This piece was originally published in the September 30, 2020 edition of CAP Action’s daily newsletter, the Progress Report. Subscribe to the Progress Report here.
Source: Reuters
— Joe Biden on Trump’s empty promises about health care
Essential workers. Teachers. Firefighters. Nurses. Construction workers.
They all pay more taxes than Trump.
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- We made it through the first debate, however chaotic, bigoted, and frustrating it may have been. Chris Wallace, who we’ll remind you is a Fox News anchor, was widely criticized for his inability to keep Trump from talking over Biden and spewing nonsense to an audience of millions. Trump interrupted both Wallace and Biden a total of 128 times throughout the night. Wallace’s lack of interference left many of us wishing we could mute Trump’s microphone ourselves. In the wake of last night’s chaos, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that they’d be making changes to the structure and format of the remaining two debates.
- The moment that stuck with many viewers was Trump’s repeated refusal to condemn white supremacy. When Wallace asked him to condemn white supremacist groups like the Proud Boys, Trump first attempted to divert the conversation, then gave in and said they should “Stand back and stand by.”
- The Proud Boys, who are designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, are already rejoicing that Trump essentially encouraged them to prepare for battle on a national stage. Their members have flooded chat rooms and even created merch around the moment. To be clear, this isn’t a surprise — Trump has failed to condemn white supremacy numerous times, most notably after the deadly 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville. But that doesn’t make it any less racist or unacceptable.
- On that dark note, there was one highlight: The moderator asked a question about climate change. Climate activists have been pushing for debate moderators to ask questions about climate change — one of the most pressing and time-sensitive issues of our time — for years. Trump went into full climate-denier mode, reverting to his baseless comments about forest management rather than addressing the need to act fast to curb global warming.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Chuck Schumer took control of the Senate floor yesterday in a rare move to force a procedural vote on a bill, a step that is typically done only by the Senate majority leader. As a result, the Senate will vote later this week on a bill that would protect the 135 million Americans with preexisting conditions if the Supreme Court sides with the Trump-backed lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The case is set to go before the Court days after the November election. And as Republican Senators keep claiming they support people with preexisting conditions despite supporting an ACA repeal, it’s a smart way to hold them to those (so far, empty) promises.
- Today is the 44th anniversary of the passage of the Hyde Amendment, which is a provision in the federal budget restricting Medicaid funding for abortions. Check out this toolkit from the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health to learn more about Rosie Jimenez (the first woman known to have died in the U.S. due to an illegal abortion after Hyde was passed), the history of the legislation, and how you can join the fight to make reproductive health care more equitable.
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