It might seem like we already have free healthcare, but the reality is much more complicated. The system is underfunded. The healthcare community has put forth a growing list of proposals to change this. On Tuesday, the Senate’s Republican tax cut bill passed, bringing for the first time in a generation an overhaul of the tax code.
The bill, as passed, could generate up to $1.8 trillion in new debt over the next 10 years. The U.S. Treasury Secretary says the tax bill won’t add to the deficit. It may well be true, but Republicans in Congress do not seem to have much appetite for changing the legislation now, no matter how dire the report that the legislation will add $1.8 trillion to the debt. In fact, they seem to be rushing to comply with the most conservative projections, despite some economists saying that those are bad estimates.
State departments of education will decide what to do with federal money they received as part of the $4.3 billion being given to the states under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Under the new law, much of the money will go to the state (or locality) to establish programs and increase services for disadvantaged kids. Since it’s a grant, the states can’t afford to ignore requests to expand their programs or keep their programs to the standards that students are supposed to have under the law.
Eliot Spitzer, the former New York State governor who is running in the Democratic primary for governor, faces an uphill battle against his main opponent, the former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The scandal roiling the state capital, Albany, reached its peak on Thursday, when FBI agents raided Schneiderman’s apartment and office. Almost all of the major law enforcement and political players in New York are now under investigation for their relationship with Schneiderman, and Spitzer has been the subject of intense criticism from both sides of the aisle. Now, the former governor of New York is trying to distance himself from the scandal that forced Schneiderman to resign on Feb. 7, by doing everything he can to distance himself from his own history.
Sophie Ramirez, the American Housekeeper accused of having sex with Donald Trump, now wants a chance to answer the president’s allegations of rape. Ramirez, who says she was fired in retaliation for accusing the president of sexual misconduct, was granted a conference with the president at the White House on Feb. 21. Ramirez now wants to see how that interview goes before filing a lawsuit against the president.