(Drew Sheneman via GoComics.com)
.
Terrible excuse for a human being, and not nearly as skilled a legislator as he was reputed to be — but a genuine gift to political cartoonists, that Senator McConnell.
Apart from mocking the infinitely mockable, what’s on the agenda for the day?
(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)
(Nick Anderson via GoComics.com)
(Matt Davies via GoComics.com)
(Jeff Danziger via GoComics.com)
(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)
(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)
(Walt Handelsman via GoComics.com)
rikyrah
Good Morning,Everyone???
OzarkHillbilly
Just went to the Town Hall tracker. Misery has absolutely no town halls scheduled by Reps or Senators. Gee, who could they be hiding from?
rikyrah
The Turtle is a spawn of the Devil??
But, we must fight his EVIL 666 behind.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
When you call, maybe that should be part of your call. What are you afraid of, Congressman…Senator?
AnderJ
@OzarkHillbilly: a visit to his office might help… bring along a 1000 friends
Barbara
I wonder how much sunshine McConnell is used to. His shenanigans are usually so procedural that he escapes this kind of attention. Not that he probably cares, but it is amazing that he feels utterly indifferent to the fact that his state has benefited from that ACA more than any other on a relative basis.
OzarkHillbilly
@AnderJ: Not a bad idea. I’ll go set up some tick traps right now. I should be able to collect a thousand by the wkend.
Shalimar
Talking point with right-wingers: http://publichealth.gwu.edu/content/medicaid-pays-nearly-half-all-births-united-states
The Republican bill with it’s Medicaid cuts will lead to huge increases in newborn and mother deaths. If you oppose abortion, you should be protesting this bill.
bemused
I’m so in love with the Danziger cartoon. Deserves a printout for my fridge.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
I never got why people say Turtle is a great legislature.
He’s been in the senate for 33 years and he’s never passed anything.
Can he block stuff – sure. But that’s not his doing; southern reactionaries have been gumming up the wheels of progress since 1776 and he’s simply inheriting their long standing custom to break shit.
“A jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one” ~ Sam Rayburn.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
I was looking for Portman appearances and found this:
He also admitted there are steep Medicaid cuts, although he presented them as being in the “House bill” but I don’t think that matters- all anyone will hear is “steep Medicaid cuts”.
The opiate crisis must be huge politically for Republicans. The “opiate crisis Senators” are asking for 20 billion dollars in exchange for their votes. That’s a LOT of money for one health problem in basically 4 states. It annoys the hell out of me because Republican lawmakers and voters want to pretend they aren’t dependent on Medicaid but they want 20 billion dollars for drug treatment?
I feel like their voters should have to stop this bullshit where they whine about Medicaid going to the unworthy. The minute a crisis hits them they want huge additional funding. Republican voters love Medicaid. They want to both get huge federal funding and whine about federal funding. 20 billion dollars is 4 times what Obama spent on Race to the Top- the public school program for all 50 states.
ArchTeryx
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Because the Turtle knows how to count noses, twist arms and whip his caucus. He also knows every procedural trick in the book.
As has been pointed out, though, rather like Harry Reid, he is overseeing a fractious caucus, and each individual Senator can choose to be a Little President if they want to on major legislation. It’s harder to whip them then it is in the House (and the House folks were almost literally whipped into voting for Trumpcare).
And that’s the nicest thing about McConnell I will EVER be caught saying.
*goes off into his corner to eat his nice steaming plate of BBQ crow*.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Ian G.
The Matt Davies one wins, IMO.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
The board of directors of NBC should tar and feather the clown who hired her. It never made any sense. She had a long history of disgusting racism and she’s boring. Her appeal was always going to be limited to racist 70-something geriatrics.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
LOCK THEM UP! That’s what we oughta do with all these weak criminally inclined addicts, that would fix the epidemic double time quick. Look what it did for the crack epidemic, nobody talks about that anymore. Problem solved.
ArchTeryx
@Ian G.: I rather like the Nick Anderson one. The metaphor of a chestburster (from the Alien franchise) is the perfect one for this vile horror show.
Baud
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: NBC will probably decide that they need to hire Sean Hannity for balance.
Baud
@Kay:
@OzarkHillbilly:
Just Say No.
satby
I had an exchange with a lifelong friend yesterday that has me just disgusted with humanity. She is on SSDI and gets more from that than I do working, also now she gets Medicare because she’s been getting the disability for over 2 years, but she previously collected welfare and was on Medicaid for years. And she shared Herman Cain’s “rebuttle” to Obama’s message on FB about the AHCA, calling the Cain piece a “must read”. I called it bullshit and she went off on me, calling me a number of things and saying It was obvious I didn’t care “if people were hurting”. So she’s getting blocked, after I collect enough pictures of the miraculous recovery from total disability she’s made, as documented by her Facebook posts about all the renovation she’s doing to her house and yard. And sending them to SS.
Baud
@satby: I’m sorry. Old friends are the hardest to deal with.
debbie
@Kay:
Portman’s announcement that he wouldn’t vote for the bill mere hours after McConnell’s announcement that the vote would be delayed shows he has a spine that is truly jelly.
Barbara
@Ian G.: Davies captures the essence of the matter more accurately IMO as well
rikyrah
@Kay:
Drop those truths, Kay.
Drop them.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Baud: Well, he would add an important Russian voice to the broadcast.
rikyrah
@satby:
Sorry satby.?
Kay
It isn’t just the Medicaid cuts. It’s where the cuts were directed and which people were thrown overboard to meet GOP political priorities:
4 billion in federal funding for the 70% of districts that qualify (based on enrollment of students with disabilities). There are about 50 million public school students and they are in all 50 states. Trumpcare cuts that funding. But it adds 2 billion for opiate treatment funding which will all go to 4 states that are politically important to the GOP.
In addition- school districts are REQUIRED to provide these services- there’s a federal law that says they have to so they will have to cut elsewhere to make it up, which Republicans know. The services will stay- districts don’t have any choice, they have to provide them- the federal government will just stop paying for them.
Barbara
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Let’s say that she is the super star student in a school where half the students don’t even graduate. She looks brilliant in comparison. In other words, graded on a steep curve.
debbie
@satby:
I’m dealing with a similar situation with a high school friend, though we haven’t gotten to the name calling yet. I call bullshit whenever she tries to say something like Trump isn’t being given a chance the way she gave Obama. I don’t swear, but I’m pretty direct. I’m somewhat surprised she hasn’t unfriended me.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
Don’t get me started on having to “understand” the opiod crisis, and how they need treatment.
Funny how nobody was talking about treatment with crack.
Lapassionara
@OzarkHillbilly: They are hiding from me, for sure. I have a lot of info on the negative impact of the Senate Wealth Care bill on rural areas. So I will ask why they want to harm their state’s economy, since I know they don’t care about people.
Barbara
@Kay: Non-payment for special needs students is what caused Jim Jeffords to start caucusing with Dems.
Iowa Old Lady
Just last night, I was asking Mr IOL why the Rs have to keep acting like the cartoon villains we say they are.
Nina
@satby: http://www.disability-benefits-help.org/blog/social-security-disability-benefits-fraud
Reporting fraud strengthens the system for people who legit need it. Please do go forward with it. We’ve beefed up fraud enforcement, but we’re still limited in our reach.
OzarkHillbilly
Oooopps.
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady: It works for them.
satby
@Baud: I’m still incandescent with rage about it, to tell the truth. She has legit problems (mostly mental) but total disability was always a crock and the only way that kind of fraud continues is because people are reluctant to blow the whistle on friends or family. She’s two states away and I haven’t seen her in years, but she’s just provided me with lots of proof she’s not disabled, so I need to share that happy news with people who might find it interesting. Because she’s the first to call others “you know the kind” welfare cheats.
montanareddog
@Barbara:
Who? Mitch McConnell (R, Cayman Islands)
bemused
@Kay:
I read about the Ohio city councilman who proposed a 3 strikes and you’re dead opioid epidemic “solution”. EMS can save addict twice but refuse to respond to 3rd call.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: They also have to educate children, something Republicans have put a thousand and one roadblocks in the way of.
satby
@Nina: I am aware of that. Besides coming from generations of law enforcement (none currently, thank FSM) it took my truly disabled with MS sister more than two years to get very meagre SSDI because her disease took a more rapid than usual course. Because they assumed she was inflating the symptoms.
Baud
@satby: She’ll probably blame Obama but do what you think is right.
Kay
@satby:
I have two Trump supporters in the house behind me – a couple- and they’re both on SSI disability so either Medicaid or Medicare. They still have their Hillary For Prison sign up.
It’s a rental house. The tenants prior were a mother with 2 little girls. The house doesn’t have a cellar so they used to come over and sit in my cellar when there were tornado sirens. So cute- the girls would be carrying their cat. I want them back. This is a bad trade.
Baud
Stay safe Mainers
Kay
@bemused:
I was told by the drug court people that “anyone” can administer the overdose shot. Maybe they want me to be prepared, carry some with me?
Betty Cracker
@satby: I’m sorry you’re having to deal with the loss of a friendship, but I think you did the right thing to confront her. I’ve come to believe one reason so-called conservatives are able to live with the cognitive dissonance their words and actions create is because the liberals in their lives are too nice to confront them. I used to be non-confrontational with family members about politics, telling myself it was necessary to keep the peace. Well, no more. If they repeat Fox News lies in my presence, I call bullshit. It’s not particularly pleasant for any of us, but I believe it is necessary.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Interesting news:
after 96 years “Time” magazine is changing it’s name to “Time!”
Baud
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: They’re getting ready for Baud! 2020!
bemused
@Kay:
Sure, why should government pay for narcan and ems when it’s main job is to cut taxes.
satby
@Baud: she’ll blame everyone but herself. Her whole immediate family are on the government dole in one way or another, but it’s always “other people” who are welfare frauds and cheats.
I’ve never had proof, just strong suspicions, but now I have some. And it might be a good object lesson to other people; she’s a lost cause. She votes to shaft other human beings all the time, she’s a Republican in Wisconsin. Time for her to get a taste of the medicine she wants other people to swallow.
Baud
@Betty Cracker: I agree. I’ll add that I think too many liberals see failure if they don’t win an argument immediately, and so by not pushing back, they lose the cumulative effect that sustained pressure can provide.
tl;dr don’t give in and don’t give up.
Barbara
@Betty Cracker: My family are almost all liberals and even those who are not abhor Trump, but I still shy away from being overtly political on FB. I have changed that regarding the ACA and post a lot of resources that I know are good because this is something I know a lot about and most people IRL know that I know.
satby
@Betty Cracker: I confront all of them. Fuck them and keeping the peace. They rely on not being confronted. It’s a form of bullying to keep you in the tribe.
OzarkHillbilly
@rikyrah: And just look at all the billions of dollars we have spent fixing the crack problem, are still spending. And the economic consequences of our approach were minimal, almost nonexistent, those people were never going to work anyway. At least in prison they couldn’t get food stamps, housing assistance, and medicaid. And just look what it did for our homeless problem! Not to mention getting those people off the voter rolls, they don’t know how things work anyway!
Just an all around winning strategy.
Elizabelle
@satby: Report that weasel. We can’t afford her.
Time for her to learn some empathy, the only way rightwingers do.
montanareddog
@satby:
The cognitive dissonance is addressed by the mentality that “those people” are lazy moochers, while she is smart and merely “gaming” a corrupt system.
For example, Drumpf and his tax evasion “that makes me smart”.
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara: I do wonder if our hospital will survive.
satby
@satby: to be crystal clear: had I proof earlier she, or anyone, was committing fraud I would have ratted her out. I’m pretty hardcore about that; it costs all of us and delays or denies support to people who really need it. I’m not going to do it just because she pissed me off, it just happened to coincide with all the documentary proof she’s able bodied.
That she pissed me off is the icing though.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby:
I love the look on their faces when confronted with facts.
Gator90
@Betty Cracker: OT, but let us pause to note that good occasionally does prevail. :-)
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: they usually just deny the facts because it didn’t come from Fox, but I don’t care. I’m a foot soldier in the cold civil war we’re having in this country, and the facts are my bullets.
bemused
@OzarkHillbilly:
Over the last few years, our MN rural/small town hospitals and clinics have expanded and new clinics created serving more areas and of course, more jobs due to ACA. I can’t bear to think of all that progress being gutted.
I have few doubts that if GOP deathcare plot succeeds, the entire US will become a 3rd world country not only those areas in the country that already are.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: No they don’t care about facts, but the look on their faces is still priceless.
Lapassionara
@OzarkHillbilly: We lived in a rural community for several years in the Midwest. The town was the healthcare center for the surrounding communities. We benefitted not only from the fact that we had relatively easy access to Doc’s and ER’s for the usual issues people face, but also from the presence of a fair number of people with solid educations (and ther spouses) who wanted and supported cultural amenities. The town had a lively community theater, a community chorus, a small visual arts center, and the like. So cuts to rural hospitals will affect more than the access to healthcare in some places. It will affect the total life of the community.
O. Felix Culpa
@satby:
Yup. Applies to the MSM too. After the wingers successfully pressured CNN to back down and fire three reporters, the Palin is now suing the NYT for defamation. MSM still hasn’t learned that retracting, apologizing, etc. wins them nothing with these bullies.
Baud
@O. Felix Culpa: Maybe Hillary should sue them. A class action on behalf of all of her voters.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
It IS their voters. Republicans take advantage of it, but it is Republican voters who are so attached to this myth that they get nothing from the government. It isn’t true. This long-suffering act they pull is just very annoying. They aren’t the only people who work and pay taxes and they DO TOO benefit from government services.
Who benefits when Medicaid picks up nursing home costs? Middle aged, middle class people, that’s who. What do they think happens to their elderly parents if there’s no Medicaid? Who do they think pays for that care? They do.
It’s a luxury to believe these fantasies they have where they’re wholly self-supporting. It’s a conceit and everyone is supposed to go along with it.
satby
@O. Felix Culpa: poor Palin, she’s got to grab any straw she can to stay in the news, doesn’t she?
O. Felix Culpa
@Baud:
If only. I like that the Dems in D.C. are getting a lot stronger and more outspoken. My Senators (Udall & Heinrich) used to be…cautious…in their public statements. Not so anymore. I love their new boldness and hope they keep it up.
Face
I may have missed it, but has Trump nominated anyone for the FBI leadership? How long can that dept go without a head?
MomSense
@satby:
Classic IGMFY. Sorry about your friend, Satby.
Kay
I read yesterday that Medicaid covers a share of veterans. The GOP deadbeats want the wars but they don’t want to pay for them.
Someone has to pay for health care. This idea that they cannot pay and the bill just goes away is a fantasy, and they shouldn’t be able to promote a fantasy.
If they want to cut disabled services to schools then overturn the federal law that requires those services. Be brave and actually take responsibility. Instead they’ll leave the law in place and just stop paying? They’re deadbeats.
O. Felix Culpa
@satby:
She missed the memo that brainless bimbos get put to the wayside after a certain age in GOP world. So yeah, she’s desperate.
Baud
@O. Felix Culpa: I think a lot of people have realized that accommodation is not an option.
OzarkHillbilly
On this fantasy that the Republicans need to gut Medicaid to free up the money for tax cuts for the wealthy, I have to call “Bullshit”. Republicans have demonstrated time and again that they will never let deficits stand in the way of a tax cut for rich people, “Who cares if it adds another trillion or 2 to the deficit? Deficits don’t matter!”
One has nothing to do with the other. Screwing the poor and middle class are goals unto themselves.
d58826
@Face: Yes he has and just sent the name to the Senate.
Under normal circumstances he would be a well respected pick with long experience at DOJ and the FBI. But these aren’t normal times. He also works for a big NYC law firm that has long standing ties with Trump and has extensive dealings with Russian oil interests. But these are not normal times and at the moment it looks lik the D’s will cave (not that they can actually block the nomination but they can make the vote 52-48 and making the stmt that this guy is unacceptable
Baud
@Kay:
Rikyrah has authorized me to advise you to keep dropping those truths, Kay.
Cheryl Rofer
My internet is totally broke today, so not much commentary.
rikyrah
@Face:
Yes…and his law firm has…wait for it…
DEEP TIES TO RUSSIA.
Can’t make this shyt up.
Cheryl Rofer
My internet is totally broke today, so not much commentary.
Immanentize
So healthcare is the topic. I’m steaming today. My wife has her pain move to a new, lower in her abdomen and back area. Her doctors ordered up a new PET scan that we were going to do this morning. Yesterday afternoon we learned the insurance didn’t approve the scan. pain schmain. Without these rather pricey tools, the doctors might just as well be rattling bones and chanting.
rikyrah
The failing attempt to erase Barack Obama
Nancy the Artist
June 27, 2017
It is well known that on the night of the inauguration of President Obama that members of the GOP met in private with the intention of finding a way to insure that President Obama would fail. The GOP didn’t want him to be able to accomplish anything. They saw him as a threat to their authority and they wanted to be able to undo him. From the very beginning they wanted to erase him and because of this they became completely polarized and began a complete shut down to everything relating to President Obama.
When Trump become aware of President Obama it’s clear that he sensed through his reptilian brain that Obama was a threat to him as well. He began tweeting disparaging things about President Obama and he went on Fox News to demean him. He became a major birther as a means of erasing his very existence. It makes sense that after the Correspondents Dinner where President Obama made jokes at Trump’s expense in front of the country that Trump made the decision to run for president. It is easy to see Trump as obsessed with the need to put President Obama beneath him.
………………………………………
The reason that Trump and the GOP have been acting in the way that they have is because somewhere in them they know the gig is up and that their reign of power is over. They know that with the election of President Obama their worst fear had been realized and that they no longer are going to be able to have the power to impose their will on others. They all know it but because of the way they think they can’t accept it and because they can’t accept it they are acting out. They are panic stricken and they are behaving like cornered rabid animals.
What the GOP has been doing and continues to do is the polar opposite of what is needed. They have brought us to where we are today where we are seeing tremendous disparity of all kinds. Diversity is growing and will continue to grow. The needs associated with this are not going away. What we are seeing is the polar opposite of what is needed. This is unsustainable. If what we are doing is unsustainable then we are going to need to change and engage in what is sustainable. The time that we are in demands that.
O. Felix Culpa
@Baud:
Kay can be Secretary of Truth-Dropping in the Baud! cabinet..
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Kay:
Covetousness of the benefits delivered and resentment of the beneficiaries of any effort to scale societal costs from public programs is a big part of the morally and cognitively defective culture of the WWC. They’ll forego thousands in savings in order to avoid pennies in taxes.
O. Felix Culpa
@Immanentize: I’m sorry. And understand your anger. The system is rigged against even those of us with reasonable resources. Keep fighting. Your wife needs a strong advocate. We’ve got your back.
rikyrah
Speaker Paul Ryan Humble-Brags About Everything But Healthcare
by Nancy LeTourneau
June 28, 2017 8:00 AM
In light of all the focus on Majority Leader McConnell lately, coupled with the fact that Donald Trump is constantly in the spotlight for doing/saying absurd things, it may be that Speaker Paul Ryan is feeling a little left out lately. Perhaps that is why he wrote an op-ed for the Independent Journal Review titled, “Ignore the Cable News Bickering: This Congress Is Getting Things Done.”
As the title suggests, Ryan wants to humble-brag a bit about the things he’s accomplishing in the House.
Here in the House of Representatives, we can do more than one thing at a time. And the truth is, even while carrying out our oversight responsibilities, we’ve been delivering on our promises to the American people. We are passing important legislation. We are doing our job.
Back in December, Ryan said he had three priorities for the coming year.
Repeal Obamacare
Make changes to the tax code
Roll back regulations
Here’s the kicker: nowhere in the entire op-ed does Ryan mention Obamacare, healthcare or taxes. It’s understandable that the latter didn’t get mentioned because the Republicans haven’t been able to even put forward a bill on taxes yet. But while the Senate struggles with their version, the House passed the AHCA to much pomp and circumstance—including a Rose Garden victory celebration. I’m not sure what Ryan’s failure to mention that tells us. Perhaps he knows that public support for the AHCA is in the tank and would ruin his whole humble-brag vibe. But it is a glaring omission of the issue that is front and center on everyone’s mind right now.
In terms of what Ryan did include, he talked about reforms to the Veterans Administration and suggested they would solve the problems associated with the scandal we heard so much about during the Obama administration. I doubt that is the case because, as readers here at the Washington Monthly know, that whole scandal was a Koch brother’s campaign designed to “dismantle the country’s most successful health care system.”
d58826
OT and I realize Friedman is not popular around here and TPP has been beaten to death but I think he makes a valid point in his column – what ever the flaws in TPP it was STUPID to throw our allies under the bus and give the Chinese the Pacific rim on a platter and get nothing in return. And apparently not even knowing what was in it. According to the article at one point Trump thought the Chinese were part of the trade pact.
Well at least we can say that Trump is the biglest, hughlyist best ever greatest IDIOT to ever occupy the office. George W will probably let Trump put his brand on the ranch in appreciation. W will no longer be the worst president ever. Not even close
Oh wait we did get something in return – Trump trademarks approved and Ivanka is now the most favored western lady in China. Great negotiating skills there Donald.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/28/opinion/trump-china-asia-pacific-trade-tpp.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0
rikyrah
It’s Painful to Watch Jonah Goldberg Try to Talk Sense on Health Care
by Martin Longman
June 27, 2017 4:30 PM
It’s fascinating to see how Republicans talk to each other about health care. Over at the National Review, Jonah Goldberg tip-toes towards political reality, but always by jingling enough right-wing lunacy around to try to scare off the bears.
………………………………………
Of course, this isn’t even half true. While the Democrats would welcome a constructive effort to shore up the Affordable Care Act, they are actually protesting a bill that would undo all the gains in coverage that Obamacare created. And I mean that quite literally.
But Goldberg is really aiming to make a different point.
………………
But Goldberg knows that he’s putting all his conservative credentials at risk by suggesting that Trump should have worked with the Democrats on health care, so he has to finish up by basically disavowing his entire point:
As for the Republicans’ refusal to say what they mean and mean what they say, Goldberg is fairly honest:
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
Sending positive thoughts your family’s way, and thank goodness she has you for her advocacy.
frosty
@O. Felix Culpa: My Democratic senators (yes, you Casey) were the same quiet types. Not now. Based on the emails I’m getting he’s fired up and it’s good to see. He gets as many calls from me as Toomey (spit). Different message though. :-)
rikyrah
McConnell Gives Up and Delays the Health Care Vote
by Martin Longman
June 27, 2017 2:30 PM
CNN’s Senior Congressional Reporter Manu Raju just made a tweet announcement that I’ve been anticipating for months and months now. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can’t get the votes from his own caucus to repeal Obamacare.
I’ve written piece after piece about how Trump miscalculated when he made the decision (if it really was a “decision” at all) to try to govern with zero Democratic votes. In a last ditch effort to win over wavering members of his caucus, Mitch McConnell finally said something approximating the truth:
Working with Chuck Schumer should have been Trump’s starting point because he promised to protect Medicare and Medicaid. He promised not to leave people dying on the streets. He promised people would get excellent and even more affordable access to health care. If he wanted those things, the last people to rely on would be ideological conservatives.
Trump was too stupid to understand this up front, so he went along with a plan that not only would break some of his more important campaign promises, but which is polling just above the Ebola virus. Maybe Trump doesn’t realize it, but one major reason he won over so many Obama Democrats is because he distinguished himself from ordinary Republicans like Paul Ryan who have built their entire careers around destroying the safety net.
rikyrah
McConnell On the Ropes. For Now.
By JOSH MARSHALL
Published JUNE 27, 2017 9:02 AM
I wanted to start the morning with a brief update on the latest developments with the Republican Senate’s drive to pass Trumpcare.
For the last several days I’ve been saying that I thought it was much more likely than not that McConnell would succeed in passing the Trumpcare bill this week, even as I said over the weekend that McConnell was running into more turbulence than I’d expected. Yesterday evening the tide turned. The odds of passing the bill this week now seem stacked against McConnell. This is a critical breakthrough for the opponents of the bill and the 22-24 million people who stand to lose their health care coverage. But so far it’s only a limited and temporary victory if it even happens, which is no sure thing.
Let’s run through the key developments.
On Friday you’ll remember Sen. Heller of Nevada came out against the bill. I said this was positioning, not real opposition. I stick to that, though on rereading Heller’s statement I think I understated in my Friday write-up how deep he’d dug himself in. In any case, that at least moved Heller into a contingent opposition to the bill.
Yesterday, we had the CBO report which posited a total of 22 million people losing their coverage over ten years – one million down from the second House bill and two million down from the first. The headline, though, was that 15 million lose coverage next year. Like 2018, in advance of the mid-term election. As I’ve said, we don’t need these CBO scores to tell us the basic story, which is that the coverage gains achieved by Obamacare are lost by repealing it. (This doesn’t even get to the massive out-year cuts to Medicaid and various loss of protections for additional millions.) But this was a bad headline for McConnell. And it came after a weekend when public protests had pushed three broad groupings of Republicans not into opposition but onto the sidelines, waiting to see who would go first in pledging support.
……………………………………………………
All that said, if McConnell can’t get this done and has to bust his deadline, that is as big a victory as the opposition could have expected and it will be a big one. This was never going to be easy or quick. It was barely going to be possible to prevent McConnell from doing this. It’s going to be a long series of pitched battles. Opponents of Trumpcare will need to fight this over and over. But it now seems possible they win this first fight. If they do, it’s a big big deal.
satby
@Immanentize: I’m so sorry. Now you have to find an approved imaging place, or does the doctor have to argue the necessity for you? Ugh just ridiculous! I hope they can do something to help Mrs. IM feel better.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Two of my most obnoxious wingnut family members could be poster children for the mindset you just described. Of course they fell for the con man — they’re suckers who believe obviously untrue things about their own lives and financial circumstances, so how could they spot an obvious charlatan? They’re marks, and they don’t appreciate it when others point out the con. Tough shit!
Immanentize
@O. Felix Culpa: @rikyrah:
Thank you both. And indeed today will be advocacy day.
In David’s thread upstairs there is a great breakdown of the Mass. Private insurance market. We have Harvard/Pilgrim and they generally are great.
But sadly knowing what I know, this denial feels like they have decided my wife just isn’t worth the cost anymore. I know that is actually not true — it is about time between scans and generalized chemo cycles etc. But it still feels like the insurance company is passing sentence. The Priest who was President of the Catholic University I taught at in Texas was kinda mockery-famous for too-often saying “Blessings always go in more than one direction.”. It ends up cancer is like that, but the evil mirror of blessings.
satby
And on my single day off, I just got called in. Serves me right for being one of those unique Americans with more than one job.
rikyrah
Trump’s ignorance about health care carries real consequences
06/28/17 08:00 AM—UPDATED 06/28/17 08:08 AM
By Steve Benen
A few months ago, when the House was trying to pass its far-right health care plan, Donald Trump thought some presidential pressure could help seal the deal. The president’s ignorance about the basics of the debate, however, kept getting in the way.
Politico reported in March that when the president tried to lean on the far-right House Freedom Caucus, its members found Trump charming, but it became clear “that no serious changes were going to be made” during the conversations, because “the president didn’t have sufficient command of the policy details to negotiate.”
Trump has had ample time to get up to speed in recent months, but by all appearances, he doesn’t feel like it. The president hosted a meeting yesterday with Senate Republicans – after GOP leaders scrapped a scheduled vote on the party’s far-right plan – and some came away with the impression that Trump still doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The New York Times reports today:
This isn’t a point-and-laugh-at-the-amateur-president moment. There are practical consequences to Trump’s ignorance.
Immanentize
@satby: There is an approved imaging place. That’s not the issue. It’s the medical necessity part. She had a PET about 5 weeks ago so I think insurance thinks it’s too soon to do another. Even though her oncologist wants it done.
Sab
@Kay: I have a kid with drug issues.
And I’m glad he could get treatment with the ACA. But he made bad choices. I am a hell of a lot more worried about my autistic grand-daughter who didn’t make bad choices.
O. Felix Culpa
@satby:
You’re just one of Romney’s lucky duckies.
d58826
@rikyrah:
It seems that one of the ideas he is toying with in the tax code change/tax cut area is to change t he time horizon for reconciliation. As I understand it (poorly I admit) reconciliation can’t be used to pass permanent tax cuts if they increase the deficit within the 10 year CBO window. It can be used if the cuts are limited to 10 years. Hence all the bush tax cuts expiring hysteria in 2011. Ryan wants to extend the window to 20 or maybe even 30 years. I’m not sure if they would then still be considered ‘temporary’ in a legislative sense. ZEGS rational is that 10 years does not give business the lead time and confidence to fold the tax cuts into their plans. It is this short time window that prevents the magic asterisk of economic growth from generating the revenue to offset the lost tax money. In other words the magic asterisk just gets bigger.
O. Felix Culpa
@Immanentize:
Grrrr. I understand that insurance companies want to manage [translate: cut] medical costs, but when her oncologist wants it done…sheesh. How on earth do claims people know more about what’s medically called for than the actual doctors? Who are (a) qualified and (b) have direct contact with the patient? Grrr and double grrr.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/27/17
Manafort files retroactively as foreign agent
Rachel Maddow relays reports that former Donald Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort has filed retroactively as an agent of a foreign government, the second top Trump aide to do so.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/27/17
Deutsche Bank adds lawyer with financial crime background
Rachel Maddow reports that Deutsche Bank, at the center of a lot of questions about its business practices and loans made to both Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, has hired a new lawyer with a background in tax crimes and money laundering.
satby
@Sab: This. I know addiction is a disease, but there’s always a period of continuous bad choices before addiction takes hold, so my sympathy is a bit strained. Disabled people haven’t made bad choices. We shouldn’t pit them against each other for funding.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/27/17
Victorious activists stay vigilant for next GOP health bill
Senator Cory Booker talks with Rachel Maddow about the public activism that contributed to the Republican failure to pass their health/tax plan and why it’s too soon for opponents of the Republican bill to celebrate.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/27/17
Health care activists press on as GOP stumbles
Rachel Maddow looks at continued activism against Republican dismantling of health benefits even as Senate Republicans have failed in their first effort to bring a bill of their own.
d58826
@Immanentize: Just have the doc. keep pounding on the ins. company. He has to build the medical case. When my wife broke her hip and was taken to a hospital outside of the network (bank didn’t operate in the state) the doc’s spent 48 hrs arguing with the ins. comp. Finally convinced them of the medical need to do the surgery in Del. Moving a patient 40 miles over bad roads with a broken hip is a good way to have the patient throw an embolism and die on the way. Just have to push the medical necessity case. Probably have to appeal beyond the front line folks at the ins co. They are programmed to say no.
rikyrah
From TOD:
Laura
@O. Felix Culpa: I’m guessing there’s a Sarah Palin interview coming to a Megyn Kellys show as soon as this Sunday.
Good morning Rikyrah!
d58826
@satby:
We are all human. We all make bad choices. Luckily for most of us they are just bad memories and not resulting in a daily ongoing crisis.
The GOOPers keep reminding us of their deep Christian faith but Christ never applied a ‘bad choices’ test when he said ‘that which you do to the least of my brother and sisters you do to me’. His words were absolute – you ARE your brothers keep. no exemptions.
rikyrah
Experts say GA’s voting system is unreliable. Our voting machines are out of date and there is no paper trail. https://t.co/7QpzJG0lYi
— New Georgia Project (@NewGAProject) June 27, 2017
rikyrah
GA-6 voter turnout data now final: Democrats benefit from big turnout, esp among young voters, but it wasn’t enough https://t.co/TnZyF3rLf2 pic.twitter.com/pOqcEPxYhS
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) June 26, 2017
rikyrah
Police officer tickets Black man for made-up law of not having ID while walking https://t.co/zshZhH9dSU pic.twitter.com/hdG8HVf6Nz
— Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) June 27, 2017
MomSense
@Immanentize:
That makes me want to break things so I can only imagine how furious you must be feeling. Sending you strength.
rikyrah
Never forget this is not normal in a democracy. Presidents don’t crow over the firing of journalists. The offlce used to have more dignity. https://t.co/FjJo41BzfR
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) June 27, 2017
BlueNC
@satby: I’m going to be the contrarian on this one. It’s possible to be totally unable to work due to mental issues and also be in good physical shape. Reporting your friend has possible lifelong implications, including loss of health coverage. I understand (and share) your anger, but I’m not sure this is the right answer.
d58826
@d58826: hmmm re-reading that sounds a bit judgmental and I didn’t mean it that way. Just that even if addiction is a serious of bad choices most of us are lucky enough that that a couple of bad choices doesn’t lead down the road to the rest. And I suspect that even the person who is addicted might want to make better choices in the future but either doesn’t have the resources or the chain of past mistakes is just to overwhelming to escape. I just find it hard to believe that some one really wants to end up under a bridge, hungry, and shooting up with a dirty needle.
efgoldman
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Who aren’t going to switch from 60 Minutes. old Lawrence Welk shows on their local PBS, 20th re-runs of Wheel of Fortune, or their favorite RWNJ gospel grifter.
low-tech cyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
Gee, I wonder!
Your Congresscritters will almost certainly be at a Fourth of July parade or celebration somewhere. It’s all but written into their contract. Try to find out where and when.
AL:
I’ll feel more comfortable agreeing with that if we get to the Christmas recess, and there’s still no ‘health care’ bill out of the Senate.
Immanentize
@d58826: That is my plan. And for the Doc to keep pounding on the insurance peeps, I must keep pounding on the Doc
Ruckus
@satby:
Bullies also never seem to understand why you stand up to them. Can’t we just be friends? My response? “Why the fuck would I want to be friends with you? What could possibly be that important?” “We’re Family!” or “We were friends once.” “You sure as fuck don’t act like it.”
rikyrah
I love y’all, but don’t sleep now. These bastards have no qualms springing up a different bill on July 5th w/o a CBO score. Keep pressuring!
— Charles Clymer?️? (@cmclymer) June 27, 2017
efgoldman
@Iowa Old Lady:
Scorpions and frogs.
SATSQ
rikyrah
Ron Johnson just said Rs will buy off moderates with a bit of added money.
If so, their criticisms were lies:https://t.co/yLT5BXbKYB pic.twitter.com/BQDtSGk5SF
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) June 28, 2017
rikyrah
Here’s Trump threatening to use his powers as POTUS against Amazon because he doesn’t like WaPo reporting about him:https://t.co/UimCBbP8pO
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 28, 2017
Trump on Amazon: “If I become president, oh do they have problems. They’re going to have such problems”. • $AMZNhttps://t.co/208DgKJM8o
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) February 26, 2016
—Amazon pays taxes
—Amazon collects state sales tax
—There’s no internet tax
—WaPo exposed Trump’s fake TIME covers
—POTUS threatens company https://t.co/v88qBGX8z1
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 28, 2017
efgoldman
@OzarkHillbilly:
Right, but it saved somebody (developers? contractors? local councils?) a few thousand pounds, so ir’al good.
[What is it about conservatives everywhere. Is it that people are easier to replace than buildings? It has been said that my MIL would skin a flea for the meat. And she doesn’t need to.]
montanareddog
@OzarkHillbilly:
Is it that 54 Repug senators is the issue? A bill that increases the deficit can be filibustered. Reconciliation only needs 50 senators + the VP but cannot increase the deficit within 10 years.
But you are absolutely right that they do not care about deficits when it comes to shovelling money to their donors if the parliamentary rules would let them.
The Moar You Know
@O. Felix Culpa: Note the part I highlighted. Had they not issued that correction, Sarah! would have no basis for a lawsuit. Now she does.
I’m very happy the NYT is getting it and hope Sarah! bankrupts their shit paper, but this should be a lesson to us all; when dealing with GOPers, deal with them as they deal with us. With this crowd, you put out a hand in friendship or apology and you’ll get back a bloody stump.
Ruckus
@Kay:
A reason they like drumpf?
He’s made money off of being a deadbeat. He brags about how much he has and most of it involves being a deadbeat. He’s their role model.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
QFFT.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@David Canadian Anchor Baby Koch: Andrew Luck. He was trying to get rid of Lawrence O’Donnell as well. Because lefty leftiness is Bad.
d58826
@Immanentize: Yep. but I was lucky. Between PM back home and the docs in the hospital in Wilmington they pretty much carried the ball.
One thing that i learned from that entire episode is that the system is complicated and most of us will wind up behind the 8 ball w/o an advocate to navigate that system. We had a good one when she moved to rehab. The case worker got us stuff (mostly extra time in rehab) that we would not have gotten without her intervention. At the point in life now where wanted to do something for the rehab hospital but wasn’t sure what. Then the 2 watt light bulb went off and set up a scholarship fund in her name at hospital just for the case workers. Maybe you can try finding a patients advocate group/support group that is involved with your wife’s medical condition that can help you work thru the system. Your doc. office might have some suggestions or one of the charities like MS society, cancer society etc. Or your pastor if you lean in that direction. They deal with these kinds of patient issues a;ll the time. Her/She probably has a go-to list of advocates. This way it doesn’t fall all on you and you have access to people who have been there and done that.
And best of luck. I’m not much on prayer but will keep a good thought
d58826
@The Moar You Know: Well
sure isn’t going to help us deal with people like Palin. The media is far from perfect but do you really want to depend on Faux and Sarah Huckleberry for what is going on. And remember it is the one ‘business’ mentioned in the Constitution. And from what I’ve read the press and the broadsheets of the day would make today’s media look like cuddly little lambs
And notice it is CNN and the NYT that are admitting to mistakes, not Faux news, Limpdick, or Breitbart or Drudge
Benjamin Mays
@Immanentize: In my ongoing battle with renal cancer (51 months since Stage IV discovery), I have found that most insurance cos often have case workers available if you ask for them. This can, sometimes, help personalize ongoing issues. Doesn’t always work, but useful if multiple specialties are involved. Emphasize Cancer and Pain management as distinct issues, for example. It’s probably worth a try. Call members services on your insurance card.
TomatoQueen
@Nina: Caution. I write as an SSA disability side employee, GS-8, so I see claims, medical records, and do actual work. I do not see claimants, nor do I work in fraud investigation. The web site you link to, as stated at the very end of the page, is an “attorney advertisement”, and in spite of its quasi government web page design and graphics, as well as its dot-org address, is not an official page of any kind. It is trolling for customers. That said, there are some worthwhile points mentioned therein, the most important one in my experience being the reminder that a)you do not have access to the individual’s medical records, and b) you do not have any knowledge at all of how SSA has decided the individual’s impairments affect their ability to work. I would say to anyone contemplating making a fraud allegation to be careful and think about why you wish to do so, and if you still see a genuine reason to take that step, then go to SSA.gov, the official site, and follow the instructions there. I think this is as far as I can take it without pretending to speak for the agency, which is a huge no-no.
d58826
@Benjamin Mays: Only warning on that is they still do work for the ins. company so they are not an arms length advocate. And certainly worth a call since the worst they do is still say no and you are just back to where you started.
d58826
@TomatoQueen: and if you do get a lawyer make sure he isn’t an ambulance chaser. Always suspicious of the one I see advertising on TV. They may well be ok and are the only ones with the expertise and resources to handle these kind of issues but just nervous about using them.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@TomatoQueen:
@satby:
@Nina: Here’s the webpage for the Office of the Inspector General for SSA. They have a report button and a list of helpful information to include in your report.
TomatoQueen
@d58826: It depends on the cause of action. There are attorneys nationwide who specialize (“the disability bar”) in SSA/SSDI/SSI and some of the most thoughtful of them often can be found in the public comments sections of the CFR. Other places to look are appellate level decisions in one’s circuit, and in larger cities, Legal Aid (Miami is pretty strong here for example). My ex (an appellate-level public defender in Fla) graduated from law school at the end of the era when attorney advertising was verboten, so it sets my teeth on edge to this day, even if it’s a personal injury/contingency one. Just don’t bother with Eric Conn, who has apparently disappeared.
Immanentize
@Benjamin Mays: thank you. And congrats on your survival so far. This stuff is so hard. I wish you all the best and that someone figures this crap out quick!
d58826
@TomatoQueen:
I remember the change. A lot of lawyers are doing god’s work for the less fortunate. – the disability bar, the folks that handle the death penalty appeals, the defense bar in general. Unfortunately since most people only deal with an attorney when their life is turning to S** and the few ambulances chasers that get all of the publicity the legal profession has an undeserved image problem at times. At least the medical profession, with it’s own share of quacks, can offset image problems with all the cuddlie babies that the OB’s deliver:-)
Immanentize
@d58826: @Benjamin Mays:
My wife and I are very fortunate because the Oncology Department she is being treated at takes a team approach — Doc, chemo nurse, Nurse Practitioner and social worker all are assigned to my wife. They also have a great back-office to work with the insurance companies. And, the department is at Mt Auburn Hospital which is associated with Harvard and, although not totally affiliated, we have Harvard/Pilgrim Insurance which has a pretty good relationship with Mount Auburn.
That said, it still is insurance and they do not love to pay.
ETA. I am on the third call today. Now waiting for a call back from the NPt.
satby
@BlueNC: (and I’m back). She wasn’t granted disability based on mental issues, as far as I know she’s never sought treatment for them. Her disability is based on having fibromyalgia. Which doesn’t seen to hamper her from spreading wheelbarrows of mulch, hours of yard work including hand weeding the lawn, spackling, painting, and staining walls and woodwork in her house, pulling up carpet, etc. All of which is openly boasted about with pictures on her FB page, where she specifically states SHE is doing all that work. While collecting $1700+ per month in disability. If there’s a bad outcome for her because she’s committed fraud, too fucking sad for words.
satby
@d58826: My point was that we shouldn’t put addiction recovery programs against programs for the disabled, not about how people become addicted.
Immanentize
@TomatoQueen: I was a public defender in Miami back in the day….
J R in WV
@satby:
Reporter (retired) wife once covered a worker’s comp fraud case that went pear shaped. Lawyers for employer company claimed they had photos of injured worker carrying a heavy concrete bird bath. They had photos, but injured worker’s lawyer brought the “heavy” bird bath into court and tossed it to injured employee, it was hollow plastic, about 5 lbs.
Everyone laughed out loud.
d58826
@Immanentize: There may be no I in team but buried deep in ‘insurance’ is NO. It’s genetic. :-)
But as my grandfather used to say on another topic =- it gives people jobs so they can argue’
d58826
@satby: Agree with that 100% sorry for the reading. But the 1% has been dividing the 99% against it self since forever. This is just one more artificial divide.
satby
@J R in WV: and if they investigate, and she keeps her SSDI, then fine. But her impressive gains in mobility without pain may just be worth looking into, and it might be a teachable moment for her and a few other people.
Neldob
@Sab: Drug addiction is a mental health problem as is autism, it’s just harder to see it that way as it appears voluntary and autism doesn’t. Addiction is often related to depression, bipolar and anxiety problems.
d58826
@Neldob: And if I remember it actually rewires some of the pleasure/pain receptors in the brain so it is no where as easy as Nancy Reagan’s ‘just say no’ implied. That only works before you take the first hit. And there is no time line to addiction. Some folks are hooked almost immediately and others can go for years w/o being hooked. Or so my Scientific American articles say. Seems the brain is even more complicated than health care.
J R in WV
@Immanentize:
See, here, this is one of my big gripes about insurance companies. How do they get to have a say medically in this issue? There isn’t a licensed MD calling this out. There wasn’t a physical exam, or any actual contact with the patient even, ever. So how is this not practicing medicine without a license?
They should be prosecuted, if this is a medical decision, And if it isn’t, then they’re just refusing to pay on the policy. If it was a wrecked car they would have to pay, how come in this more important instance they are allowed to not pay?
It’s just wrong, any way you slice it. Ethically, morally, financially, legally, they are welshing on their debt/obligation to your wife!
grrrrrrrr!!!
Uncle Cosmo
@satby:
Because their melanin-deficient arses deserve it, of course.
And you know, when&if their pathetic con gets exposed, & the government stops sending them money because they’ve proven by their own acts (like those Facebook posts) that they don’t qualify for them, who will they blame? Duh gubmint!
This type isn’t stupid, but isn’t intelligent either. They’re clever. Smart enough to take advantage of an opportunity to grift a few bucks out of bleeding-heart-liberal “gubmint” programs (while secretly despising the “libtards” as stupid for letting them get away with it). But not intelligent enough to look beyond the immediate benefits to where either they get caught in the con (& have to throw themselves on the mercy of public defenders & other “libtards”, which will only make them despise the latter even more) or end up paying dearly for it down the line.
satby
@Uncle Cosmo: you nailed it. Obviousl, you’re familiar with the type.
No One You Know
@satby: I’m sorry. I don’t have any wisdom to offer, but I wish this hasn’t happened to you.
Original Lee
@Kay: If a veteran qualifies for Medicaid, Medicaid pays the VA copay. The Senate bill removes that. Tammy Duckworth submitted a proposed exemption to let the copay stand, and it was rejected.