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Fools Errand: Your junior Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul went on a bit of a tear yesterdayafter learning House Republicans had a draft of repeal/replace Affordable Care Act legislation tucked away, says The Hill.

Bloomberg released a report on Wednesday, saying the bill would be available for the House Energy and Commerce panel on Thursday, but only in a private reading room. No copies allowed.

Frustrated, Sen. Paul took to twitter:

Thats just a few of them. He went on for a while. And I imagined that tweet storm followed by some stewing in his office, working himself up, because just overan hour later, he could simmer no longer:

And so he went to the find the bill, says the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, CNN and The Huffington Post, making the jaunt over armed with only his wits and a copy machine on a dolly.

Even Sen. Nancy Pelosi cheered him on.

Strange bedfellows and all of that.

Soon,others joined in the hunt. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey and Rep. Jan Schakowski of Illinois searched high and low, to no avail.

But Sen. Paul had a leg up on his Amazing Race competitors he at least knew the room number where the bill was being held.

He knocked. Asked to see the bill. They said, no. And he turned to face the cameras with appropriate outrage.

And that, my friends, is how you perform a media stunt.

I wonder if on his way over with his copy machine, hes thinking, You know, if they let me in and all the cameras are there, Im actually going to have to make copies of this thing

Speaking to reporters in front of the door, Sen. Paul said:

We dont know if its 1,000 pages, 1,500 pages, but we know were not given access to read it, and I think thats a problem.

Im not waiting until after it passes to find out whats in Obamacare the new replacement bill.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says thats not whats happening. He told NBCs Today show:

Were not hatching some bill in a backroom and plopping it on the American peoples front door.

Which is one of those denials that sounds a lot like an admission.

Hey, where have you been? I waited for you. I wasnt with anyone, if thats what you think. Well, if I didnt before

What little is known doesnt go far enough for Sen. Paul and his more conservative allies. Theyll be satisfied with nothing less than full repeal with replacement coming in right behind. They worry too much of the Affordable Care Act remains. Democrats, of course, may want to see a tweak here and there, but would prefer to see the legislation continue. Others still favor a more tempered, methodical approach.

Which means, maybe eight people are going to like this bill. Eight to ten.

Follow Up: President Donald Trump gave an address to Congress on Tuesday and giving the response for the Democrats: none other than former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, says CBS News, CNN and ABC News.

Heres the full response:

For those who may not be as familiar with the former governoras we are, CNN asks Who is Steve Beshear? Well, I can help you out a little: That guy? Aint him.

Bustle goes one further, asking, Who is Andy Beshear? Steve Beshears Son has a political career of his own. Also, not him.

And Bustle again asks, Who is Steve Beshears Father? And closer, but still not him.

Likely the most compelling reason Democrats went with Beshear centers around the debate surrounding the future of the Affordable Care Act, as demonstrated in Sen. Pauls crusade above. Under Beshears tenure as governor, Kentuckys ACA exchange, Kynect, was heralded as a national model for the program.

President Trump mentioned Kentucky and Gov. Matt Bevin in his speech, saying:

Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky just said Obamacare is failing in his state it is unsustainable and collapsing.

Gov. Bevin dismantled Kynect last year, transitioning to the federal program, so part of why it might not be working as well could be a natural result of him working so hard to get rid of it. This car is worthless. It just wont run. I mean, I know I took out the engine and transmission, but still. Worthless.

Mr. Beshears response:

You and your Republican allies in Congress seem determined to rip affordable health insurance away from millions of Americans who most need it.

This isnt a game, its life and death for people. These ideas promise access to care but deny the importance of making care affordable and effective. They would charge families more for fewer benefits and put the insurance companies back in control.

[Those benefiting from the ACA] arent aliens from a distant planet. Theyre our friends and neighbors.

Theres Always Next Year: Its not even been a week since the big Oscars telecast, which wait. Did you see that on Sunday? For the few of you who might not have, this happened at the end of the broadcast for the biggest award of the night.

Anytime you see stage management or a bunch of people with headsets rushing about the stage, something has gone wrong.

For my money, that third producer is in the weirdest spot. The first two dont know any better yet, but by the time its his turn, they know thats not their award, but he still has to talk. Which also begs the question: If the first producer, Jordan Horowitz, hadnt said anything, what would they have done? Would they have just gone off the air?

So as the fallout from Sunday night settles, the loathed E!already is looking ahead to next year, with early favorites for the 2018 award. For Best Actress theyre eyeing Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence in two yet-to-be-released films. Ms. Stone, this years winner for La La Land, will play tennis legend Billie Jean King opposite Steve Carell in Battle of the Sexes. Ms. Lawrence will star in mother! helmed by Darren Aronofsky, with whom shes now romantically linked.

So look for Ms. Lawrence back at the show in 2018, though according to Variety, there are a couple of people who wont be able to join her: Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, the two accountants from Price Waterhouse responsible for handing out the award envelopes.

See you next week.

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In Other News Rand Paul on the hunt, Beshear responds to president's address, Lawrence eyes 2018 Oscar nod - Insider Louisville

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By Kody Fairfield

the Republican Senator from Kentucky,Rand Paul, has tweeted out that he is currently being blocked by armed guards from viewing new, and the secretly kept Obamacare bill.

It was hours earlier that Paul tweeted that he heard that the Obamacare bill, being touted as Obamacare-lite by critics, is under lock & key, in a secure location, & not available for me or the public to view.

The liberty minded Senator did not take kindly to this information and made his intention to share the bill with the public clear in another tweet.

Upon his arrivalat aHouse hideaway in the Capitol, Paul claimed he was told he could not remove the bill and make it public. The Senator then held an impromptu press conference for media complaining about House Republicans lack of transparency, reportsPolitico.

Reports also came in that Paul brought a copy machine with him, presumably to make copies of the bill to share with anyone whod listen.

Politicoreports thatPaul had an exchange with a staffer as he tried to make off with the draft bill, which could be voted on later this month.

I said I liked to get a copy and they said no go. She wouldnt tell us anything really, Paul said in an interview afterward. Even if I were allowed to look at it, which it didnt look like I was, how is that democracy?

Republican aides said they believed the room on the first floor of the Capitol is being used for Energy and Commerce members to read the bill. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), a committee member, said he was also not able to read the bill and was told it was not available, explainsPolitico.

Its literally illegal in my state to do that, Paul said in the interview. You can understand for national security why we do it. But for goodness sakes for a healthcare bill? Its crazy.

The battle for transparency is likely a case that will leave those who want honest repeal of Obamacare completed, either an entire replacement of the legislationor a complete scrapping of it, not a watered down Obamacare-lite version which would keep key provisions of the old bill.

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CapitolHouseObamacareObamacare-literand paulsenator

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Rand Paul Blocked By Armed Guards From New Obamacare Bill - The Libertarian Republic

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Senator Rand Paul said on MSNBC this afternoon a lot of the calls for investigations into Russian election interference seem overtly political in nature.

He told Chris Jansingguest-hosting MTP Dailythat he wants to know exactly what laws have been broken, and then if they have, this should go to the FBI for an investigation.

He said that AG Jeff Sessions hasnt been the only person this week misremembering meetings and that he gets the sense of a political sort of witch hunt from people still very unhappy with the election.

Jansing also asked Paul about his recent remarks regarding the lack of usefulness in Republicans investigating Republicans. Paul said those remarks have been taken out of context.

Watch above, via MSNBC.

[image via screengrab]

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Rand Paul: A Lot of Russia Outcry Feels Like Witch Hunt by People 'Unhappy with the Election' - Mediaite

Aides in the room told the senator -- before dozens of reporters in a crowded hallway -- that there was no bill to see. In fact, it wasn't the room where GOP members of the Energy and Commerce Committee were told to meet with staff to review the current draft of their bill at all. But that did little to dissuade Paul, openly critical to the House Republican leadership's preferred path on the process, from making his underlying point.

"This should be an open and transparent process," Paul said. "This is being presented as if it were a national secret, as if this was a plot to invade another country, as if this were national security. That's wrong."

Paul ventured to the House Thursday afternoon after reports surfaced that House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee were being granted an opportunity to review the current draft of the Obamacare repeal legislation and ask questions behind closed doors.

Opposed to the House legislation's principles, Paul said he wanted to see the bill himself even though he didn't serve on the committee.

"I'm not allowed to read the working product so I can comment on it?" he said.

Outside the small House office, the chaotic scene continued with a handful of Democrats demanding they, too, see the legislation, which aides continued to say was not even in the room. Two Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, asked aides if the bill was ready, only to be rebuffed.

"I want to see the bill. I want to read the bill," New York Democrat Paul Tonko said, noting that as far as he knew, Republicans were still planning to move forward with a markup on the legislation next week.

At one point, the GOP staff allowed Hoyer, Rep. Joe Kennedy and a dozen or so reporters into the room to inspect it themselves. It was, in fact, bill-less.

Hoyer proceeded to hold an impromptu news conference near a bust of President Abraham Lincoln a few feet away from the misidentified room. He then held an imaginary conversation with the 16th president about what Hoyer said was the poor state of the Republican Party.

Rep. Greg Walden, the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, downplayed perceptions of secrecy in a statement Thursday.

"Reports that the Energy and Commerce Committee is doing anything other than the regular process of keeping its members up to speed on latest developments in its jurisdictions are false. Simply put, Energy and Commerce majority members and staff are continuing to discuss and refine draft legislative language on issues under our committee's jurisdiction."

Leadership has taken a new level of caution with Obamacare repeal and replace reconciliation drafts after a leaked version of the bill in progress was circulated to news outlets last week.

House aides told CNN that the review process was simply part of regular procedure of giving their members an opportunity to review the current draft and ask committee staff questions. The committee -- along with a second panel responsible for the repeal legislation -- is tentatively shooting to consider their respective pieces of legislation as soon as next week.

The leaked draft -- which aides say was outdated -- drew condemnations from conservatives who pledged to oppose any final bill and set off a new round of internal divisions that threatened to endanger the repeal process before it even gets off the ground.

Continued here:
In chaotic scene, Rand Paul demands to see the House GOP's Obamacare repeal bill - CNN

Sen. Rand PaulRand PaulRyan slams Paul for 'publicity stunt' search for ObamaCare bill Dem senator: 'No surprise' GOP hiding ObamaCare repeal bill GOP lawmakers lead way in holding town halls MORE (R-Ky.) on Thursday urged lawmakers to move past controversy surrounding Attorney General Jeff SessionsJeff SessionsSessions talks voting rights, police misconduct with NAACP Grassley: Sessions isn't coming back to testify on Russia talks Senate Dems request DOJ watchdog probe Sessions recusal MORE's contacts with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., saying it distracted from the GOP's policy priorities.

"I think we need to get beyond this and really start getting to some of the things that need to be fixed in the country, Paul said during an interview on Fox News's "Your World with Neil Cavuto."

"The biggest debate in the Capitol and in the country right now is what to do with healthcare, and so I think we need to home in on that and I think that hopefully the press conference by the attorney general will help us get on to business," he added.

Paul's remarks came after Sessions held a press conference to announce that he would recuse himselffrom any federal investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Paul similarlydefendedthe Trump administration last month, pushing back on calls for a congressional investigation following the ouster of Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, when it was revealed he misled Vice President Pence about his own conversations with the Russian ambassador.

"I just dont think its useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party, Paul said at the time.

Sessions faced intense pressure to recuse himself after The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the former Trump surrogate twice spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign.

The former Alabama senator had said during his confirmation hearings that he hadn't been in contact with Russian officials. Sessions later said he never met with any Russian official during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general.

"If were going to have everybody go that makes a misstatement on whether they met an ambassador or not, were going to have some people going," Paul said Thursday.

Paul appeared to wave off the attorney generals meeting with Kislyak during the Republican National Convention last summer, pointing out that Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskillClaire McCaskillPoll: More than half of voters in key 2018 states concerned by Trump's nominees Rand Paul on Sessions controversy: Time to move on Senate confirms Perry for Energy secretary MORE (Mo.) had also previouslymet with the Russian ambassador.

I mean we had one senator already on the other side of the aisle said she never met with a Russian ambassador until someone looked at her Twitter and found out sure she met with a Russian ambassador, she just forgot, Paul said.

So, I mean I think we ought to take a step back here and be a little bit more rational about whether or not its appropriate or inappropriate for senators to meet with a U.S. ambassador.

A spokesperson for McCaskill, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which Sessions also sat on while in the Senate, said Thursday that in 2013 the McCaskill "did attend a group meeting about adoptions with other Senators, and had a brief proactive call with the ambassador amid calls to several other parties to the Iran nuclear deal."

"Attorney General Sessions, on the other hand, misled the Senate under oath," the spokesperson said.

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Rand Paul on Sessions controversy: Time to move on - The Hill (blog)