Tag: GOP congress

What’s at Stake for Women if Kavanaugh Is Confirmed to Supreme Court

The following article by Jamila Taylor and Andrew Satter was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 22, 2018:

President Donald Trump has said he would only consider a Supreme Court justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade, and he appears to have his man in Brett Kavanaugh. These brave women are here to remind us that we don’t have to imagine a country without legal abortion; they already know the debilitating barriers that people face when trying to access abortion care and what life was like 50 years ago when many had no choice.

This video was produced in partnership with the Feminist Majority Foundation.

View the article here.

New Scam Pre-Existing Conditions Bill Provides No Cover to Vote for Judge Brett Kavanaugh

The following article by Colin Seeberger and Jake Faleschini was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 30, 2018:

Credit: Bill Clark, Getty

Next week, while President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, fields questions at his confirmation hearings, a judge in a North Texas federal district court will hear oral arguments in a landmark health care case on which the next Supreme Court justice could ultimately rule. The case, brought by 20 Republican attorneys general, challenges the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions and limitations on price gouging older Americans. Congressional Republicans’ Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the ACA’s individual mandate, opening the door for the lawsuit. In June, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that President Trump personally instructed the U.S. Department of Justice not to defend the specific parts of the ACA against this new legal attack—a dramatic departure from precedent. Continue reading “New Scam Pre-Existing Conditions Bill Provides No Cover to Vote for Judge Brett Kavanaugh”

Want to Know More About: Ron DeSantis?

David Ignatius: “What We’re Seeing From Trump Is What We’re Seeing From Ron DeSantis Which Is As Andrew Gillum Said, Using Not Just Dog Whistles But The Bull Horn On Race On Divisive Racial Issues.” IGNATIUS: “In the short term, what we’re seeing from trump is what we’re seeing from Ron DeSantis which is as Andrew Gillum said, using not just dog whistles but the bull horn on race on divisive racial issues. I fear the DeSantis/Gillum race will be a snapshot of our future in which racial issues are more polarized and a history in the Republican party, certainly in the last 20, 30 years of playing the southern card and being subtly exploitative and sometimes not so subtly of racial divisions and Trump understands that and is playing it and is part of his appeal to his base.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 8/30/18; VIDEO]

Elise Jordan: “Let’s Just Look At This On The Face And It Is What It Is And We’re Not Idiots Here. And You Can See What The Intention Was.” JORDAN: “I think that this is the big picture conundrum that we need to look at as a country because we can be told constantly, oh, that wasn’t what he was saying. You’re the one making too much out of it. But let’s just look at this on the face and it is what it is and we’re not idiots here. And you can see what the intention was.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 8/30/18; VIDEO]

Victor Oquendo: “The President Said He Hadn’t Heard The Comments. Instead, He Heaped Praise On DeSantis, Calling Him An Extreme Talent, And Extraordinary In So Many Ways.” DAVID MUIR: “Victor, President Trump was also asked about this late today, those comments from congressman DeSantis? VICTOR OQUENDO: The president said he hadn’t heard the comments. instead, he heaped praise on DeSantis, calling him an extreme talent, and extraordinary in so many ways.” [World News Tonight, ABC, 8/29/18; VIDEO]

New Data: Skyrocketing Drug Prices ‘Leading Contributor’ To Increase In Consumer Expenses

Trump has tried to take credit for lowering drug prices, but the reality is that costs continue to skyrocket. New data released today shows that prescription medication costs were the leading contributor to an increase in consumer expenses last month.

Americans across the country continue to struggle with skyrocketing drug prices:

“It’s frustrating to have to deal with, but to add on the major stress of ‘can we even afford this to keep our child alive’ should never be there.” – Arkansas parent of a child with diabetes.

Continue reading “New Data: Skyrocketing Drug Prices ‘Leading Contributor’ To Increase In Consumer Expenses”

Republicans ready to grill Bruce Ohr as Trump-DOJ feud escalates

The following article by Olivia Beaver was posted on the Hill website August 28, 2018:

Rep. Mark Meadows

House Republicans are sharpening their knives for an upcoming closed-door interview with Bruce Ohr, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official who has faced increasing attacks from President Trump and his allies over ties to the controversial “Steele dossier.”

Ohr, who has agreed to a voluntary interview with House investigators on Tuesday, is the latest target among Republicans who claim there is ample evidence of bias against Trump among the top brass at the DOJ and FBI during the 2016 presidential race.

Ohr has increasingly come under GOP scrutiny for his contacts with an opposition research firm and former British spy Christopher Steele, the driving forces behind the dossier containing a series of salacious allegations about Trump’s ties to Russia. Glenn Simpson, co-founder of opposition research firm Fusion GPS, hired Steele to help compile the dossier — which was bankrolled in part by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

View the complete article here.

McCain’s death marks decline of Trump’s GOP Senate critics

The following article by Jordain Carney was posted on the Hill website August 28, 2018:

Sen. John McCain, R-AZ. at the Capitol Credit: Bill O’Leary, Washington Post)

Senate Republicans willing to counter President Trump on defense and national security are becoming a rarity on Capitol Hill.

The death of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) marks the start of the waning of an already small group of GOP senators willing to act as a counterweight to Trump as the president breaks with decades-long Republican policies.

McCain, despite being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in July 2017, remained a vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy and national security under the Trump administration with his outspoken opposition to Gina Haspel’s nomination to lead the CIA and his support of tougher sanctions against Russia.

View the complete article here.

GOP fears Congress will actually do its oversight job after ‘blue wave’

The following article by Dan Desai Martin was posted on the ShareBlue.com website August 27, 2018:

Mitch McConnell, R-KY., 2018. Credit: J. Scott Applewhite, AP

A leaked memo shows Republicans are afraid that if Democrats take over the House of Representatives, Congress will actually reassert itself as a coequal branch of government.

A new memo circulating in GOP circles shows Republicans are “getting ready for hell” if Democrats take control of the House of Representatives.

What has Republicans so scared? Democrats are planning to investigate the rampant scandals of the Trump era.

In other words, Democrats want Congress to actually do its job.

View the complete article here.

Today’s GOP leaders have little in common with those who resisted Nixon

The following article by Michael Koncewicz, Assistant Research Scholar, New York University, was posted on the Conversation website August 23, 2018:

Atty. Gen. Elliot Richardson administers the oath to William D. Ruckelshaus his deputy attorney general Credit: John Duricka, AP

Republican leaders in 2018 are profoundly different than the ones who dealt with Watergate in the 1970s.

During Watergate, a significant number of GOP members of Congress and the Nixon administration publicly resisted President Richard Nixon’s efforts to undermine the rule of law.

Today’s GOP leaders, with few exceptions, meekly follow President Trump.

View the complete article here.

As Republicans “hide in the tall grass,” a darkening shadow engulfs Donald Trump’s presidency

The following article by Eric Lutz was posted on the Mic.com website August 22, 2018:

Donald Trump attends a meeting at his New Jersey golf club in August. Credit: Brendan Smialowski, Getty Images

It was one of the most consequential hours of Donald Trump’s presidency.

On Tuesday afternoon, the president’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight bank and tax fraud charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation — verdicts that could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

Simultaneously in New York, Trump’s former longtime personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges — and, perhaps most significantly, implicated his former boss in the process.

View the complete article here.

Republicans admit they’ll slash Medicare, Social Security to pay for their tax cuts

The following article by Rebekah Entralgo was posted on the ThinkProgress website August 21, 2018:

“I do think we need to deal with some of our spending.”

Republicans who supported the trillion dollar Trump tax bill are revealing their true motivations: Slashing Medicare and Social Ssecurity. Credit: Getty Images

Slowly but surely, Republicans that supported the trillion dollar Trump tax bill are revealing their true motivations: slashing Medicare and Social Security.

During a Sunday interview with CNBC’s John Harwood, Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) urged entitlement reform as the deficit continues to balloon as a result of the GOP tax cuts.

“I do think we need to deal with some of our spending,” Stivers said. “We’ve got try to figure out how to spend less.”

View the complete article here.