Mediaboss Marketing

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Updated: Thursday, June 29, 2017, 9:21 AM

CLEVELAND Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday reiterated a promise to repeal former President Barack Obama's health care reforms by the end of the summer despite uncertainty over whether a Republican bill has enough votes to pass the Senate.

In a speech delivered at a Cleveland manufacturing facility, Pence defended the bill, saying its measures to expand health savings accounts and create tax credits would make insurance more affordable. He said the legislation would cut costs for businesses and give states flexibility to tailor Medicaid programs to local needs.

"(President Donald Trump) believes in state-based solutions, not one-size-fits-all Washington answers," Pence said.

After Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell abandoned plans to bring the bill to a vote this week, fresh GOP critics came forward to attack the bill, with the number of Republican senators publicly complaining about it hitting double digits.

But despite strong party opposition, Pence said the Trump administration is continuing to make "great progress every single day."

Pence's speech came a day after Ohio U.S. Sen. Rob Portman declared his opposition to the bill, catching the senator in the crosshairs of a high-stakes intraparty fight.

Portman is among Republican senators facing intense pressure back home, targeted by demonstrators, advertisement campaigns and a verbal onslaught from Gov. John Kasich, who has spearheaded GOP criticism of the Senate bill.

Pence didn't criticize Portman. Instead, Pence took aim at Democrats, saying Obama's health reforms had driven up insurance premiums and deductibles and blaming them for obstructing health care reform.

"Obamacare has failed, and Obamacare must go," Pence said. "You'd have to be a politician blinded by partisanship to believe otherwise. But, sadly, Congress is full of them."

Democrats have roundly criticized the Republican plan to scrap the Obama health care law. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said, "Surely we can do better than what the Republican health care bill promises."

In a nod to Ohio's drug overdose problems, Pence singled out opioids in his speech Wednesday, saying the bill would provide new resources to help fight mounting death tolls. Portman has expressed concerns about the impact of slashed Medicaid funding on Ohio's ability to battle the epidemic.

Pence, toward the end of his speech, urged his audience of about 200 people to contact their representatives to put pressure on them to roll back Obama's health care law.

Steven Simons, a 57-year-old paint worker at the workshop where Pence made his speech, said he had faith in the Trump administration's ability to repeal the Democratic former president's health care reforms.

"I know they ain't got it right yet, but they will get it right," Simons said.

Simons said he's covered by employer health insurance and his coverage was reduced under Obama.

Pence also spoke about cutting taxes and bringing manufacturing jobs from overseas.

Earlier in the day, Pence participated in a round-table discussion with business leaders and toured the facility, Tendon Manufacturing, and spoke with workers who demonstrated a laser metal cutter and sheet metal fabricators.

Pence was on his fourth visit to Ohio since taking office in January.

More:
Mike Pence says Trump will repeal Obamacare by the end of summer - New York Daily News

Vice President Mike Pence had an "organizational" phone call Wednesday with members of the election fraud panel that the White House commissioned last month.

With an executive order, President Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which is charged with investigating voter fraud and issuing recommendations to prevent it.

"The integrity of the vote is a foundation of our democracy; this bipartisan commission will review ways to strengthen that integrity in order to protect and preserve the principle of one person, one vote," said Pence, who leads the election fraud panel, told commission members in the phone call, according to a White House statement.

Kris Kobach, vice chair of the commission and Kansas secretary of state, told members he will send a letter Wednesday to the 50 states and District of Columbia requesting publicly available data from state voter rolls and feedback on how to prevent voter fraud.

The commission set July 19 as its first meeting in Washington, D.C.

Trump instituted the commission after making an unsubstantiated claim that millions of illegal immigrants voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and prevented him from winning the popular vote.

Democrats and civil rights groups have condemned the panel as a waste of taxpayer money that is meant to restrict voting access to minority groups.

See the rest here:
Mike Pence holds 'organizational' call with Trump's voter fraud panel - Washington Examiner

Is Mike Pence going to be at this years American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo)? According to Dealernews, the long-time voice of powersports retailers, hes entertaining the thought.

Dealernews reports that it has invited the Vice President of the United States to deliver the keynote address at the 2017 AIMExpo in Columbus, Ohio. Dealernews says it issued the invitation this spring through Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio), who is part owner of a motorcycle dealership, adding that its on Pences schedule and hes told senior aides to make it happen.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (Photo courtesy of http://www.whitehouse.gov)

According to AIMExpos website, its purpose is to serve as the catalyst to bring together industry, press, dealers and consumers in a single arena that creates a grand stage for motorcycling and powersports in the U.S. and North America, and delivers an efficient and energetic market-timed expo platform for B2B and B2C in the greater powersports industry. The expo represents American business both at the dealer level as well as major players like Harley-Davidson and Polaris Industries. The AIMExpo would be an ideal conduit for Pence to reach a wide spectrum of the powersports industry as stimulating the American economy has been one of the primary platforms for the current administration.

Pence himself is a long-time motorcyclist with a penchant for Harley-Davidsons. Hes participated in numerous charitable motorcycle rides in the past which makes the possibility of him attending the 2017 AIMExpo even more plausible. Having a keynote speaker the magnitude of the U.S. Vice President would make exhibit space at this years expo an even more valuable commodity.

The rest is here:
VP Mike Pence to Speak at 2017 AIMExpo? - American Iron Magazine

NewsBusters (press release) (blog)

Cosmo Lauds Absurd Protesters Who Declare 'Abort Mike Pence' NewsBusters (press release) (blog) Cosmopolitan devoted an article to a particularly theatrical Planned Parenthood protest in which volunteers donned white bonnets and red capes. The aim of the protest was to draw a parallel between the novel, which, according to Cosmo, illustrates a ... and more »

Visit link:
Cosmo Lauds Absurd Protesters Who Declare 'Abort Mike Pence' - NewsBusters (press release) (blog)

Mr. Trump and his staff played a critical role in persuading House Republicans to pass health care legislation in May, with the president personally calling dozens of wavering House members. But the Trump teams heavy-handed tactics have been ineffective in the Senate, and White House officials determined that deploying Vice President Mike Pence, a former congressman with deep ties to many in the Senate, was a better bet than unleashing Mr. Trump on the half-dozen Republicans who will determine the fate of the Senate bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Trump, who is fond of telling friends he is a closer, became more involved over the past few days, reaching out to a few reluctant conservatives like Senators Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, who emerged from an Oval Office meeting on Monday saying he was more optimistic about getting to a yes.

The White House has been very involved in these discussions, Mr. McConnell said in announcing that a vote on the bill was postponed until after the Fourth of July recess. Theyre very anxious to help.

Yet over the past few weeks, the Senate Republican leadership has made it known that it would much rather negotiate with Mr. Pence than a president whose candidacy many did not even take seriously during the 2016 primaries. And some of the White Houses efforts have clearly been counterproductive.

Over the weekend, Mr. McConnell made clear his unhappiness to the White House after a super PAC aligned with Mr. Trump started an ad campaign against Senator Dean Heller, Republican of Nevada, after he said last week that he opposed the health care bill.

The majority leader already rankled by Mr. Trumps tweets goading him to change Senate rules to scuttle Democratic filibusters called the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, to complain that the attacks were beyond stupid, according to two Republicans with knowledge of the tense exchange.

Mr. McConnell, who has been toiling for weeks, mostly in private, to put together a measure that would satisfy hard-liners and moderates, told Mr. Priebus in his call that the assault by the group, America First, not only jeopardized the bills prospects but also imperiled Mr. Hellers already difficult path to re-election.

Mr. McConnell and several other Republican senators expressed their irritation about the anti-Heller campaign during the White House meeting, according to two people, one of them a senator, who were present.

The move against Mr. Heller had the blessing of the White House, according to an official with America First, because Mr. Trumps allies were furious that the senator would side with Nevadas governor, Brian Sandoval, a Republican who accepted the Medicaid expansion under the health law and opposes the Republican overhaul, in criticizing the bill.

According to the senator, the president laughed good-naturedly at the complaint and signaled that he had received the message.

A few hours later, America First announced it was pausing its advertising assault against Mr. Heller, insisting it was doing so because of his willingness to come to the White House meeting with Mr. Trump.

America First was founded by a group of Mr. Trumps loyalists many of them with deep connections to Mr. Pence, including Nick Ayers, a Republican consultant who is regarded as the vice presidents top political adviser. The group compared Mr. Heller to Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, and vowed a seven-figure advertising campaign against him.

Mr. Heller, the only Senate Republican who will face voters next year in a state carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016, is the top target for Democrats facing a Senate map with few opportunities in 2018. And there were already seven groups a mix of health care advocacy organizations and more partisan Democratic efforts on the air in Nevada assailing the Republican health care overhaul, according to a Republican ad buyer tracking the ad traffic.

Neither Mr. McConnells office nor his top outside political advisers were warned about an impending attack on one of their most endangered incumbents. They didnt check in with anybody, said Josh Holmes, Mr. McConnells former chief of staff. There was no clearing of channels, no heads-up, nothing.

Republican senators across the ideological spectrum have indicated their unease with the health bill. But Mr. Trump has few ties with the group, and several Republicans who remain on the fence have tangled with Mr. Trump, either during the presidential campaign or since.

Top Trump lieutenants like Stephen K. Bannon, his chief strategist, who lobbied members on the House bill, have been all but sidelined. Mr. Priebus has also played a much diminished role.

Mr. Pence has been far more active in seeking out Republican senators. Seema Verma, Mr. Pences former adviser in the Indiana Statehouse and now a top administration health care official, has also been trying to reassure senators that their states will have flexibility on Medicaid under the bill, while Mr. Pences former chief of staff, Marc Short, now the White House legislative affairs director, has been quarterbacking the effort from his hideaway in the Capitol.

Until Tuesdays meeting at the White House, Mr. Trump had spoken with only a few members of the Senate, according to an administration official. The pace was nothing like the dozens of calls he made to help pass the Houses health bill, aides said.

A senator who supports the bill left the meeting at the White House with a sense that the president did not have a grasp of some basic elements of the Senate plan and seemed especially confused when a moderate Republican complained that opponents of the bill would cast it as a massive tax break for the wealthy, according to an aide who received a detailed readout of the exchange.

Mr. Trump said he planned to tackle tax reform later, ignoring the repeals tax implications, the staff member added.

After the meeting, Mr. Trump played the role of cheerleader on Twitter, encouraging his weary Republican allies to keep working.

I just finished a great meeting with the Republican Senators concerning HealthCare, he wrote. They really want to get it right, unlike OCare!

A version of this article appears in print on June 28, 2017, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump Steps In With Late Pitch To Wary Senate.

More:
On Senate Health Bill, Trump Falters in the Closer's Role - New York Times