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Andy Colwell, Special to The Denver Post

In February 2013, in the wake of a mass shooting atan Aurora movie theater in my district, the Colorado legislature debated and then passed several measures to promote gun safety in our state. It was one of the most controversial and divisive periods in our states political history.

As a mother living with the memory of a son gunned down along with his fianc by killers connected to a gang, I carried some of the bills we passed that year.

We debated that legislation in an atmosphere of violence and intimidation. Threats of rape and violence against myself, my daughter and my granddaughters took place in an environment of hysteria and paranoia engineered by the gun industry and their political enablers. I received numerous death threats, was stalked by mentally unstable individuals and for a time was under protection by the Colorado State Patrol because of specific and heinous threats on my life.

With my life in danger, attending one town hall was deemed too risky by those protecting me.

Last week I was reminded of that traumatic period while watching many Republican members of Congress not only actively hide from their constituents, but insult and demean the people for whom they were elected to work to excuse their unavailability. In Colorado, we watched Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner use elaborate strategies to dodge constituents concerned and upset about the fundamental impacts on their lives that will come from his votes. Even worse, Gardner had the audacity to dehumanize, without evidence, his own constituents by labeling them paid protesters.

We deserve better. When a congressman like Colorados Mike Coffman isnt fleeing out back doors and into waiting cars to avoid vocal senior citizens, he and his Republican colleagues around the country attempt to justify their own frailty in the face of their constituents by saying their voices dont deserve to be heard.

I did my job despite unbalanced individuals threatening me and my family with rape, pain and death. Republicans in the U.S. Congress are simply being asked to listen to the voices of those they serve. It shouldnt have to take a profile in courage to look a cancer patient in the eye and hear what she has to say it only takes a little bit of compassion and an ounce of respect.

The real threat to these Republicans is not the violence of extremists, but the mere sound of the honest voices of regular, hard-working Americans. These politicians simply dont want to hear about the daily reality of struggling citizens who shouldnt have to sacrifice their health and economic security on the altar of right-wing ideology. That is why they turn to these pathetic conspiracy theories about paid protesters. We also witnessed the self-pitying victimhood of politicians like Sen. Marco Rubio andCongressman Jason Chaffetz the latter even describing his own constituents as bullies for daring to stand up and speak truth to power.

It is disgraceful. It is simply cowardly to say that the pain and despair of the people they work for are not really authentic and do not deserve to be heard. It is also a cynical strategy meant to rob citizens of their voices.

We cease to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people when the Republican majority in Washington, who now have great power over our futures, will not listen to or respect the voices of those of us who will have to bear in our day-to-day lives the consequences of their political agenda. At the barest minimum, at least have the courage to listen to those who stand to die for its sake.

Sen. Rhonda Fields, a Democrat, represents District 29 inthe Colorado Senate.

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Original post:
Republicans' cowardly failure to face their constituents - The Denver Post

By Alan Fram, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Wheres the Republicans embryonic health care bill?

A maverick GOP senator and top Democrats staged made-for-TV scavenger hunts across the Capitol on Thursday for a draft of the measure, momentarily overshadowing months of labor by Republicans out to reshape the nations health care system. Their goal: embarrass Republican leaders who have vowed to make the overhaul transparent and are struggling to solidify support.

Its the secret office for the secret bill, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., proclaimed to reporters after being denied entry to the ground floor room where he said the measure was being shown to some lawmakers. An aide to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., later said Paul was standing outside her office, not a hideaway for clandestine legislation.

With Republican leaders hoping to unveil the legislation next week, part of the measure is being shown privately to GOP lawmakers without distributing copies. Party leaders often closely hold major bills while striking final compromises, but this was an unusually stealthy move aimed at preventing leaks of the measure, which would replace much of former President Barack Obamas health care overhaul with Republican proposals.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., who is letting panel Republicans see his portion of the measure, issued a statement that flashed his pique. He said assertions his committee is doing anything other than the regular process of keeping its members up to speed on latest developments in its jurisdictions are false.

Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, whose House Ways and Means Committee is writing other provisions, noted he and Walden had briefed senators including Paul on Wednesday.

Clearly every senator in that room knows exactly the direction were going, Brady told reporters.

The secrecy surrounding the House draft presented a golden publicity opportunity to Paul, who like some other conservatives says the GOP plan doesnt go far enough in dismantling Obamas law.

This is being presented as if this were a national secret, as if this were a plot to invade another country, Paul told camera crews and reporters his office had alerted to his quest.

In an interview this week with NBCs Today show, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Republican leaders were not hatching some bill in a backroom and plopping it on the American peoples front door.

Also launching pursuit were No. 2 House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and other Democrats, who rummaged through the Capitol and a nearby House office building. Parts of their expeditions were streamed on social media.

At one point, Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., were turned away from the offices of Walden and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., claimed to have checked the mens room.

They dont want us to see the bill, said Pallone.

Thursdays histrionics came as Ryan and other GOP leaders try delivering on one of their and President Donald Trumps top political priorities, despite lingering disputes.

At a closed-door conference, Ryan told Republicans that leaders would draft the overhaul legislation this weekend. Lawmakers have said the goal is for the two House committees to vote next week in hopes of pushing the legislation through the House and to the Senate before an early April recess.

One conservative foe, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said leaders pushed lawmakers hard Thursday to back the bill. He said leaders showed clips of Trumps congressional address on Tuesday, when he embraced key principles of the GOP plan.

This was very unconvincing, said Massie.

One of the most contentious remaining disputes is a new tax sought by Ryan on part of the value of expensive employer-provided medical plans. Many Republicans are reluctant to vote for a tax increase a reliable way to invite challengers in primary elections.

Many conservatives oppose a proposed tax credit that would be even for people who owe no taxes and is based on age, not income. Brady said hes considering whether to target the credit, but didnt say how.

Obamas law expanded Medicaid to more lower-income people, a move that 31 states accepted, along with billions in added federal payments to cover it. The GOP plan would provide money for those states and for the 19 states, mostly run by Republicans, that didnt expand Medicaid.

___

AP Congressional Correspondent Erica Werner contributed to this report.

Continued here:
Dems, rogue GOP in scavenger hunt for a copy of Republicans' Obamacare replacement bill - The Denver Post

Congratulation, Montana GOP! Once again we are the subject of national news as we look like idiots to the rest of the world.

Do you suppose that people wonder about the sanity of a Republican House representative and a Republican Senate member proposing a mail-in ballot for the upcoming election for state representative to save the counties $750,000, only to have Jeff Essmann, GOP chair, say no dice because more people might vote? Do we need a sanity test, Republicans?

Let me see if I understand this. The clerks of every county begged their representatives in Helena to find a way to keep the counties from spending money that they don't have. Two sane people came up with a bill to save our bacon and yet Essmann is so frightened about the current atmosphere and the anger of the citizens of this state that he is bullying the sane members of his party to dump a bipartisan bill.

If you thought we were angry and outspoken before, try pulling this bull puckie. Our country is in peril. When will the patriots of this state stand up and put country before party and stop this insane action? Shame on you, Essmann! Shame on the Republican Party for raising taxes on seniors to try to keep your party in a power position, if they allow this bully to toss this bill.

Read more:
Republicans may need sanity test - The Missoulian

MADISON, Wis. Republican lawmakers want to prohibit University of Wisconsin employees from performing abortions or providing training at facilities where abortions are performed, other than hospitals.

Rep. Andre Jacque and Sen. Chris Kapenga are circulating a bill targeting an arrangement between Planned Parenthood and the University of Wisconsin in which faculty members work part-time at the organization's Madison clinic.

"The university has been acting as a contractor for Planned Parenthood," Jacque said. "That is not the role of the government."

Agreements between a handful of physicians from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin have been in place since 2008. Under the current agreement, which has been in place since 2012, physicians provide family planning, disease screening and surgery services including abortions to patients in exchange for an hourly fee of $150. The agreement estimates 16 to 20 hours of services will be provided per week.

Lisa Brunette, a spokeswoman for UW Health, said fewer than 10 faculty members provide services at Planned Parenthood. She said obstetrics-gynecology medical residents receive abortion training at the clinic. National guidelines require the school to offer such training, but residents can opt out.

The school "will vigorously defend its commitment to train medical residents in all specialties, including ob-gyn," she said.

Spokeswomen for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin did not immediately respond to several questions submitted to them.

The Planned Parenthood clinics in Madison and Milwaukee are the organization's only two Wisconsin clinics that still perform abortions. These two clinics perform about 3,400 abortions combined each year.

Under current state law, government funds cannot be used to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother's life is endangered. This proposal would also include those exceptions.

A handful of other bills proposed this session involve abortions. One GOP proposal introduced last month would ban the sale of fetal tissue, which Republicans have been trying to do for years. But Jacque and others who are staunchly anti-abortion have said the proposal would be ineffective because it essentially duplicates federal law. Support for a version Jacque introduced last session fizzled after researchers argued it could hurt potentially life-saving research. At least two other fetal tissue bills are still in the works.

Another GOP proposal this session would prohibit the state's insurance board from covering abortions for state workers and state annuitant retirees.

Democrats have proposed two measures that would protect access to abortions.

Read the original post:
Republicans target faculty's deal with Planned Parenthood - Minneapolis Star Tribune

By Topher Spiro By Topher Spiro March 3 at 6:00 AM Topher Spiro is the vice president for health policy at the Center for American Progress and a former staffer to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)

At a news conference, March 2, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) spoke about Republican lawmakers' plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Reuters)

Public opinion about the Affordable Care Act is consistently favorable and on an upswing. Faced with the prospect of repeal, crowds of constituents are confronting lawmakers across the country to express their anguish in town halls. But still, Republicans are rushing to rip apart the health insurance coverage that millions of people depend on.

That rush is a particularly bitter irony for anyone who, like me, worked on writing the ACA originally. Republicans accused Democrats eight years ago of drafting the health-care law in secret, despite dozens of public hearings and work sessions. But now its their own process that is highly secretive, with U.S. Capitol Police guarding a basement room where the draft legislation is kept hidden from voters, the news media and even members of Congress.

The GOP tried to use one quote in particular to drive itsmessage back then. In 2010, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy. What Pelosi meant was that people would realize the benefits of the law once they became tangible which is exactly what polling shows has happened. But Republicans spun and truncated the quote to suggest that Democrats were hiding something.

In fact, the process to enact the Affordable Care Act was thorough and transparent. I was there for the whole thing, as a Democratic staffer for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

[Bernie Sanders: If Trump doesnt rescue Obamacare, he must admit hes a liar]

In the House, Democrats held a series of public hearings before introducing a public discussion draft in June 2009. The House then held more public hearings before introducing new legislative text in July. All three relevant committees held markups committee work sessions to amend the legislation and the full House vote on the amended legislation did not take place until November.

In the Senate, the HELP Committee held 14 bipartisan roundtables and 13 public hearings in 2008 and 2009. During the committees markup in June 2009, Democrats accepted more than 160 Republican amendments to the bill.

Beginning in May 2008 20 months before the Senate vote and six months before Barack Obama, who would later sign the bill into law, was even elected president the Senate Finance Committee held 17 public roundtables, summits and hearings. In 2009, Democrats met and negotiated with three Republicans for several months before the tea party protests caused the GOP to back away from negotiations. The Finance Committee held its markup in September, and the full Senate vote did not take place until December.

In both the House and the Senate, scores by the independent Congressional Budget Office were available before each vote at each stage of the process. These scores are estimates of the effects of legislation on the budget and on the number of people who would be covered by health insurance.

Thats not remotely like whats happening in Washington now. Its Republicans who are rushing to jam through their legislation to repeal the law in a highly secretive process. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said this week on NBCs Today show, Were not hatching some bill in a back room and plopping it on the American peoples front door. In fact, thats exactly what theyre doing.

Only Republicans can see the bill text before the markup next week, and its only on view in a basement next to the Capitol. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was denied entry into the room Thursday when he tried to go read the bill. Worse, Republicans plan to mark up the proposal and take a vote without having a score from the CBO which means no one will know what repealing the law will do to people who are covered under the ACA until after the committee votes on it.

[Why Trump is already waffling on Obamacare]

Republicans have held no public hearings on their restructuring ideas. They do not plan to have any committee markups in the Senate. Legislation is still not public one month from the planned vote in the Senate. And needless to say, Republicans made no attempt to conduct a bipartisan discussion about improving the Affordable Care Act instead of abolishing it.

Democrats used a special budget procedure known as reconciliation which can be used to avoid a filibuster to make tweaks to the Affordable Care Act after final passage. Now Republicans are using that very same procedure but right away, at the beginning of the legislative process, and to make radical changes.

Its true that some behind-the-scenes negotiation, discussion and drafting is part of every legislative process including the process to enact the ACA. But in that case, versions of bill text and their CBO scores were publicly available for many months before the final vote. An extended public debate took place for more than a year. Whats truly remarkable now is that the entire process has been behind closed doors.

Theres a reason, of course, why Republicans want to hide their bill and its effects: Under every iteration of their plan, deep cuts to Medicaid and much lower tax credits for private insurance would cause millions of people to lose their coverage.

Republicans are making their members walk the plank with blindfolds on because they have no other choice. They promised, over and over again, to repeal the ACA, and now theyre going to try to do it no matter how. Their internal divisions are rampant and grow by the day. This is no way in a democracy to consider and shape legislation affecting tens of millions of people with many lives hanging in the balance.

And ultimately, what was false about the Affordable Care Act is true about the secret basement bill: They have to pass the bill to find out whats in it.

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We won't know what's in the Republican health-care repeal plan until they pass it - Washington Post