It’s Political: The Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare may be headed for its second crash as moderate representatives back away from a bill that does not absolutely guarantee insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions, one of the most popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Even Michigan Rep. Fred Upton, who was one of the designers of the bill, says he can’t vote for it because it “torpedoes” the coverage for pre-existing conditions. The current bill allows states to bow out of the requirement for “essential health benefits,” including maternity care, mental health, and emergencies.

House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters, “There are a few layers of protections for pre-existing conditions in this bill,” a tepid endorsement if ever there was.

The Republicans have been getting an earful in town hall meetings, on television and radio, and even from late night host Jimmy Kimmel, who told a tearful story of his son being born recently with a defective heart. “Before 2014, if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you’d never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition.” He went on, “If your baby is going to die, and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make. I think that’s something that, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right?”

Fake President: Angry about not getting his way in a bipartisan spending agreement last week, President Trump has called for a change in the voting rules, doing away with the 60 percent majority to pass major legislation. He tweeted yesterday, “We either elect more Republican Senators in 2018 or change the rules now to 51%. Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!”

Police Beat: The police officer who fatally shot a 15-year-old boy riding in a car in a Dallas suburb has been fired. — South Carolina police officer Michael Slager, who shot and killed an unarmed man who ran away after a traffic stop, has pleaded guilty to excessive use of force and could be sentenced to life in prison. As part of the plea, the state agreed to drop murder charges against the former officer. — The Justice Department has decided not to charge two Baton Rouge police officers in the death of Alton Sterling, who was shot last July after he had been pinned to the ground.

Post Mortem: Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said in a forum yesterday that if the election had been held on Oct. 27th, she’d be president today, but two events intervened. “I take absolute personal responsibility. I was the candidate, I was the person who was on the ballot. I am very aware of the challenges, the problems, the shortfalls that we had,” Clinton said, before adding that she was “on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey’s letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me and got scared off.”

She said she is now part of the “resistance” to President Trump.

Programming Note: After an uproar from people claiming the Netflix series “13 Reasons” glorifies teenage suicide, the network announced it will add a warning note to the beginning of the episodes.

Because It’s There: One of the remotest places in the world faces a pedestrian traffic jam this month. Nepal has granted 371 individual permits, the most since 1953. Along with Sherpa guides, the crowd will be about 800, all trying to get to the top in a three or four-day window of good weather.  The line at the Hillary Step will be longer than it is for the bathroom at a rock concert.

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