Today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled an updated version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act—a.k.a. Trumpcare. McConnell and his fellow majority leaders are stuck between a moderate and an extreme place, so this version of the bill is supposed to include tweaks to win over enough votes to pass the bill by August 14th, when the Senate will go on recess.
But surprise! This version of the bill looks just like the last. It still slashes Medicaid by more than $700 billion, guts coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, cuts taxes for the wealthy through health savings accounts, and exponentially raises costs for older Americans.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is set to release a new analysis of the bill on Monday, and in anticipation of another bruising score, the White House is already trying to discredit the CBO and Senate leaders are considering using an alternate score from the Trump administration. As a reminder, HHS Secretary Tom Price personally chose the director of the CBO. And another reminder, this is the same White House that can’t spell or add. So maybe we should stick with the nonpartisan experts at CBO when it comes to scoring.
Bottom line: no matter how they spin it, the Senate is doing everything it can to pass a bill that will take health care away from millions of people and give a tax break to the wealthy few.
ACTION OF THE DAY
Stop Trumpcare. Senate Majority Leaders are trying to put the same cruel health care bill into a new package to get it passed. Don’t fall for it. Go to TrumpcareToolkit.org to make sure your senators know to #VoteNo on Trumpcare.
WHAT’S TRENDING
Anti-Voter Suppression. Yesterday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Anti-Voter Suppression Act, a bill that would end the Trump administration’s commission to investigate so-called voter fraud. The bill would defund the commission altogether because, as Sen. Booker pointed out, a person is more likely to be struck by lightening than to commit voter fraud. This commission is nothing more than an attempt to make it even harder for Americans to vote.
#ThinkingCAP. This week, former HHS Secretary and former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius joins the show to discuss GOP efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and what she really thinks of single-payer health care. Listen here.
Net Neutrality. The Federal Communications Commission is planning to scrap net neutrality rules, which ensure that broadband providers treat all websites equally. Destroying net neutrality would give big cable companies control over what we see and do online—resulting in widespread throttling, blocking, censorship, and fees. Yesterday, a huge group of people—including Internet giants like Google, Amazon, and Facebook—came together to speak out against the FCC’s plans. You can submit a public comment to the FCC in support of net neutrality until July 17.
Marches. The NRA claims to stand for the 2nd Amendment rights of all Americans, but their silence since the acquittal of Officer Yanez for shooting and killing Philando Castile, a law-abiding gun owner, betrays a deep hypocrisy. That’s why our friends from the Women’s March are marching on the NRA tomorrow. Full details on the rally and march here.
UNDER THE RADAR
Secretary of Discrimination. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is threatening to roll back Title IX guidance outlining the rights of student survivors of sexual violence. Undoing these guidelines would allow schools to routinely sweep sexual assault under the rug. This is just one of several actions DeVos has already taken as Education Secretary to undermine students’ civil rights and enable discrimination.
GOOD NEWS
New Era? An FDA panel unanimously recommended that the agency approve a brand new gene therapy treatment to fight leukemia. The FDA will likely approve the treatment, which could usher in a new era in the fight against cancer.