Ignoring Russian interference in our elections: the opposite of putting America first

In an online discussion forum, a comment by one who did not believe Russia interfered in the 2016 election to attack our elections systems, was simply dismissed as ""fake news.  It was her response to the news reports that Sen. Mitch McConnell is blocking any proposed legislation designed to protect our state elections systems in the face of evidence that Russians did attack election systems in all 50 states.   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mitch-mcconnell-blocks-election-security-bill/ "One bill McConnell objected to would have both required the use of paper ballots and provided funding for the Election Assistance Commission. He also objected to legislation that would have required campaigns and candidates to report offers of election-related aid from foreign governments. "  McConnell called the bills "partisan".                                                    Here is my response to her:

"The challenge for those calling bad news fake is to present evidence to the contrary. Otherwise, the facts and evidence stand. The Mueller investigation and the bi-partisan Senate committee spent months examining the evidence of Russian interference in our elections. Did you do that, you the caller of all bad news fake? It is a silly, intellectually dishonest way to dispute news you do not like. It is also very dangerous to our democracy to ignore these attacks on our election systems and not take steps to stop it. The credibility and integrity of our election system, the trust we put into it, are essential to a democracy's function, to express the will of the American people, not the preference of some foreign government. Ignoring or dismissing overwhelming evidence of Russian interference and their future intent to do so is based upon those politicians and their followers benefiting from Russians helping Trump win by whatever means. It is one of self-interest, but not one of national interest. We have left the door open to Russians to do it again in 2020, and our willingness or not caring about a foreign government trying to pick a US candidate they want is the very opposite of putting America first."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/us/politics/russian-hacking-elections.html

Boehner and McConnell fall on swords to stop Tea Party bitten by amnesia bug

This past  week, John Boehner, House Speaker  and 27 of his fellow Republicans, fell on their swords to aid their party  when they joined with Democrats   to raise   the debt ceiling  with no strings attached and to block  Tea Party  threats to shut down the government again. The Senate then passed the legislation on a party line vote, though  enough Republicans led by  minority leader Mitch McConnell,  voted to break  the filibuster rule requirement of 60 votes. The GOP leaders realized the Tea Party must have been bitten by the amnesia bug.to try to repeat their last fiasco and other failed strategies.   

Last fall,  Boehner let the Tea Party have their way and the GOP did shut down the government. The  political backlash   was so severe , Republicans  even feared they would lose seats in the 2014 midterms and set up another Democratic win for the White House in 2016.   The GOP was  saved by   the bungled roll out of Obamacare, charges the President’s” lied” about keeping insurance,   and a budget deal.

That Boehner’s action risked  his  speakership and Mitch McConnell gave fuel to Tea Party opponents in his upcoming primary  shows that the Tea Party has   nearly   completed their takeover  of the Republican party.   In Colorado,  traditional  business oriented Republicans are only bystanders in a battle between the Tea Party Express and local ultra conservatives   to see who can endorse the most conservative candidate to take on Democrat Sen.  Mark Udall in November.  Similar battles elsewhere   guarantee that Democratic candidates for state houses and  Congress in blue and purple states will have an advantage in facing  the most extreme opponents who will have problems  pivoting to the center to  appeal  to moderate middles in the general election.  

This year the situation is different . The web site works. As of February 1 nearly 14  million are already covered by Obamacare (3.3 million through the exchanges; 7 million through Medicaid expansion and  3 million young adults on parents’ policies).  An estimated 60% of the  5 million losing individual insurance have found other insurance policies or qualified for cheaper ones.. By the 2014 mid terms, the administration  projects    six  million will have signed up through Obamacare  exchanges. .  The Tea Party still is adamantly advocating  total repeal and no replacement. All those  benefiting  by November 2014  will not look kindly on candidates wanting to take away their newly acquired affordable  insurance coverage.

The Tea Party’s domination of the GOP will also help  Democrat’s chances of holding onto the Senate since key states with large Hispanic populations swung  blue in 2012  by their  disaffection with the GOP’s perceived hostility, Colorado included..   Thanks to Tea Party fanatics in Congress, Boehner was forced to back down from any compromise or even a piecemeal approach to immigration reform this year.

The Tea Party  continues to  alienate  unmarried women, a must win voting block.   Anti choice platforms and  Insults  continue, the latest by former  Gov. Mike Huckabee who opined   women wanted the pill  because they could not keep their “libido” under control.   The GOP ‘s repeal  of  Obamacare would   eliminate  Obamacare  standards  that prohibit  higher  premiums  for women  or covering  mammograms  and birth control pills sans  co-pays. Since women comprise much of the minimum wage workforce, GOP opposition to raising it is one more  turnoff.

The GOP should apologize for its sins of commission and omission in its war against Obamacare

Even after the web site was fixed and Pres. Obama apologized for misspeaking, , the GOP’s war against Obamacare (ACA)  rages on blithely spreading misinformation.  While the GOP gleefully called the President a liar for promising those individually insured  could keep their insurance if they liked it, the current Republican  campaign against Obamacare  is full of sins of omission  and commission. It is the GOP’s turn to apologize.

 Mitch McConnell, GOP Senate Minority Leader, flat fibbed  when he  misrepresented  a report from the Congressional Budget Office(CBO). He wrongfully claimed  it  meant that 2.5 million jobs would be lost thanks to Obamacare.  Jobs would  not disappear, but the CBO estimated that  2.5 million who had jobs    would leave  of their own choice, but not by  employers killing job positions. GOP ads are already promoting  their twisted version of the   CBO report.

 Prior to Obamacare  some were locked into their jobs because they needed employer provided insurance  since  that was the only way to get pre-existing conditions covered or to be able to afford coverage for their families. Obamacare frees them to retire early, start their own business, go part time,  or stay home to care for their parents  or young children.

 The GOP  countered  that such  choice is bad because  it would encourage people to stop working, reduce the workforce, and  thus harm the economy. The CBO report indeed predicted   there would  be workforce reduction by 2024 by 2.5 million.  That  is about 1.5% of the total workforce, not exactly earthshaking and not because Obamacare killed jobs.

A recent anti ACA ad omits so much information, it  borders on  deceptive advertising. Five million individually insured got letters from insurers discontinuing their substandard policies. To continue beating war drums  that the President lied about their  keeping insurance, an outside conservative group is running a commercial in our market that  features a lupus sufferer who complains her  $50 per month insurance now is $325, her  deductibles are too  high,   she has to take on a second job, and she has to change doctors.  She  should be asked some hard questions.  Did she apply for a  subsidized health policy in the ACA exchanges ? Was her annual income too high to qualify for a subsidy? .What was her prior deductible with such low ball coverage of her old policy? The health care exchanges include a wide variety of insurance providers. Was her current physician participating in any of them? An estimated 60% of those receiving  the letters can qualify for premium  subsidies in the exchanges,  or hardship exemptions,  with access to better catastrophic insurance.    

Some  GOP senators are  pitching   a replacement   to Obamacare  that buries a critical downside in small print. Their proposal would relieve  employers, health care and device providers, individuals, and insurers  from mandates and  being taxed or getting fines  for not providing or getting insurance.  Good for them but bad for most everyone else.  It  would replace the  funding to  subsidize premiums  with raising taxes on  the 60 % of Americans who get insurance through employers. The plan would  declare most  health insurance benefits taxable income,  Forbes  estimated that would be a tax increase of $1345 a year  for a family of four in the 25% bracket. http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2014/01/28.   Families making between 300%-400% above  the poverty line would lose Obamacare insurance subsidies.
Version of above at www.skyhidailynews.com  Feb. 15, 2014

What the CBO reported: “The estimated reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, rather than from a net drop in business’ demand for labor, so it will appear almost entirely as a reduction in labor force participation and in hours worked relative to what have occurred otherwise rather than as an increase in unemployment (that is, more workers seeking, but not finding jobs) or underemployment (such as part-time workers who would prefer to work more hours per week).”