President Donald Trump became the first sitting president to address the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit on Friday. In his speech, he hinted that his afternoon speech on Iran will be “very interesting,” propped up our friendship with Israel, and promised to protect the religious freedom of Americans.
From Fox News:
“I pledged that in a Trump administration, our nation’s religious heritage would be cherished, protected and defended like you have never seen before,” Trump said. “That’s what’s happening, and you see it every day.”Trump pointed to the Founding Fathers, noting that “Our Creator was invoked four times in the Declaration of Independence.”“How times have changed, but you know what? Now they’re changing back again. Just remember that,” Trump said in his Washington address.He added: “In America, we don’t worship government. We worship God.”
Trump also touted the moves he has made in the last few days that has loosened Obamacare, especially when it comes to religious organizations. From CBS News:
You saw what we did yesterday with health care, the president said, likely referring to the announcement that the administration would no longer pay subsidies to insurers. “That was a very big step,” he said. One by one it’s going to come down, and we’re going to have good health care in our country. He conceded “we’re taking a little different route, because Congress “forgot what their pledges were,” a reference to the failure to repeal Obamacare. Maybe the new health care plan will “even be better,” he said.For too long, government has tried to centralize power in the hands of a few…but we know that parents know best how to raise their children and create a thriving society, Mr. Trump declared.
Last Friday, his administration granted religious exemption from Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate. This mandate has caused many problems for the Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of Catholic nuns that help the elderly. This order will provide the sisters with some relief, according to The Washington Examiner:
The new rules allow any employer to be exempt from the mandate “based on its sincerely held religious beliefs” or on “moral convictions.” Employers who decide not to provide coverage do not need to inform the federal government but would need to tell their employees about their decision.The rule change was intended to provide “relief to those who have been under the thumb of the federal government and had their religious freedom violated” and end “attacks on religious liberty and protects religious freedom for everyone,” Roger Severino, director for the Office of Civil Rights at HHS, said in a phone call.The new rule says, “Application of the mandate to entities with sincerely held religious objections to it does not serve a compelling governmental interest.”
On Thursday, Trump issued an executive order to allow employers to form groups to allow purchasing insurance across state lines. Those involved believe this will open up the market and allow premiums to go down.
This move then led the administration to decide it cannot pay out the subsidies due to health insurance companies. Without these subsidies, Obamacare will die. As Kemberlee pointed out, insurance companies have been losing money in Obamacare exchanges, leading to numerous bailouts. When Trump brought up this idea in the spring, people thought it would lead to higher premiums. Kemberlee blogged that “it makes sense that Trump would first create a mechanism for the market to find cheaper alternatives (Thursday’s Executive Order) before cutting insurers off the government dole.”
Trump called Iran “a terrorist nation like few others” and promised people that they will find his Iran Nuclear Deal speech “very interesting.” He mentioned the work with Pakistan that led to the release of an American woman and her family that have been held by the Taliban for five years. This move has allowed us to start having “a real relationship with Pakistan.”
He also praised the “great strides” America has made against ISIS, noting their persecution of Christians. From CBS News:
“They’ve ruthlessly slaughtered innocent Christians, along with the vicious killing of innocent Muslims and other religious minorities,” he continued. “We’ve made their lives very, very difficult. Believe me.” Mr. Trump told the audience that his administration had done more against ISIS in nine months than the Obama administration did during its tenure.
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