I’m going to guess that as a great candidate he has already been running a few ads to tell people he appreciates their help, but that it means nothing if people don’t go out and vote.
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D. NY) in support of U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr. ‘s (D. PA) re-election campaign:
Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D. PA)
You know you're doing something right when the GOP is desperate to flip a seat – andPOLITICOreports that's exactly what's happening to my good friend Senator Bob Casey.
For eight years, Bob and I have worked side by side in the Senate to fight for Americans who need help the most. He's a champion for women and middle-class families – a defender of affordable health care who will never stop fighting back against President Trump's most destructive policies. It's easy to see why Republicans want him gone.
That's why I'm reaching out now: Bob needs to raise $10,000 bymidnighttonightto have the resources to fight back.So I need to ask this team: Can you donate today to help him meet his goal?
As both a friend and a colleague, I know Bob is an unstoppable force for good in the Senate. That's why I wanted to reach out today and ask this amazing team to stand with him now.
It's going to take all of us to reelect Bob and ensure that President Trump's hateful agenda hits a dead end.Will you help us hold on to Pennsylvania's Democratic Senate seat by donating $25 or more today?
An outside group that supports President Donald Trump is running a radio ad in Atlanta ahead of Georgia's special election Tuesday that takes the voice of former President Barack Obama out of context to make the argument that Democrats take black voters for granted.
Great America Alliance, a pro-Trump non-profit group that previously ran ads attacking former FBI director James Comey during his testimony, is running an ad that quotes Obama narrating his autobiographical book "Dreams From My Father." The ad, however, does not mention that in the selected passage, Obama is actually quoting someone else who is speaking about the black community and Chicago politics before the early 1980s.
The ad begins with narration from conservative activist Autry Pruitt.
"Hi, my name is Autry Pruitt, a fellow black American working hard every day, just like you. It may seem out of season, but all of a sudden, Democratic politicians have started coming around again. We normally only see them every other November, swarming around and making promises to get our vote. But nothing ever changes for us, does it? Here's what President Barack Obama had to say about it."
Then Obama can be heard saying, "Plantation politics. Black people in the worst jobs. The worst housing. Police brutality rampant. But when the so-called black committeemen came around election time, we'd all line up and vote the straight Democratic ticket. Sell our souls for a Christmas turkey."
Pruitt then says, "Let's not sell out for another Christmas turkey. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Democrats keep taking our votes for granted."
In the book, Obama was quoting a barber telling him about the political system in Chicago before the city elected Harold Washington, the city's first black mayor, in 1983. Immediately after the Christmas turkey line in the book, Obama quotes the barber as saying, "White folks spitting in our faces, and we'd reward 'em with the vote."
The ad is running days before the special election in Georgia's 6th congressional district, with Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel facing off in a tight race to fill the House seat left vacant by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
Eric Beach, a co-chair of Great America Alliance, said the ad was an attempt to run something "outside the box" and that the group was trying to show "creatively" that Democrats have a history of failed promises.
Asked about the cut line, Beach said, "it's like any ad, those are his words and we want to use his words and I'll leave it at that."
The special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District just took a turn for the ugly, as Republicans are seeking to turn last week’stragedy at a Virginia ballfieldinto a get-out-the-vote message: A GOP candidate getting shot is good news for Republican candidate Karen Handel.
“I think the shooting is going to win this election for us,” a Georgia Republican Party chairman said during a rally for Handel Saturday. According tothe Washington Post, Brad Carver kept going, seeming to indicate this was a good thing to say.
Because moderates and independents in this district are tired of left-wing extremism. I get that there’s extremists on both sides, but we are not seeing them. We’re seeing absolute resistance to everything this president does. Moderates and independents out there want to give him a chance. Democrats have never given this president a chance.”
Meanwhile, an ad from a Republican Super PAC linked Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff to both the recent shooting of Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and Kathy Griffin’scontroversial art pieceshowing a decapitated and bloodied Donald Trump head. It attempts to link Ossoff to both of these unrelated events by arguing that they’re all part of the “unhinged left.”
And of course this clown has to help bail out Handel:
PresidentDonald Trump on Monday reiterated his support for RepublicanKaren Handelin Georgia’s highly anticipated House runoff election, signaling how the race is being viewed as a bellwether for national politics.
In a morning tweet, Trump called on constituents in Georgia’s 6th District to “vote now for Karen H,” and criticized Democrats, who he said “want to stop tax cuts, good healthcare and Border Security.”
Tuesday’s runoff election between Handel and DemocratJon Ossoff, who are vying for the suburban Atlanta seat recently vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, has attracted the attention of outside groups and leaders in both national parties. With spending surpassing $40 million last week, the contest has become themost expensive House race in U.S. history.
Trump himselfappeared at a fundraiser for Handel back in April, praising her as “incredible” and depicting Ossoff as “someone who is going to raise your taxes to the sky and destroy your health care.”
As Nate Silver points out, it’s difficult to predict how Tuesday will result but there are some good indicators that work in our favor:
Georgia 6 is a tough district to diagnose because its politics in presidential electionsshifted a lot from 2012 to 2016. In 2012, the districtwent for Mitt Romney by 23 percentage pointsin an election that then-President Barack Obama won by 4 points nationally. That made it 27 points more Republican than the country as a whole. In 2016, by contrast, it chose Trump over Hillary Clinton byonly 1.5 pointsin an election where Clinton won the popular vote by about2 points nationally. Therefore, it was only 3 to 4 points more Republican than the national average.
If one uses the 2016 presidential election as a benchmark, this is a race that Democrats should be winning. They currently lead in thegeneric congressional ballotby about 7 percentage points, which ought to be enough for Ossoff to overcome the district’s modest GOP lean from 2016. By contrast, if one takes 2012 as the benchmark in the district, then even coming within single digits of Handel would represent a massive overperformance for Ossoff.
FiveThirtyEight’s usual procedure — what has produced the best predictions in past elections — is to combine the past two presidential cycles in a 3-1 ratio. That is to say, we’d take three parts from 2016, when the district was only slightly red-leaning, and one part from 2012, when it overwhelmingly backed Romney. By that formula, Georgia 6 is 9.5 points more Republican than the country as a whole. According to the generic ballot, the current political environment isn’t quite Democratic enough to overcome a 9.5-point deficit, so you’d expect Handel to win, although narrowly. (The table here describes a number of methods for projecting the Georgia 6 result, which I’ll explain further below. The one I just mentioned — taking a blend of recent presidential results and adjusting it based on the generic ballot — is the third in the table.)
Given that this is an election to Congress, one could also look at past congressional results for guidance. In2016, the Republican incumbent Tom Price, who vacated the seat to become Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services, won the district by 23 percentage points. This was somewhat less than his 32-point margin in2014and his 29-point margin in2012, but it nevertheless suggested that the district was still quite red. Republican representatives such as Price had asignificant incumbency advantagein 2016, as incumbents almost always do — even in supposedly anti-establishment environments. But even if you adjust for that advantage, the Republican lean of the district is about 15 points, still too much for Ossoff to overcome given the generic ballot. In fact, coming within several points of Handel would count as a good result for him given Price’s performance.
One could argue, however, that the standard for Democratic success should not be based on the generic ballot, but instead their results in special elections so far this year. By our method of benchmarking special elections, these have beenverygood for Democrats and are consistent with a political climate in which Democrats would win the national House vote by about15 points.
That makes for a big difference. With a 7-point win in the House popular vote, as the generic ballot shows, Democrats would be only about even money to take over the House next year, given the way the vote is distributed among districts. With a 15-point win, they’d be all but assured of doing so — in fact, they’d probably have a massive wave election on the scale of 1994 or 2010, with lots of Republicans in supposedly safe districts being caught in the undertow. If Democrats are to keep pace with their special election results so far, then Ossoff probably should be winning the race, not just coming close — and Georgia 6 should be the election where Democrats go from “moral victories” to actual wins.
Anotherset of benchmarking methodsinvolves extrapolating from thefirst-round vote in Georgia on April 18. In that election, multiple candidates from both parties were on the ballot. Ossoff got by far the most votes with 48 percent, with Handel finishing in a distant second at 20 percent to claim the other runoff spot. However, the Republican candidates combined got about 51 percent of the vote, compared to 49 percent for Ossoff and other Democrats together. Methods that factor in these results generally suggest a close race, but perhaps with Ossoff as a slight favorite. One of these methods, for instance, takes into account that while Republicans narrowly won the aggregate vote on April 18, the political climate hasbecome somewhat more Democratic since then, perhaps just enough for Ossoff to win by a point or two.
Finally, there’sthe polling, which shows Ossoff ahead by a not-very-safe margin of about 2 percentage points. You’d rather be 2 points ahead than 2 points behind, however.
But what might ultimately be the deciding factor in this election is Trumpcare:
But anAtlanta Journal-Constitution poll released last weekshows voters in Georgia’s 6thDistrict reject the GOP’s AHCA despite Price’s long record as a Congressman opposing the ACA and supporting the Republican-led House’s legislation that narrowly passed last month with all GOP votes. The AHCA could spell trouble for the Republican, Handel, who supports Trumpcare and favors repeal and replacement of the ACA.
There are 31 states plus the District of Columbia that agreed to expand Medicaid under the ACA, which was signed into law seven years ago by President Barack Obama.
But Georgia is one of the 19 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid, which could be a wild card for voters in Tuesday’s election. The ACA’s Medicaid expansion is also a sticking point in the U.S. Senate where Republican senators are divided on whether to keep it or roll it back and make room in the federal budget for tax cuts.
Here’s the latest news on the Senate GOP’s secret plan to steal your health care:
A leading option in the Senate's ObamaCare repeal-and-replace debate is to make even deeper cuts to Medicaid spending than the bill passed by the House, according to lobbyists and aides.
The proposal would start out the growth rate for a new cap on Medicaid spending at the same levels as the House bill, but then drop to a lower growth rate that would cut spending more, known as CPI-U, starting in 2025, the sources said.
That proposal has been sent to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for analysis, a Senate GOP aide said.
The aide said that plan has been described as a "consensus option that has been sent to CBO," though no final decision has been made yet. Another aide said there are still other options in the mix.
Democrats and some more moderate Republicans were already warning about Medicaid cuts in the House-passed bill, which reduces Medicaid spending by more than $800 billion over 10 years.
The CBO found that the House bill would cause 14 million fewer people to be enrolled in Medicaid over 10 years.
Up for re-election in 2018 in a state Hillary Clinton won, Heller is perhaps one of the most vulnerable Republicans in this health care debate. Heller also comes from a state that thanks to expanded Medicaid has seen its uninsured rate drop from 23 percent to 12 percent.
The senator has been fighting alongside Portman to more slowly phase out federal money for Medicaid expansion. But Heller is facing a bit more pressure from back home. His Republican Gov. Brian Sandovaltold the Nevada Independentthis week he would prefer the expansion didn't go away at all.
That's not going to happen in the Senate where non-expansion Republicans have argued that Medicaid-expansion states shouldn't be allowed to keep more federal money.
And Senator Shitkicker is also a key player in the health care debate:
Cruz is trying a new role in the debate over health care: negotiator.
Rather than sticking to the firebrand, leadership-agitating strategy that defined his early years in the Senate, Cruz -- and those who have been working with him-- insist he is working constructively behind the scenes to get to 'yes' on health care.
But that doesn't change the fact that Cruz is still one of the Senate's most conservative members who has said that he wants to ensure that the Senate health care bill actually lowers premiums.
Like many conservatives, Cruz believes that in order to bring down the cost of health insurance, lawmakers need to repeal as many of the Obamacare-era regulations as possible. He also has advocated to repeal Obamacare taxes as soon as possible.
A twist: Cruz is up for re-election in 2018. And a bad position for Cruz would be to on the opposite side of Trump who has said he likes the direction the Senate bill is moving.
With all this in mind, Democrats are continuing to make Heller and Cruz top targets in the health care debate along with these two GOPers:
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is launching digital “takeover” ads against three Senate Republicans and a governor to increase the pressure on the Senate’s health-care bill at a time when activists worry that the closed-door drafting process has granted it momentum.
The buy features “The Price,” a spot the DSCC began running when the American Health Care Act first moved through the House. In it, parents hock their valuables to pay for a child’s hospital stay. The anonymous setting of the spot has made it easy to repurpose; in this case, it’s being aimed at Sens. Jeff Flake, Ariz., Dean Heller, Nev., and Ted Cruz, Tex., and Florida Gov. Rick Scott, R.
Heller is the one Republican senator up for reelection in 2018 from a state that backed Hillary Clinton for president last year. Flake, who narrowly won a first term in an increasingly blue state, remains a target. Scott, who has hinted at a 2018 run, is perhaps the most threatening self-funder who might seek a seat held by a Democrat. And Cruz is being challenged by Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D, who’s seen as a long shot but has won fans in the national Democratic orbit.
That’s right, Democrats are trying to define Scott early before he gets into the race. Here’s the ad:
We should keep up the pressure on all Senate Republicans but Heller, Flake and Cruz really need to feel the heat. Click below to contact the three Senators and raise Hell:
Another thing you can do is to help incumbent U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D. FL) and Rep. Beto O’Roruke get ready to win next year. Click below to donate and get involved with their campaigns:
Khizr Khan – the gold star father of Captain Humayun Khan who was killed in Iraq in 2004 – has returned to the campaign trail to cut an endorsement ad for Jon Ossoff.
Khan’s endorsement ad for Ossoff is much less gut-wrenching than theadhe appeared in for Clinton.
In his endorsement video, Khan says that contrary to what some critics say, Ossoff won’t be a puppet for Nancy Pelosi. “On June 20th, Georgia has the power to vote for fresh leadership,” Khan says. “To put an independent voice in Washington who cares about you and your families, and who will be accountable, not to a party but to the people who elected him.”
Khan continues, by picking uphis criticism of Trumponce again. “Jon Ossoff understands that we cannot solve our problems by building walls or sowing division,” he says. “America needs more leaders like Jon Ossoff in Washington. Leaders who united instead of divide us, and who will fight for our Constitutional rights.”
Received this e-mail today from Governor Tom Wolf’s (D. PA) re-election campaign:
Gov. Tom Wolf (D. PA)
I sent a letter warning Attorney General Jeff Sessions to uphold the protections that states have to pass and regulate their own medical marijuana laws after news came out that he personally asked Congress to allow him to prosecute medical marijuana providers.
Last year, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle came together to pass this legislation after hearing from families, doctors, and advocates. I stood with veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and children suffering from daily seizures -- and I was proud to sign medical marijuana legalization into law to provide much-needed relief to them and their families.
If Attorney General Sessions tries to stand in the way of a patient's access to cannabis for medical treatment of illnesses and diseases, I will instruct the Attorney General of Pennsylvania to take action to protect our sovereignty.
If you're with me, help me send this urgent message to Congress and Attorney General Sessions: Don't undo the Rohrabacher-Farr protections and remove protections for states to legalize and regulate medical cannabis:
Remember how I’ve been saying that we need to hold tight for a big name Democrat to run against U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R. NV)? Well, I think we may have found one:
Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) plans to run against Republican Sen. Dean Heller for his Senate seat in Nevada, according to multiple people familiar with her plans.
Heller is widely considered the most vulnerable Republican up for re-election in 2018 and is the only GOP senator this cycle who represents a state won by Hillary Clinton in 2016. A Public Policy Polling survey released Monday had Heller receiving just 39 percent of the vote if the match-up were held today against a generic Democrat, who earned 46 percent of support among Nevada voters.
Rosen is expected to formally announce in a couple weeks, according to one source.
The recruitment of Rosen has the strong imprint of former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who was entrusted by the party establishment to identify the strongest candidate to challenge Heller. Reid settled on Rosen, figuring that she’s a fresh face with little political baggage and would be the most formidable opponent, according to a person familiar with the matter.
We’ll see if Rep. Dina Titus (D. NV-01) or any other big name Democrats also get in but this is off to a great start.
Received this e-mail today from State Rep. Todd Prichard’s (D. IA) gubernatorial campaign:
It took two and a half years for word of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas. But on June 19th, 1865, newly freed slaves in Galveston rejoiced as the proclamation was announced.
Today, on Juneteenth, our nation celebrates those who survived under the horrors of slavery and won their emancipation for the 152nd time.
But just as Juneteenth serves as a reminder of celebrations long ago, it's also a reminder of the hard work and struggle required to end racism and discrimination -- and the work we have yet to do.
Although Iowa was founded as a free state from the beginning, Iowans now lag behind much of the nation in addressing systemic racism.
Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Justice show that Iowa locks up 11.1 times as many black men and women as white Iowans -- more than all but two states in the nation.
The unemployment rate for black Iowans was almost three times as high as the national unemployment rate, at 14.8 percent, in 2015. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that's the worst rate of any state in the country.
And in the area surrounding our state's capitol, where many Iowans have prospered, black Polk County residents have fallen behind the rest of the community on nearly every measure. Black households made a median income of just $26,725, less than half of the overall median income.
These facts are harsh, unforgiving and shameful. They're also complex, and some would say that Iowa's government isn't equipped to solve them.
But instead of attempting to find solutions, this year our legislature took our state further in the wrong direction, passing laws that will make it harder to vote and preventing local governments from raising wages and expanding civil rights laws.
If you choose to make me your next governor, I'll work to reverse these laws on day one. I'll make a community college education and job training available to all, support legislation to increase wages, ensure every Iowan has access to affordable healthcare, and work with leaders across the spectrum to examine criminal justice reforms.
Received this e-mail today from JB Pritzker’s (D. IL) gubernatorial campaign:
I am so incredibly honored and humbled today to receive the support of one of the fiercest fighters in Congress, Congressman Luis Gutierrez. Luis Gutierrez is a progressive champion for immigrant communities and the most vulnerable people in Illinois. He has proven that he has what it takes to resist Donald Trump, defeat Bruce Rauner, and get our state back on track.
When we think of the resistance, one of the loudest voices is Luis Gutierrez. He fought Donald Trump all across the nation in 2016 and despite Trump’s win, Luis never gave up. When it came time for Trump’s inauguration, Luis announced to the world:
I could not look at my wife, my daughters or my grandson in the eye if I sat there and attended, as if everything that candidate Donald Trump had said about women, about Latinos, about Blacks, or about Muslims is OK. It's not.
Luis was handcuffed by police protesting Trump’s deportations. He has called Trump a con artist and a bully. Congressman Gutierrez will never stop fighting for what’s right – and neither will I.
During the most consequential Presidential election of our lifetimes, I traveled the nation knocking on doors and phone banking. I went on national television and called Trump a racist and a xenophobe - because that is exactly what he is. And I haven't stopped resisting.
It's why I protested at O’Hare Airport when the Immigration Executive Order was issued in February. It's why I have regularly protested the GOP’s effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It’s why I called for Donald Trump’s impeachment. And I will keep standing up to Trump as your governor.
Just like Donald Trump, Bruce Rauner tweets and runs commercials blaming everyone else for his failures. He and Donald Trump have the same agenda and the same governing style: attack, blame, deny and divide. The truth is – Bruce Rauner has no one to blame for the state’s current mess but himself.
When I am governor, immigrant families in Illinois will have a friend in Springfield. Instead of blocking refugees from entering our state like Bruce Rauner, I will work to make Illinois a welcoming state. I will restore funding to critical immigrant services and programs. I will stand with our DREAMers and ensure bright young students have the opportunity to graduate from college and contribute to the economy. I will fight Donald Trump’s deportations.
The TRUST Act was recently passed in Springfield, and it stands up to Donald Trump’s fearmongering and hate. It fosters a culture of respect and trust between law enforcement and the Illinoisans they serve. Bruce Rauner has so far been unwilling to sign the Trust Act.
I am telling you right now, when I am governor I will proudly sign the Trust Act into law. If you stand with me – share the message below to tell Bruce Rauner that it’s his duty as the governor of this state to protect our people against Trump’s hateful agenda.
The most important work of my life has been the effort to make the lives of Illinoisans better. I won’t stop as your governor. And I am so very proud to have Luis Gutierrez as a partner and a friend in the fight ahead.
Received this e-mail today from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee in support of Jon Ossoff’s (D. GA-06) campaign:
Jon Ossoff’s Republican opponent in the Georgia 6th special congressional election told Breitbart News today that healthcare “hasn’t been that much of an issue on the ground.”
BULLPUCKY!!!She just doesn’t want to talk about healthcare.
Just last week, anAtlanta Journal Constitutionpoll found that 80% of GA-6 likely voters listed health care as “extremely important” or “very important” in their decision of who to vote for -- more important than taxes, abortion, and government spending.And 3 out of 4 don’t like the Republican healthcare repeal -- including half of Republican voters!
But that’s who we’re up against intomorrow’selection -- a Republican candidate with her snoot so far up the rear ends of powerful conservative interests that in a debate 2 weeks agoshe flat out said "I do not support a living wage."
Tomorrowis Election Day in this race and the polls show it's extremely close. Every vote matters. Will you sign up to make Election Day calls to Get Out The Vote in the Georgia 6th?
Progressives have been in the trenches fighting alongside Jon Ossoff for months.Thousands of PCCC members have donated and we have multiple PCCC staff on the ground working with local PCCC volunteers to help Ossoff win. And there are good reasons.
Jon Ossoff supports a living wage -- unlike his Republican opponent. He even wants to make sure it increases with the cost of living so it doesn’t get eroded by inflation anymore.
Jon Ossoff supports women’s right to choose and women’s healthcare, and has vowed to defend Planned Parenthood in Congress.
Jon Ossoff opposes Trump’s decision to pull back from the Paris climate agreement and has vowed to work to make the US a global leader against climate change.
Now, everything hinges on getting Ossoff’s voters to the pollstomorrow. Can you help?
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin’s (D. WI) re-election campaign:
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D. WI)
I’m about to walk to the floor of the Senate and tell my health care story. For weeks, I’ve been hearing from Americans about their health care and how much Trumpcare could devastate their families.Well, I’m adding my voice to theirs and holding the Senate floor to speak out against the GOP’s secretive health care plan.
You may not know this, but when I was 9 I got sick. I got really sick, and I was in the hospital for months. Luckily, I got better.
However, my problems weren’t over. I was branded with the words “pre-existing condition,” and in those days it meant I couldn’t get health insurance on any plan at any cost.
My grandparents, who helped raise me, sacrificed greatly to provide me with care, and they had to live with the uncertainty that haunts those who are one sickness away from disaster.
Here’s the important thing about my story — it’s not just mine.Families across America have experienced this exact same struggle. They’ve sat at their kitchen table at night and worried that an injury or ailment could leave their family destitute. They’ve sacrificed to pay out of pocket costs. They’ve lived with the incredible fear that a lack of health care creates.
That’s why when I got to Congress it was one of the things I knew I wanted to tackle. I am particularly proud that the Affordable Care Act has two provisions I championed fiercely. The first allows children to stay on their parents’ health care until they are 26. The other is the guarantee of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions — people like me.
Now, the Senate GOP is meeting behind closed doors and planning to rush through legislation that could gut those protections as well as cut critical funding for programs Americans need to survive.
That is absolutely wrong.
We have work to do to make health care more affordable. But the way forward isn’t locking one party in a room to write a bill, refusing to hold public hearings, and then pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes by voting as quickly as possible.
I’m headed to the floor to tell my story and keep up the fight for affordable and accessible health care.
Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, the political arm of one of the nation’s biggest gun control groups, is endorsing Virginia gubernatorial contender Ralph Northam and the rest of the statewide Democratic ticket.
The group, and the Virginia chapter of its affiliated Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, is backing Northam, lieutenant governor contender Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark R. Herring’s re-election bid.
It is also endorsing Chris Hurst, a former Roanoke television anchor whose girlfriend was shot and killed on live television, in his bid fora House of Delegates seat .Hurst’s girlfriend, a reporter, and her cameraman were fatally shot by a former employee of the television station, who later killed himself.
All of the candidates will appear Tuesday with Everytown representatives at a formal announcement in Arlington, near the community where a week ago a gunman opened fire at a practice of the Republican congressional baseball team and wounded five people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.).
The action fund is a spinoff of Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s highest profile gun-control group that is largely bankrolled by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The fund pouredmore than $2 millioninto Virginia Democratic campaigns in 2015 during the party’s unsuccessful bid to regain control of the state Senate.
Click below to donate and get involved with these Progressive Virginia Democrats’ campaigns:
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has joined forces with Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey and law enforcement officials, including Huntington Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli, in an effort to fight the House Healthcare Bill. A new report released early Tuesday morning, details how the bill would worsen the opioid crisis.
During a conference call, officials described in detail how the House bill would undermine coverage for substance abuse, wipe out funding and leave those struggling with addiction without the care they need to overcome the disease.
The new health care bill also would roll back Medicaid, leaving 14 million people without coverage, which has never happened before.
The senators say this is a critical time for the opioid crisis and Medicaid, seeing as they are connected.
“My state has been hit has hard as any state in the nation! We still have people believing that addiction is not an illness and we know it is an illness. And an illness needs treatment. The Affordable Care Act allows that,” said Senator Manchin, “In 2016 more than 50,000 Medicaid recipients were diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder. Medicaid paid for 72 percent of nursing home care in WV. Democrats have not been involved in the process of putting this bill together or to look over this bill.”
Ken Strush, Police Chief of Berwick County, Pennsylvania agrees.
“Drug arrest have doubled and tripled in recent years. Addiction is a disease and not a crime. This is hitting all socioeconomic sectors and we can’t arrest our way out of it, “ Strush said.
“More people have died from drug overdoses than car crashes, and it’s the opioids that are fueling this crisis," said Mr. Casey, who saidopioid overdoses caused 1,300 deaths in Pennsylvaniain 2015. But "In the midst of this terrible crisis, Republicans want to roll back the Medicaid expansion and the [insurance] premium assistance that have been so important."
Under Obamacare, states were given the option to expand eligibility for Medicaid to more low-income families, who can use those benefits to pay for substance-abuse treatment along with other medical conditions. Some 700,000 Pennsylvanians received insurance coverage under that program, 180,500 West Virginians do. And in a report released this morning, Mr. Casey said that the expanded benefits provide substance-abuse treatment for 175,000 Pennsylvanians, covering the cost of one-third of all treatment provided statewide.
Medicaid plays a similar role in other states, conference participants said, especially in struggling communities.
"Our loss of Medicaid is literally going to kill people in Kentucky," said Alexandria, Ky., police chief Mike Ward, one of three local police chiefs to take part in the call.
Well said. This is one of the several great arguments why McConnell and Senate GOP are putting so many lives at risk and they need to be stopped. That’s why Senate Democrats are pushing to slow things down:
Monday evening, Senate Dems ground routine Senate business to a near halt with procedural moves designed to slow the process, while engaging in a late night talk-a-thon on the floor.
“If Republicans are not going to allow debate on their bill on the floor or in committee, Democrats will make opportunities to debate,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Throughout the nearly seven hours they devoted to objecting to the GOP’s intentions on health care, Democrats engaged in a number of mostly symbolic moves designed to troll Republicans for their lack of transparency around their Obamacare legislation. They offered motions to gum up plans for unrelated hearings and votes for as long as text of the Republican bill was unavailable to the public.
At one point, Schumer asked Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)—who was on the floor for much of the the night to shoot down the Dem motions—whether the public would have more than 10 hours to read the GOP health care bill, and McConnell could not even guarantee that.
“I think we’ll have ample opportunity to read and amend the bill,” McConnell would only say.
Democracy for America is helping Senate Democrats efforts to stop Trumpcare. I received this e-mail yesterday from DFA:
Americansof all political affiliations are disgusted with Senate Republicans' efforts to force a vote on their "secret" Trumpcare bill. This lack of transparency is an abuse of power, and insulting to the 24 millionAmericanswhose health care is threatened by the Trumpcare bill.
Senate Republicans hope to pass the bill by the end of the month. That's10 days from now.
DFA members know this is extremely urgent. That's why we're asking you to join other DFA members and commit to spending the next10 Days to Defeat Trumpcare.
Here's how 10 Days to Defeat Trumpcare works.Each weekday for the remainder of June, either I or another DFA staffer will send you an action to take-- such as contacting Senators, and organizing your friends and family to participate to defeat Trumpcare.
Together we will demand that Republican Senators listen to their constituents and refuse to vote for Trumpcare. We will also encourageDemocraticSenators to resist by delaying the votes as much as possible.
To be clear, we don't know the exact date when the Senate will vote. It's possible that Republicans will delay the vote. We're asking you to commit 10 Days to Defeat Trumpcare so that all of us can show every member of the Senate that we won't stand for this awful attack on health care.
Right now and deep intotonight, Senate Democrats are taking a united first step in grinding the Senate to a halt.
In speeches all night, they're calling out Senate Republicans for allowing 13 white men to write an Obamacare repeal bill in complete secrecy. Republican Leader Mitch McConnell intends to race it to a votenext week:
Washington Post:GOP Senate leaders aim to bring health-care legislation to the floor by end of June"
New York Times:The Senate Hides Its Trumpcare Bill Behind Closed Doors
The person who first shined the spotlight on the latest Republican plan was Sen.ClaireMcCaskill(D-Missouri) -- and her actions went viral quickly! Cosmopolitan Magazine wrote, "What a sight to behold."
Tonight'sa great first step -- watch the video that started it all. Then sign the petition to Senate Democrats urging them to use every tool at their disposal to stop this secret repeal plan -- and show voters a positive vision like a public option.
As you sign the petition, you can also give a short description of how the Republican repeal bill would impact your family or people you know.
SenatorMcCaskillhas agreed to deliver these stories to her colleagues -- including stories from the states of Republican senators.
Elizabeth Warren summarizedMcCaskill's moment:
She asked the Republican chairman a really simple question: Will they have a hearing on the GOP Trumpcare proposal before they have a vote in the Senate? Will we get a chance to read the bill, question some experts, and show it to people back home? The answer? No. It was stunning and infuriating...I cheered when I sawClaire’s video – and so did millions of others.
Check out these headlines:
Cosmopolitan:ClaireMcCaskillEviscerates Orrin Hatch over Trumpcare. What a sight to behold.
Mediaite:WATCH: Video ofMcCaskillRipping GOP ‘Back Room’ Tactics Goes Viral
TPM:Sen.McCaskillRips Into Sen. Hatch Over GOP Scheme to Revamp Trumpcare in Secret
Received this e-mail today from Phil Murphy’s (D. NJ) gubernatorial campaign:
Phil Murphy (D. NJ)
Voting is the lifeblood of our democracy. We must tear down barriers to voting and make it easier -- not harder -- for people to engage in the political process.
Unfortunately, President Donald Trump has formed a dangerous commission to explore how to strip voting rights from millions of Americans -- including many here in New Jersey. Sadly, Governor Christie and Lieutenant Governor Guadagno have stood by President Trump. We know exactly what this commission aims to accomplish:
President Trump's goal is to hold onto power for himself and his allies by making it more difficult, if not impossible, for immigrants, people of color, women, students, seniors, and working Americans to vote in the upcoming elections.
Even before President Trump entered the White House, Republican governors and legislatures have been systematically trying to disenfranchise voters -- an effort Governor Christie and Lieutenant Governor Guadagno have supported here in New Jersey as they cater to national right-wing special interests.
Governor Christie even admitted that Republicans need to win statewide office across the country so they can "oversee the voting mechanisms" to ensure they can control who can vote and who cannot in future elections. And at every step, Lieutenant Governor Guadagno has remained silent as Trump and Christie make voting harder.
I believe we are a better, stronger, more representative democracy when more people participate. As governor, I'll sign into law every pro-voter participation reform Governor Christie vetoed to provide for automatic voter registration, allow online voter registration, permit the registration of new voters at the polls on Election Day, and allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they turn 18 on or before the date of the general election.
These are commonsense measures that will modernize our voting laws and bring new interest into the political process. The more we can do to give more residents access to the ballot, so more voters can have a say in the future of our state and communities, the better.
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D. MI) in support of his colleague, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow’s (D. MI) re-election campaign:
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D. MI)
I’m not going to sugar coat this. Donald Trump won Michigan by just 10,000 votes and Republicans see an opportunity to expand the map in 2018.
They believe they can beat Debbie Stabenow. If they’re right, they’ll fill yet another Senate seat with a rubber stamp for President Trump and the GOP’s radical agenda.
Now more than ever we need Debbie. That’s why I’m asking you to have her back right now.
The last month shows the urgency in making sure Debbie and I stay partners in the Senate for years to come:
President Trump’s reckless behavior with James Comey
The elimination of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative from the 2018 budget
Secretary Betsy Devos’ continued attacks on our public schools
A health care proposal that leaves 23 million without insurance.
Debbie and I can hold President Trump accountable and stand up for Michigan families — but it’s not going to be easy. Debbie’s race is one of the most important in the country. It may only be 2017, but GOP Super PACs are already running attack ads against her.
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Tim Kaine’s (D. VA) re-election campaign:
Sen. Tim Kaine (D. VA)
“Trump has alleged, without evidence, that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in his 2016 election against Democrat Hillary Clinton.” -- Associated Press, 5/12/17
Let’s get one thing straight -- there was no widespread voter fraud in 2016, and there certainly weren’t millions of people voting illegally.
So why has President Trump repeated these allegations? Why has he created a so-called “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity” to investigate voter fraud?
Because he’s using it as cover for his planned attack on voting rights.
The GOP is planning to use the myth of voter fraud to make it harder for people to vote, just as they’ve done in states from North Carolina to Wisconsin to Texas.
The truth is, we do have voting problems in this country -- and they involve Republicans making it harder for certain people (especially people of color, young people, and urban Democrats) to vote.
Voter suppression is very common and comes in different shapes and sizes, including burdensome photo ID laws, changing poll locations, and shortening early voting hours. All of these tactics make it harder for people to vote -- which is precisely the point.
President Trump’s voter fraud allegations are so dangerous precisely because they have the potential to curtail one of our most basic American rights -- the right to vote.
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s (D. MN) re-election campaign:
Last night I took to the Senate floor with my colleagues to ask why the Senate healthcare bill is being drafted in secret behind closed doors -- Americans deserve to know.
Senate Republicans are rushing towards a July 4th deadline, and we haven't even had a hearing or seen a bill.
Here is what we do know. The President himself recently used one word to describe the healthcare bill passed by the House Republicans: mean. And he didn't need a focus group or poll to come up with that description. The last thing we need in the Senate is Mean 2.
We should be working together to improve healthcare, not drafting a secret bill that could take away care from millions without a single hearing.
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D. OH) re-election campaign:
This excerpt of a 2015 Forbes interview with former Turing Pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli pretty well sums up the problem with Big Pharma's approach to drug pricing:
"Shkreli was painfully clear: His job isn't making patients better. It's making the most dollars.
'My shareholders expect me to make the most profit,' Shkreli said, a theme that he returned to again and again. 'That's the ugly, dirty truth.'"
Here's the ugly, dirty truth as I see it: When patients can't afford the life-saving prescription drugs they need, people die. That's not hyperbole -- it's just how it is.
And when pharmaceutical corporations raise their prices for no other reason than to pad their profits, that's price gouging.
President Trump said in the past he wants to do something about this issue. It's not impossible to imagine something getting done, so it’s time for us to take action.
Require drug companies to report increases to drug prices and justify those hikes, and
Penalize companies for unjustified hikes.
We can do a lot of good for people in Ohio -- people like Elizabeth. Elizabeth lives in southwest Ohio. Around 25 years ago, she paid about $20 for a single vial of insulin. Now it costs her $173.
I've heard from hundreds of constituents with stories like this. Constituents who have severe allergies, and carry EpiPens with them wherever they go. Back in 2009, a two-pack of these life-saving injectors cost about $100. That price had increased to $608 in 2016.
I've heard from the folks in Ohio that run hospitals. Hospitals are getting hit hard by these price hikes, which are requiring them to spend millions of dollars more to treat patients. These costs then get passed on to patients.
These pharmaceutical companies don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican. They're gouging everyone. It is long past time we do something about this.
