Newsletter: Today: Senate on Healthcare: Get Me Rewrite
The GOP healthcare bill passed the House but is moving on to an uncertain fate in the Senate. I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.
TOP STORIES
Senate on Healthcare: Get Me Rewrite
House Republicans got just enough votes to pass a rollback of the Affordable Care Act, but the cost and effect remain to be seen. For starters, that’s because we don’t yet have analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Then there’s the Senate, where Republicans have expressed deep reservations and suggested they could take a long time to hammer out their own bill. Here’s a side-by-side look at where the GOP plan stands now versus Obamacare. For further analysis, columnist Michael Hiltzik offers a handy guide to “all the horrific details” and columnist David Lazarus takes on the preexisting conditions debate.
Hazardous to These Republicans’ Political Health?
When the healthcare bill passed in the House, Republicans let out a cheer, while Democrats sang “na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, hey, hey, goodbye” to GOP members facing reelection in 2018. Will they pay a price? For the answer, look no further than California’s congressional delegation. All 14 Republicans voted for it, and some of them were already considered to be at risk in the midterm election. Still, strategists say the politicians would’ve faced an even bigger backlash if they didn’t fulfill the party’s repeated promises to dismantle Obamacare.
More Politics
-- Trump signed an executive order that he said would protect politically active churches from losing their tax-free status, but the actual text proves to be more modest than his words.
-- What Democrat would think of challenging Nancy Pelosi on her home turf? Meet Stephen Jaffe.
Oh, the Places Trump Will Go
Trump has been dubbed the “homebody president” for his lack of travel (not counting Mar-a-Lago) in his first 100 days. But later this month, he’ll embark on his first presidential trip abroad, and it involves some highly sensitive diplomatic territory in Saudi Arabia and Israel. He’ll also meet with Pope Francis, NATO and leaders of the European Union; given Trump’s history of verbal jabs at them, it could get awkward.
‘Don’t Mess With Texas,’ Sanctuary Cities Are Told
Everything is bigger in Texas, including the blowback against so-called sanctuary cities. Gov. Greg Abbott was “getting my signing pen warmed up” after state lawmakers passed a measure that could mean heavy fines or even jail time for local law enforcement officials who refuse to help enforce federal immigration orders. That would make it the nation’s most stringent law to target sanctuary cities, one that will spark lawsuits and potentially inspire other states to do the same.
Dudamel Sets Down the Baton and Raises His Voice
Gustavo Dudamel would rather conduct than talk about politics in his home country of Venezuela. But after a 17-year-old violist was killed during a demonstration in Caracas, the L.A. Phil music director is speaking out about the crisis. “We don’t need more blood,” he tells Times classical music critic Mark Swed. “It’s not right for people to be dying in demonstrations. We need voices that unite Venezuela.”
FLASHBACK FRIDAY
Shoemaker Canyon Road was supposed to be a 25-mile escape route through the San Gabriel Mountains if Los Angeles were ever under nuclear attack. Instead, only four miles got built between 1956 and 1969, and since then it’s become a hiking spot known as the Road to Nowhere. As this 1980 article notes, it took two decades to earn a place in the Thomas Bros. map book. (Remember those?)
MUST-WATCH VIDEO
-- The moment the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act.
-- Twenty-five years after the verdict in the Rodney King beating: Was it a riot or an uprising?
-- Times film critic Kenneth Turan reviews “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”
CALIFORNIA
-- In Silicon Valley, even mobile homes are getting too pricey for longtime residents.
-- A study has found that after mass shootings, Californians have responded by acquiring handguns.
-- Officials say a model for romance novel covers was arrested this week in San Diego after a cross-country dragnet sparked by a series of robberies.
-- Lucy Casado, the matriarch and gatekeeper of the landmark Hollywood restaurant Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe, has died at age 91.
YOUR WEEKEND
-- After a weekend escape in Santa Maria, the tri-tip will be seared into your memory.
-- Guacamole and more: 25 recipes to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
-- A pizza made entirely of cheese, including the crust? Yup.
-- How to style your bookcases like a pro.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- On the road with Billy Joel: The Piano Man talks Trump, L.A. and music.
-- In the film “The Lovers,” Debra Winger and Tracy Letts give an achingly poignant portrait of a modern marriage.
-- Stephen Colbert isn’t sorry for his comments on Trump that sparked the #FireColbert push.
-- Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the co-hosts of “Morning Joe,” are engaged.
NATION-WORLD
-- After the latest racist incidents at Fenway Park, Boston confronts an ugly reputation.
-- Officials say at least 10 people were killed, including four soldiers, in clashes between Mexican troops and fuel thieves.
-- Another way humans are polluting the environment: too much noise.
-- If you ever find yourself in Pyongyang, here’s a quick guide to North Korean snacks.
BUSINESS
-- The families of some victims in the San Bernardino terrorist attack are suing Twitter, Facebook and Google, but they stand a slim chance of getting a payout.
-- Confusing regulations led to yet another airplane passenger dispute, this time involving an Orange County family traveling with toddlers.
SPORTS
-- French jockey Flavien Prat rode to the top in Southern California. On Saturday, he gets his chance in the Kentucky Derby.
-- Boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has a bad-boy reputation, but his handlers say he’s been all business in preparing to face Canelo Alvarez on Saturday.
OPINION
-- Trump’s latest arrogant overpromise: peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
-- Los Angeles and Las Vegas are very different, but this they share: the perception that they are shallow and without substance.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- Is Venezuela headed for a collapse similar to what happened in the USSR? (Foreign Policy)
-- Former NBA player Ray Allen has become a passionate advocate for awareness of the Holocaust. (The Undefeated)
-- “I declare this thing open, whatever it is”: Prince Philip has had a knack for awkward and sometimes offensive one-liners. (New York Times)
ONLY IN CALIFORNIA
“Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon” in San Francisco isn’t about beaches, blankets or Babylon, but no matter. The revue has been lampooning pop culture since 1974. As Times travel writer Christopher Reynolds reports, “the show reflects the city’s bohemian ways and lefty politics, naturally, but not as much as you might imagine.” Well, it does include a Donald Trump character and “the Von Trump family singers.”
Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.
If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
