Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. 

High political drama played out all day Thursday leading to a one-day delay on the vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass President Trump’s American Health Care Act of 2017 which would officially replace ‘ObamaCare’. Key lawmakers now say the vote will take place sometime Friday, and if passed, the health care issue would move to the U.S. Senate for further debate and changes.

If the vote fails, ObamaCare will stay in place for now leaving American citizens from coast-to-coast with a failing healthcare system with insurance is basically useless to families and singles alike. The Republicans main complaint about President Trump’s plan is that premiums would not go down for Americans and they would stay the same as under ObamaCare.

President Donald Trump, who campaigned and won the presidency on the promise of repealing ObamaCare, has been negotiating with fellow Republicans all week in his efforts to sway enough votes to repeal former President Obama’s signature health care law. 

Such issues as tax reform, rebuilding infrastructure and putting Americans back to work are among President Trump’s top goals, and he wants to get on with his agenda for America and not get bogged down with health care, but without a new health care plan Trump’s visions for America may drown in the political cesspool of Washington making all the politicians look terribly disconnected from the American public and why they elected President Trump in the first place.

Upstaging President Trump, the health care issue and the U.S. Supreme Court nomination hearings of Colorado Judge Neil Gorsuch — a radical Islamic terrorist attack in London Wednesday left up to five dead with dozens wounded and captured world attention. According to news reports and Scotland Yard police, a 52-year-old British-born citizen rented an SUV and ran down pedestrians on a bridge then crashed the vehicle into a security fence protecting British Parliament. Then the driver got out and stabbed a police officer to death before being shot dead by London police. The suspect had been under investigation in the past for his extremist views, police said.

Gorsuch, 49, a federal appeals court judge, has been undergoing questioning all week by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that has been holding hearings on President Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia who died last year. Democrats are attempting to block the Gorsuch nomination by any means possible, but Republican leaders say Gorsuch will be approved first with a committee vote set for Monday, April 3 and then with a full Senate vote later that week.

Republicans control the U.S. Senate 52 to 48. Normally, a Supreme Court confirmation takes 60 votes to approve a nominee but Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he can change the rules allowing Gorsuch to be confirmed with a simple majority of at least 51 votes.

With all the current political goings on in Washington, on Monday it was announced that a special person in President Trump’s life will be taking on a much larger role – his daughter, according to Reuters News and the Washington Post.

Ivanka Trump, 35, is getting a White House West Wing office, plus a classified security clearance with no pay and no official title. This new inner-circle role for the president’s daughter is raising eyebrows all along the watch tower in Washington. She has been prominently seen at numerous meetings, luncheons and other events the president is having with business and community leaders. She has been seen sitting in on presidential cabinet meetings along with her husband Jared Kushner, 36, who is an official chief adviser to his father-in-law President Trump. She was also seen recently sitting next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a cabinet meeting and again at a luncheon with the president.

Perhaps there may be a tie-in with First Lady Melania Trump, who will soon move from Trump Tower in New York City to the White House as soon as son Barron finishes his school year. Barron turned 11 years old on Monday. Mrs. Trump has not fully embraced her role as the nation’s First Lady and won’t until she lands in Washington and opens the doors to the office of the First Lady. The president’s oldest daughter may be there to help her, maybe not.

Ivanka’s role needs to be further explained to the American people. She has not been elected to any office, not appointed or hired. However, her presence might be to stay close and keep her unpredictable father in line when no else like family can. Or perhaps, at 35 years old she is grooming herself for a future in politics.

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.