Michelle Obama rips Trump in new book

WASHINGTON, United States — Former first lady Michelle Obama blasts President Donald Trump in her new book, recalling how she reacted in shock the night she learned he would replace her husband in the Oval Office and tried to "block it all out."

In her memoir "Becoming," set to come out Tuesday, Obama writes candidly about everything from being subjected to racist comments to early struggles in her marriage to Barack Obama as he began his political career and was often away.

She writes that they met with a counselor "a handful of times," and she came to realize that she was more "in charge" of her happiness than she had realized. "This was my pivot point," Obama explains. "My moment of self-arrest."

Obama denounces Trump for bragging in 2005, on the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape, about sexually assaulting women. She also accuses him of using body language to "stalk" Hillary Clinton, his 2016 opponent, during an election debate. She writes of Trump following Clinton around the stage, standing nearby and "trying to diminish her presence."

Trump's message, according to Obama, in words which appear in the book in darkened print: "I can hurt you and get away with it."

The Associated Press purchased an early copy of "Becoming," one of the most anticipated political books in recent memory. Obama is admired worldwide and has offered few extensive comments on her White House years. And memoirs by former first ladies are usually best-sellers.

Obama launches her promotional tour this month not at a bookstore, but at Chicago's United Center, where tens of thousands of people are scrambling for tickets — from just under $30 to thousands of dollars — to attend the event moderated by Oprah Winfrey. Other stops are planned at large arenas across the nation, with guests including Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Jessica Parker. Ten percent of tickets at each event are being donated to local charities, schools and community groups.

"Becoming" is part of a joint book deal with former President Barack Obama, whose memoir is expected next year, that is believed worth tens of millions of dollars. The Obamas have said they will donate a "significant portion" of their author proceeds to charity, including the Obama Foundation.

Michelle Obama has long said she has no interest in running for office, although she held a few campaign-style rallies before the midterms urging people to register to vote. The rallies were part of her work as co-chairman of the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization When We All Vote.

Last year, she launched a program to help empower girls worldwide through education. The Global Girls Alliance aims to support more than 1,500 grassroots organizations combating the challenges girls encounter in their communities.

source: philstar.com

Trump signs executive order against Obamacare

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order aimed at limiting the "burden" of the Obamacare health law that the incoming US leader has vowed to repeal.

During the signing in the Oval Office, Trump's chief of staff Reince Priebus described the order as aimed at "minimizing the economic burden" of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, "pending repeal."

Doing away with Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement is a top priority for Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and, since Trump's inauguration Friday, the White House.

In their view, Obamacare -- which aimed to ensure healthcare for the millions of Americans who are neither covered by public insurance, nor by their employers -- marked a costly drift toward socialized, European-style medical care.

Until lawmakers are able to repeal Obamacare, "it is imperative for the executive branch to... take all actions consistent with law to minimize the unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens of the Act, and prepare to afford the States more flexibility and control to create a more free and open healthcare market," the executive order said.

The order instructs the US health secretary and other departments and agencies to "exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the Act" that imposes a fiscal burden or other cost on a state, on consumers, on insurers or on a range of healthcare providers.

Trump has pledged to start undoing the divisive health law on his first day in office, while also declaring it inconceivable that poor Americans are locked out of coverage.

The president has said the law should be repealed and replaced "simultaneously," a stiff challenge given the complexity of America's vast health care system.

Obamacare added more than 20 million people onto insurance rolls, lowering the percentage of Americans without coverage from 16 percent in 2010 to 8.9 percent last year.

Republicans are pledging a repeal of Obamacare -- which has been blamed for sharply rising insurance premiums -- and rapid votes on a replacement bill in order to prevent gaps in coverage and reassure a restless insurance industry.

Only one third of the US population is covered by public insurance -- either Medicare, for those over age 65, or Medicaid for the poorest Americans.

Half of all Americans are insured through their employers, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, while about seven percent are covered through the so-called individual market, which serves those who are self-employed or are employees without coverage through work.

Obama's solution rested largely on requiring that everyone be insured, and providing federal subsidies to those who cannot afford coverage.

Republicans deemed the first requirement too coercive, and the latter too costly.

source: interaksyon.com