Barack Obama News
Read news, analysis, and commentary on Barack Obama, his administration’s legacy, and his continuing impact on national debates.
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news
Rolling Back Obama EPA Rule Could Save $33 Billion
Reversing an Obama administration energy regulation will save energy companies $33 billion in compliance costs through 2030—costs that would have otherwise been borne by consumers, senior Trump administration officials said in providing details about scrapping the plan. The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed to repeal the Clean Power Plan, placing the proposed repeal in… -
opinion
Obama’s Climate Plan Was a Failure on All Accounts
The Trump administration is dismantling President Barack Obama’s climate legacy piece by piece, and this week it’s taking an axe to arguably the biggest piece. In an expected move, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt officially began the process of rolling back the incorrectly named Clean Power Plan. If the Trump administration is intent on… -
news
Failure to Repeal Obamacare Not Bad Omen for Tax Reform, Key GOP Lawmaker Says
The chairman of the largest Republican caucus in the House of Representatives said Americans should be confident tax reform will pass, even though a repeal of Obamacare didn’t. “We are not going to give up,” Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., told The Daily Signal in a Facebook Live interview, referring to repealing Obamacare. “The House is… -
opinion
Problematic Women: Michelle Obama’s Hypocrisy
Speaking at a marketing conference on Wednesday, former first lady Michelle Obama suggested that women who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election voted “against their own voice.” “Any woman who voted against Hillary Clinton voted against their own voice,” she said, according to video from the Inbound 2017 conference in Boston. “What does… -
news
Obamacare Repeal Isn’t Dead, House Conservatives Insist
Despite “fake news” claims that Republicans’ chance to repeal and replace Obamacare ends Saturday, that isn’t necessarily true, a conservative House member said Tuesday. Obamacare repeal plan is “not dead on September 30th,” @RepThomasMassie says. “Go back and look at the name of the Obamacare reconciliation vehicle in 2010,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told reporters… -
opinion
Think Obamacare Is Bad? ‘Medicare for All’ Would Make Things Even Worse.
As Republican senators look to scrape together the votes for a deal on health care, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is pushing his own proposal. He calls it “Medicare for All,” and it has already garnered support from 16 Democratic senators. As nice as Medicare for All may sound, Sanders’ proposal is a classic example of… -
opinion
We Hear You: Why Republicans Haven’t Kept Their Promise to Repeal Obamacare
Editors's note: With the Senate once again on the brink of a vote to partially repeal and replace Obamacare through the Graham-Cassidy bill, it's a good time to share more emails from some in The Daily Signal's audience who don't like what they see, especially in Republicans' actions. You can join in by writing [email protected]—Ken… -
news
Jimmy Kimmel Knows Comedy, Not What Ails Obamacare, Conservatives Say
Jimmy Kimmel may be a funny man, but he doesn’t understand Obamacare, according to a U.S. senator who the late-night TV host slammed this week as dishonest in describing a Republican alternative to the health care law. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., one of the chief authors of legislation to partially repeal Obamacare, sought to make… -
opinion
Obama’s ‘Julia’ Will Have Better Life Because of Tax Reform
Julia and her husband, James, are worried about their future. James lost his job and can’t find work. Julia has not received a raise in many years and is unhappy at her job. They are struggling just to make ends meet and provide for their children. Every year, the government takes more of their hard-earned… -
news
The GOP’s Last-Ditch Effort to Partially Repeal Obamacare
Republican senators are pitching one last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare regulations before a Sept. 30 deadline. A bill, drafted by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Dean Heller of Nevada, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, along with former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, would repeal both Obamacare’s individual and employer… -
news
Likely Next Solicitor General Fought for Nuns, Against Disputed Obama Appointees
After racking up victories against the Obama administration before the Supreme Court, Noel Francisco is expected to be confirmed by the Senate to manage the Trump administration’s cases there. “If you asked any conservative attorney in this town, they would put Noel in the top five legal minds,” @Curt_Levey says. >>> Update: The Senate confirmed… -
news
Obama’s Top Campaign Ad Firm Got Nearly $60M in Federal Contracts
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign advertising agency received nearly $60 million in federal contracts after he took office, according to an analysis by The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group. The gravy train for the Washington, D.C.-based ad agency, GMMB, hasn’t slowed since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the analysis found. The liberal Democratic communications powerhouse was… -
news
2 Governors Push Congress for More Money, Leeway Under Obamacare
Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper have teamed to recommend that Congress keep the Obamacare mandate requiring Americans to have health insurance, but allow states the flexibility to find something better in place of the health care law. The two governors’ plan calls for a two-year, $15 billion “stability fund” to help… -
opinion
Why I and Other Lawmakers Should Live Under Obamacare
For seven years, Republican candidates running for every office from president to dogcatcher campaigned on the need to repeal and replace Obamacare. The spectacular collapse of the repeal effort in the Senate revealed that these promises were, at least for some senators, hollow. As disappointing as the effort in the Senate was to witness, Congress… -
opinion
Trump’s Reversal of Obama Pay Gap Rule Is Good News for Women, Minorities
The Trump administration put a stop this week to an Obama-era rule that would have hurt the wage and employment prospects of all workers, and would have harmed women and minorities the most. The rule would have required companies with 100 or more workers to report detailed salary information to government bureaucrats by sex, race,… -
news
How House Conservatives Plan to Revive Obamacare Repeal, and Why It Could Work
It’s time to “put the screws” to Republican lawmakers who promised to repeal Obamacare, one House member says, and that’s why he supports reviving a successful 2015 attempt to get rid of the health care law. “We certainly can’t give up,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said in a phone interview with The Daily Signal. Gaetz… -
news
Obamacare Insurer Lost $57.6 Million in First Half of 2017
Oscar Insurance Corp. is hemorrhaging money on the Obamacare state exchanges, posting a $57.6 million loss in the first half of 2017. Oscar is a health insurance startup that primarily sells Obamacare insurance plans, but the company has consistently had trouble making its business profitable. The company lost $57.6 million thus far in 2017 in Texas, New… -
news
House Conservatives Move to Revive Obamacare Repeal
The House's most conservative caucus hopes to force a vote on a clean Obamacare repeal bill in coming weeks through a rare congressional procedure. The House Freedom Caucus, chaired by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., will encourage members to sign a “discharge petition” allowing a bill similar to the December 2015 repeal of Obamacare—which passed both the House… -
opinion
These Obama Regulations Make a Strong Case for Tax Reform
Congress is pivoting to tax reform, which if done correctly, should replace a list of draconian Obama-era regulations that went to extraordinary lengths to keep American companies from leaving the U.S. Ironically, the Obama administration ignored the key incentives that pushed companies to try and leave, chief among them being a sky-high corporate tax rate…. -
opinion
How States Can Get Exemptions From Obamacare’s Rules
The Senate’s failure to pass even a watered-down version of health care reform was compounded by its decision to leave Washington rather than finish the job. At this juncture, the nation’s governors and state legislators should use every legal means available to them to reform their health insurance markets to the best of their ability…