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TODAYS TOP HEADLINES The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Sunday, December 16, 2018 3A Ruling against ACA puts Republicans in a quandary PATRICK SISON I Associated Press A federal judge’s ruling that the Obama health law is unconstitutional has landed like a stink bomb among Republicans. BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON - A federal judge’s ruling that the Obama health law is unconstitutional has landed like a stink bomb among Republicans, who’ve seen the politics of health care flip as Ameri cans increasingly value the overhaul’s core parts, including protections for pre-existing medical conditions and Medicaid for more low-income people. While the decision by the Repub lican-appointed judge in Texas was sweeping, it has little immediate prac tical impact because the Affordable Care Act remains in place while the legal battle continues, possibly to the Supreme Court. HealthCare.gov, the government’s site for signing up, was taking applica tions Saturday, the deadline in most states for enrolling for coverage next year, and those benefits will take effect as scheduled Jan. 1. Medicaid expan sion will proceed in Virginia, one of the latest states to accept that option. Employers will still be required to cover the young adult children of workers, and Medicare recipi ents will still get dis counted prescription drugs. But Republicans, still stinging from their loss of the House in the midterm elec tions, are facing a fresh political quan dary after U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor said the entire 2010 health law was invalid. Warnings about the Texas lawsuit were part of the political narrative behind Democrats’ electoral gains. Health care was the top issue for about one-fourth of voters in the Novem ber election, ahead of immigration and jobs and the economy, accord ing to VoteCast, a nationwide survey for The Associated Press. Those most concerned with health care supported Democrats overwhelmingly. In his ruling, O’Connor reasoned that the body of the law could not be surgi cally separated from its now-meaningless requirement for people to have health insurance. “On the assump tion that the Supreme Court upholds, we will get great, great health care for our people,” President Donald Trump told reporters during a visit Saturday to Arlington National Cemetery. “We’ll have to sit down with the Democrats to do it, but I’m sure they want to do it also.” Economist Gail Wilensky, who oversaw the Medicare program for President George H.W. Bush, said the state attorneys general from GOP strongholds who filed the lawsuit really weren’t very considerate of their fel low Republicans. “The fact that they could cause their fellow Republicans harm did not seem to bother them,” said Wilensky, a critic of President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. “The people who raised it are a bunch of guys who don’t have serious election issues, mostly from states where saber-rattling against the ACA is fine,” she added. “How many elec tions do you have to get battered before you find another issue?” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, top policy adviser to Republican John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, said he was struck by the relative silence from top Republicans after the ruling issued. A prominent example: “The House was not party to this suit, and we are reviewing the ruling and its impact,” said AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Republicans are “going to have to figure out what to do,” Holtz-Eakin said. “If it’s invalidated by the courts, it’s not... ‘We’re going to do it our way.’ They’re going to have to get together with the Democrats in the House.” ‘On the assumption that the Supreme Court upholds, we will get great, great health care for our people.’ President Donald Trump Interior Secretary Zinke quitting, cites attacks against him BY ELLEN KNICKMEYER, MATTHEW BROWN AND JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press WASHINGTON — Inte rior Secretary Ryan Zinke, facing federal investiga tions into his travel, politi cal activity and potential conflicts of interest, will be leaving the admin istration at year’s end, President Donald Trump said Saturday. In his resignation let ter, obtained by The Associated Press, Zinke said “vicious and politi cally motivated attacks” against him had “created an unfortunate distraction” in fulfilling the agency’s mission. Trump, in tweeting Zin- ke’s departure, said the former Montana congress man “accomplished much during his tenure” and that a replacement would be announced next week. The Cabinet post requires Sen ate confirmation. Zinke is leaving weeks before Democrats take control of the House, a shift in power that promises to sharpen the probes into his conduct. His departure comes amid a staff shake- up as Trump heads into his third year in office facing increased legal exposure due to intensifying investi gations into his campaign, business, foundation and administration. Zinke’s resignation let ter, obtained from a Zinke aide on Saturday, cites what he calls “meritless and false claims” and says that “to some, truth no lon ger matters.” The letter, dated Satur day, said Zinke’s last day would be Jan. 2. It was not clear whether Zinke had already submitted the letter when Trump tweeted. Zinke, 57, played a lead ing part in Trump’s efforts to roll back federal envi ronmental regulations and promote domestic energy develop ment. He drew attention from his first day on the job, when he mounted a roan gelding to ride across Washington’s National Mall to the Department of Interior. Zinke had remained an ardent promoter of both missions, and his own macho image, despite growing talk that he had lost Trump’s favor. On Tuesday, Zinke appeared on stage at an Environmental Protection Agency ceremony for a roll back on water regulations. Mentioning his background as a Navy SEAL at least twice, he led the audience in a round of applause for the U.S. oil and gas industry. Trump never established a deep personal connection with Zinke but appreciated how he stood tall against crit icisms from environmental groups as he worked to roll back protections. But the White House concluded in recent weeks that Zinke was likely the Cabinet member most vulnerable to investi gations led by newly empow ered Democrats in Congress, according to an administra tion official not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters who spoke on condi tion of anonymity. Zinke FRANCE PROTESTS Smaller crowds but expanding demands BY ELAINE GANLEY Associated Press PARIS — A protest move ment that has brought the French into the streets for five Saturdays in a row in a major challenge to Presi dent Emmanuel Macron lost momentum in its lat est nationwide outcry, but the smaller crowds pushed fervently for one of their expanding demands, a citi zen’s referendum to help define policy. The most resonant call Saturday was a leap from the demand for relief from fuel tax hikes that gave birth to the protest in mid-Novem ber by rank-and-file French wearing yellow safety vests to slow vehicles at the traf fic circles that dot France’s countryside. Interior Minister Chris- tophe Castaner announced in a tweet the death of an eighth person since the start of the protests, implying it occurred at a traffic circle, some of which have been manned day and night by protesters. “Traffic circles must be freed and the security of all must again become the rule,” he said, in a new effort to tamp down a movement that appears to be losing momentum. The government put 69,000 security forces into the streets and called for calm after the last two Sat urdays of major violence, including vandalization of the outside and inside of the Arc de Triomphe, which cradles the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Some 8,000 police, with 14 armored vehicles and water cannons, were out in Paris to guard against property destruction and looting that marred the last two protests. They fired rounds of tear gas into crowds on the famed Champs-Elysees, where chic shops and restaurants were boarded up, and at dusk turned water on protest ers bundled against frigid weather to disperse them. Police said 115 people were taken into custody in Paris, most for banding together to commit acts of violence. Seven people were slightly injured. Police estimate Paris protesters numbered 3,000 maximum — less than half the number a week ago — and the sharp downturn in violence was reflected in demonstrations across the country. now seeing patients in Chestnut Mountain ^ Tuhina Patel, MD EARLY DEADLINES FOR CHRISTMAS DAY Because of the upcoming Christmas Day holiday The Times will alter its advertising and legals deadline as follows: Retail Display Ads Publication The Times Date Deadline Wednesday 12/26 Friday, 12/21 Thursday 12/27 Friday, 12/21 Classified Line Ads Publication The Times Date Deadline Wednesday 12/26 Friday, 12/21 @ 3pm Legal Ads Publication The Times Date Deadline Wednesday 12/26 Wednesday, 12/19 @ 5pm Thursday 12/27 Wednesday, 12/19 @ 5pm EheiEhnes gainesvilletimes .oom 4754 Martin Road I Flowery Branch, GA 30542 To make an appointment: 770-848-9130 I ngpg.org/chestnut-mountain Northeast Georgia Physicians Group (NGPG) Chestnut Mountain’s board certified family medicine physicians diagnose and treat multiple medical problems ranging from sore throat to heart disease. ^ Northeast Georgia PHYSICIANS GROUP Chestnut Mountain will be CLOSED Tuesday, December 25th, in observance of Christmas.
