From Senate Dem Whip. These pro forma sessions mean the Senate is never out of session for 10 days in a row = no Trump recess appointments. pic.twitter.com/PVDCpN3frA — Ben Wikler (@benwikler) August 4, 2017 A Pro Forma session of the Senate is a couple of local Senators showing up, saying hi and then leaving. …
Can you hear me now
One of the last things the Senate did before leaving town for August was pass the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fee reauthorization act by a lopsided vote total. This was mostly a house keeping bill. As part of the bill, there was a tweak to how the FDA regulates hearing aids. The Boston …
Incredible public health news
I am late on this as I have been in the ACA repeal and then the CSR/Basic Health Plan rabbit hole. But there is some incredibly good public health news coming out of the Food and Drug Administration from last week. They are proposing a rule that will only allow non-addictive levels of nicotine in …
Washington DC Meet-up post
Via Barbara for tonight’s meet-up in DC: Can one of the FPs put up a post about the DC Meet up? My plan is to reserve a table at Elephant and Castle beginning at 5:15. E&C is on Pennsylvania Ave., NW between 12th and 13th Streets, across from the Old Post Office Building, now known …
Pragmatics and Medicare for All
I was planning on writing a 2,000 word response to an incredible article by Joshua Holland in the Nation. But I would get bored writing “ditto” too often. You should just read it. Here are some of the highlights of the pragmatic concerns about transitioning to a pure single payer system as the means to …
Not the Onion: signing statement edition
OMFG this signing statement by Trump on the sanctions bill: https://t.co/ffKSV3kmT8 pic.twitter.com/dA9NRe7y6e — Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) August 2, 2017 Read it and bang your head into the wall until the darkness engulfs and silence descends. Open thread
Not the Onion: signing statement editionPost + Comments (124)
Don’t split the risk pool
There is now talk about a bi-partisan deal in the Senate on minor, technical fixes to the ACA. We need to be careful and think through the mechanics of the changes. Axios has the Republican wish list: Funding for the Affordable Care Act’s cost sharing reduction subsidies, which are currently being paid by the administration. …