GOP in Disarray
Obamacare repeal plan looks dead in the Senate. Vox: "The last-ditch Senate attempt to repeal Obamacare with a two-year delay to replace the law appears doomed, just 14 hours after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed it. Three Republican senators said Tuesday they would not vote to start debate for a repeal plan that does not include any replacement provisions. That is enough to block the bill from moving forward. It was the only option left to McConnell, after four Senate Republicans came out against the repeal-and-replace plan that McConnell had been carefully crafting for two months."
Let Obamacare fail - Trump's new plan. Reuters: "President Donald Trump has said the new Republican healthcare policy should be to allow the current law to collapse. 'I'm not going to own it,' Mr Trump told reporters of Obamacare, 'I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it.’ Support for the Republican Senate bill fell apart on Monday when two more senators said they could not back it. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Mr Trump was "playing a dangerous game" with the US healthcare system. 'He is actively, actively trying to undermine the healthcare system in this country using millions of Americans as political pawns in a cynical game', Mr Schumer said on Tuesday.
After healthcare failure, Republicans face similar divisions on tax reform. Reuters: "Republicans in Congress unveiled a fiscal 2018 budget plan as a first step to major U.S. tax reform on Tuesday, only to face the same divisions between conservatives and moderates that helped killed their efforts to replace Obamacare. The $4 trillion spending blueprint, released by the House of Representatives budget committee, could become a new flashpoint for Republican in-fighting because it links future tax cuts for businesses and individuals with $203 billion in mandatory spending cuts that would reduce benefits for the poor.
Warren's Warning
Warren warns GOP may still dismantle Obamacare. The Hill: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Tuesday she isn't declaring victory over the collapse of the Senate Republican healthcare bill, pointing to the GOP's long history of working to repeal key provisions of ObamaCare. 'I’m not doing a touchdown dance over health care today. This zombie bill has come back from the dead over [and] over again,' Warren wrote.”
Trump Tally
What has changed in six months under Trump. Dallas Daily News: "Trump's first six months have been defined by his often angry and tasteless tweets, his ham-handed efforts to denigrate and undercut the multiple investigations into Russian influence in the 2016 election and the stalemated legislative battle to repeal and replace Obamacare. But Trump is right in saying he has significantly influenced government and the nation's image - though much of his impact has been negative.”
What Progressives Want Now
Progressive Groups Push Democrats to Back #PeoplesPlatform. Common Dreams: "On Tuesday, dozens of organizations—including Our Revolution, National Nurses United, and Fight for 15—announced the launch of a new initiative titled "The Summer for Progress," during which activists across the country will pressure Democratic lawmakers to embrace 'a bold, progressive agenda.’ This agenda, called the People's Platform, includes legislation that would make public colleges tuition free, establish automatic voter registration, raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and transform the American healthcare system into one that guarantees insurance to all."
She Should Run aims for 250k women candidates by 2030. CNN: "She Should Run, an organization created in 2011 with the goal of recruiting and training women to run for public office, launched a new campaign Tuesday called "250kBy2030." The organization's goal is to encourage 250,000 women to run for US office by 2030. As of 2017, less than 25% of those offices are held by women.”
More from OurFuture.org:
The Lessons of Love Canal. George Goehl, LeeAnn Hall: "In 1978 in Love Canal, Lois Gibbs forged a new model for activism focused on the human cost of environmental destruction and grassroots power to change it. Forty years later, we’re at another crossroads. Together with the community groups that Gibbs and her colleagues at CHEJ have been nurturing – spanning the country, with reach in the south, rural areas, and the working-class communities and communities of color – we will forge the path toward climate justice."
