Congressional Republicans don't know quite how to respond to reporters' and constituents' questions about the TrumpCare legislation they just voted for. Some are following Trump's hubristic, bombastic approach of just flat-out lying and claiming more people will be covered for less money and get better healthcare-- just unsubstantiated nonsense that has been widely debunked.
Paul Ryan on TrumpCare: "This is who we are; this will come to define us."Earlier this morning we saw how the extremely cautious Cook Report has just downgraded the chances for Republicans to hold 20 congressional districts across the country.
Presumably, Chris Collins (R-NY), infamous as the first congressman to have backed Trump, got back to Clarence this morning. I suspect what was waiting for him in the Buffalo News, his district's biggest newspaper, was worse than what most Republicans who voted for TrumpCare Thursday had to face. Keep in mind, though, that NY-27, has a PVI of R+8 where Obama lost badly both times and where Trump trounced Clinton 59.7-35.2%, his best performance in the state-- and considerably better than Romney had done when he won the district with 55.3%.
Last November there were 5 congressional districts in Southern California with Republican Representatives that went for Hillary. In each one Trump did significantly worse than Romney had. In the district that straddles Orange and San Diego counties, CA-49, represented by Darrell Issa, Romney had won the district in 2012 with 52.4%. In November Trump got 43.2%, a 9 point drop-off. And Issa had the scare of his political life. His race was the last one decided in the whole country and in the end he edged out Doug Applegate 155,888 (50.3%) to 154,267 (49.7%).
In Elizabeth Warren's words, "TrumpCare isn't a health care bill. A bill that destroys health care for millions to shovel cash to the rich isn't a health care bill. This is the same cruel bill that House Republicans tried to pass weeks ago. It still strips coverage from millions. Still guts Medicaid. Still strips funds away from states like Massachusetts that are battling the opioid crisis. The only thing that's changed about TrumpCare in recent weeks is that they made the original plan even more brutal. This isn't football. It's not about scoring points.
Yesterday, Haley Byrd published what many observers in Washington have been noticing, namely that Trump— and his third rate Regime— is screwing up the smooth functioning of the Republican majorities in Congress. Yesterday the imbecile started ranting about and government shutdown and how the Senate should nuke the filibuster entirely.
Polling for the runoff in the GA-06 race to replace Tom Price is very tight-- incredible for such a red district-- and Jon Ossoff is slightly ahead of radical right Republican Karen Handel-- 48-47%.
Monday morning, MarketWatch published a list of non-partisan health organizations opposed to the Frankenstein's monster of a bill known as TrumpCare (or the AHCA). We're talking about groups like the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the March of Dimes... You get the picture.
Polling for the runoff in the GA-06 race to replace Tom Price is very tight-- incredible for such a red district-- and Jon Ossoff is slightly ahead of radical right Republican Karen Handel-- 48-47%. Republican outside groups-- primarily the NRCC, the Chamber of Commerce and Ryan's shady, corporately-financed SuperPAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund have already spent over $7 million tearing Ossoff down and trying to bolster Handel.
Nick Kristof's column in the Times this weekend, Lessons From 100 Days Of President Trump, reminded us that "Trump distinguishes himself in one area: incompetence" and that "Trump remains a bully and a charlatan." Kristof wrote that over his entire career he's "never known a national politician as mendacious, ill informed, bombastic and dangerous as Trump." And it gets worse as he lists a dozen grievances against Trump.Then yesterday, on CNN's Reliable Sources, Carl Bernstein accuse
