Blue Mass Group

John Cassidy’s review in The New Yorker appears to be typical of the genre.

Rushing the bill through this way is about the only way it could pass. Several previous Republican bills were doomed by the Congressional Budget Office, which issued analyses detailing how the plans would cause tens of millions of Americans to lose their health-insurance coverage. By waiting until last week to finalize their bill, Graham and Cassidy didn’t leave the C.B.O. enough time to do a proper scoring before a vote is taken. (On Monday, the C.B.O. said that it would try to produce a limited analysis by early next week.)

An end run around the CBO, for a bill that covers one-sixth of the American economy. How, um, conservative.

Despite this cynical maneuver, there is no ambiguity about the terms of the Graham-Cassidy bill. It would roll back the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid, which has enabled about fourteen million Americans to obtain health-care coverage. Then it would subject the rest of Medicaid to substantial cuts by converting it to a block-grant program. By targeting the low-paid, the sick, and the infirm, the legislation would create hundreds of billions of dollars in budget savings; these could then be applied to Republican tax cuts aimed primarily at rich households and corporations.

The bill isn’t just a smash-and-grab raid on the poor and nearly poor, though. It would also undermine the insurance exchanges set up under the A.C.A., by stripping away the subsidies for the purchase of policies, abolishing the employer and individual mandates, getting rid of the lifetime caps on health-care outlays, and allowing insurers to force people with preëxisting conditions to pay more.

They even tried to bribe the GOP caucus.

In a blatantly political move, the Graham-Cassidy bill would redirect some of the A.C.A. money to the nineteen Republican-run states that didn’t expand Medicaid, such as Florida, North Carolina, and Texas.

I’d say this was designed to fail, but I worry that Graham and Cassidy (who both don’t have to run for re-election until 2020) might be pursuing a “Rip the Band-Aid” strategy. In other words, the longer Obamacare is around, the harder it gets to repeal, so do it now and take the hit.

Any other thoughts?

I think there is a trend developing among Seth Moulton’s votes when it comes to protecting consumers and working Americans, and it’s not good.

Jonathan Cohn has done some amazing work breaking down recent amendment votes. One recent vote was on an amendment from Keith Ellison that would strip language from a bill relating to mobile home purchases. Manufactured homes are treated differently than traditional homes and the Republican bill would allow companies to charge very high interest rates on mobile home purchases (close to 14%). Ellison’s amendment would have retained consumer protections that apply to traditional home purchases to the manufactured home market. The amendment went down 163-245.

(Also look for very bad votes from Stephen Lynch among Cohn’s roundup. Those deserve their own post but I think most people here would agree that Lynch is often very bad.) 

Moulton was one of 23 Democrats to join with Republicans to defeat Ellison’s consumer protection amendment. No other MA Dem joined with Moulton (neither did any Dem from New England).

Moulton gets a lot of press for his military service and his attacks on the Trump administration. That, plus his youth, looks, and his apparent “innovative” and “bi-partisan” approach has been enough to begin talk of higher office, including the White House. What doesn’t get a lot of press are these everyday small votes that make up a lot of a representative’s work and combine to have huge impacts on the lives of working Americans. Calling out the Trump administration as a MA representative is easy politically, and one would think so would standing on the side of the working class. In this instance Moulton chose not to stand with working Americans, and it’s not the first time he’s done this. He’s broken with Dems to loosen regulations protecting unsophisticated investors and to lessen the protections of Dodd-Frank.

I think these are the kinds of votes that should be highlighted here – they are the ones that should get attention, get people calling Congressional offices, and be remembered when an elected official asks for reelection or a promotion.

We’ve had many discussions here about the role of money in politics (right now there is one going on about Steve Mnuchin), and I think it’s important to look at these votes in the context of Moulton being the member of Congress to receive more money from Wall Street as a percentage of total donations than anyone else in Congress.

 

 

The idea of the American dream is that if you work hard and do your part, you can get ahead. Even if you are born poor or immigrate to this country with nothing but the clothes on your back, if you work hard, you and your children should be able to succeed.

But these days, too many people who work hard and do their part struggle to make ends meet. The Massachusetts economy is booming, but the cost of living is high and many have been left behind. In one of the wealthiest states in the richest country in the history of the world, no one who works full time should struggle to afford basic necessities.

Rising inequality is one of the greatest public policy challenges of our time. As Senior Advisor for Jobs & Competitiveness in President Obama’s White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, I worked with tremendously talented colleagues throughout the government to advance policies that would help build an economy that works for everyone, not just the very rich.

In the era of Trump, much of the progress we made over the past eight years is now vulnerable.

But there are some concrete things we can do here in Massachusetts to help working people get ahead and build an economy that works for all.

Here are six ideas we should start with:

First, it’s time to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Too many people who work full time struggle to make ends meet. It’s time to raise the minimum wage so that people who work hard can make a living wage and provide for themselves and their families.

Second, it’s time for paid family leave. Workers should not be forced to choose between work and their own health needs or the well-being of their children and other family members.

Third, we need to pass the Millionaire’s Tax to raise the revenue we need to invest in world-class public schools, affordable public higher education, and a transportation system that allows people to get to school or work.

Fourth, we need ensure that everyone has access to affordable, high quality health care. We need to fight against Republican efforts to push tens of millions off of health insurance, and move towards truly universal health care, ideally through a single payer/Medicare-for-all system.

Fifth, we need to ensure equal pay for equal work. It is shameful that even right out of college women make less than men, even accounting for education and type of work. Recent legislation requiring equal pay for comparable work is a big step forward, but we need to ensure that its promise translates into actual results.

Sixth, we need to invest in our thriving innovation economy. Massachusetts has some of the best universities and health care institutions in the world. We are at the cutting edge of science and engineering research, and we have some of most innovative technology and biotech companies in the world. We need to continue to invest in the institutions and people that make Massachusetts dynamic and unique, and must also ensure that these investments are centered on the idea that everyone, no matter where they come from or what they earn, stands to benefit from continued economic growth.

Together, we can make sure that the economy of Massachusetts works for all, and remains prosperous for a long time to come.

Quentin Palfrey is a progressive Democrat running for Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor. You can learn more about his campaign and get involved at www.quentinpalfrey.com, by visiting his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/qpalfrey, or by following him on Twitter at @qpalfrey

Been away awhile, lots of work, summer, etc. Had a few thoughts on Medicare-For-All, turned into something a bit longer, so I thought I’d post it. Hope you enjoy.

Thrilled to see the excitement over the Medicare-For-All bill introduced yesterday. I support universal healthcare and am happy to see Bernie Sanders continue the fine work of people like Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and especially John Conyers, who has been proposing single-payer, Medicare-for-All type legislation since 2003. The Trump administration has not advanced any meaningful policy, just worked to roll back protections we put in place for the climate, for women, for immigrants, for campus rape victims, for senior citizens, for student debt holders, for minority voters, and for children, so it’s fun to have some actual policy to write about for a change instead of just having to scream about how it’s not really cool to hurt people for corporate profit, or even worse, no reason at all except fear and loathing.

This bill offers some of the most comprehensive coverage of any government-sponsored health care system in the world, covering all doctor visits, specialty or primary, all hospital stays, basically everything including dental and vision, and all free at the point of service. These are lofty and admirable goals that would certainly make life easier for people who use the healthcare system if implemented well. Read More…