Axios says Cable Tv could suffer the same fate as on-the-ground newspapers, severe shrinkage leading to elimination. ESPN laid off 100 employees on Wednesday. It laid the decision to changes in technology and "fan behavior". That translates into more influence for social media. There are basic factors affecting all of cable, including higher production costs and what amounts to an exodus of viewers migrating to online streaming options.
The future according to Iger
Disney company president Bob Iger announced in February that streaming is the future.
The current advertising model for ESPN and the rest of Disney's TV empire can no longer succeed. Iger pointed to a $1 billion investment by Disney in the MLB streaming arm BamTech to underline that streaming is the next stage.
Signs point to thinning margins for the cable industry, and an eventual newspaper-like revenue collapse https://t.co/CeXOp3qkCC
— Axios (@axios) April 27, 2017
Trump can still make deals
Maybe trump will find his way as a deal maker as other iterations of his personality take a back seat. Since Washington has been in search of a grand bargain for years, who better than Donald Trump to create one? Who could get the Democrats to accept some hard-to-swallow GOP notions in exchange for say, an agreement not to build that Wall or to be nicer to illegals?
The one big thing to understanding Trumphttps://t.co/tne0WGuPj6
— Axios (@axios) April 27, 2017
One problem
There is only one problem with this scenario. Reality. Trump aides say that House consideration of healthcare has benefitted from a hands-off posture from the President. The problem is that a deal may get struck but the result will be more sick people.
In order for a deal to be successful, getting something passed that robs people of their health does not quite cut it.
The big picture is that still a bitter divide within the party https://t.co/JbP4awkg94
— Axios (@axios) April 27, 2017
The bill that couldn't
The second attempt to pass a health bill with Trump's name on it seems destined for defeat even if it should pass the House.
The GOP had no problem passing seven repeals of Obamacare when there was no chance of it getting even looked at in the Senate. It was good politics. Nothing about what is currently being considered is good politics.The bill the GOP now wants to pass has not had a review by the Congressional Budget Office. It enables states to freely waive healthcare anyway it wants to.
The strength of Obamacare was that it made it difficult if not impossible to deny care to participants. All the current bill needs to do is to hint that there is wiggle room for states to deny coverage and it loses. It loses at the polls. It paves the way for a call to make the principle of Medicaid universal. If Trump would accept single payer as part of a grand bargain the Democrats might be willing to consider some previously untouchable matters.
