California is steeling itself against a GOP-led assault against Obamacare.
Bay Area News Group's TRACY SEIPEL: "Hell hath no fury like a president scorned. And with the embarrassing collapse of the GOP-controlled Senate’s plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, many health care experts predict that Donald Trump and his administration will do whatever it takes to “let Obamacare fail,” as the president put it last week."
"But the people who run the state’s Obamacare insurance marketplace say they have their own plans in place to make sure hundreds of thousands of Californians don’t lose their health coverage."
"We have pieced together good ideas that have come from health plans and advocates — four or five elements, all about protecting consumers,’’ said Peter Lee, Covered California’s executive director."
Speaking of health, Sen. John McCain will be headed back to the Senate today for a key procedural vote, following surgery that forced the senator to take some time off.
Sacramento Bee's TERESA WELSH: "Less than a week after announcing he has brain cancer, Sen. John McCain will return to the Senate as Republicans prepare to vote on Obamacare repeal and replacement."
"The 80-year-old Arizona senator will be back on Capitol Hill Tuesday."
“Senator McCain looks forward to returning to the United States Senate tomorrow to continue working on important legislation, including health care reform, the National Defense Authorization Act, and new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea,” McCain’s office said in a statement released Monday night."
READ MORE related to Beltway: Rep. Adam Schiff fires back after President Trump calls him 'sleazy' on Twitter -- Daily News' BRENDA GAZZAR
The Chronicle's CAROLYN LOCHHEAD: "Adopting a bolder populist message to take to voters in next year’s midterm elections, Democrats on Monday rolled out what they called a “Better Deal” economic agenda that attempts to unify the party around the concerns of working-class men and women."
"They said their plan to “build an America in which working people know that somebody has their back” attempts to unite the party across the disparate racial, class and cultural divides that have fractured it in the past. In several areas, from a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal to a plan to force pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, the plan is tailored to reclaim the populist mantle from President Trump, who embraced such ideas during his campaign for the White House."
An activist involved in last year's anti-fascist melee at the Capitol Park has had his bail reduced.
Sacramento Bee's DARRELL SMITH: "A Sacramento judge on Monday reduced activist Michael Williams’ bail to $50,000 for his alleged role in last year’s brawl between white supremacists and counter-demonstrators at the State Capitol."
"Visiting Sacramento Superior Court Judge Joseph Orr dropped Williams’ bail by $450,000 after Williams’ attorney Linda Parisi argued that her client has led a “relatively crime-free life” for decades."
"Williams, 56, is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and participating in a riot. Parisi disputes these charges, saying Williams was acting in self-defense as a member of the “Brown Berets,” a group that provided security for counter-demonstrators at the neo-Nazi rally on the grounds of the Capitol."
Sacramento Bee's MATT KAWAHARA: "Could Silicon Valley soon expand to include Sacramento?"
"Forbes, the prominent business publication, ran an editorial over the weekend that depicted the capital city as a natural – even enticing – destination for tech businesses and workers looking to leave the crowded Bay Area hub."
"This concept is not altogether new. Many residents fleeing high Bay Area housing costs already are settling in the capital. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has vowed to make Sacramento a center for jobs, and part of that strategy is attracting Bay Area tech companies that want to cut costs but stay in California"
Young women are being empowered to explore tech careers, but many feel intimidated by Silicon Valley's notorious 'bro culture.'
The Chronicle's MARISSA LANG: "At the center of a brightly lit conference room inside the offices of a Silicon Valley software firm, a college student lowered her voice, leaned over to the woman on her right and made an admission: “I’m scared."
"The young woman, 21-year-old Michelle Ahn, is a junior at UC Berkeley. She’s a computer science major and an instructor with Girls Who Code."
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "Former Vice President Al Gore thought there was a chance that President Trump wouldn’t pull out of the Paris climate accord after conversations they had in Trump Tower in New York and in the White House."
"But even though Trump ultimately decided to make the United States the only major country to ignore the international agreement to lower carbon emissions, Gore said he has been heartened by the international reaction since then."