GOP Senator Grassley Says Health Repeal May Hurt Country, Will Vote For It Anyway

GOP senator says it doesn’t matter how bad the latest Obamacare replacement is. ThinkProgress: “Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley thinks that Republicans have a “responsibility” to repeal the affordable care act, even if it leaves the country worse off. Speaking with reporters in his home state of Iowa, Grassley argued that the GOP had campaigned on repealing Obamacare so much that they were left with no choice but to carry out their promises. ‘I could maybe give you 10 reasons why this bill shouldn’t be considered,’ Grassley told the Des Moines Register. ‘But Republicans campaigned on this so often that you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign. That’s pretty much as much of a reason as the substance of the bill.'”

Trump Invents African Country in UN Speech

Trump praises health care of Nambia, a nonexistent African country. CNN: “Trump lavished praise on the health care system of Nambia during a speech at the United Nations. But there’s one little problem – there’s no such country. ‘In Guinea and Nigeria, you fought a horrifying Ebola outbreak,’ Trump told African leaders gathered Wednesday. ‘Nambia’s health system is increasingly self-sufficient.’ Trump mentioned Nambia twice during the session attended by leaders of several nations, including Ghana, Namibia and Uganda.”

DREAM Act Could Add $1 Trillion to US Economy, Raise Incomes

DREAM Act is an economic boon, increasing U.S. GDP by up to $1 trillion. DailyKOS: “According to new research from the Center for American Progress, the DREAM Act would add nearly $30 billion annually to the gross domestic product (GDP), and ‘because the gains from legalization grow each year, the cumulative increase in GDP over 10 years would be $281 billion.’ With certain conditions, those economic gains will even reach up to $1 trillion over a decade. Extrapolating from the immediately eligible and employed population to the entire population who may one day be eligible for the Dream Act—either when they age into eligibility or complete the educational requirements—the economic gains could be roughly 42 percent higher. Over a decade, this means the GDP gains from the Dream Act could be as high as a cumulative $400 billion. With the education bump, the gains could be as high as a cumulative $1 trillion. ‘On a per capita basis,’ notes the research, ‘passing the Dream Act would ultimately raise the average incomes of all Americans by between approximately $82 and $273, annually … while small, these are important, positive increases in the economic well-being of the population.’ And it would fly in the face of Donald Trump and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III’s claims that immigrants hurt native-born Americans economically.”

America’s Racial Wealth Gap

To many, America’s racial wealth gap remains invisible. Salon: “Economic progress has been agonizingly slow for black Americans — but many whites don’t see it that way. In 1992, Andrew Hacker described the state of race relations in America as “separate, hostile, unequal.” He could have easily added “delusional” and “confused.” Twenty-five years later such a description remains all too accurate New research from Yale University psychologists Jennifer Richeson and Michael Kraus demonstrates how many white and black Americans possess radically different perceptions — and lived experiences — on the economy, wealth and income.”