Making Medicare for All Happen

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On my Facebook and Twitter feeds, which are as far left as one can imagine, there has been a lot of chatter about Senator Sanders (I-VT) recent Medicare for All bill. Senator Sanders' bill would give Americans coverage for hospital stays, doctors visits, dental care, substance abuse treatment, and reproductive health care.

Every year, an estimated 45,000 people die because they do not have adequate healthcare coverage. There is no moral justification for a nation that refuses to provide necessary care to everyone. Universal healthcare is already the norm across the world, and even though America is a larger and more diverse country than many others that have universal healthcare, there is no reason single payer healthcare is not possible here.

Full stop. Nothing in this blog post is going to say that universal healthcare is a bad idea. In fact, it's a great idea. It's an idea long-championed by Senator Sanders that should become a reality.

So this blog post is going to explain how to do that.

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Reconciling With Defeat

The most challenging blog posts to write are the ones about political processes that I know nothing about. Having to admit there is something I do not know always creates a hurdle to actually sitting down and writing a piece, which was the case with this post.

Since the election, my friend Maya and I have been developing a project to encourage, among other things, the protection of Obamacare. We were informed by someone that our strategy may not work for Obamacare, since it was likely to be repealed through a process called reconciliation. Cue me furiously Googling to find out what exactly reconciliation is and how it can relate to Obamacare.

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It's Democracy, No One is Happy

If you feel like the government has been on the brink of a shutdown since 2013, you're right! The government has not had a long-term spending and taxation bill since they averted the fiscal cliff, and tonight at midnight, the government is set to run out of money. Predictably, the House plans to pass a small funding bill (known as a stop-gap bill) that will keep the lights on until December 22nd.

But this time is different! Congress is nearing the end of negotiations on the biggest and broadest tax and spending bill since the fiscal cliff debacle of 2013. 

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SCOTUS Does Care!

Today, the court upheld all provisions of the Affordable Care Act! In a contentious case before the Supreme Court, regarding the Federal subsidies for health insurance, Chief Justice John Roberts once again defended the Affordable Care Act.

King v. Burwell cuts at the heart of one of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare, for those not in the know). Namely, the idea that people can receive subsidies from the Federal government to sign up for insurance through the health insurance exchange. Currently, people receive a subsidy whether they sign up for health insurance through a state exchange, or through the Federal exchange, set up because many states flat-out refused to set up health insurance exchanges. 

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The Shutdown is Over!

This post is several weeks too late, but if Congress taught me anything during the government shutdown, it’s that you can refuse to do something, and then blame others when it isn’t done. Which will be my strategy when my papers aren't turned in on time.

If you didn’t notice, the government shutdown ended several weeks ago after the House and the Senate finally passed a bill. The bill, created by the Senate, fund the government until January 7th, and raised the debt ceiling until February 7th. Obamacare was not defunded or delayed. The only provision that related to Obamacare is that now the government is required to make sure people are eligible for subsidized healthcare. For those of you keeping score, this means the Democrats were able to have what they asked for, while the Republicans did not end the shutdown with anything they wanted.

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Countdown to Shutdown

Hang onto your pants, because our country appears to be on the fast track to a shutdown.

Yesterday, the Senate passed their version of the appropriations bill, 54-44. The bill included funding for Obamacare, and was sent back to the House. Just today, the House stated that they planned to include provisions in the appropriations bill that would delay the implementation of Obamacare for a year and eliminate the medical devices tax that is a part of Obamacare. Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) made it clear that the Senate would not accept these amendments to the bill. The options now are for one side to cave, for both sides to work for a compromise, or for the government to shutdown.

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Funding and Filibusters

Another Texan is monopolizing the Senate floor, but this time it isn’t a filibuster and I’m not inspired.

Starting on Tuesday afternoon, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) made a 21-hour speech against Obamacare, but it wasn’t a filibuster. It was long, he wasn’t allowed to sit or leave the floor, and he was passionate. So why is this not a filibuster?

Technically, Senator Cruz was not interfering with the Senate’s business. There was a vote at 1pm today to begin debate on the continuing resolution the House passed, and Ted Cruz had the floor until then. It would only be a filibuster if he had 41 Senators who would refuse to vote to proceed to debate. Majority Leader Reid had the 60 votes he needed to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to debate of the continuing resolution, so Ted Cruz’s speech was merely grandstanding.

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Budget Plans and Debt Limits

Only hours after I published the post about the government shut down, the House passed its budget plan. This came as a surprise for two reasons, the first because I didn’t think the House would ever pass any sort of budget until the last minute, and the second because I honestly did not realize the House did anything on a Friday.

So what exactly did the House pass? It’s a bill that outlining how much the government will spend in the coming fiscal year, but it also includes a provision to defund Obamacare. The bill passed the House 230-189, along party lines. While the bill passed in the House, it is very unlikely that it will pass the Senate unchanged, as the Senate is controlled by Democrats. Most people think that the Senate will pass a similar version of the bill, but include spending for Obamacare, and send it back to the House.

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The Government Shutdown

It’s almost October, and that means the leaves are changing colors, the pumpkin spice latte is back, and the country once again finds itself on the brink of a possible government shutdown.

If you know nothing about the government shutdown, you’re not alone! Until two weeks ago, I thought a government shutdown meant that the police would stop working, firefighters would let houses burn down and public schools would close. That is not the case. A government shutdown does not mean the country stops working.  However, it does mean that the government stops providing many non-essential services. The Office of Management and Budget decides which government services would stop in a shutdown. Generally, agencies continue to operate in a shutdown if they are essential to protect our nation or the safety and life of the people in it. Our military would continue to fight overseas, doctors and nurses would continue to report to public hospitals, border patrol would keep going to work on the border, and our prisons would be staffed.

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