health care

Justin Amash isn't hiding from his constituents and he's not hiding the media coverage of his raucous downhill meetings. He welcomes them and wants Michiganders to know about them. Amash's Grand Rapids-based seat is in a swing district (PVI is R+4); most of the voters coming from Kent (Grand Rapids) and Calhoun (Battle Creek) counties. Obama won it 50-49% in 2008, lost it 53-46% in 2012 and Hillary lost to Trump 51.6% to 42.2%.

The confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education last night was a real blow to the Resistance. She's venal and unqualified and she has a toxic agenda that seeks to destroy public education. But Trump has even worse nominees still waiting to be confirmed.

You can see the trend. Hospital "consolidation" — a polite term for monopoly formation — in the hospital industry (source: Federal Reserve of Minneapolis)by Gaius PubliusI'm on Alan Grayson's email list, and this recently came through.

-by Sam HusseiniThe new Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer began his remarks at the recent "Hands Off Medicare" event [video below] by noting that he and Bernie Sanders-- another speaker at the event-- both went to James Madison High School in Brooklyn. Said Schumer: "Bernie was on the track team and they won the city championship. I was on the basketball team.

This week NBC News and the Wall Street Journal released a poll showing Trump with an unfavorable rating from 46% of Americans and a favorable rating with 40%, an improvement for him since last month, but the lowest favorability rating of any president-elect about to take office ever.

From the Seattle Municipal Archivesby Gaius PubliusWe're getting off the Trump Train for a minute for something remarkable. I was bowled over by the results of this study and wanted to pass them on.

We had a pretty gigantic response to Sunday's post about the Republicans stabbing retired coal miners in the back over their health care.

The queen of coal country screws the retired minersFriday night was this Senate's last. When they adjourned-- actually it was around 6 Saturday morning-- it was for the last time. In January it will be a new Senate with 5 new Democrats-- Kamala Harris (CA), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Chris Van Hollen (MD), Maggoe Hassan (NH) and Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) and 2 new Republicans Todd Yoiung (IN) and John Kennedy (LA).

Yesterday we all read that life expectancy-- particularly for the American working class-- has dropped.

Dying of drugs and despair — causes of death in the working class, from a 2015 study. by Gaius PubliusPart of the surprising primary-season discovery that Trump was popular, was the discovery of where he was popular. Put bluntly, he was popular where people, especially working class people, were dying.