Tag: Republican Congress

As U.S. budget fight looms, Republicans flip their fiscal script

The following article by the Reuters Staff was posted on their website December 31, 2017:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of a conservative Republican faction in the U.S. Congress, who voted this month for a huge expansion of the national debt to pay for tax cuts, called himself a “fiscal conservative” on Sunday and urged budget restraint in 2018.

In keeping with a sharp pivot under way among Republicans, U.S. Representative Mark Meadows, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” drew a hard line on federal spending, which lawmakers are bracing to do battle over in January. Continue reading “As U.S. budget fight looms, Republicans flip their fiscal script”

DFL Chair Martin Calls on Republicans to Restore CHIP Funding

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Chairman Ken Martin wrote the following column in the St. Cloud Times calling on Republicans to restore funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Amid frantic efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress missed the deadline to renew funding for this critical program, which provides health coverage to 125,000 children in Minnesota.

Republicans must restore CHIP funds

While Republicans temporarily called off efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they unfortunately still managed to jeopardize the health care of millions of Americans.

They were so busy trying to ram through a repeal bill that they dropped the ball on providing health coverage for nearly 9 million kids. The Republican-controlled Congress failed to renew funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program by its Sept. 30 deadline.

This program provides comprehensive, affordable health insurance for low-income children not covered by Medicaid. CHIP is one of the few federal programs that has enjoyed strong bipartisan support since its creation in 1997.

Minnesotan families count on CHIP. The program helps pay for doctor’s visits, immunizations and dental care for more than 125,000 children in Minnesota. It provides parents with the relief that comes from knowing their child can see a doctor and lead a healthy life. The program’s funding also pays for care for roughly 1,700 low-income pregnant women in our state.

Congress was closing in on a deal to extend CHIP funding last month. But all that work came grinding to a halt as Republicans fixated on ramming through a health care repeal bill before Sept. 30. The health of millions of children fell to the wayside.

If funding isn’t restored soon, doctors will have to start turning young patients away. The situation is particularly dire here in Minnesota. Our state’s program is already running dry. Minnesota’s Department of Health Services reports it will have to take “extraordinary measures” to continue providing children coverage through October.

The health of thousands of Minnesota kids hangs in the balance. Democrats stand ready to work with the Republican majority to fund this critical program. Republicans must make up for the time they wasted, do the right thing, and take immediate action to protect Minnesota kids.

House Health Care Plan Is Not Enough to Keep High-Risk Pools Afloat

The following article by Emily Gee was posted on the American Progress website May 2, 2017:

Republican members of Congress watch as they and their fellow members vote for House Speaker on the first day of the new congressional session in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. January 3, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The latest amendment to the House Republicans’ bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, singles out people with pre-existing health conditions. The amendment to the American Health Care Act, or AHCA, would allow insurance companies in the small-group and individual markets to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions if they experience a gap in coverage. People with severe health conditions would face premiums so high that they would be priced out of the market.

Amid accusations of breaking promises on pre-existing conditions, the Trump administration has suggested that states could create high-risk pools under the AHCA, a plan that itself has come under harsh criticism from groups such as the American Medical Association and AARP. Recent history shows that high-risk pools are not a solution to stabilizing insurance markets, particularly when underfunded. Continue reading “House Health Care Plan Is Not Enough to Keep High-Risk Pools Afloat”

GOP Establishment Shrugs As Democracy Crumbles Under Trump

The following article by Steven Rosenfeld was posted on the Alternet website April 28, 2017:

Many of Trump’s working-class supporters actually believe he’s got their backs. Really?

Credit: www.whitehouse.gov

It’s become the new abnormal: Trump’s decrees, accusations and posturing; his transparent lies, threats and reversals. Then comes the cleanup crew, the White House propagandists, pretending he’s serious.

Half the media plays it straight, according Trump a gravitas unsupported by facts or details. Others, from TV comedians to seasoned political columnists, cannot keep a straight face. Whatever being presidential or serious governing is, they know that’s not Trump. Continue reading “GOP Establishment Shrugs As Democracy Crumbles Under Trump”

Republicans are tethered to Trump politically and need to act accordingly

The following article by Dan Balz was posted on the Washington Post website April 29, 2017:

As President Trump passes the 100-day mark of his administration, House Republicans should be starting to worry about next year’s midterm elections.

The midterms are a referendum on the presidency, and preliminary signs point to problems for the party in power unless things change. Continue reading “Republicans are tethered to Trump politically and need to act accordingly”

Why won’t Congress really investigate the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia?

The following article by Douglas L. Kriner and Eric Schickler was posted on the Washington Post website April 27, 2017:

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Politicians, pundits, and scholars alike routinely call Congress the “broken branch.” Most often, they note its abysmally low level of legislative productivity recently, a trend that even the return of unified Republican control of government has failed to reverse.

But Congress’s feeble efforts to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election may be an even more startling and serious institutional failure.

The House inquiry has been plagued by infighting and missteps. The most notable so far was the clandestine meeting to share intelligence between chief investigator, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), and the White House he was charged with investigating. Continue reading “Why won’t Congress really investigate the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia?”

Today’s WorldView: The Irony of Republicans Complaining About McCarthyism

The following e-newsletter by Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post was sent February 28, 2017:

THE TAKEAWAYA couple of days before a host of celebrities spoke out against President Trump at the Oscars, Hollywood icon George Clooney was feted at an awards ceremony in Paris. There he warned of the shadow of McCarthyism looming over his homeland.

“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must not walk in fear of one another. We must not be driven by fear into an age of unreason,” said Clooney. He signed off with the famous tagline of late American journalist Edward R. Murrow: “Good night, and good luck.”

Murrow, of course, made his name in opposition to the anti-communist witch hunts launched by Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wis.) in the 1950s. Liberal cognoscenti see the specter of McCarthy again haunting the country as Trump deems the mainstream media the “enemy” and scapegoats whole communities as potential terror threats. Continue reading “Today’s WorldView: The Irony of Republicans Complaining About McCarthyism”

Environmental Disaster Coming: The Stream Buffer Zone Rule

The following article was posted on the trumpaccountable.com website February 20, 2017:

Congress and President Trump began unraveling environmental protections put in place by the Obama administration last week. At issue is the Stream Buffer Zone Rule that requires mining companies to create a buffer of at least 100 feet around streams and waters. Since many mining companies practice “mountaintop removal” where they simply remove the top of a mountain to get at the coal beneath, the debris and runoff inevitably fills stream-beds and destroys habitat for fish and other animals.

Trout Unlimited, in a post on their website, outlined the following reason to support the Stream Buffer Zone Rule: Over 2,000 miles of streams have already been destroyed or degraded by coal mining. Over the past ten years Trout Unlimited has only been able to restore 60 miles of damaged streams. Repealing the Stream Buffer Zone Rule means that Trout Unlimited will likely never be able to keep up with the destruction. Continue reading “Environmental Disaster Coming: The Stream Buffer Zone Rule”

Republican Health Proposal Would Redirect Money From Poor to Rich

The following article by Margot Sanger-Katz was posted on the New York Times website February 16, 2017:

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan at a news conference on Thursday. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times

Republicans in Congress have been saying for months that they are working on a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare in the Trump era. Now we have the outline of that plan, and it looks as if it would redirect federal support away from poorer Americans and toward people who are wealthier.

A white paper drafted by House leadership and the staff of the House and Senate committees that oversee health policy details a structure that could replace large sections of the Affordable Care Act. Crucially, the proposal largely contains provisions that could be passed through a special budget process that requires only 50 Senate votes, and fulfills President Trump’s promise that the repeal and replacement of the law would take place “simultaneously.” Continue reading “Republican Health Proposal Would Redirect Money From Poor to Rich”

We Can’t Take His Word for It

English teachers beginning in the earliest grades demand that students writing essays or research papers support assertions with fact or expert opinion. Part of becoming a thoughtful, engaged citizen, the argument goes, is being able to make an argument and back it up with credible sources. An English teacher will often write in the margin of a draft of a research paper “It looks like you lack support for this assertion,” or “How did you draw this conclusion?”

Candidate Trump often employed unearned assertions throughout the campaign against his primary opponents and Hillary Clinton. As President of the United States, Donald Trump can no longer make unfounded assertions and a number of his most remarkable assertions demand evidence and further investigation. Continue reading “We Can’t Take His Word for It”