NEWS ROUNDUP
RyanCare leaked, AFL-CIO cuts, uses of outrage…
Monday, February 27, 2017
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
► From the AFL-CIO — Leaked House Republican health care plan is a non-starter — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:
“The leaked Republican health plan is a non-starter because it would lower the bar on care when we should be raising it instead. It exposes the fact that Congress is intent on slashing health coverage for tens of millions of Americans and imposing a new tax directly on working people, threatening to destroy the health coverage we earn on the job.
“The truth is, the people lowering America’s healthcare under the banner of “reform” have never had to worry about care for themselves or their families. CEOs and billionaires and right-wing politicians get the best care because cost for them isn’t a factor. The rest of us don’t have that luxury. If we are to take a plan seriously, it must show exactly how it will improve and expand coverage for more working people, not put high-quality care out of reach.”
► From AFL-CIO Now — Congress’s plan to tax your health benefits — Do you get your health care coverage through work? If you do, it’s time to start paying attention to what’s going on in Washington. Especially to the new plan to tax our health benefits.
► In the NY Times — The adults a Medicaid work requirement would leave behind — Republican governors want to reverse what they consider an incentive not to work, but critics say putting employment before health care is backward.
► In today’s Columbian — Supporters rally in defense of Affordable Care Act — As Congress gears up to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a crowd met Saturday morning at Clark College to make their message clear: Health care is a human right.
► MUST-SEE from Last Week Tonight — Obamacare: ‘Tic toc, mother*%$@%s’ — John Oliver reminds all of us that Republicans still haven’t created an alternative to Obamacare at all, and what they do have looks more like a dad in a thong than a program that provides decent coverage.
THIS WASHINGTON
► In the Seattle Times — Town-hall avoiders include Democratic Sens. Murray and Cantwell, too — It’s not just Republican members of Congress who have been ducking town halls, despite a chorus of demand from constituents. Washington’s Democratic U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray also have avoided the open forums. Tired of waiting, a local activist group organized one for them.
IMMIGRATION
► In the NY Times — Trump immigration policies pose conflict for police in ‘Sanctuary Cities’ — Local law enforcement must walk a fine line to adhere to both federal law and local rules on enforcing immigration.
► In the NY Times — The immigration facts Trump doesn’t like (editorial) — Oust millions of people from the economy and just watch the G.D.P. drop.
THAT WASHINGTON
► From Bloomberg — Republicans’ national ‘right-to-work’ measure faces hurdles — It’s still not clear whether Republican leadership will push to get the measure passed or even bring it to the floor for a vote. The national bill will need some Democratic support to avoid a filibuster in the Senate. Other hurdles include potential reluctance from some Republicans in states that use existing right-to-work laws as a tool to lure business from states without similar restrictions on union organizing.
► In the NY Times — Trump is off to a slow start on trade promises — The president has not acted on campaign promises to move quickly to declare China a currency manipulator or to initiate renegotiation of the NAFTA.
► From The Hill — Working women see Acosta as labor chief upgrade, but remain vigilant (by Liz Shuler) — In the end, working women aren’t asking for the world. We want equal pay and equal opportunity. We want respect on the job and at home, and a steady schedule that allows for child care and education. We want to be protected from violence and sexual harassment. We want to be judged for our skills and dedication, not the color of our hair or the shape of our body. Finally, we want a labor secretary who will stand and fight for us.
POLITICS
► From Huffington Post — Buoyed by anti-Trump activism, Democrat wins Delaware special election — In the most expensive special election in Delaware history — a contest to decide which party controls the state Senate — Democrat Stephanie Hansen was on track to annihilate her Republican rival on the back of extraordinary turnout.
► In the NY Times — Angling for a comeback, Democratic governors sharpen focus on jobs — As Democrats battle President Trump on a multiplying array of issues, from immigration and climate change to health care and transgender rights, a group of Democratic governors is pressing the party to set one concern above all the rest: jobs.
NATIONAL
► In today’s NY Times — Kansas’ trickle-down flood of red ink (editorial) — Gov. Sam Brownback’s deep tax cuts failed to increase state revenue; they led, instead, to alarming deficits.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
I’m sure many readers would rather live in a nation in which more of life could be separated from politics. So would I! But civil society is under assault from political forces, so that defending it is, necessarily, political. And justified outrage must fuel that defense. When neither the president nor his allies in Congress show any sign of respecting basic American values, an aroused public that’s willing to take names is all we have.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.