intelligence and his national security adviser Friday to discuss the issue, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said. Taylor said the recommendations were based on whether countries were providing U.S. authorities with enough information to validate the identities of potential immigrants and visitors and to determine whether or not they posed a threat. Senate bill would make online political ads more transparent WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation floated by two Democratic senators would enhance transparency for online political ads, requiring social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to keep a public file of election ads and communications. The bill by Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota would try to fill what they call a “major gap” in election advertising transparency. In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the two say the legislation would also require companies to “make reasonable efforts” to ensure that election ads are not purchased directly or indirectly by a foreign national. The letter was sent Thursday, the same day that Facebook said it will provide the contents of 3,000 ads bought by a Russian agency to congressional investigators and make political advertising on its platform more transparent. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company will require political ads to disclose who is paying for them. Warner and Klobuchar said their bill would “formalize, and expand” it with his state-focused approach, and the effort caught new life in recent weeks as the deadline neared. Trump pushed hard, hungry for a win. Trump tweeted Friday morning that “Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever (future political campaigns) be known as ‘the Republican who saved ObamaCare.’” On the other side, late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel, whose son was born with a heart defect, got considerable attention when he criticized the new repeal effort at length on his show and said the Republicans were lying about what their new program would cover. In a tweet Friday, he thanked McCain “for being a hero again and again and now AGAIN.” The bill would get rid of unpopular mandates for people to carry insurance or face penalties. It would repeal the financing for Obama’s health insurance expan- sion and create a big pot of money states could tap to set up their own programs, with less federal over- sight. It would also limit spending for Medicaid, the federal-state program that now covers more than 70 million low-income people. Insurance rules that protect people with pre-existing conditions could be loosened through state waivers. Over time, the legislation would significantly reduce federal health care dollars now flowing to the states. But McConnell had little margin for error in a Senate split 52-48 between Republicans and Democrats, and could lose only two votes, counting on Pence to break the tie. what Facebook has promised, bringing regulation of online electioneering more in line with broadcast and print advertising. Federal regulations now require television and radio stations to make publicly available the details of political ads they air. That includes who purchased the ad, when it runs and how much it costs. The legislation would require digital platforms with 1 million or more users to maintain the file of electioneering communications purchased by a group or person spending more than $10,000 on online political ads. The file would also include copies of the ads, a description of the audience targeted, the number of views generated and other relevant information. After months of Facebook secrecy about the issue, the two senators write the company “now seems to realize that there is a major gap in transparency and accountability for digital ads.” May tries to reboot Brexit, offers 2-year transition FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Britain is prepared to abide by European Union rules and pay into the bloc’s coffers for two years after leaving the EU in March 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May said Friday in a conciliatory speech intended to revive foundering exit talks. The proposal got a positive, if muted, reception from the EU’s chief negotiator. But it raised hackles among pro-Brexit U.K. politicians, who accused May of delaying a divorce that is sought by a majority of British voters. May traveled to Florence, Italy — birthplace of the Renaissance — in hopes of rebooting negotiations with the EU that have stalled over issues including the price the U.K. must pay to leave and the rights of EU citizens in Britain. May’s speech was intended to kick-start the process before talks resume next week in Brussels. But while it was strong on praise for the EU and for shared European values, the few concrete details were far from addressing Brussels’ concerns. The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the speech showed a “constructive spirit” but “must be translated into negotiating positions. I NTRODUCING P HONAK D IRECT C ONNECTIVITY H EARING A IDS • Direct connectivity to any cell phone * • Hearing aids used as a wireless head- set for hands-free calls • Excellent TV sound quality1 with hearing aids turned into wireless TV headphones Phonak direct connectivity hearing aids offer universal connectivity to any cell phone* regardless of the brand or operating system. With direct connectivity hearing aids, Phonak offers a solution that provides true hands-free functionality just like a Bluetooth® wireless headset. The hearing aids utilize it’s built-in microphones to pick up the clients voice for phone calls. A call can be heard ringing directly in the hearing aids and with a simple push of a button, can be answered or rejected. This can be done at distance from the telephone e.g. while a client is positioned on the other side of a room. Direct connectivity also extends to media playing with automatic connectivity to any TV or stereo system through a new and compact, multimedia hub called TV Connector. It delivers excellent stereo sound quality up to 15m away and does not require any additional streaming device. With Phonak direct connectivity hearing aids, clients can enjoy the freedom of universal connectivity RENATA ANDERSON M.A. 2237 Southwest • Court Place Pendleton, OR 97801 541-276-5053
