In other news, global assert managers BlackRock Inc. ($5.3 trillion in assets) and Vanguard Group ($4.3 trillion in assets) are considering pressuring Exxon Mobil to study and disclose the impact climate change will have on their assets.
Meanwhile, the FBI is reportedly investigating an attempted foreign cyberattack on the Trump Organization.
Finally, the CEO of Blue Cross North Carolina says they're raising premiums because Trump and the GOP Congress are playing grabass with cost-sharing subsidies for insurers.
“The failure of the administration and the House to bring certainty and clarity by funding CSRs has caused our company to file a 22.9 percent premium increase, rather than one that is materially lower,” Wilson told me. “That will impact hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians.” The company says it has approximately half a million customers getting individual insurance via Obamacare.
“We filed a 22.9 rate increase for 2018 based on the assumption that the CSRs will not be in place,” Wilson also said. “The rate increase would be 8.8 percent if the CSRs were guaranteed for 2018. Because they are not, the rate is 22.9 percent.”
Let me expand on how big a clusterfuck the situation with cost-sharing subsidies really is.
A lawsuit against the subsidies, which Republicans have long decried as a "bailout," is still pending. House Republicans filed it long ago when President Obama was still in office. Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled Trump White House has asked for delays of the Republican lawsuit to keep the subsidies going. But Trump himself is also threatening the subsidies even though the White House is intervening in the lawsuit. And Speaker Paul Ryan has refused to hold a vote on a measure that would guarantee the subsidies. I'm probably leaving something out.
Now, it's Friday, it's a holiday weekend, and I have a splitting sinus headache so I'm signing off a little early today.
Before I go, here are some other stories from this week.
Teachers at the Channelview Independent School District in Houston, Texas have apologized for giving a girl a “most likely to become a terrorist" award. Who the fuck thought that was a good idea?
Billionaire and Republican donor Pete Peterson is very upset because Republicans haven't cut Social Security and Medicare yet. Eat the rich.
The Texas bill that would have disqualified transgender athletes for taking steroids prescribed by their doctor failed to pass through the state House. This will probably come back next session.
A sergeant has filed a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and former birther posse Sheriff Joe Arpaio for retaliating against him for truthfully testifying in court. It's a long story. The short version is he was (allegedly) ostracized for following the law and court orders.
Have a good weekend. We'll be back in action on Tuesday. Congress is on recess until June 5th.