A Mile Wide, An Inch Deep

tl,dr: Yesterday was a huge victory for high quality, affordable health care in election after election. In exit polls nationwide, voters confirmed that health care was their top priority—and they punished those officials at every level of government who had sought to take it away. Even in races where health care proponents ultimately lost, the margin of victory was often significantly closer than anyone would have predicted two years ago in states won handily by Donald Trump—thanks to the power of health care voters. And, of course, a number of the Affordable Care Act’s harshest foes were forced to lie about their opposition to the law in a sweeping reversal of health care politics from previous election cycles. With Democrats taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives, the door has been firmly closed on further legislative attempts next year to repeal the ACA, gut Medicaid, block low-income patients from accessing care at Planned Parenthood, or cut Medicare to pay for t...

With Donald Trump remaking the Republican Party in his image, a number of prominent conservatives, Republicans, and former Republicans have argued that the only way to save the GOP from racism, corruption, conspiracies, and alternative facts is to hand the party a big defeat at the polls by voting a straight Democratic ticket. For conservatives like Max Boot and Tom Nichols, the issue is straightforward . The common rejoinder from their Republican-voting friends is always the same: abortion . Often on this blog I'm repurposing writing and research that I've done in a professional capacity for other entities, adding some personal color or making it much more partisan. This time I'm not aligned with any organization. In fact, I'm about to go off-message. But when I see Republicans using abortion as a reason to give a blank check to an administration that threatens our democracy itself, I think... Can we... can we be honest with each other for just a second? I...

tl,dr; Yesterday was a lot. An angry, spittle-flecked, partisan hack cried, screamed, pouted, spouted conspiracy theories, and most importantly lied under oath, looking every bit like the aggressive mean drunk that his victims told us he was. And Republican men apologized to him—to him!—without saying a single word to the woman he attacked, even as she earnestly, painfully relived one of the worst moments of her life. My write-up: After a harrowing hearing on Thursday, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee look set to advance the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. The vote could come less than 24 hours after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified under oath that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when they were both teenagers. Even though two more women—Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick—have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault on the record and have called for an FBI investigation into their allegations, only Dr. Blasey Ford was allowed to testify. Afraid of...

Julie Swetnick A third woman, Julie Swetnick, has come forward alleging sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh and his best friend in high school, Mark Judge. ( Link to the affidavit . Allegations are disturbing so warning in advance.) Mark Judge—now a conservative writer with a long history of making misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic statements—is also a witness and accomplice to the attempted rape alleged by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Swetnick has stated her allegations in an affidavit under oath and is calling for an FBI investigation. Her  allegations align with  those made by Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and  Mark Judge's high school girlfriend . Two quick asides: 1- Swetnick is represented by Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels lawyer, and Republicans are trying to make him the story , instead of responding to what Swetnick has said under oath. 2- After  Ramirez came forward in the New Yorker , the New York Times ran an absolute shit hit piece on Ramirez...

Kavanaugh categorically denies the allegations. His conservative backers think he probably did it anyway. They just don't care. Or care that he could be lying about it now. On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that California psychology professor Dr. Christine Blasey Ford had credibly accused Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault and attempted rape when they were both in high school. As reported in the Post, significant circumstantial evidence supports Dr. Blasey Ford, who described the attack to therapists in 2012 and 2013, long before Kavanaugh’s nomination, and who passed a lie detector test in August. The Senate Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to vote on the nomination today, with a vote in the full Senate planned for next week. At first, Republicans attempted to muscle their way through. When that became untenable, they hastily announced a hearing for this coming Monday, September 24, allowing little time to investigate...

As January wraps up, it appears that Congress is still nowhere close to a deal on several major issues with significant implications for health policy. Four months into fiscal year 2018, Congress still can’t agree on FY 2018 funding levels or a budget deal to prevent sequestration — the deep, automatic, across-the-board cuts set to hit everything from the military to family planning and HIV/AIDS services to road and bridge safety. Hardline conservatives are happy to let sequestration hit non-defense priorities like health care, education, and infrastructure but are pushing for new spending for the Pentagon. Democrats have said that’s a non-starter. Meanwhile, there’s little evidence that Congress is any closer to a DACA deal for Dreamers, and there are significant concerns that, even if the Senate can pass something, Republican leadership in the House won’t bring it to a vote unless moderate Republicans face more public pressure. If there’s a silver lining to this madness ...

Wondering what’s next after the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was dramatically stopped in its tracks last week ? This week has brought a new round of legislative threats and another promise from a petulant president to actively sabotage the law at the expense of millions of Americans who rely on it for their care. Radical bill from "moderate" senators This week, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Dean Heller (R-NV) announced that they are working on yet another extreme GOP-only bill with the House Freedom Caucus to gut the ACA. The bill would repeal the ACA’s Medicaid expansion and its financial assistance to help low- and moderate-income households purchase private insurance. In their place, the bill would give states a block grant worth less than what the federal government would contribute under current law. Furthermore, the states that expanded Medicaid would be cut deeply while the 19 states that have refused to e...