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A HOUSE Intelligence Committee hearing Monday produced the remarkable spectacle of FBI Director James B. Comey publicly testifying that there was no information that supports tweets by President Trump alleging wiretapping of his New York headquarters on the order of President Barack Obama. It saw National Security Agency Director Michael S. Rogers agree with the British government that it was utterly ridiculous for the White House to suggest that such surveillance had been undertaken by Britains signals agency. And it produced official confirmation by Mr. Comey that the agency is investigating Russias interference in the U.S. presidential election, including possible coordination with members of the Trump campaign.

Youd think that all of this would be of surpassing concern for Republican members of Congress. The president who leads their party has been officially reported to have made false statements alleging criminal activity by his predecessor. Whats more, his campaign is under scrutiny for possible cooperation with a dedicated and dangerous U.S. adversary in order to subvert American democracy.

Yet to listen to Republican members of the Intelligence Committee, the most pressing problem to arise from Russias intervention and the FBIs investigation of it is that reports of contacts between Russias ambassador and Mr. Trumps designated national security adviser were leaked to The Post. The priority of Chairman Devin Nunes (Calif.) and other Republican members, judging from their statements, is not fully uncovering Russias actions but finding and punishing those who allowed the public to learn about them.

Mr. Nunes and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) could not have been more zealous in their outrage over the exposure of Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign as national security adviser after reports in The Post exposed his lies about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Mr. Flynn accepted nearly $68,000 in payments from Russian companies, including the state propaganda outlet, before advocating greater cooperation with Moscow during his brief White House stint. Yet Mr.Nunes and Mr. Gowdy would have it that hunting down the sources for the disclosure that Mr. Flynn discussed the lifting of U.S. sanctions with Mr. Kislyak is more urgent than learning the full extent of the contacts he and other Trump aides had with Moscow.

The Republicans seem to be slavishly following the cues of the president, who, while failing to retract his accusation against Mr. Obama, is seeking to direct attention elsewhere. The real story that Congress, the FBI and all others should be looking into is the leaking of Classified information, he tweeted Monday morning. Such a diversion, like anything else that distracts attention from Vladimir Putins support for his election, would be to Mr. Trumps advantage.

Congressional Republicans ought to consider larger national interests. Russias intervention in the election was not incidental and haphazard, but part of a concerted campaign to disrupt Western democracy. Mr. Putin is even now attempting to interfere in ongoing election campaigns in France and Germany. Given Mr. Trumps refusal to acknowledge the threat, it is essential that Congress discover the truth about Russias activities, take steps to defend against similar intrusions in the future and help allies protect themselves.

The first useful step would be to fully inform the public. Instead, Mr. Nunes and his followers appear bent on silencing anyone who would do so.

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No, Republicans, the 'real story' is not the leaks - Washington Post

State Sen.Larry Crowder on the first day of the Colorado state legislative session. Jan 11, 2016. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

By James Anderson, Associated Press

A Senate committee led by Republicans who oppose tampering with the Taxpayers Bill of Rights on Monday defeated a measure to ask Colorado voters if they want to keep more tax revenue for roads, education and health care.

GOP Rep. Dan Thurlow of Grand Junction and Sen. Larry Crowder of Alamosa wanted to ask voters to change the way limits on state revenue are calculated under TABOR, the constitutional amendment adopted in 1992.

But the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee voted 3-2 along party lines to reject the bill.

Thurlow says the states spending blueprint needs fixing because circumstances have changed substantially and everything from K-12 education to roads are chronically underfunded. Each year, lawmakers struggle to balance the budget and meet the needs of rapidly growing Colorado because of the revenue cap.

TABOR requires any revenue above the cap to be refunded to taxpayers, unless voters say otherwise. The cap is calculated using population growth and inflation, while thebillwould have used a higher rate of personal income growth instead.

Budget forecasts say refunds could total $158 million or upward for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Thurlow had testified that his bill would drastically cut anticipated refunds.

The two Republican sponsors said they were trying to untangle conflicting legal mandates that dictate what lawmakers can and cannot do. TABOR restricts spending; another mandate requires increased K-12 spending each year; and yet another will soon reduce property tax collections, which are tied to how much commercial property taxes are rising.

We have to fix the process in order to make logical decisions on the budget, Thurlow said recently. If they want us to prioritize, they have to take away the restrictions.

Crowders rural southern Colorado district has suffered because of budget-balancing tactics that include reducing fees paid by hospitals to secure matching federal funds. Those fees are counted as state revenue under TABOR, and when they are cut to balance the budget, rural hospitals get less.

If you look at it realistically, what are we doing here if we cant govern? Crowder said. There is no holy grail in government. Period. Including TABOR.

The sponsors argument ran counter to long-held orthodoxy among Colorado Republicans who insist that the state can make do with what it has.

Senate President Kevin Grantham triggered a near-rebellion this session among fellow Republicans when he and Democratic House Speaker Crisanta Duran unveiled a bill that would ask voters for a sales tax hike and a bond issue to fund billions of dollars in transportation needs.

Several Republicans, including Granthams No. 2, Sen. Chris Holbert, denounced any tax hike. Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, vice chairman of the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, said he would introduce a transportation bill with no tax hike.

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Senate Republicans killed a Republican-sponsored bill to let Colorado keep more tax revenue - Denverite (blog)

Republicans lead fight to ban fracking in Florida Miami Herald Citing unresolved health concerns, Florida lawmakers are weighing the fate of a measure that would ban fracking across the state. Legislators are pushing the bill to safeguard Florida's clean water supply, which is the drinking water source for 90 ... and more »

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Republicans lead fight to ban fracking in Florida - Miami Herald

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence

Vice President Mike Pence called on Congress to keep the presidents promise during an event in Florida to shore up support for a contentious health-care bill, but didnt address the finding that has moderate Republicans most worried: that 14 million Americans may lose health coverage in a year.

Were going to continue to work with members of Congress to improve this bill, Pence said in Jacksonville after meeting with small business owners. He noted a plan that would allow states to include a work requirement for able-bodied adults to receive Medicaid.

The visit to the Mac Papers Envelope Converters facility comes as President Donald Trump and his team try to repel opposition from both sides of the Republican Party to the measure to end Obamacare, which could come to the House floor for a vote as soon as March 23. Pence heard complaints from some business owners about the cost of complying with Obamacare, and promised their nightmare would end.

Trump met Friday with leaders of the Republican Study Committee, and committed to tweaking the American Health Care Act to appeal tounhappy conservatives. The president said the changes -- including an amendment that would give states options to further limit enrollment in Medicaid -- had brought several opponents on board. I want everyone to know that Im 100 percent behind this, Trump after the meeting. Obamacare is dead.

Pence held a similar event in Kentucky a week ago. Concerns about the House bill have only risen since then; Trump and Pence face a growing number of moderate Republicans, particularly in the Senate, who say that the bill would force millions to lose insurance coverage. Four Republican governors came out against the plan on Friday.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a March 13 report that the AHCA would increase the number of Americans without insurance by 14 million in 2018 and 24 million in 2026. That assessment, which found older Americans would face higher insurance costs to the point where some would forgo coverage, was cited by Florida lawmakers who represent a disproportionate number of elderly voters.

Pence didnt refer to the agencys report during his remarks, which were broadly unchanged from a week earlier.

For a QuickTake on repealing Obamacare, click here.

Florida has more than 1.5 million people enrolled in the federal insurance marketplace, more than any other state, according to federal data. Many of the Sunshine States retirees and other residents not old enough to qualify for Medicare rely on Obamacare.

Republican Governor Rick Scott chose not to expand the states Medicaid health insurance for the poor under Obamacare, and has called for federal money for the program to be given to the states in block grants. Pence on Saturday suggested the block-grant proposal may be adopted, as well as the potential for states to add a work requirement for recipients of Medicaid.

A number of moderate Republican lawmakers from Florida questioned support for the bill after the CBO analysis was published.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, whose district includes much of Miami, said she couldnt support the bill because it would reduce coverage for the poor and the elderly.

I have decided to vote no on the bill as currently written, Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement on March 14. The bills consequences for South Florida are clear: too many of my constituents will lose insurance and there will be less funds to help the poor and elderly with their health care.

Representatives Carlos Curbelo and Mario Diaz-Balart, other South Florida Republicans, also said the CBO report raised serious concerns, according to the Miami Herald.

We need every Republican in Florida to support this plan, Pence said in Jacksonville.

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The bill would need 216 supporters to pass if all 430 currently sitting House members showed up for the vote. With the 193 Democrats expected to vote as a bloc against repealing Obamacare, Ryan can lose no more than 21 Republicans. Current vote-counting suggests more than 21 members from the right and left factions of the Republican majority have said theyll vote against the bill, or remain undecided.

And if the measure passes the House, it faces additional challenges in the Senate, where Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority. At least eight Republican Senators have publicly opposed the bill. Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, said a vote for the bill by Republicans would risk losing the House majority in the 2018 midterm election.

The AHCA would end Obamacares requirement that individuals must have, and employers above a certain size must offer, health coverage. It would also eliminate several taxes on the wealthy, insurers and drugmakers used to fund Obamacare. The proposal includes a refundable, age-based tax credit to help people buy insurance and a rollback of an expansion of Medicaid over a period of years.

Pence and Trump have met in recent days with conservative groups, attempting to gin up support for the new administrations first major legislative effort.

Pence is expected to speak mainly about health care in an appearance later Saturday at the Club for Growths winter economic conference in Palm Beach. The conservative group, which advocates cutting taxes and reforming safety-net programs including Social Security, came out against the bill shortly after it was introduced.

Trump is also spending the weekend in Palm Beach, at his oceanside Mar-a-Lago resort. He will return to Washington on Sunday.

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Keep Trump's Promise, Pence Tells Republicans on Health Bill - Bloomberg

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, but for governments its not that easy. Once something is given say, health insurance coverage to 20 million Americans you take it away at your peril. This is true for any government benefit, but especially for health care. Theres a reason not one Western democracy with some system of national health care has ever abolished it.

The genius of the left is to keep enlarging the entitlement state by creating new giveaways that are politically impossible to repeal. For 20 years, Republicans railed against the New Deal. Yet, when they came back into office in 1953, Eisenhower didnt just keep Social Security, he expanded it.

People hated Obamacare for its highhandedness, incompetence and cost. At the same time, its crafters took great care to create new beneficiaries and new expectations. Which makes repeal very complicated.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that, under Paul Ryans Obamacare replacement bill, 24 million will lose insurance within 10 years, 14 million after the first year.

Granted, the number is highly suspect. CBO projects 18 million covered by the Obamacare exchanges in 2018. But the number today is about 10 million. That means the CBO estimate of those losing coverage is already about 8 million too high.

Nonetheless, there will be losers. And their stories will be plastered wall to wall across the media as sure as night follows day.

That scares GOP moderates. And yet the main resistance to Ryan comes from conservative members complaining that the bill is not ideologically pure enough. They mock it as Obamacare Lite.

For example, Ryan wants to ease the pain by phasing out Medicaid expansion through 2020. The conservative Republican Study Committee wants it done next year. This is crazy. For the sake of two years savings, why would you risk a political crash landing?

Moreover, the idea that you can eradicate Obamacare root and branch is fanciful. For all its catastrophic flaws, Obamacare changed expectations. Does any Republican propose returning to a time when you can be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition?

Its not just Donald Trump who ran on retaining this new, yes, entitlement. Everyone did. But its very problematic. If people know that they can sign up for insurance after they get sick, the very idea of insurance is undermined. People wont sign up when healthy and the insurance companies will go broke.

So what do you do? Obamacare imposed a monetary fine if you didnt sign up, for which the Ryan bill substitutes another mechanism, less heavy-handed but still government-mandated.

The purists who insist upon entirely escaping the heavy hand of government are dreaming. The best you can hope for is to make it less intrusive and more rational, as in the Ryan plans block-granting Medicaid.

Or instituting a more realistic age-rating system. Sixty-year-olds use six times as much health care as 20-year-olds, yet Obamacare decreed, entirely arbitrarily, that the former could be charged insurance premiums no more than three times that of the latter. The GOP bill changes the ratio from 3-to-1 to 5-to-1.

Premiums better reflecting risk constitute a major restoration of rationality. (Its how life insurance works.) Under Obamacare, the young were unwilling to be swindled and refused to sign up. Without their support, the whole system is thus headed into a death spiral of looming insolvency.

Rationality, however, has a price. The CBO has already predicted a massive increase in premiums for 60-year-olds. Thats the headline.

There is no free lunch. GOP hard-liners must accept that Americans have become accustomed to some new health care benefits, just as moderates have to brace themselves for stories about the inevitable losers in any reform. Thats the political price for fulfilling the seven-year promise of repealing and replacing Obamacare.

Unless, of course, you go the full Machiavelli and throw it all back on the Democrats. How? Republicans could forget about meeting the arcane requirements of reconciliation legislation (which requires only 51 votes in the Senate) and send the Senate a replacement bill loaded up with everything conservative including, tort reform and insurance competition across state lines. That would require 60 Senate votes. Let the Democrats filibuster it to death and take the blame when repeal-and-replace fails, Obamacare carries on and then collapses.

Upside: You reap the backlash. Downside: You have to live with your conscience.

Charles Krauthammers email address is letters@charleskrauthammer.com.

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COMMENTARY: Republicans, the real world and repealing Obamacare - Las Vegas Review-Journal