This piece was originally published in the October 13, 2020 edition of CAP Action’s daily newsletter, the Progress Report. Subscribe to the Progress Report here.
Photo by Michael on Unsplash
— Lindsey Graham on the ACA, which led to his state’s uninsured rate dropping by more than a third.
Lindsey Graham kicked off today’s hearings by baselessly attacking the Affordable Care Act.
But Americans know the truth.
Here’s what could happen when the ACA comes before the Supreme Court next month:
- Another hearing, another day of Senate Republicans and Amy Coney Barrett showing us exactly who they are and what they would do with a conservative Supreme Court majority. The big moment thus far in today’s hearings (which are still ongoing as we write this) was when Barrett told Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) that she didn’t view Roe v. Wade as having set a “super-precedent.” In doing so, she made clear that she thinks Roe is fair game to be overturned, a belief she has held for years.
- Lindsey Graham opened this morning’s hearing with a wandering rant about the Affordable Care Act. After criticizing the law — which, we’ll remind you, made health insurance accessible and affordable for millions of Americans — Graham tried to walk back his focus on health care, saying the Trump-backed ACA repeal lawsuit set to go before the court next month “has got nothing to do with this hearing.” Sure, Lindsey.
- Amy Coney Barrett has a concerning record on race, to put it lightly. She suggested today that school segregation no longer exists (Fact check: false). Just last year, she wrote in a ruling that being called a racial slur by your manager doesn’t constitute a “hostile or abusive working environment.” Moments ago, when asked by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) why she didn’t think structural racism was a problem for the courts to consider, she dodged the question, seemingly uninterested in discussing the undeniable racial bias in the criminal justice system.
- Senator Booker also asked Barrett tonight if she believes that every president should commit to the peaceful transfer of power. Barrett refused to give a clear answer to the question.
Don’t miss the latest edition of What’s Trending?, our new newsletter about online disinformation and the right-wing dominance of Facebook. Sign up here to get it in your inbox tomorrow.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Nearly 90 of Amy Coney Barrett’s former colleagues at Notre Dame signed a scathing letter today expressing their distaste with the rushed and unprecedented Supreme Court confirmation process. In the letter, they call for “a halt to [her] nomination process until after the November presidential election.”
- Trump is stopping by Johnstown, Pennsylvania today for another campaign rally as the pandemic continues to kill hundreds of Americans every day. His botched handling of the pandemic — and his lies to the American people about the danger it poses — have led to the deaths of more than 215,000 Americans. After leaving the hospital following his treatment for COVID-19 last week, Trump has been gallivanting around the country for more rallies, including a very strange one in Florida last night at which he was joined by Governor DeSantis.
- A new CAP Action analysis details how Trump is the worst president on record for working women. Nearly 2 million fewer women are employed now than when Trump took office in 2017. But Trump was failing women even before the pandemic hit. In 2019, 1.2 million more women were uninsured than before he took office, a period that saw the overall number of uninsured drop for the first time in a decade.
WHAT WE’RE READING
Like the Progress Report? Our team relies on the support of grassroots progressives like you. Chip in $5 or whatever you can to power our work.