G.O.P. healthcare bill faces revolt from the right
According to a New York Times article, the long-awaited plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and revise the American health care system faced a revolt as conservative groups and lawmakers criticized a bill Republican leaders and President Donald Trump hoped to jam through Congress this month.
“This is not the Obamacare repeal bill we’ve been waiting for. It is a missed opportunity and a step in the wrong direction,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT, is quoted as saying in the article. “We promised the American people we would drain the swamp and end business as usual in Washington. This bill does not do that.”
The Republican bill, released Monday, would “scrap” the mandated coverage in President Obama’s signature domestic achievement in favor of tax incentives to motivate people to purchase health care, according to the article.
According to the article, the legislation maintains many of the ACA’s mandates and basic benefits, which includes prohibiting insurers from denying policies for pre-existing conditions or capping benefits in a year or a lifetime.
This has led to charges among conservatives that the bill would be almost as disruptive to the free market as the law it is replacing, and has raised concern among experts that it could send insurance premiums skyrocketing, with only small tax credits to defray the cost for consumers seeking policies, according to the article.
Wikileaks dump CIA files describing hacking tools
According to an Associated Press article, WikiLeaks published thousands of documents described as secret files about CIA hacking tools used to break into users' computers, mobile phones and even smart TVs from companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung.
The documents describe methods for bypassing or defeating encryption, antivirus tools and other protective security features intended to protect the private information of citizens and corporations, according to the article.
The AP reported that the documents describe efforts by the CIA to subvert the world's most popular technology platforms, including Apple's iPhones and iPads, Google's Android phones and the Microsoft Windows operating system for desktop computers and laptops.
Documents also include discussions about compromising internet-connected televisions to turn them into listening posts, according to the article, with one document discusses hacking vehicle systems, indicating an interest by the CIA in hacking modern cars with sophisticated on-board computers.
"We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents," Jonathan Liu, a spokesman for the CIA, is quoted as saying in the article, while White House spokesman Sean Spicer also declined comment.
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According to the article, absent from the WikiLeaks' trove are the actual hacking tools themselves, some of which were developed by government hackers while others were purchased from outsiders.
WikiLeaks said it planned to avoid distributing tools "until a consensus emerges" on the political nature of the CIA's program and how such software could be analyzed, disarmed and published.
According to the article, it was not immediately clear how WikiLeaks obtained the information, and details in the documents could not immediately be verified. WikiLeaks said the material came from "an isolated, high-security network" inside the CIA's Center for Cyber Intelligence.
"The archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive," WikiLeaks is quoted as saying in the article.
U.S. judge rules against tribes seeking to stop Dakota pipeline
According to a Reuters article, a U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled against Native American tribes seeking to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline as their legal options lessen weeks before oil is set to flow on the project.
Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court rejected the tribes' request for an injunction to withdraw permission issued by the Army Corps for the last section of the oil pipeline under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, according to the article.
According to the article, the denial represents another setback to Native American tribes that have been leading the charge against the pipeline, which runs adjacent to tribal territory in southern North Dakota.
The tribes had argued that the pipeline would render water they use for religious ceremonies “spiritually impure” even if the pipeline goes under Lake Oahe, according to the article, adding that the pipeline was reminiscent of an “ancient prophesy of a Black Snake that would harm natives.”
According to the article, Boasberg said the Cheyenne tribe "remained silent as to the Black Snake prophesy and its concerns about oil in the pipeline under Lake Oahe" during two years of legal disputes against the line.
"It is simply unacceptable that the government is allowing Energy Transfer Partners to build this pipeline through our sacred lands," Chase Iron Eyes, lead counsel for the Lakota People's Law Project, is quoted as saying in the article.
The tribes had won a reprieve from the Democratic Obama administration in early December, a victory which was short-lived as President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 that smoothed the path for the last permit needed, according to the article.
According to the article, Energy Transfer Partners said in a filing late Monday that it plans to start pumping oil through a section of the line under the Missouri River by the week of March 13.
-Compiled by Matthew Reisen
