PG122: Healthcare, Budget Resolutions, Travel Ban 3.0, The Honest Ads Act

This week, Mike and Jay start by looking at the bipartisan Senate proposal to stabilize Obamacare markets in the wake of President Trump halting cost-sharing subsidies to insurers, as well as the clever way state insurance regulators are dealing with this major change to the Affordable Care Act. After that, it's a primer on budget resolutions: when they started, what they were intended for, and why they're not almost meaningless ... with one major exception. Mike argues that legislating through budget resolutions is a Very Bad Idea, and says that it would be better if the Senate dropped this facade along with the filibuster. Jay agrees, and also feels that the Senate tradition of Blue Slips - where home state Senators have an effective veto over federal judicial nominations in the state - also no longer makes sense, a position Mike holds as well. Then it's a look at the latest Trump travel ban, which has been blocked by two federal judges. Both Mike and Jay believe that while the travel ban is bad policy, it's not unconstitutional and expect the Supreme Court to eventually uphold it. Finally, the Guys look at the 'Honest Ads Act' a bipartisan (just barely) Senate proposal intended to make it much harder for foreign governments to use social media ads to influence U.S. elections. Mike's Recommended Reading: - The Drug Industry’s Triumph Over The DEA | http://wapo.st/2xVeOd7 - American Rust. Philipp Meyer | http://amzn.to/2xXfrmw Jay's Recommended Reading: - The White-Minstrel Show. Kevin Williamson | http://bit.ly/2xWtZmc We hope you'll check out the sponsor of today's show: Blue Bottle Coffee. Sign up for a free trial of fresh, delicious Blue Bottle Coffee right now at http://www.bluebottlecoffee.com/TPG Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to http://www.politicsguys.com and click on the Patreon link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-politics-guys/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesThe Politics Guys on Facebook | XListener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo, we’re @PoliticsGuys.The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.