The fuel in President Donald Trump’s rise to power has many ingredients, but they are all funneled through the same engine: TV and internet chatter.
The racism, xenophobia, and lizard-brain tribalism Trump tapped into over the past two-plus years of campaigning and slipshod attempts at governing find a natural intersection online — where anonymous message board flamewars have reshaped human conversational norms — and on cable TV debate shows. In either venue, what ...
ThinkProgress
Trump slashes funds for ACA advertising, undermines Obamacare at every turn
The Trump administration is dramatically cutting funding dedicated to advertising and promoting enrollment in Obamacare. The cuts are further evidence that the Trump administration will undermine its least favorite health care law at all costs, despite having no legislation to replace it if it fails.
The administration announced Thursday afternoon that it would be cutting the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) advertising budget by 90 percent, from $100 million to $10 million. Additi...
Colorado, Ohio governors propose ‘bipartisan blueprint’ for saving Obamacare
Govs. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and John Kasich (R-OH) released what they are calling a “bipartisan blueprint” for stabilizing the Affordable Care Act Thursday, but many of their “fixes” detailed in a letter to congressional leadership are simply pleas that the law be enforced as written.
“We’re not trying to start a revolution here,” Hickenlooper said at a press conference in Denver Thursday. “These are very cautious, pragmatic efforts.”
Six other governors from across the co...
A growing number of Democrats are embracing single-payer health care
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has become the latest high-profile Democrat to embrace expanding Medicare coverage to all Americans, the freshman senator announced at a town hall in Oakland Wednesday night.
“I’ll break some news. I intend to co-sponsor the Medicare for All bill because it’s just the right thing to do,” Harris said Wednesday. It’s just the right thing to do… But it’s also about being smart.”
Harris will co-sponsor the Medicare for All legislation with Sen. Bernie Sa...
Scott Pruitt is leaving a toxic trail at EPA after only 6 months on the job
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt was sworn into office only six months ago but is already attracting widespread scrutiny for alleged misuse of agency funds, potential violation of a lobbying law, and holding secret meetings with officials from the industries his agency is tasked with regulating.
Upon arrival at the agency, the new EPA administrator pledged a back-to-basics philosophy. That shift in agency priorities, however, appears to be geared toward rai...
Trump has showed the absolute minimum amount of empathy for Houston victims
President Trump hasn’t had a lot to congratulate himself for in the early months of his presidency.
The Senate tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act three different times. Trump had one infrastructure week hijacked when the FBI director he fired testified in front of Congress. He lost control of another infrastructure week when he decided to say some “very fine people” marched at a rally for white supremacists, KKK members, and neo-Nazis. He’s lost his press secretary, ...
Thousands of faith leaders descend on Washington to condemn racism and Trump
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thousands of faith leaders rallied in opposition to racism on Monday, marching through the streets of the nation’s capital to commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. — and preach moral opposition to President Donald Trump.
The protest was organized by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, which called on 1,000 faith leaders to join him in pushing back against racism and Trump while celebrating the 54th anniversary of Rev. Dr...
The black queer Buddhist teacher who is smashing stereotypes and leading an awakening on the left
This is the second in a series of profiles examining leaders of what is often called the Religious Left, detailing their origins, beliefs, and tactics. Find the first here.
Rev. angel Kyodo williams doesn’t like stereotypes.
That’s not entirely surprising, since she also seems to enjoy shattering them. She’s a black queer woman in an American Buddhist tradition often steered by white men; a Buddhist operating in activist circles of mostly Christians and Jews; a...
Trump keeps trying to interfere with the Russia investigation
President Trump has repeatedly brushed off claims that he and his associates colluded with Russian officials during the 2016 election in order to tilt the results in their favor. Now, a report from Politico offers further ammunition for his critics and acts as the latest chapter in the ever-unfolding scandal, which stretches back to the earliest days of his presidency.
On Wednesday evening, the outlet reported that President Trump had called up two GOP senators in July and earlier t...
Trump’s top economic official denounces his defense of white supremacists
Gary Cohn, the top White House economic official, is “distressed” over President Donald Trump’s failure to immediately condemn the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who incited violence in Charlottesville.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Cohn, who is Jewish, expressed his concern about the nature of the comments Trump made defending white supremacists. Cohn said Trump “can and must do better in consistently and unequivocally condemning these gr...