Tell Lawmakers To Vote NO! On House Budget
The House GOP is pushing through a budget that slashes Medicare, Medicaid, and other vital services. Call your representative today at (888) 516-5820 and tell them to vote NO! on the House budget.
GOP Tax Cuts Blow Up Deficit
Trump White House acknowledges that tax cuts will blow up the deficit, doesn’t care. Salon: “The Republican-controlled White House is advocating for a tax plan that would add to a deficit, a stark departure from GOP messaging over the years. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said on CNN Sunday that he hoped President Donald Trump’s ever-evolving tax plan would add to the deficit, arguing that without a deficit the country won’t spur growth. ‘I’ve been very candid about this. We need to have new deficits because of that. We need to have the growth,’ Mulvaney said. ‘If we simply look at this as being deficit-neutral, you’re never going to get the type of tax reform and tax reductions that you need to get to sustain 3 percent economic growth.’ This statement was a blatant flip for Mulvaney, who in January said that the national debt had reached a limit that required conservative spending going forward.”
States Face Child Health Crisis as Congress Ends Aid
CHIP’s end imperils care for children nationwide. NPR: “CHIP covers 9 million children nationwide. But until Congress renews CHIP, states are cut off from additional federal funding that helps lower- and middle-income families. CHIP, which has enjoyed broad bipartisan support, helps lower- and middle-income families that otherwise earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid. Besides children, it covers 370,000 pregnant women a year. Like Medicaid, CHIP is traditionally paid for by state and federal funding, but the federal government covers most of the cost… A few states facing the most pressing threat — including California and Arizona — have enough funding to last only until the end of the year. No states have yet announced plans to freeze enrollment or alert families about any potential end in coverage. But if Congress fails to renew funding quickly, some states may begin taking steps to unwind the program in the next few weeks.”
Oxfam Slams US Response to Puerto Rico Crisis
Oxfam slams US response in Puerto Rico as ‘slow, inadequate’. The Hill: “Oxfam America is stepping in to help Puerto Rico, saying the Trump administration’s response has been ‘inadequate.’ The global nonprofit’s president, Abby Maxman, said in a statement Tuesday that the group is ‘outraged’ at the U.S. government’s slow response in Puerto Rico, where more than half of the population is without clean drinking water and food and electricity are scarce in the wake of Hurricane Maria. ‘We’re hearing excuses and criticism from the administration instead of a cohesive and compassionate response,’ Maxman said. The organization primarily focuses on humanitarian aid in developing nations and rarely helps wealthy countries like the U.S., but it said it is making an exception as the situation in Puerto Rico worsens.
Supreme Court Questions Workers’ Rights
The Supreme Court returns to Washington, and workers are on the menu. The Nation: “Less than one hour into the new Supreme Court term, which began on Monday, one of the Court’s embattled liberals warned that workplace protections that stretch back to the New Deal are in danger. With Neil Gorsuch, the man who occupies a seat that Republicans held open for more than a year in the hopes that Donald Trump would get to fill it, now beginning his first full term, the Court’s Republican majority appears emboldened. Last week, the Court announced that it will hear Janus v. AFSCME, a suit seeking to sabotage public sector unions. Then, it opened the term with three consolidated cases, all of which are likely to give employers a license to engage in many forms of wage theft.”
Who Will Lead on Gun Violence?
Who Will Lead the Left on Gun Control? Politico: “Any serious attempt to address gun violence at the source has to address the accessibility of handguns. But what you mostly hear from gun control proponents— even from the farthest left edge of the Democratic Party—are the more politically palatable but narrower policies for a stronger background check system and an assault weapons ban. This is not going to solve the problem of gun violence. Not even close. There’s an opening for a Democrat willing to ignore the polling data, dismiss the fretting about gun-happy white working-class voters, suffer the wrath of the NRA and stake a claim as the champion for sweeping gun control. But there’s no guarantee anyone will take it.”
