Progressive Breakfast

Governors Urge Congress Not To Repeal Health Care

With governors’ opposition, Republicans’ effort to repeal Obamacare takes a major hit. WaPo: "The governors, five of them Republican or Republican-leaning, sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them not to support repeal legislation championed by GOP Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (La.). At least three other GOP governors who didn't sign the letter are opposed to this repeal bill. Even though the bill dismantles Obamacare and gives states near-universal power to set up health insurance programs, it doesn't hand the states much money to do that. 'We ask you to support bipartisan efforts to bring stability and affordability to our insurance markets,' the letter says, referring to bipartisan talks in the Senate to stabilize, not erase, key parts of Obamacare."

CBO to Report on New GOP Health Repeal by Early Next Week

CBO aims to provide preliminary assessment of Graham-Cassidy bill by early next week. CBO: "CBO is aiming to provide a preliminary assessment of the Graham-Cassidy bill by early next week. That assessment, which is being prepared with the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, will include whether the legislation would reduce on-budget deficits by at least as much as was estimated for H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act, as passed by the House on May 4, 2017... However, CBO will not be able to provide point estimates of the effects on the deficit, health insurance coverage, or premiums for at least several weeks."

GOP Senator Wants to Ban States from Single Payer

Louisiana Sen. Kennedy wants to ban state single payer in new GOP health bill. The Intercept: "John Kennedy plans to use the most recent effort to repeal and replace portions of the Affordable Care Act to push an amendment that would bar states from enacting their own single-payer systems, he told reporters on Monday. When asked by The Intercept on Tuesday about the status of his legislation, Kennedy said that the bill’s co-sponsors, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., told him that the measure already bans single payer, but that he was welcome to offer his amendment either way... Kennedy’s amendment is similar to pre-emption laws many states have passed to prohibit municipalities from controlling their own minimum wages or enacting municipal broadband. These laws have emanated from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a policy network funded by corporations."

Trump's UN Speech Stokes Nationalism

Trump’s first speech to the United Nations was a disastrous, nationalistic flop. WaPo: "President Trump delivered a speech to his alt-right, anti-globalist base from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. He offered a vision of America’s role in the world starkly different from any of his predecessors who stood in the same spot before the leaders of the world. In the end, Trump offered up remarks that were antithetical to the ideas and ideals that led the United States to play a central role in the U.N.’s founding in the wake of World War II."

WH Buries HHS Report on Positive Impact of Refugees

Trump administration rejects study showing positive impact of refugees. NYT: "Trump administration officials, under pressure from the White House to provide a rationale for reducing the number of refugees allowed into the United States next year, rejected a study by the Department of Health and Human Services that found that refugees brought in $63 billion more in government revenues over the past decade than they cost. The draft report, which was obtained by The New York Times, contradicts a central argument made by advocates of deep cuts in refugee totals as President Trump faces an Oct. 1 deadline to decide on an allowable number. The issue has sparked intense debate within his administration as opponents of the program, led by Mr. Trump’s chief policy adviser, Stephen Miller, assert that continuing to welcome refugees is too costly and raises concerns about terrorism."