Recently I was getting to know two new congressional candidates running for seats held by Republicans in California. I asked one why he had donated so much money to John Kasich's presidential campaign in 2016. He told me he "used to be" a Republican. And now he wants to be in Congress... as a Democrat?
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, Cook's Amy Walter mused aloud whether or not big Republican support for Trump "is going to translate into turn-out and support for the GOP in 2018. You don’t have to go too far back in history to find an example of a president who came to office with backing from a new, enthusiastic group of voters, only to find that those voters failed to consistently show up for the party.
North Carolina right-wing ideologue Mark Meadows opposes the bipartisan compromiseLate Sunday night, congressional staffers announced that Democratic and Republican negotiators reached a bipartisan agreement to fund government operations through September to the tune of over a trillion dollars, while igno
Matt Coffay, a farmer who founded the Asheville chapter of Our Revolution, is running for Congress... and he's about as good a candidate as the Democratic Party is going to find-- not just in North Carolina, but anywhere in the country. His district, though, is a tough one. The Republicans in the North Carolina legislature carefully cut most of Asheville out of the 11th congressional district to create what they thought would be a "safe" Republican seat. It was won in 2012 by right-wing extremist Mark Meadows, one of the founding members of the Freedom Caucus, which he now chairs.
On January 24th John Conyers introduced H.R. 676, the Medicare for All Act. He had 50 cosponsors on that first day, mostly progressives, but New Dem Eliot Engel signed on and so did a member of the House Democratic leadership, Jim Clyburn. No other members of the leadership signed on that day-- nor since-- no Nancy Pelosi, no Steny Hoyer, no Joe Crowley, no Ben Ray Lujan.
Do you remember what these 15 congresscritters have in common?
