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[ShironRedshift]

This should be in the OP as it is super easy. Everyone in US should use this and send the message: I am a constituent of <your state> and I demand public hearings on Trumpcare before the Senate votes on it.

Yeah, I was really impressed with how straightforward it is after giving it a try for the first time. Just walks you through every step, and very responsive. Great stuff.

 

[Lord Frieza]

^Yeah, definitely. In the end, the Freedom Caucus didn't stop it from passing the House, so I wouldn't count on them actually stopping anything this time either. Much rather it not even get to that point and just focus on the Senate.

They did stop it from going through the House twice

 

[Oni Jazar]

They did stop it from going through the House twice

They did but it's one thing when it's the first step in a journey of a bill, it's another when they are the final thing standing between Obamacare and no Obamacare

 

[EdibleKnife]

Indivisible Project offshoot site called TrumpcareTen.org AKA 10 of the key states with senators who could swing towards preserving the ACA. Provides a toolkit for focusing efforts on how to get these Senators to do the right thing. Please try it out particularly those who live in these states and have these senators.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Despite Trump slandering the AHCA, it's not time to let up. Keep the pressure on.

 

[ShironRedshift]

Interesting Twitter thread popped up earlier today:
https://twitter.com/ezralevin/status/875382866452119555

Got a Democratic Senator? Here’s how they can ACTUALLY PLAY HARDBALL on TrumpCare. Yes, they have tools to use. Yes, they can win. 1/

The hardball tactic @indivisibleteam is proposing here along with @moveon and @CREDOMobile is based on how “reconciliation” works. 2/

Reconciliation gives Republicans a HUGE benefit - they only need 50 votes to pass TrumpCare instead of the normal 60. 3/

But it comes with a little talked about cost: vote-a-rama. Basically vote-a-rama means an unlimited number of amendments must be allowed. 4/

So, in short: reconciliation means you only need 50 votes, but you have to accept votes on a ton of amendments. 5/

Vote-a-rama is an annoyance for the party using reconciliation, but it’s accepted in order to lower the vote threshold to 50. 6/

But “unlimited votes” means EXACTLY what it sounds like. There is no limit to the number of amendments. 7/

Any senator can introduce dozens, hundreds, THOUSANDS. They just have to be on Senate Floor to introduce. 8/

And here’s the thing about these amendments. They have to be introduced by a speech and voted on. AND THAT TAKES TIME. 9/

Let’s say it takes about 10 minutes to introduce and then vote on an amendment, a conservative estimate. 10/

If @SenateDems introduce 1,000 amendments, that’s 10,000 minutes. 10,000 minutes = 167 hours = 7 days. So 1,000 amendments = 1 week. 11/

If @SenateDems introduce 40,000 amendments, that’s 40 weeks worth of amendments. That would take us through the 2018 midterms. 12/

SO HERE'S THE TACTIC: Next week, @SenateDems should hold a press conference with a big ol stack of papers. 40,000 pages to be exact. 13/

And @SenateDems should make a simple promise: If Republicans insist on this secretive undemocratic process for TrumpCare… 14/

Then @SenateDems should promise to filibuster-by-amendment through the 2018 mid-terms. 15/

Senate Rs want to pass this bill in darkness thru speed+secrecy. We can drag it into the daylight. We can defeat it. We can win this. 16/

No public hearings? Then we bury TrumpCare in amendments. Don’t like it? Too bad. That’s the price for subverting the democratic process.17/

Definitely seems worth a try, at any rate. Much better than doing nothing in any case. Call your D Senators and demand that if Republicans are going to use Reconciliation rules to try and force the AHCA through, that they themselves should use Reconciliation rules to force it into the spotlight by calling for a "vote-a-rama" to the bill and continuing to add amendments until the American people have had time to see what's really in it, and make the tactic ideally completely backfire. Republicans are playing dirty and not pulling any punches to try and get this thing passed; it's time Democrats did the same to stop it.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Interesting Twitter thread popped up earlier today:
https://twitter.com/ezralevin/status/875382866452119555


Definitely seems worth a try, at any rate. Much better than doing nothing in any case. Call your D Senators and demand that if Republicans are going to use Reconciliation rules to try and force the AHCA through, that they themselves should use Reconciliation rules to force it into the spotlight by calling for a "vote-a-rama" to the bill and continuing to add amendments until the American people have had time to see what's really in it, and make the tactic ideally completely backfire. Republicans are playing dirty and not pulling any punches to try and get this thing passed; it's time Democrats did the same to stop it.

So, basically it's another type of filibuster. That's pretty wild. I have no Dem Senators, but if I did I'd be spamming the shit out of them to use this shit.

 

[ShironRedshift]

So, basically it's another type of filibuster. That's pretty wild. I have no Dem Senators, but if I did I'd be spamming the shit out of them to use this shit.

Yeah, that seems to be the idea, from my understanding. The normal filibuster is useless since they're using reconciliation to try and get it passed which only requires 50 votes and Democrats obviously can't do anything about the numbers. But if that's true, reconciliation just replaces one type of filibustering for another and lets any Senator just keep proposing as many amendments as they want instead to waste time.

Would definitely be great if anyone here who knows more about this type of thing can confirm if that's true or not. I have no idea. But if it is, it definitely seems like the best shot Democrats have at stopping it right now. The whole reason Republicans are using the tactics they are is because they want to keep what's in the bill as secret as possible and give people as little time to react as they can before forcing it through. This would delay it enough that that tactic won't work, and for Republicans every day counts. So it sounds good to me.

Though thinking about it, I suppose technically even if it is true, technically speaking I suppose Mike Pence could overrule the Parliamentarian and call for an end to amendments somewhere in there. But even so, by the time he would get around to doing that, Democrats will have achieved their goal of putting it more into the spotlight, which would make Republicans much more scared about actually passing it. And if Pence involves himself in this to the extent of changing rules and parliamentary procedure to force it passed, that itself will draw additional scrutiny and attention to it, because why go that far just to keep it secret? What are they hiding? So yeah, not seeing any downsides to the tactic if that person is correct.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Yeah, that seems to be the idea, from my understanding. The normal filibuster is useless since they're using reconciliation to try and get it passed which only requires 50 votes and Democrats obviously can't do anything about the numbers. But if that's true, reconciliation just replaces one type of filibustering for another and lets any Senator just keep proposing as many amendments as they want instead to waste time.

Would definitely be great if anyone here who knows more about this type of thing can confirm if that's true or not. I have no idea. But if it is, it definitely seems like the best shot Democrats have at stopping it right now. The whole reason Republicans are using the tactics they are is because they want to keep what's in the bill as secret as possible and give people as little time to react as they can before forcing it through. This would delay it enough that that tactic won't work, and for Republicans every day counts. So it sounds good to me.

Though thinking about it, I suppose technically even if it is true, technically speaking I suppose Mike Pence could overrule the Parliamentarian and call for an end to amendments somewhere in there. But even so, by the time he would get around to doing that, Democrats will have achieved their goal of putting it more into the spotlight, which would make Republicans much more scared about actually passing it. And if Pence involves himself in this to the extent of changing rules and parliamentary procedure to force it passed, that itself will draw additional scrutiny and attention to it, because why go that far just to keep it secret? What are they hiding? So yeah, not seeing any downsides to the tactic if that person is correct.

Well, it has to go to the CBO, so at some point it will have to be public, right? Does the CBO rate bills in secret? I've never heard of that

 

[Lord Frieza]

Just saw a segment on Chris Hayes where a guy who was a former medicare person under the Obama administration saying that what he's hearing is McConnell is planning on using some obscure rule where they basically put up a bill, in this case the House version of the ACHA, and have it debated at the minimum amount, and within the last hour do something called a substitute amendment, where they basically say, 'Okay, nevermind that, this is actually the bill that we're talking about,' which would give everyone not in the know (namely all Democrats and all GOP who aren't aware of the bill, which is at least half at this point) no more than an hour to see what the new bill is and to debate it.

I have no idea how this works, though, because the bill still has to go to the CBO. Can you do that in secret? I have never heard of the CBO rating a bill in secret, but I've also never heard about the above or budget reconciliation before this year, so what the hell do I know I guess.

 

[ShironRedshift]

Just saw a segment on Chris Hayes where a guy who was a former medicare person under the Obama administration saying that what he's hearing is McConnell is planning on using some obscure rule where they basically put up a bill, in this case the House version of the ACHA, and have it debated at the minimum amount, and within the last hour do something called a substitute amendment, where they basically say, 'Okay, nevermind that, this is actually the bill that we're talking about,' which would give everyone not in the know (namely all Democrats and all GOP who aren't aware of the bill, which is at least half at this point) no more than an hour to see what the new bill is and to debate it.

I have no idea how this works, though, because the bill still has to go to the CBO. Can you do that in secret? I have never heard of the CBO rating a bill in secret, but I've also never heard about the above or budget reconciliation before this year, so what the hell do I know I guess.

Yeah, I'm pretty much in the same situation. As far as I'm aware, the CBO has to score it, so I have no idea how that work. Really wouldn't surprise me if McConnell managed to find some super obscure loophole to work around that somehow though, but I just have absolutely no idea what that would be or how it would actually work or get around that. Guess all we can do is wait and see what tricks he tries to pull exactly, but it just sucks that that's all we can do. Hate feeling this powerless and just having to wait it out at this point. =/

 

[Oni Jazar]

The doomsday clock ticks down...

Senate GOP releasing draft health care bill Thursday

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Tuesday that GOP senators will be releasing a "discussion draft" of the Senate health care bill on Thursday before moving to a vote likely next week. McConnell said "everybody will have adequate time" and "plenty of time" to read the bill before moving to a vote, including reporters."


https://www.axios.com/senate-gop-re...tml?utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=organic


It comes down to 10 key states.

Constituents in Alaska, West Virginia, Maine, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, & Arkansas need to call their senators. If you live there you need to call every single day. If you don't bug your friends who do to call. Use the link below and find the daily script to use:

https://www.trumpcareten.org/daily

 

[WhiteWolf]

Social anxiety? Text RESIST to 50409 to have a fax sent to your senators via Resistbot.

Thank you for this.

 

[Shadow Puppetry]

White nationalist bodyguard got stabbed, there goes his insurance due to pre-existing conditions.

A man who serves as a bodyguard for a notorious white nationalist has been hospitalized after being stabbed nine times by two assailants following a pro-Trump rally.

Lt. Saul Rodriguez, a Santa Monica police spokesman, tells the Los Angeles Times that his department believes Foreman was stabbed due to the argument he was having with the two men in the parking lot, and not due to racial or political animus.

Even though Foreman is a professional bodyguard, he apparently lacks health insurance, which is why his friends are trying to raise $125,000 to pay for his treatment.

 

[Oni Jazar]

Senate's bill is coming tomorrow. CBO on Friday or Monday. This is some evil shit.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...88/senate-health-care-bill-secret-pre-release

• Senate Republicans are meeting on Thursday morning, at 9:30 am, to review a complete draft of the health care bill, according to senators and congressional aides.
• The text is expected to be released publicly around that time, though it could be delayed until after the meeting.
• The Congressional Budget Office is then expected to release its official analysis of what the bill would cost and how many people it would cover on Friday or Monday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters.
• Senate leadership is said to still be pushing for a vote by the July 4 recess, before senators leave town to go home for a week.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Bumping this with more information on why this should be fought against. Every moment until July 4th counts and even long afterward.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Bumping this again with a Vox video about how the AHCA will impact women's health.

The fight isn't over even if this bill perishes by the 4th. The slime that cooked it up will probably try again when they think we aren't paying attention anymore. Keep your legislators honest.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Reposting from a tweet by @benwikler

New Trumpcare bill to be released Thu 7/13

CBO score Mon 7/17 or Tue 7/18

VOTE by Thu 7/20 or Fri 7/21

RESISTANCE ALL THE DAYS

 

[EdibleKnife]

McConnell manipulating the system and spreading bullshit again to get his way.

 

[Natiko]

This shit is disgusting. Stop already GOP.

 

[EdibleKnife]

Bumping this again. Anything you hear about this bill being dead is a lie. GOP is and will continue to try to kill Americans and we need to continue to resist. Call. Message. Attend Events in person. Please.