Trumps promising start, a GOP win on Medicaid reform and other commentary

President Trump “would have made a good sheikh,” quips Daniel McCarthy at The Spectator.“He doesn’t drink, he loves developing flashy properties to show off his power and wealth, and he’s brutally realistic about the role of oil (and other commodities) in world politics.” In Riyadh, “he declared ‘a land of peace, safety, harmony, opportunity, innovation, and achievement’ ” in the Middle East.

It’s a “rosy” vision, but not “ideological”: New Middle East leaders, like Prince Mohammad bin Salman, prioritize “commerce, not chaos” (as Trump put it).The prez sees that view aligning “with his approach to the Abraham Accords.” It will take all of Trump’s skill and luck “to make peace in the Middle East,” but “he’s made a promising start.”“The recently released House Energy and Commerce Committee draft proposals” for Medicaid reform “avoid the classic Republican mistake” of “appearing to care more about saving money than saving lives,” cheers Henry Olsen at the Washington Examiner.

“The classic GOP method” for reforming entitlements has always been “politically unpopular” because Republicans don’t make clear “who will bear the brunt of the reduced spending.” The House plan makes “targeted changes that are politically defensible,” including requiring working-age, able-bodied Medicaid recipients without dependents “to work, go to school, or engage in community service for at least 80 hours a month.” This is a far more popular approach, as Americans “want the government to be generous to those who need it, but to cut off those who don’t.”Honey Meerzon’s parents are Jews from the Soviet Union; Luis Romero’s parents fled communist Cuba.The two fear their New Jersey city is about to take their businesses from them via “the all-too-American process of eminent domain,” fumes Reason’s Christian Britschgi.

Perth Amboy deemed their buildings “blighted” — based on an incorrect ...