Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs president who is now a top economic advisor to President Trump and the director of the National Economic Council, has emerged as a spokesman for the Trump administration, making the pitch for the GOP healthcare plan and the Federal Reserve.
Cohn was front and center with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, defending the Paul Ryan-pushed healthcare plan that critics like Sen. Rand Paul are calling “Obamacare Light.” Cohn advanced the same argument that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has been making. As The Hill reported:
Republicans are demanding changes to the current ObamaCare repeal and replacement plan. Some demands include an end to the expansion of Medicaid by 2018 instead of 2020, and the removal of insurance mandates that provide certain benefits such as maternity care.
Cohn on Sunday also defended the bill, saying it provides Americans with health insurance coverage.
“We believe if you want to have coverage, and we believe everyone should have coverage, we’re providing you access to coverage,” Cohn added.
As Reuters reports, Cohn also praised the Federal Reserve, who is expected to raise interest rates later this week:
“The Federal Reserve is an independent agency and they operate as such. They have their economic data, which they look at and they are trying to always modulate economic growth with inflation, with the work force,” Cohn said. “I think the Federal Reserve has been doing a good job in doing that. The Fed will do what they need to do. And we respect the powers of the Fed.”
As Breitbart News reported, Cohn was responsible for appointing Andrew Quinn — the chief negotiator and public advocate for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — as President Trump’s new special assistant on international trade, investment, and development for the National Economic Council.
Cohn appointee Quinn was originally brought into the Obama White House in 2012, where he not only negotiated for the TPP but also defended the controversial trade proposal vigorously and publicly.
Cohn himself is a Wall Street insider who started advising Trump during the campaign. As the New York Times has reported, on his exit from Goldman Sachs, Gary Cohn was festooned with “expedited access to cash and stock payments valued at nearly $300 million” as Cohn and family members got ownership of 940,908 shares of Goldman stock with a value of nearly $220 million plus a cash payout of about $65 million.
Lee Stranahan is the lead investigative reporter at Breitbart News. You can sign up for his free daily news roundup, covering national and global events from across the political spectrum, by using one of the forms on Stranahan.com.
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