Activists with the national Poor People’s Campaign faced backlash from government officials and law enforcement during nationwide protests Monday. More than 100 people in Kentucky, Kansas, California, New York, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. were arrested or blocked from entering government buildings.
The campaign, which marks 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized thousands of Americans...
ThinkProgress
Court orders Maine’s Republican governor to expand Medicaid already
On Monday, a state judge ordered the Maine Department of Health and Gov. Paul LePage (R) to follow through on a voter-approved ballot measure and expand health care to thousands of residents, ending seven months of stonewalling.
Last November, nearly 60 percent of Maine voters approved Medicaid expansion, making it the first state to expand the public insurance program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by ballot box. Just days after, LePage and state Republicans vowed to delay the...
The Sherrod Brown strategy for winning in the Trump era
CLEVELAND, OHIO — Sherrod Brown didn’t want to talk about strategy.
Asked by reporters Monday morning about his tactics as he faces reelection this fall, the two-term Democratic senator interrupted to say he wasn’t going to discuss it. But watching the scene as Brown interacted with constituents in a Cleveland community center after speaking at an event billed as “African Americans for Sherrod,” his strategy was clear.
Brown spoke for about 20 minutes and was immediat...
As Puerto Ricans’ numbers grow in Florida, Hurricane Maria becomes pivotal campaign issue
Puerto Ricans hit by Hurricane Maria often complained that they were not treated by the Trump administration like full-fledged US citizens. Now thousands have relocated to Florida after fleeing the devastating storm and are preparing to flex their political clout at the ballot box this November.
Puerto Ricans who leave the island are eligible to vote as soon as they establish residency on the US mainland, making them an immediate potential political force in the midterms.
The...
How to improve the health care of 825,000 people? By ballot
Big things are happening for more than 800,000 million people nationwide.
Effective January 1st, roughly 400,000 people will have Medicaid insurance in Virginia; in New Jersey, another 275,000 people will see their Obamacare premiums reduce next year; and 150,000 undocumented Californians could soon have health coverage for the first time.
And political participation made it all possible.
Turnout for Virginia’s gubernatorial race last November was the highest in ...
Voters in battleground states are keen for candidates to take on Wall Street, research finds
Voters in crucial battleground districts across the country are hungry to take on the plutocracy. That’s the key takeaway from a new survey undertaken by Lake Research Partners, who find voters on all parts of the political spectrum demonstrate an “overwhelming, broad-based, and intense support for curbing big banks’ influence in Washington, and holding financial companies accountable for discrimination. ” The survey is one of many pieces of mounting evidence that the ele...
Virginia Senate Democrats and rogue Republicans approve Medicaid expansion
Advocates have been trying to get the Virginia Legislature to expand Medicaid for at least five years, and on Wednesday, Senate lawmakers handed them a big win.
Four Republicans joined all 19 Democrats, by a vote of 23-17, to pass a two-year $115 billion budget that includes Medicaid expansion. When state Senators initially voted to add Medicaid expansion, only three Republicans joined. The Senate is expected to also pass its $115 billion two-year budget on Wednesday and both are ex...
As Kentucky rushes to remake Medicaid, advocates try to protect health care for the homeless
Adrienne Bush isn’t a fan of Medicaid work requirements — or as she, the executive director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky, puts it, “coercing people into minimum wage jobs.” In 32 days, Kentucky will begin rolling out its new Medicaid program that conditions insurance on work, along with a host of other new eligibility requirements. So, now, Bush’s priority is harm reduction.
“Right now I’m very worried about implementation and people fal...
Hundreds of Pittsburgh-area nurses rally for raises, better working conditions
Hundreds of nurses rallied in the Pittsburgh area Tuesday, calling on their employer, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) of McKeesport, to recognize their union rights and negotiate a contract that would include more staff and better quality jobs.
Nearly 170 nurses have been working at the hospital without a contract since April, local CBS affiliate KDKA reported.
“We want some reasonable raises, we want some of the things that the rest of the nurses in the s...
ADAPT activists put their bodies on the line to draw attention to Disability Integration Act
It was rush hour, but no one could leave the parking garage. Activists from ADAPT, a national disability rights group, hurled their wheelchairs and their bodies in front of AARP employees’ cars so they couldn’t leave. Someone spotted an opening. “You! There,” said one protester to another in a wheelchair, who then launched himself in front of a car, stopping the employee from driving away.
Roughly 200 ADAPT activists last Tuesday surrounded the Washington, D.C. headquarters of AARP,...