Full Frontal’s Samantha Bee sounds the alarm on a developing crisis in healthcare for rural women. As access to healthcare facilities and providers dwindles, the risks of pregnancy are magnified.   [Read more…]

The Mess – Living with bi-polar diagnosis. Here is one person’s attempt to communicate the experience as a video. It was a finalist in the Homespun Yarns 2017 film competition. The British web site Channel4 features an interview with Ellice Stevens.   [Read more…]

“I don’t know how many birthdays I have left.” Ady Barkan, whose video of him challenging Sen. Jeff Flake to vote on his principles and oppose the current GOP tax bill recently went viral, was interviewed on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes. He noted that the current tax proposal, if enacted, will trigger $400 billion in Medicare PAYGO cuts over 10 years. “I paid into Medicare just like all of us pay in. You know, every two weeks we make a commitment to one another and to our society that we’re going to protect each other in case tragedy strikes. And the Republicans are saying, ‘Uh uh, Ady, you don’t get that Medicare Disability that you paid for because Donald Trump Jr. needs a tax cut for his real estate developments and my hedge fund buddies on Wall Street they need a tax cut too.’ So I think that’s not OK and I’m trying to do what I can to fight it.”   [Read more…]

Voice of San Diego’s Lisa Halverstadt busts four myths about the current Hepatitis A outbreak, including one about contracting it simply by touching a homeless person.   [Read more…]

For those still unclear on the latest Obamacare “repeal & replace” effort—the Graham-Cassidy bill, here is a brief outline of the key points as of last Wednesday. Note that the Graham-Cassidy bill is a moving target, though. Over the weekend, Senator Cassidy revealed that a new version will be proposed on Monday. Speculation is that it will be an attempt to buy off Senators Murkowski of Alaska and Collins of Maine, possibly by crafting exceptions which would essentially permit them to retain Obamacare. That also means, of course, that there won’t be time for a full CBO analysis and score before senators are expected to vote on the legislation.

This isn’t over till it’s over—on September 30th when the clock runs out on the ability to pass a bill with a simple majority. If you haven’t called your senator yet, do it now. 202-224-3121. Even Democratic senators need to hear from their constituents. They must be urged to slow down all activity in the Senate to run out the clock. For those of us in California, check out Indivisible’s TrumpCareTen website for California. When the Washington phone lines are busy, call a local office. Staffers at local offices communicate with Washington.   [Read more…]

Jimmy Kimmel has been getting flak for his recent take down of Senator Bill Cassidy’s claim that Cassidy’s bill passes the “Jimmy Kimmel test” and Wednesday night he responded with Round 2. When Cassidy had earlier been asked by CNN’s Chris Cuomo to respond to Kimmel’s segment, Cassidy replied “I’m sorry he does not understand”. Kimmel wonders, “Could it be Senator Cassidy, that the problem is that I do understand and you got caught with your GOPness out. Is that possible?” But of course Round 2 didn’t satisfy his critics and Friday night was Round 3, pushing back again to tweets from the POTUS and to segments on Fox and Friends. Responding to criticism that he’s not an expert, he notes “I’m not pretending to be an expert. I’m asking why people like you aren’t listening to actual experts.” And referring to proponents of the Graham-Cassidy legislation, says that “If these guys … would tell the truth for a change, I wouldn’t have to [be the one to do it]”.   [Read more…]

Do you remember when Senator Bill Cassidy went on the Jimmy Kimmel show to say he would never vote for any bill that didn’t pass the “Jimmy Kimmel test”? Jimmy remembers. And what he remembers is that Cassidy “just lied right to my face”. His new message to Senator Cassidy: “Stop using my name. I don’t want my name on it.” He also proposes a new “Jimmy Kimmel test”. The new one involves a lie detector.   [Read more…]

Here’s more information to supplement yesterday’s post on that Republican last ditch attempt to repeal Obamacare in the Senate, the Graham-Cassidy bill. Chris Hayes on MSNBC’s “All In” interviews Senator Brian Schatz. A gob-smacking bit of information revealed by Senator Schatz is that according to Senate rules the time left for debate on this bill is somewhere between ninety seconds and two minutes! ! For those interested in the gory details of the bill, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a comprehensive analysis here.   [Read more…]