US House passes Obamacare repeal in win for Trump

The US House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly passed a Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, delivering a welcome victory to President Donald Trump after early legislative stumbles.

Following weeks of in-party feuding and mounting pressure from the White House, lawmakers voted 217 to 213 to pass a bill dismantling much of Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act and allowing US states to opt out of many of the law's key health benefit guarantees.

Some 20 Republicans voted in opposition, along with all Democrats, in the most contentious congressional vote of Trump's young presidency.

Eyeing a victory, a jubilant Trump tweeted during the vote that, if successful, Republicans would gather for "big press conference at the beautiful Rose Garden of the White House" immediately afterwards.

The bill's passage is a conservative dream seven years in the making: doing away with a reform which Republicans accuse of sending health premiums soaring while reducing options for millions of Americans.

An earlier version of the plan to repeal Obamacare collapsed in March, torpedoed by opposition from both moderates and conservatives in the Republican party -- and dealing the president one of the most stinging setbacks since he took office.

In extraordinary scenes in the House chamber, Republicans clapped and cheered while Democrats shouted their disapproval.

"We can continue with the status quo or we can put this collapsing law behind us. End this failed experiment," House Speaker Paul Ryan declared on the House floor.

"This bill delivers on the promises that we have made to the American people," Ryan said, referring to the relentless campaign pledges by most Republicans, including Trump last year, to do everything they could to repeal and replace the reforms that came into law in 2010.

"A lot of us have been waiting seven years to cast this vote," added.

Uphill battle in Senate

Republican leadership endured strong criticism from Democrats and several Republicans for rushing the legislation through without extended debate.

The measure now heads to the US Senate, where it faces an uphill battle.

"Where's the score?" Democrats hollered, referring to the lack of a budget office estimate of the legislation's cost for the federal government.

Republicans including Trump had campaigned relentlessly on the pledge to dismantle the 2010 reforms.

Democrats counter that Obamacare, as it is known, helped 20 million Americans gain health coverage and saved thousands of lives by barring insurers from denying policies to people with pre-existing conditions.

The American Medical Association issued a scathing rebuke of the latest Republican effort, warning that it would lead millions of Americans to lose their health care.

The Republican party leadership apparently won over enough skeptical members with an amendment that adds $8 billion over five years to help cover insurance costs for people with pre-existing conditions.

Several medical experts and health groups publicly ridiculed the amendment, saying it falls woefully short of the hundreds of billions of dollars likely needed to help control health costs for the sick under the new bill.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Will the Fil-Am vote have an impact in US midterm polls?

OAKLAND, California – There are only a few days to go before the midterm elections and people in America are about to cast their votes for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate.

Current forecasts show that Democrats are struggling to save the Senate majority, while trying to prevent more losses in the House, which the GOP already controls by a 234 to 201 margin.

The Democrats control the Senate by a 55 to 45 margin.

The question is: will the immigrant vote have an impact on the elections?

Asians are now the largest immigrant group in the state. And community leaders say they’re really becoming more politicized and more aware of the benefits of being politically empowered.

The group, Filipino Advocates for Justice, which is part of the Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Campaign, believes Filipinos are a force to reckon with in the midterm elections.

In California, more than 417,000 Filipinos are registered to vote, comprising two percent of the state’s registered voters.

“California is still where almost half of the Filipino population, and that’s without even counting the undocumented reside,” said Lillian Galedo, of Filipino Advocates For Justice. “So there’s a long history of Filipinos being active politically in California, which continues to this day.”

The Filipino Party affiliation in California is 40 percent Democrats, 26 percent Republicans, 31 percent non-partisan or decline to state, and three percent other.

“Here in California, we’re seeing a new trend,” said Galedo. “There’s almost as many people who are declining to state. They’re neither declaring themselves Republican or Democrats. They’re wanting to sort of keep their options open and not declaring allegiance to the party system and beginning to look at what people have to say.”

Christina Halog has been a U.S. citizen since 1973 and has never missed voting in any U.S. election since. More than casting her vote, she encourages other kababayans to vote through phone.

She is also a poll worker.

“It’s important so I can have a voice and to be able to contribute,” she said. “To give back.”

Mona Dating has practiced her right to vote since she became a U.S. citizen in 1982. She says being too busy is not an excuse to cast your ballot.

“Sa Filipino community, tayo ang largest, one of the largest minorities in the U.S.,” said Dating. “We need to exercise our right to vote.”

So are Filipinos politically empowered? These community leaders and volunteers say we’re getting there. But there needs to be more effort and more work if Filipinos truly want their voices heard and their votes to count in this adopted country.

Read more from Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com