Issue March 10, 2017 - The Week Magazine (2024)

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in this issue

In This IssueEditor’s letterAt a time when so many people are behaving abominably, let us briefly pause in our ritualized outrage to raise a toast to some rare examples of selflessness and decency. Here’s to Jordan Horowitz, the La La Land producer who’d just given his acceptance speech for winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards last weekend when a commotion erupted on stage. As everyone else milled around, paralyzed with confusion and embarrassment, and millions of viewers said, “Whaaaat?” Horowitz took control. He announced that a mistake had been made, and that Moonlight, not his film, had actually won the Oscar—and held the Best Picture card up to the camera to prove it. Horowitz then beckoned Moonlight’s team up to the stage, handed over the precious statue, and embraced fellow director Barry…1 min

NEWSA sunnier Trump lays out his policy goalsWhat happenedPresident Donald Trump sought to reset his tumultuous presidency this week, using his first joint address to Congress to offer an upbeat message to Americans and to declare, “The time for trivial fights is behind us.” Sticking to his prepared script, the president produced a laundry list of his main policy aims: overhauling the Affordable Care Act, making America’s trade deals more “fair,” lowering taxes on corporations and middle-class Americans, and strengthening the country’s military and borders. He defended his controversial travel ban on refugees and immigrants from war-torn countries, saying it was necessary to stop “a beachhead of terrorism” from forming in the U.S., warned of the dangers posed by illegal immigrants, and declared he would build “a great, great wall” at the southern border. But the president…4 min

NEWSWhat next?For all his boasts about his accomplishments in office, Trump still “hasn’t signed any major legislation, and none seems close to his desk,” said Ezra Klein in Vox.com. He’s been so consumed with executive orders, and divisive battles over travel bans and immigration roundups, that he’s neglected the vital job of working with Congress. He’s “poisoned his relationship with top Democrats” by personally insulting them, even though he’ll need them to push anything through Congress; among Republicans, meanwhile, “there is widespread confusion” about what Trump wants them to do on key issues, and even “whether he wants to be involved.” The longer a presidency continues—with crises erupting, elections looming, and political capital dissipating—“the harder it becomes to get big things done.” Trump can satisfy his base in the short term…1 min

NEWSGOP divided over Obamacare repeal planWhat happenedHouse Republican leaders this week vowed to push through a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act with a system of tax credits that could be used to purchase health insurance, but their efforts will face strong resistance within the party. Endorsed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, the 100-page draft legislation would eliminate Obamacare’s individual mandate that compels people to have health insurance, as well as all the taxes linked to the law. Income-based government subsidies to buy insurance would, from 2020, be replaced with tax credits based on age, ranging from a $2,000 subsidy for people under 30 to $4,000 for beneficiaries over 60. The credits would be refundable, meaning lower-income people could receive a larger amount than they paid in taxes. The proposal would also…3 min

NEWSIt wasn’t all bad▪ Todd Steinkamp was already having a rough morning when his 2005 Chevrolet broke down on the way to a funeral in Wisconsin. The 39-year-old Iowan thought he had no hope of completing the remaining 70 miles to the service—until he parked outside an auto repand and help.’”▪ In a show of solidarity, Muslim communities have raised $130,000 to help repair headstones damaged during recent attacks on two Jewish cemeteries. Activist Tarek El-Messidi said he was devastated when he read about the desecration of the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery outside St.etery. “It took a tragedy like this to bring mosques and synagogues together,” says El-Messidi.▪ Commuters stuck in bumper-tobumper traffic on Seattle’s I-5 enjoyed a surprise lunch when a taco truck opened for business in the middle of the standstill.…1 min

NEWSConservatism: The party of Reagan embraces Trumpism“May conservatism rest in peace,” said Dana Milbank in WashingtonPost.com. Once upon a time—as recently as last year, in fact—the annual Conservative Political Action Conference was a place for right-wing politicians and policy wonks to reaffirm their faith in free markets, limited government, reforming entitlements, and “U.S. leadership overseas.” This year’s event, however, held last week, was a celebration of President Donald Trump and his promises to rip up trade deals, spend heavily on infrastructure, keep Medicare and Social Security intact, and put “America first.” CPAC organizers and the crowd greeted Trump like a conquering hero, with nary a word of dissent. In his keynote address, Trump “did not once use the words ‘liberty’ or ‘Constitution,’” said Tim Alberta in Politico.com. Nor did he once mention Ronald Reagan, or reducing…3 min

Issue March 10, 2017 - The Week Magazine (2024)

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