Senate Republicans debuted their long-awaited health care bill to replace the Affordable Care Act on Thursday.

RealClearPolitics’ James Arkin has the details: “The Senate bill would repeal Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates, as well as most of the new taxes imposed under that law. It would also scale back the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, though on a slower timeline than the House bill prescribes, by beginning to curtail federal funds for the program in 2021 and returning them to pre-Obamacare levels by 2024. The legislation would also overhaul Medicaid, capping federal spending at a per-person allotment rather than the open-ended funding currently allowed under the program.” http://bit.ly/2sy5RlO

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s goal is to pass the bill before senators leave for their July 4^th recess. Whether that goal will be reached remains in doubt. Conservative Republicans are concerned the bill doesn’t go far enough in undoing key provisions in Obamacare while centrists worry it would do too much.

Republicans can only lose two senators to “no” votes to secure passage. Health care will likely dominate the news next week as that’s when the Congressional Budget Office is scheduled to release its score of the legislation.

President Trump expressed optimism the bill will pass. He told “Fox & Friends” in an interview that aired Friday morning that “I think we’re going to get there; we have four very good people and it’s not that they’re opposed. They’d like to get certain changes and we’ll see if we can take care of that.”

Trump Job Approval: His rating is at a negative-14.1 points in the RealClearPolitics Polling Average. http://bit.ly/2slB9gm
 
Georgia on My Mind: Republicans held on to Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, a race both parties looked at as a harbinger for the 2018 midterms. RCP’s Sean Trende offers five take-aways from the contest, including the tough news for Democrats but noting that the defeat happened early enough in the cycle for a recovery. http://bit.ly/2sVJTd7
 
And RCP’s Caitlin Huey-Burns examines the lessons for Democrats in the loss: “As Democrats pick up the pieces ahead of next year’s midterms, they’re largely in agreement that the party needs a sharper economic message and stronger candidates. But just what kind of message and what kind of candidates will deliver victories in the Trump era remain points of contention.” http://bit.ly/2s0nCqj
 
CyberWarriors: RealClearDefense Pentagon correspondent Sandra Erwin examines how the Pentagon is working with Silicon Valley to meet its cybersecurity needs. http://bit.ly/2sTi1q7
 
Sandra also writes on how the chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are seeking more money for the defense budget. http://bit.ly/2t0E0LR  And that House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry, who has been steadfast in saying that $640 billion is the minimum the Pentagon should get in 2018, “might be willing to compromise and agree to $621 billion in exchange for assurances from the budget and appropriations committees that they will support repealing the Budget Control Act as soon as possible.” http://bit.ly/2t285eu
 
From South Sudan: For World Refugee Day, International Rescue Committee President David Miliband writes at RealClearLife on the refugee crisis in East Africa: “If you look at the statistics, you get depressed; if you look at the people, you have hope. If they don’t give up, then we have no right to give up either.” http://bit.ly/2sxknbE
 
Saudi’s New Crown Prince: At RealClearWorld, the Washington Institute’s Simon Henderson examines the policies and beliefs of Prince Muhammad bin Salman, who has been named heir to the Saudi Arabian throne: “This is the young man who is already the main contact between his country and the Trump White House, as well as the architect of the deadlocked war in Yemen, the Saudi lead in regaining two Red Sea islands from Egypt, and a hardliner in the current Gulf row with Qatar. He is said to be obsessed with the danger posed by Iran and favorable, one day, to open relations with Israel. On top of all this, he is the key arbiter of Saudi policy on oil, the price of which is, for Riyadh, worryingly low and trending lower, imperiling the polar edge IPO of Saudi Aramco.” http://bit.ly/2rGXvpa
 

Play Ball: RealClearSports’ editor Cory Gunkel looks at how the Congressional Women’s Softball game brought together lawmakers from both sides of the aisle along with the media that covers them (full disclosure: I played on the media team): “The game, which raises money for the Young Survival Coalition to benefit women with breast cancer, serves as a way to build relationships between the two major political parties and the media that covers them.” http://bit.ly/2svwoQM
 
Cory also traveled to Brooklyn for the NBA draft, where, he notes, it “is more circus than ceremony, and each year a motley cast of characters that runs the gamut of sports fandom can be found outside of the Barclays Center, cheering -- and jeering -- their respective teams.” http://bit.ly/2sJrQod
 
Digital Divide in Medicine: At RealClearHealth, Dr. Kevin Campbell examines the new frontier in medicine – digital health. But, he notes, despite the progress made, “there is very little sharing of data and information — until the medical industry begins to share what we know, advancements will continue to come quite slowly.” http://bit.ly/2rYTQXL
 
Tax Reform, European Style: At RealClearPolicy, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy President Matthew Kandrach writes that after Trump decided to pull America out of the Paris climate accord “it's mind-boggling that the Republican House majority is planning to push a European-style tax system that has more in common with the Paris agreement than true conservative tax reform. Like the climate agreement, this scheme would skew the marketplace based on the machinations of politicians.” http://bit.ly/2stmihp
 
Also at RealClearPolicy, Rep. Francis Rooney argues that states should run their own Medicaid programs: “Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach for the whole country, each state should be able to enact and fund the type of Medicaid coverage its voters support and which best fits its demographics.” http://bit.ly/2sQ9AMY
 
Private vs. Public: RealClearMarkets’ editor John Tamny asserts that “government spending should be viewed in the same way as politicians actively wresting businesses and entrepreneurial concepts away from the private sector.  In each instance, precious resources are being captured by those least capable of knowing how to best utilize them.” http://bit.ly/2snfaVi
 
Bulk Buys: At RealClearDefense, Lexington Institute’s Daniel Gouré notes the Pentagon can save money if it buys in bulk: “Buying aircraft, ships, and vehicles in a group or ‘block’ allows for multiple sources of savings. Long lead items and expensive components can be purchased in economical quantities. The supply chain can be managed to ensure the optimum flow of materials and parts. Price breaks can be negotiated from suppliers because they see a long-term steady demand for their products.” http://bit.ly/2rzFjgV
 
Animals in Space: RealClearScience editor Ross Pomeroy revisits five animal astronauts. http://bit.ly/2rNRSol
 
Ross also seeks an answer to the age-old question: “Do giraffes get struck by lightning more often than any other animal?”  http://bit.ly/2tBQqaG
 
Politics and Faith: At RealClearReligion, author Grant Shreve examines Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “unconscious equation of Americanness to a universalist faith” during a recent committee hearing and how that has a rich history in American politics. http://bit.ly/2sIi1ZA