Document NEEQDe0Ow3m5vbqmOoO35qnqD

status." http://politi.co/2tec3ht ... Subscribe to Illinois Playbook http://pplrti.cp/1N7u5sb PLAYBOOK READS PHOTO DU JOUR: President Donald Trump participates in the Celebrate Freedom Rally at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on July 1 in Washington, D.C. | Olivier Douliery/Pool/Getty THE CABINET -- NYT A1, "E.P.A. Chief Voids Obama-Era Rules in Blazing Start," by Coral Davenport (online headline: "Counseled by Industry, Not Staff, E.P.A. Chief Is Off to a Blazing Start"): "In the four months since he took office as the Environmental Protection Agency's administrator, Scott Pruitt has moved to undo, delay or otherwise block more than 30 environmental rules, a regulatory rollback larger in scope than any other over so short a time in the agency's 47-year history, according to experts in environmental law. Mr. Pruitt's supporters, including President Trump, have hailed his moves as an uprooting of the administrative state and a clearing of onerous regulations that have stymied American business. Environmental advocates have watched in horror as Mr. Pruitt has worked to disable the authority of the agency charged with protecting the nation's air, water and public health." http://nyti.ms/2svjtzB STEVEN BRILL in WaPo's Outlook section, "Nine ways to really fix Obamacare": http://wapo.st/2teHrwn MEDIAWATCH -- "Wall Street Journal Said to Reduce Print Operations Outside U.S.," by NYT's Emily Steel and Prashant S. Rao: "The Wall Street Journal is scaling back its print operations in Europe and Asia, two people familiar with the plans said ... [as] part of efforts by the news organization to cut costs and focus on its digital offerings. The latest move would involve greatly reducing publication of its print newspaper in Europe ... That includes eliminating free copies and reducing hotel distribution deals that are not profitable. The Journal will continue to publish an Asian edition in Tokyo, but is exploring other ways to reduce print publishing elsewhere in Asia." http://nyti.ms/2suL3x0 ****** a message from the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs (CAPD) : A new study projects pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) will save Medicare Part D $896 billion over ten years. PBMs drive savings for taxpayers and seniors by negotiating discounts from drug manufacturers; by encouraging the use of lower cost, clinically equivalent drugs; and by providing clinical programs that improve health outcomes. Learn more at affordableprescriptiondrugs.org ****** FUN READ - "Beach reading for a summer of scandal," by Darren Samuelsohn: "Feeling overwhelmed by nonstop news about the Russia probe and desperate for some historical context? Do you work or live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? If you answered yes to either of those questions, POLITICO has some summer reading recommendations for you. We canvassed veterans of previous investigations and longtime Washington fixtures for suggestions beyond All the President's Men. Our list covers everything from subpoenas to grand juries and how a White House can weather scandal. Ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, here's some great material to pack in your beach bag: "'A Timeline: Russia and President Trump,' by Steven Harper, recommended by Nick Akerman, former assistant Watergate prosecutor ... 'All the King's Men,' by Robert Penn Warren, recommended by Jim Manley ... 'The Breach,' by Peter Baker, recommended by Don Goldberg, former crisis communications spokesman, Clinton White House." With four more selections http://politi.co/2sfRDDe BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from Great Barrington, Massachusetts: --"The Rise of the Thought Leader: How the superrich have funded a new class of intellectual," by David Sessions in TNR: "Interviewed for The Ideas Industry, [Niall] Ferguson is frank about his transformation from Oxford don to thought leader: 'I did it all for the money.' ... Thought leaders all share a core view that extreme wealth and the channels by which it was obtained are not only legitimate but heroic." http://bit.ly/2urqqyi (h/t ALDaily.com) --"Zohar's Translation Unlocks the Secrets of Jewish Mysticism in an Age of Extremism," by Newsweek's Alexander Nazaryan: "Imagine the Old Testament as written by H.P. Lovecraft, Bible stories tripping on acid, rendered in difficult-todecipher Aramaic, full of wisdom and beauty but shrouded in obscurity, a 1,900-page text written more than 700 years ago whose teachings have been embraced by celebrities like Madonna but not fully understood even by most scholars of Judaism." http://bit.ly/2sfiVtB