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Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE August 2, 2017 08/02/2017 11:41 am By Jen Kirby Share Tom Cotton. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Senate Republicans are helping President Donald Trump make good on one of his campaign promises to lower legal immigration. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia are set to unveil the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act, or RAISE Act, on Wednesday alongside Trump, whose administration has been working to help the senators shape the legislation, reports the Washington Post.

Cotton and Perdue first presented the bill in February, which would trim the number of green-card recipients that is, people that did it the right way by about half over the next ten years. To achieve this, the proposed legislation would tighten visa eligibility for family members, limiting it primarily to children under the age of 21 and spouses. Grandparents, for example, could get screwed for real this time.

That also reflects the bills goal to help shift the U.S. immigration system toward a more merit-based model, and away from the chain system, which focuses on family unification. While the details on this arent exactly clear, the proposed legislation would decrease the number of temporary visas for lower-skilled workers, while making some changes to attract more people with specialized skills.

Finally, the bill reportedly includes a refugee cap of 50,000, and would scrap the diversity lottery, which accounts for about 50,000 visas from countries that tend to have lower immigration rates to the United States.

While theres broad consensus that the U.S. immigration system should be reformed and updated, the question of how is where all agreement breaks down. Democrats are almost certainly going to oppose the RAISE Act in its current form, and as New Yorks Ed Kilgore pointed out earlier this year, it may be a tough sell for business-oriented Republicans, or more moderate GOPers who represent more diverse constituencies though, as the health-care battle made clear, you really never know.

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This complex in the Rockaways was rebuilt and is clean, well-maintained, and safe.

Two senators, alongside Trump, will propose halving the rate over the next ten years.

After Kellys first 48 hours on the job, even Trump is on his best behavior for his new chief of staff.

She only reports real (a.k.a. positive) stories about the White House.

The civil-rights division is preparing to tackle discrimination against white people.

The Trump administration and Ed Butowsky, the conservative commentator at the center of a new lawsuit, cant seem to agree.

Legally, it may have been on the record, but the spirit of it was off.

The tax reform ruse has been blown.

The newspaper didnt release the full transcript of this curious conversation with Trump, so Politico did.

Out of the spotlight, HHS secretary Tom Price has been busily dismantling regulations that hold his fellow physicians accountable for results.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved his appointment, 92 to 5.

Kelly Roberts is also a GOP donor and the mother of two reality-TV stars. Native Slovenian Melania Trump had a strong hand in the choice.

For a long time Dean Heller looked likely to thwart his partys drive for health-care legislation. Then he flipped back, but the GOP failed anyway.

Hawaiis Mazie Hirono on the ongoing health-care fight, the fumbling Trump administration, and John McCains dramatic 11th-hour vote.

The head of the Coast Guard has also come out against Trumps announced ban on transgender people in the military.

The problem with arguments against a Democratic litmus test on abortion is the habit of disrespectfully treating reproductive rights as disposable.

How paranoia took over the Republican Party.

He also addressed those Dancing With the Stars rumors.

Bill Shine, who was accused of abetting Roger Ailess sexual harassment, may soon have a job in White House communications.

The leader is defiant over his controversial vote as two opposition leaders are reportedly arrested.

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Senate Republicans Have a Plan to Lower Legal Immigration - New York Magazine

A key moment came in the 1970s, when Irving Kristol, the godfather of neoconservatism, embraced supply-side economics the claim, refuted by all available evidence and experience, that tax cuts pay for themselves by boosting economic growth. Writing years later, he actually boasted about valuing political expediency over intellectual integrity: I was not certain of its economic merits but quickly saw its political possibilities. In another essay, he cheerfully conceded to having had a cavalier attitude toward the budget deficit, because it was all about creating a Republican majority so political effectiveness was the priority, not the accounting deficiencies of government.

The problem is that once you accept the principle that its O.K. to lie if it helps you win elections, it gets ever harder to limit the extent of the lying or even to remember what its like to seek the truth.

The rights intellectual and moral collapse didnt happen all at once. For a while, conservatives still tried to grapple with real problems. In 1989, for example, The Heritage Foundation offered a health care plan strongly resembling Obamacare. That same year, George H. W. Bush proposed a cap-and-trade system to control acid rain, a proposal that eventually became law.

But looking back, its easy to see the rot spreading. Compared with Donald Trump, the elder Bush looks like a paragon but his administration lied relentlessly about rising inequality. His sons administration lied consistently about its tax cuts, pretending that they were targeted on the middle class, and in case youve forgotten took us to war on false pretenses.

And almost the entire G.O.P. either endorsed or refused to condemn the death panels slander against Obamacare.

Given this history, the Republican health care disaster was entirely predictable. You cant expect good or even coherent policy proposals from a party that has spent decades embracing politically useful lies and denigrating expertise.

And lets be clear: were talking about Republicans here, not the political system.

Democrats arent above cutting a few intellectual corners in pursuit of electoral advantage. But the Obama administration was, when all is said and done, remarkably clearheaded and honest about its policies. In particular, it was always clear what the A.C.A. was supposed to do and how it was supposed to do it and it has, for the most part, worked as advertised.

Now what? Maybe, just maybe, Republicans will work with Democrats to make the health system work better after all, polls suggest that voters will, rightly, blame them for any future problems. But it wouldnt be easy for them to face reality even if their president wasnt a bloviating bully.

And its hard to imagine anything good happening on other policy fronts, either. Republicans have spent decades losing their ability to think straight, and theyre not going to get it back anytime soon.

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Who Ate Republicans' Brains? - New York Times

2016 Election Results, by County Carrie Dunn / NBC News

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., whose state has just two options for insurance in the individual market, said that its not about politics but making sure people dont suffer.

We have to do something to reduce premiums, we have to stabilize the market or real people are going to get hurt, Rounds said. I dont think the American people want us to simply walk away and let this think explode which is what its doing.

But Trump vacillates between urging Republicans to keep working and making statements that make the insurance system stable and predictable.

And Republicans are starting to blame Trump for some of the health systems problems.

Im troubled by the uncertainty that has been created by the administration, said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday. The uncertainly of whether that subsidy is going to continue from month to month is clearly contributing to the destabilization of the insurance market.

Republicans are open to do something they wouldnt normally do to ensure that the system doesnt collapse: prop up Obamacare with federal funding.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who represents a state with just one or two insurers in most counties, has said throughout this process that his first priority is to help people who are facing few insurance choices. He plans to hold hearings soon on how to ensure that insurers stay involved in the current system.

Republicans will need to temporarily support some things we would not normally support over the longer term and I would hope Democrats would do that as well, said Alexander, chair of the Senate health committee.

A group of about 40 centrists Republican and Democrat members of the House of Representatives released a framework for fixing the problems with Obamacare Monday. At the top of their list is to fund the so-called cost sharing reduction payments and to create a stability fund to prop up the Obamacare exchange market.

That plan doesnt seem to have any real momentum yet and any idea that involves throwing money at the problem is likely going to be a last resort in the Republican Congress.

AshLee Strong, a spokesperson for Speaker Paul Ryan, responded saying, while the speaker appreciates members coming together to promote ideas, he remains focused on repealing and replacing Obamacare.

While Trump is urging Obamacares implosion, he is also continuing to push Republicans to hand him a victory. He met with Sens. Lindsey Graham R-S.C., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., on Friday at the White House to discuss their plan to give federal funds to the states for states to implement components of their own health care plan. Sen. Cassidy had another meeting at the White House on Monday to continue discussions.

But theres not a lot of time. The deadline for insurers to set their plans and pricing for 2018 is at the end of September. And the administration is supposed to decide if it will pay the subsidies for low-income Americans by the end of August: two deadlines with major repercussions for the insurance markets.

But coming to an agreement is going to be difficult will likely need Democrats.

"There's just too much animosity and we're too divided on healthcare," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told Reuters.

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Health Care Collapse Not a Viable Option for Congressional Republicans - NBCNews.com

Schumer said he was all for the concept of a bill advanced by Rep. Thomas Reed that would mandate roughly $7 billion in federal cost-sharing subsidies. | Getty

ALBANY, N.Y. Sen. Chuck Schumer said Monday he has heard from 10 of his Republican colleagues in response to his call for a bipartisan approach to health care legislation.

No one thought Obamacare was perfect it needs a lot of improvements, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said after an unrelated news conference at Albany Medical Center. Were willing to work in a bipartisan way to do it. What we objected to was just pulling the rug out from it and taking away the good things that it did: Medicaid coverage for people with parents in nursing homes, for opioid treatment, for kids with disabilities, pre-existing conditions.

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The so-called skinny repeal bill, which would have removed some of Obamacares least popular provisions, failed early Friday in a 51-49 vote. According to The New York Times, Schumer told Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, that he was committed to a legislative effort in regular order to improve the health care system. McCain cast an unexpected and decisive "no" vote.

Schumer said he was all for the concept of a bill advanced by Rep. Thomas Reed (R-N.Y.) that would mandate roughly $7 billion in federal cost-sharing subsidies that reduce out-of-pocket costs for poor consumers. Schumer, the Senate's minority leader, said he wasnt sure whether legislation would emerge in a big bill or take several steps.

Well, well have to wait and see. The first step is to try and stabilize the system that means the cost-sharing which would reduce premiums and increase coverage. Both Democrats and Republicans Sens. [Tim] Kaine and [Tom] Carper and [Susan] Collins have talked about re-insurance plans, so the most severe cases go into a separate insurance fund, and that reduces costs, Schumer said. Those are immediate things, but in the longer term, Republicans have some ideas, we have some ideas, and well sit down and try to hash them out as Congress should do.

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Schumer: Republicans have been in touch about health care - Politico

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Since the time he secured the Republican nomination for president, people have been asking, "When are Republicans going to finally distance themselves from Donald Trump?" Now, after one of the worst weeks ever experienced by an American president who wasn't assassinated, we're getting an answer. Sort of.

Don't worry we haven't seen any grand profiles in courage, at least not yet. But for the first time, we're seeing enough elected Republicans criticize and contradict the president that it no longer seems surprising when one of them does it.

The most dramatic instance of a Republican standing up to Trump was of course that of John McCain, who cast the deciding vote to kill (for now) the GOP effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. With less glowing attention from the media, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski held firm against it, too; Murkowski had to withstand the secretary of the interior calling to threaten that if she didn't get in line, the administration would punish Alaska for her intransigence.

There were lots of good reasons having nothing to do with Trump why those three didn't sign on to that bill, not least that it would have been extraordinarily destructive to Americans' health care and politically disastrous to boot. But there are other ways in which Republicans are showing they're more directly perturbed with the president. His almost sadistically cruel treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions telling every interviewer who'll listen how disappointed he is in Sessions, insulting him over Twitter, yet not firing him has particularly annoyed the attorney general's former Republican colleagues in the Senate who count him as a friend.

Then there was Trump's tweet announcing a blanket ban on transgender Americans serving in the armed forces, which swiftly drew criticism even from such staunch conservatives such as Orrin Hatch, Joni Ernst, and Richard Shelby. And in a stunning move, both houses of Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill imposing new sanctions on Russia over the White House's objections, leading to retaliation from the Kremlin. It was only four years ago when Trump asked plaintively about Vladimir Putin, "Will he become my new best friend?" The answer appears to be no.

To be clear, this isn't some kind of dramatic tipping point, after which Trump will be the target of a deluge of denunciations from elected Republicans. They know that their fates are still tied to his, and if he fails, they'll be the collateral damage. But they're also seeing the value in some strategic distancing. With Trump's approval in the 30s, they don't seem all that afraid of his wrath particularly when he does things they know will be unpopular. They'll continue to be cautious about criticizing the president, but he'll also give them plenty of opportunities to show they aren't his lapdogs.

It doesn't help that Trump can't tamp down that dissent with an appeal to party loyalty. Politicians who have devoted their careers to the Republican Party were uneasy about being led by someone without strong party ties, and since becoming president he's only made it clearer that he wants little to do with the GOP. As Tim Alberta points out, when Trump booted Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, he lost his most important connection to the GOP "establishment" which, much as he and his core supporters might scorn it, is still an entity he desperately needs if he is to succeed.

Who will provide that connection now? Not John Kelly, the new chief of staff he's a military man who might or might not be able to impose discipline on this unruly White House, but he doesn't have the same kind of political relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. Not Jared Kushner, the president's closest adviser, a political neophyte. Not Stephen Bannon, his chief strategist unlike Karl Rove, who played that role for George W. Bush, Bannon has no deep roots in the party and is justifiably regarded with suspicion by loyal Republicans. While there are midlevel staffers with those party connections, none of them are in an influential enough position to help determine the path the administration takes. Which means that the people closest to Trump don't have much of an ability to keep restive members of Congress in the fold.

If you're a Republican watching the carnival of crazy that is the Trump White House the unfortunate firing of the infinitely entertaining Anthony Scaramucci on Monday was only the latest shocking news you probably don't want to count on the president or his aides for much of anything. They might have your back, and they might achieve victories that help the whole party but it's not something you'd want to bet your career on. It might be wise to invest now in some gentle but clear disagreements. That way if the worst happens, you can say, "I never really believed in him anyway."

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Republicans are starting to flee Trump's carnival of crazy - The Week Magazine