Republican senator tells 73,000 West Virginians they're not losing Medicaid, they're in "transition"

Daily Kos
June 14, 2017


Last time we checked in on the Republican Senate, Nevada's Dean Heller was the big weasel on Medicaid, trying to pretend he wasn't supporting the massive cuts to the program that he most definitely is supporting.

That level of weasel-ness has now been matched by Shelley Moore Capito from West Virginia, who is trying to redefine phasing out Medicaid expansion as a "transition period."
She told The Hill's Peter Sullivan not to call it a phase-out of the money.

CAPITO:
"I phrase it as a seven year transitional period either to Medicaid or to coverage that's as good as the Medicaid coverage that folks are on.
I've said repeatedly, I don't want to drop anybody off.
I'm not phasing anybody out of anything."

SULLIVAN:
"But once the higher federal funding is gone, how would people maintain coverage?"

CAPITO:
"Well, we have to make sure that if that goes forward that they have the availability of coverage that's affordable and as broad as what they need, that's the transition."

More:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/14/1671867/-Republican-senator-tells-73-000-West-Virginians-they-re-not-losing-Medicaid-they-re-in-transition

Something you can do to stop Trumpcare (and it's free) from MoveOn.org

MoveOn.org
June 14, 2017
Letter to MoveOn.org members:

As the clouds of corruption from the Russia investigation engulf the White House, down the street, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is bypassing debate and attempting to ram through a health care bill that, if signed into law, will be an unmitigated disaster for tens of millions of Americans.

Make no mistake: The GOP knows the public is against their Trumpcare scheme, but they're counting on keeping us in the dark in order to ram through this bill.

It might be frustrating to know that a handful of senators are going to make the difference for all Americans.
And we shouldn't call Senate offices in a different state - It's important for our elected officials to hear from constituents.
But there is a way MoveOn members, wherever you live, can make a difference - by using our free, easy, text messaging tool to send text messages to those MoveOn members in these key states, encouraging them to call their senators, show up at events, and do all they can to stop Trumpcare.

We need to build up our member-driven Text Team this week to reach hundreds of thousands of members in key states to urge them to raise their voices and demand their senators vote NO on Trumpcare before the Senate votes later this month.

One thing we've learned during the Trump regime is that public pressure can grind their right-wing agenda to a halt.
As we've seen at town hall meetings across the nation, conservatives in Congress are afraid to face the American public because they can't justify their agenda.
That is why they're resorting to shady schemes to shut down debate and limit their public exposure.

But we're not letting them get away with silencing the public.
We're mobilizing the resistance, and out Text Team program is a critical and effective way to do it.
After joining a quick training, you'll be ready to reach hundreds of thousands of MoveOn members just like you with an urgent message to call their senators and demand they vote NO on Trumpcare.
With enough public pressure, we can expose this conspiracy to steal health care security from tens of millions of Americans and stop this disastrous bill before it becomes law.

Sign up now to join the MoveOn Text Team and help stop Trumpcare.
http://front.moveon.org/training/

To join MoveOn.org (it's free to join)
http://front.moveon.org

Profiting off pain, Trump confidant cashed in on housing crisis

Aaron Glantz, Reveal (PRX)
via The Texas Tribune
June 12, 2017


One of President Donald Trump's closest friends and confidants took advantage of the Great Recession to build an unprecedented real estate business that makes him tantamount to a modern-day slumlord - buying up homes, bumping up rents, and allowing the properties to fall into disrepair.

Southern California billionaire Thomas J. Barrack is the mastermind behind the scheme, founding a company five years ago that has taken 31,000 single-family homes off the housing market and calling it "the greatest thing I've ever done."

His rental empire includes nearly 5,000 homes in Texas - concentrated in suburban Dallas and Houston.
Unlike earlier corporate landlords who built apartment complexes, the company that Barrack founded focused on three-bedroom, single family homes near good schools.
In Texas, it's homes average around 2,000 square feet and rent for $1600 per month.

Last Friday, after (Center for Investigative Reporting's) "Reveal" published an expose detailing problems in the company he founded, Barrack cashed out.
He sold all the stock he owned in the company and resigned his position as co-chairman of it's Board of Trustees.

Nevertheless Barrack, like other close Trump associates, now stands to cash in on looser federal regulations, which he is in a position to shape.

More:
http://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/12/profiting-pain-trump-confidant-cashed-housing-crisis/




(From PRX & Center for Investigative Reporting's "After the bubble burst&quot
Reveal's Aaron Glantz looks at the national home rental empire that Trump's friend Tom Barrack created from the ashes of the foreclosure crisis.
Barrack in good at profiting from others' misery - his business model is based on a fast-churning cycle of penalty fees and eviction notices.
Having made millions from single-family rentals, Barrack began leveraging his profit by bundling the homes into giant mortgage-backed securities - an inventive financial product similar to what many remember as the catalyst of the housing crash.

Listen to "After the bubble burst"
http://www.revealnews.org/episodes/after-the-bubble-burst/

This Tweet Thread Breaks Down What You Must Do To Stop Trumpcare

ATTN.com
June 12, 2017


Like the House, the Senate is trying to get their version of the Trumpcare bill voted on by the end of June.
Like the House, they are doing so with almost no public debate on the contents of the bill.
But even the House bill was made available to the public for reading, and the Senate has, so far, revealed virtually nothing about what changes they plan on making to the health care system.

With so much at stake, and so little time to change minds, MoveOn.org's Washington policy director Ben Wikler wrote in a Twitter thread exactly why the next few days are so important.
He also noted what you can do to make your voice heard and possibly influence your senator.

Congress was deluged with phone calls by angry constituents in the first few months of the Trump administration, particularly when it came time for the House to vote on the AHCA.
But that effort appears to have fallen off somewhat, and Wikler makes it clear that calls to Congress have the best chance of convincing Republicans that their vote in favor of Trumpcare will have consequences.

Finally, Wikler cautions not to call Senate offices of a state you don't live in pretending to be a constituent, as it would cause Congressional offices to assume all calls are fake and disregard them.
At this point, there are a number of Republican senators rumored to be wavering on certain aspects of the bill, and losing even three of the 52 Republicans in the Senate would mean Trumpcare can't pass.
A deluge of phone calls might get any one of these Senators off the fence and into the "no" camp.

Read Tweets:
http://www.attn.com/stories/17629/tweet-thread-breaks-down-how-you-can-be-heard-trumpcare




"Today is the day to defeat Trumpcare"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10029191795

Elizabeth Warren is sounding the alarm: Trumpcare is coming to a vote in the Senate

Democracy for America
June 11, 2017


Elizabeth Warren is really worried.
Trumpcare is coming to a vote in the Senate, and it could very well pass.

Here's what Sen. Warren said:
"Senate Republicans are going to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act by the end of the month.
And here's the horrifying part - They seem to think they have the votes in the Senate to do it.
I'm not crying wolf here.
I'm really worried.
Health care for millions of Americans is on the line in the next few weeks.
The Republicans are counting on the fact that so many terrible things are happening right now..
-- and everyone thinks that Trumpcare is dead -- that they can slip this through before we have a chance to get organized."

The only reason Republicans think they can pass it is by taking advantage of Trump's woes.
While the media pays close attention to the Comey hearings and whatever fight Trump picks on Twitter on any given day, they're ignoring what Mitch McConnell is up to.

The Senate version of Trumpcare is just as bad as the bill that passed the House last month.
It would destroy Medicaid and leave millions without health care.
It would still lead to people with illnesses and pre-existing conditions being unable to afford or receive health care.
However, if just three Senate Republicans vote against Trumpcare, we can stop this bill in it's tracks.
Several Senate Republicans, like Nevada's Dean Heller, are up for re-election in 2018.
They are vulnerable, especially if the hear a loud outcry against Trumpcare.
If Trumpcare passes the Senate, we may not be able to stop it from becoming law.
Trump's strategy all along has been to get both the House and the Senate to pass a bill, and then to resolve any differences in a conference committee.
It is urgent that we do all we can to stop Trumpcare from passing the Senate - ASAP!

(About Democracy for America)
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/about



(From Think Progress 6/8/2017)
"While you focus on Comey, Senate Republicans are launching an audacious plan to pass Trumpcare"
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he's trying to get a vote on the Republican health care bill by July 4 before Congress leaves for it's August recess.
As ludicrous as this deadline seems, the Senate could pull it off - but it will be done without much public scrutiny.
Sen. McConnell implemented Senate "Rule 14" Wednesday to fast-track the GOP House health bill...This move allows the Senate to skip the committee process
(goodbye full Senate committee debate),
and instead "fast-tracks" the bill by moving it on the Senate calendar so it can be brought to a vote.

Read more:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141794263


"Trumpcare will pass the Senate"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10029170378



UPDATE: June 11, 2017
SENATE GOP SEES PATH TO OBAMACARE REPEAL
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/337199-senate-gop-sees-path-to-obamacare-repeal

Elizabeth Warren is sounding the alarm: Trumpcare is coming to a vote in the Senate

Democracy For America
June 11, 2017


Elizabeth Warren is really worried.
Trumpcare is coming to a vote in the Senate, and it could very well pass.

Here's what Sen. Warren said:
"Senate Republicans are going to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act by the end of the month.
And here'e the terrifying part: They seem to think they have the votes in the Senate to do it.
I'm not crying wolf here..I'm really worried..Health care for millions of Americans is on the line in the next few weeks..The Republicans are counting on the fact that so many terrible things are happening right now - and that everyone thinks Trumpcare is dead - that they can slip this through before we have a chance to get organized."

The only reason Republicans think they can pass it is by taking advantage of Trump's woes.
When the media pays close attention to the Comey hearings and whatever fight Trump picks on Twitter on any given day, they're ignoring what Mitch McConnell is up to.
The Senate version of Trumpcare is just as bad as the bill that passed the House last month.
It would destroy Medicaid and leave millions without health care.
It would still lead to people with illnesses and pre-existing conditions being unable to afford or receive health care.
It would still cut off funding for Planned Parenthood and make birth control difficult to get.
However, if just three Senate Republicans vote against Trumpcare, we can stop this bill in it's tracks.
Several Republicans, like Nevada's Dean Heller, are up for re-election in 2018.
They are vulnerable, especially if they hear a loud public outcry against Trumpcare.
If Trumpcare passes the Senate, we may not be able to stop it from becoming law.
Trump's strategy all along has been to get both the House and the Senate to pass a bill, and then to resolve any differences in a conference committee.
It is urgent that we do all we can to stop Trumpcare from passing the Senate - ASAP!

(About Democracy for America)
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/about

"While you focus on Comey, Senate Republicans are launching an audacious plan to pass Trumpcare"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141794263

"Trumpcare will pass the Senate"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10029170378



To contribute to DFA's effort to stop Trumpcare:
https://actblue.com/contribute/page/stopgophealthcare#rl1

In your opinion, the most overrated actor//actress of all time?

Actors are seen as the face of the movies, television, and other media products in which they star.
Extra attention is paid to them, as if they are infallible people.
Hollywood actors and actresses have become like gods to many people around the globe, and they are worshiped with praise, money, awards, and gifts.
However, many of the actors receiving the most accolades are extremely overrated in their raw talent, charisma, and chemistry with other actors.
While many actors bring in the big box office bucks, they have little or no acting range and often phone in their performances.
Who do you consider to be the most overrated actor of all time?

What's your favorite submarine movie?

White House On Lockdown After Television Is Hurled Out Window

Andy Borowitz
June 8, 2017


WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) - The White House was on lockdown Thursday morning after a television was hurled out of a window, the Secret Service reported.

The incident, which occurred shortly after 10 AM E.S.T., caught the attention of the Secret Service after agents heard the sound of smashing glass emanating from the Oval Office.

"The sound was consistent with that of a large object, such as a television set, being thrown through a closed window," a Secret Service spokesman said.

The television, which crashed to the ground outside the Oval Office, injured no one, the Secret Service confirmed.

A group of fourth-grade students from Bethesda, Maryland, was on a White House tour when the incident involving the television occurred.

"I heard someone screaming lots of swear words and then, like, this big crash," Zach Dorrenson, a student on the tour, said.."It was messed up."
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/white-house-on-lockdown-after-television-is-hurled-out-window

Father Deported En Route To His Sick Child

Pro Publica
June 2, 2017


Early last Monday morning, Oscar Millan's longtime partner called him from a Boston hospital, weepy with relief.

Their son, Oscar Matias, had been born two weeks earlier with a serious condition that prevented food from traveling from his stomach to his small intestine.
But that morning, he'd undergone a successful surgery to repair it, and a second (surgery) was scheduled for early June.
Millan told his partner, Evanice Escudero, that he'd be by to pick them up in a couple of hours, after checking in on a landscaping job he had to do that day.

But Millan, a 37-year-old undocumented Mexican immigrant, never made it to the hospital.

As he drove to the job site, he was picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who were looking for him near his home in Framingham, Massachusetts, about 20 miles outside of Boston.

In 2008, an immigration judge had ordered Millan deported after a failed asylum claim, but Millan had stayed in the country with his family until he recently had pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.

An ICE spokesman said that Millan's arrest was prompted by both the deportation order and the conviction.

More + photos + links:
http://www.propublica.org/article/he-was-about-to-pick-up-his-newborn-son-after-surgery-arrested-by-ice