Trump-free Friday politics roundup: July 21

No one gets health care right, India elects a new president, and everyone’s meeting with Putin in this week’s politics roundup.

Healthcare repeal fails again

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is facing tough times. He and his compatriots within the Republican party surely thought that we would have had a new health care system by now. At the very least, we would have been on the way to implementing one within a few years. Politics, however, has proven to be a far more wily beast.

Though a health care bill passed in the House of Representatives, its Senate counterpart has faced a more difficult path. The “Better Care Reconciliation Act” has faced skepticism from Democratic and Republican senators alike, to the point where McConnell could not garner enough votes to pass the bill. Even a revised bill that retained some of the Obamacare benefits did not appeal to senators.

A last ditch effort to repeal Obamacare without a replacement plan also failed. That’s especially good, considering how disastrous this “repeal and replace” hand waving maneuver could have been for American people.

So, what happened? There was considerable dissent within the GOP that destabilized the party’s slim majority in the Senate. Republican politicians on the state level also expressed concern about the plan, which would have left around 22 million people uninsured by 2026.

Meanwhile, the president appeared to be frustrated with the slow and oftentimes painful process. The plan in all its iterations also garnered poor scores from the Congressional Budget Office.

The now-murky fate of health care

So, what’s happening now? Even your Senator may not be totally sure. It’s clear that McConnell and his colleagues are rushing to push a vote some time next week. However, no one seems to know what exactly they’ll vote on. Likely, it will involve at least two bills: the much-discussed Better Care Reconciliation Act, and the less reported (but equally important) Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act.

Given the complicated landscape of political maneuvering and tactical posturing, it’s hard to say what exactly will happen. Some conservatives opposite the bills because they don’t roll back Obamacare enough, while many moderates seem more concerned about adopting the correct posture for their constituents back home. That’s a particularly thorny problem, given the rocky reception of Obamacare and the simultaneous necessity of Medicaid in numerous rural and low-income communities.

Some, including the president, want to take the tack of letting Obamacare fail. That is, they want to make it difficult for the ACA to continue via decreased subsidies and lax enforcement of mandates.

Undisclosed Putin talk raises suspicion

Oh, you meant that we should have told you about all the talks the president has had with Vladimir Putin? Even the secret ones? Boy, do we sure have egg on our face.

Putin and the president met for the first time on July 7, during the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. While this first meeting was highly publicized and scrutinized, the second meeting was more casual.

During a well-attended banquet dinner on the evening of July 7, the president left his place and seated himself next to Putin. With the help of a Kremlin interpreter, the two spoke. No U.S. interpreter was present. Bystanders say that their conversation lasted as much as an hour, though the White House claims that it took far less time.

Opinion on the propriety of this move is divided. Should the White House have disclosed this “meeting”, or was it sufficiently in the open to pass muster? After all, there were several world leaders and their spouses in attendance at the same event. However, no one has released a record of what was said. Neither were there any reporters in attendance.

For now, what was said remains a mystery. Whether or not that is a big deal remains to be seen.

Mueller’s Russia investigation encounters bumpy roads

Robert Mueller, the independent counsel heading the Russia inquiry, has done little talking to the news or the public. Instead, it appears that he has been busy assembling his team and beginning the investigation that may uncover evidence of Russian entanglement with the 2016 U.S. election.

That said, the road ahead may not be easy for Mueller and his team. It appears that White House lawyers are now looking for cracks in the investigation, including potential conflicts of interest for Mueller. Meanwhile, the president is asking some frankly suspicious questions about pardons. Could he, oh, let’s just say, pardon his family members? Friends? Is it possible for a president to pardon himself? He’s just, you know, curious about the whole thing. Nothing serious.

Mueller has come under scrutiny shortly after inquiring about the president’s business ties to Russia. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein has said that he would not fire Mueller without “good cause”.

Rosenstein has taken over for Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions has recused himself from the investigation. Sessions’ recusal has apparently earned him a demerit in the president’s favor.

Could Mueller be fired?

It’s not clear if Rosenstein can be pushed to fire Mueller with “good cause.” Indeed, if Mueller were to be ousted, such an event could set off a disastrous chain of events. The president cannot fire Mueller directly. Instead, he would have to effectively purge the Justice Department until he found someone willing to do the deed for him.

This hypothetical series of events recalls the 1973 “Saturday Night Massacre,” in which President Richard Nixon fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. On the same night, both Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus tendered their resignations.

Of course, we all know how well that turned out for Nixon. It’s likely that White House officials are thinking of the same thing. They are likely trying to the president and his family to just stop incriminating themselves, while also convincing him that firing Mueller would be political suicide.

India picks a new president

India’s 14th president will be Ram Nath Kovind, a former lawyer and governor of the Indian state of Bihar. Governorships are appointed by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Kovind and Modi are both part of the majority Bharatiya Janata Party.

The 71-year-old Kovind is also a member of the Dalit caste, sometimes referred to as “untouchables” because of their low social rank. He won 2,930 votes from almost 5,000 lawmakers. His opponent, Meira Kumar (also from the Dalit community) secured 1,844 votes.

India’s presidency is largely a ceremonial office. Presidents can only take action with the backing of the prime minister and India’s council of ministers. However, the office now holds some degree of political power via Kovind’s connections. Certainly, voices from the Dalit community are expected to become more powerful in the coming years. Kovind also hails from Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state and one expected to serve up a vast number of votes in the 2019 general election.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

Have you heard of Vivian Maier? If not, now is the time to sit down and delve deep into the story of this remarkable artist. Now that collector John Maloof has donated almost 500 of her prints to the University of Chicago library, students, and researchers will get some of the closet looks of her work since Maier herself.

Though Maier took more than 150,000 photos, she was never recognized as a professional photographer during her lifetime. Instead, she worked as a Chicago-area nanny for four decades.

Next: Trump-free Friday politics roundup: July 14

Despite her lack of professional clout, there’s no denying that Maier had the kind of artistic sensibilities that would make anyone jealous. Her portraits, often taken on the streets of Chicago, capture something of the vitality and unique personalities of the people she encountered.

Finding Vivian Maier, a documentary focusing on her work and life, is an excellent introduction. Visit her website to see some of the striking photos for yourself. You can also learn more about her past thanks to a feature in The New York Times.