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Democrats are heading toward a new phase in the battle over healthcare as they brace for a tough midterm election cycle.

With the GOP's ObamaCare repeal push largely on ice, Democrats are shifting their focus from defending the Affordable Care Act to pitching their own healthcare ideas.

The long-shot proposals have little chance of passing with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.

But the competing measures could feed into the ongoing fight about the partys future as Democrats search for a path out of the political wilderness.

Establishing a Medicare for All single-payer program will improve the health of the American people and provide substantial financial savings for middle class families. It is the right thing to do. It is the moral thing to do, Sanders wrote in a Guardian op-ed.

Echoing his upstart presidential campaign last year, the Vermont senator is asking supporters to sign up as a citizen co-sponsor of the forthcoming legislation, arguing that its time to wage a moral and political war against a dysfunctional healthcare system.

Sanders put universal healthcare at the center of his bid for the Democratic nomination, and the idea has gained traction amid a progressive resurgence within the party.

Many of Sanderss potential opponentsin a 2020 presidential primary including Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Cory BookerCory Anthony BookerBooker: Republicans can't force new healthcare plan 'down our throats' Bill targets lead in schools drinking water Batman v Superman star pushes Cory Booker for president MORE (N.J.) have voiced some support for a government operated healthcare system. Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenWarren: Education Dept lawyer may have violated conflict-of-interest laws Congress should think twice on the Israel Anti-Boycott Act Sanders plans to introduce single-payer bill in September MORE (D-Mass.) told The Wall Street Journal that its time for the next step. And the next step is single-payer.

Marissa Barrow, a spokeswoman for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said Democrats should embrace a big and bold agenda heading into the next election.

Were looking to make Medicare for all one of the big issues on the campaign trail, she said. We see it as an issue that could help unite the Democratic Party.

But Sanderss Senate colleagues who are running in red states have kept the proposal at arm's length.

Democratic Sens. Joe ManchinJoe ManchinOPINION | 5 ways Democrats can win back power in the states Trump's Democratic tax dilemma Manchin eyed as potential pick for Energy secretary: report MORE (W.Va.), Joe DonnellyJoe DonnellyTrump's Democratic tax dilemma FEC 'reform' a smokescreen to weaponize government against free speech It's time for McConnell to fight with Trump instead of against him MORE (Ind.), Jon TesterJon TesterWhy 'cherry-picking' is the solution to our nations flood insurance disaster Trump signs Veterans Affairs bill at New Jersey golf club It's time for McConnell to fight with Trump instead of against him MORE (Mont.) and Heidi HeitkampHeidi HeitkampTrump's Democratic tax dilemma It's time for McConnell to fight with Trump instead of against him The real litmus test is whether pro-life democrats vote for pro-life legislation MORE (N.D.), as well as Independent Sen. Angus KingAngus Stanley KingSen. King: If Trump fires Mueller, Congress would pass veto-proof special prosecutor statute Senate heading for late night ahead of ObamaCare repeal showdown Overnight Healthcare: Four GOP senators threaten to block 'skinny' repeal | Healthcare groups blast skinny repeal | GOP single-payer amendment fails in Senate MORE (Maine), joined with Republicans to vote against a single-payer amendment from GOP Sen. Steve Daines (Mont.) late last month.

Heitkamp said Congress needs realistic solutions and that Dainess maneuver which was expected to fail was a political stunt.

We need realistic solutions to help fix our healthcare system. ... The decision was made in 2010 to go with a market-based system the question is how we improve the system we have, Heitkamp said in a statement.

Sen. Claire McCaskillClaire McCaskillSenators push for possible FCC enforcement over Lifeline fraud Democrat senator: Trump has elevated Kim Jong-Un to the world stage It's time for McConnell to fight with Trump instead of against him MORE (D-Mo.), who like most Democrats voted present on the GOP amendment, also told constituents she would not support a single-payer proposal.

Im going to disappoint a lot of you. ... I would say if a single-payer came up to a vote right now I would not vote for it, McCaskill, who is up for reelection next year, told constituents during a town hall earlier this year.

McCaskill added she would support allowing individuals who only have one option on the ObamaCare exchanges to buy into Medicare or Medicaid instead.

Democrats face a tough Senate map in 2018, with 10senators running for reelection in states carried by Trump. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted three of those races West Virginia, Indiana and Missouri to toss up and North Dakota from likely D to lean D this week.

A spokesman for Sanders said he didnt yet have an estimate for how many members of the Democratic conferencewould support the forthcoming legislation. One hundred and sixteen House Democrats are backing a separate House bill from Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) the first time a majority of the House Democratic Caucus has supported the proposal.

Democratic leadership is trying to walk a fine line in the looming healthcare fight as they balance the competing interests of different wings of the party.

Senate Minority Leader CharlesSchumer (D-N.Y.) has put myriad options, including single payer, on the table.

We're going to look at broader things single payer is one of them, he told ABC News. Medicare for people above 55 is on the table. A buy-in to Medicare is on the table. A buy-in to Medicaid is on the table.

Overall, 33 percent of Americans believe healthcare should be a single payer setup, according to a Pew Research Center poll from late June, compared to 52 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of liberals.

The poll also found that roughly 60 percent believe the government is responsible for making sure all Americans have health insurance.

The coming fight over healthcare is the latest example of a vocal progressive wing trying to flex its muscle and push the Democratic Party to the left in the wake of the 2016 presidential election.

When Sanders introduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 a key issue between himself and primary opponent Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonAssange meets U.S. congressman, vows to prove Russia did not leak him documents High-ranking FBI official leaves Russia probe OPINION | Steve Bannon is Trump's indispensable man don't sacrifice him to the critics MORE 30Democratic senators signed on to the bill, compared to five supporters for a similar bill in 2015.

But red-state incumbents arent the only Democrats worried about embracing single payer.

Sen. Dianne FeinsteinDianne FeinsteinTrump's Democratic tax dilemma Feinstein: Trump immigration policies 'cruel and arbitrary' The Memo: Could Trumps hard line work on North Korea? MORE (D-Calif.) received pushback at a town hall in San Francisco when she said told constituents that she wasnt there on single payer.

Asked if he could support a single-payer system, Sen. Tim KaineTim Kaine Violent white nationalist protests prompt state of emergency in Virginia Republicans will get their comeuppance in New Jersey, Virginia Spicer signs deal with top TV lawyer: report MORE (D-Va.), Clintons vice presidential pick, noted Sanders would be introducing a bill but that he has a different view about what we ought to do.

I want people to have more options, not fewer. ... I would like to explore a circumstance under which there could be a public option, like a Medicare Part E for everybody that you'd have to buy into, Kaine, who is also up for reelection next year, told ABC News earlier this month.

Democratic Sens. Debbie StabenowDebbie StabenowHead of McConnell-backed PAC: We're 'very interested' in Kid Rock Senate campaign Juan Williams: Trump and the new celebrity politics Senate Dems unveil trade agenda MORE (Mich.), Tammy BaldwinTammy BaldwinClub for Growth endorses Nicholson in Wisconsin GOP primary Senate Dems unveil trade agenda Group pushes FDA to act on soy milk labeling petition MORE (Wis.) and Sherrod BrownSherrod Campbell BrownOvernight Finance: House passes spending bill with border wall funds | Ryan drops border tax idea | Russia sanctions bill goes to Trump's desk | Dems grill bank regulator picks Dems grill Trump bank regulator nominees Senate Dems launch talkathon ahead of ObamaCare repeal vote MORE (Ohio), who are each up for reelection in states carried by Trump, are offering legislation that let Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 buy into Medicare.

Barrow called the move a positive step, though the end game is either a single-payer system or a state-by-state or federal Medicare option for everyone.

Sanders has also acknowledged that with Republicans in control of Congress, his bill is unlikely to pass. He outlined three steps to take in the meantime: passing legislation to get the public option in every state, lowering Medicaid eligibility to 55 and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

But he is also prepared to take his argument for a broader single payer bill into Trump territory. Hell hit the road with stops in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan to discuss healthcare and the economy, including a rally with Conyers where theyre expected to discuss Medicare for all.

Barrow added that the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is already reaching out Capitol Hill offices and will keep up their effort through 2018 and beyond to get Democrats to wrap themselves in the flag of Medicare.

If you go into a red state its a super, super popular program in red states, blue states and purple states, she said. Its going to be a winning issue in 2018 especially in those red and purple states.

Continue reading here:
Democrats prep for next round of healthcare fight - The Hill

Back to basics.

It's been clear for a long time that Donald Trump is unfit to be president, but there are degrees of unfitness. Last week, with his response to the march of neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, he sank to an amazing new low.

He crossed a new line not in defending the right of neo-Nazis and white supremacists to march, nor in expressing the view that Confederate statues shouldn't be taken down (until recently, a permissible position, even if it's wrong). And he didn't cross it by pointing out that some of the counter-protesters turned up looking for a fight (because they did). Instead, the jaw-dropping moment was Trumps claim that marching alongside the avowed racists, fascists and other degenerates in Charlottesville were some "very fine people."

No wonder David Duke was delighted. In plain sight, this was the moral bankruptcy Trump has long been accused of. I don't know if he actually meant those words, but, under pressure, and driven as always by pathological vanity and refusal ever to be corrected or contradicted, he sure enough said it.

With luck, this turn of events will accelerate the fall in Trump's support, rendering him, beyond a doubt, politically toxic for the Republican party. This would make it easier for Republican politicians to do what they should already be doing, and start opposing their own president.

Democrats can help too, but they need to be smart about it. They should take care not to get too much in the way of Trump's self-destruction. They can oppose him most effectively by restraining some of their own less productive political instincts.

Politics after Charlottesville has turned to the question of Confederate monuments. The monuments should go -- and the decisive arguments for removing them are, first, that they give deep and justifiable offense to many Americans and, second, that they've become a rallying point for the unhinged far right. In other words, this is an argument that can be cast in terms of patriotic solidarity. It's an opportunity to live up to the highest American ideals and repudiate the fascists who oppose them.

This argument shouldnt divide liberals and conservatives. But it very well could, if Democrats don't handle it intelligently. Many Trump supporters don't much care for the president, but they dislike the relentless self-righteousness and condescension of the liberal elite even more. The removal of the statues is an invitation to indulge those sentiments -- one that many Democrats will be unable to resist. "So we were right to call you deplorable, weren't we." Or: "You've honored your loathsome history long enough. We spit on your heroes and will make you recant whether you like it or not."

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All but a small number of Americans see slavery as a terrible stain on their country's history. All but a small number of Americans deplore white supremacists and neo-Nazis. If you start by recognizing that, a common patriotic cause can be made for seizing this moment as a way to get past that history and unite around America's founding ideals, correctly understood. But succeeding in this calls for an effort to soften, not harden, the class and cultural divisions that got Trump elected in the first place.

The Trump presidency may be melting down. Let us hope so. But in seeking to advance this prospect, we should remember the tens of millions of votes that Americans -- many of them very fine people gave Trump, despite knowing what they knew before last November. This surely ought to tell Democrats, no less than Republicans, something about the failure of their politics.

Mark Lilla's superb new essay, The Once and Future Liberal, would be a good thing for Democrats to read as they ponder this question. Lilla's book is an attack on the identity politics around which the Democrats have lately organized themselves -- as a coalition of single-issue movements, rather than, as their party used to be, a vehicle for American solidarity.

There can be no liberal politics without a sense of "we" -- of what we are as citizens and what we owe each other. If liberals hope ever to recapture Americas imagination and become a dominant force across the country, it will not be enough to beat the Republicans at flattering the vanity of the mythical Joe Sixpack. They must offer a vision of our common destiny based on one thing that all Americans, of every background, actually share. And that is citizenship. We must relearn how to speak to citizens as citizens and to frame our appeals --including ones to benefit particular groups -- in terms of principles that everyone can affirm. Ours must become a civic liberalism.

After Charlottesville, and Trump's appalling response to it, that could be a potent message -- and one, above all, that many of Trump's supporters are capable of hearing.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Clive Crook at ccrook5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gibney at jgibney5@bloomberg.net

Link:
How Democrats Can Help Trump Fail - Bloomberg

City Hall: Two important items in the Costco development go before the Davenport City Council on Wednesday. Final consideration will be given to the proposed zoning change for the site at Fairhaven Road and E. 53rd St.

Also on Wednesday's agenda is the resolution that seeks approval of the final development plan for the property, which is to contain a 156,000-plus acre retail store.

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 226 W. 4th St.

On Thursday, Davenport's Zoning Board of Adjustment is to hear a request by Quad-City businessman Gregg Ontiveros for a "hardship variance." Ontiveros is asking the board to approve his plans for a five-story building at the River Drive and Mound Street entrance to the Village of East Davenport. City code currently limits buildings in the Village's Historic Shopping District, HSD, to three stories.

School Board: Bettendorfs director of operations, Chris Andrus, and representatives from Legat Architects, Moline, will make a presentation on a district-wide facility assessment on Monday, during the regular meeting of the Bettendorf School Board. The session begins at 6 p.m. at the districts Administrative Center, in the Ray Stensvad Board Room, 3311 18th St., Bettendorf.

Sports: The high school football season gets under way in both Iowa and Illinois this weekend. It begins with a Thursday night encounter at Brady Street Stadium between Davenport Central and Burlington with most of the other teams in the area getting their seasons started on Friday night.

The World Series of Drag Racing makes its return to Cordova International Raceway this weekend. The iconic event was held at Cordova for 62 years before being moved to Memphis last year. The International Hot Rod Association opted to move it back to the small western Illinois track, where it has been immensely popular through the years.

Big Story: Iowa Democrats have a wide field of candidates, expressing their interest in next year's gubernatorial race.

Political writer Ed Tibbetts is introducing the candidates and the issues facing the party as Democrats try to square off against a Republican-controlled statehouse and governor's office. His findings will be introduced in Sunday's Big Story.

Link:
Looking Ahead: Costco, high school football and Iowa Democrats - Quad City Times

Liberal activists who hounded the GOP throughout its failed Obamacare repeal bid are gearing up to hit any Democrat who strays from the fold on tax cuts for the wealthy including some of the partys most politically vulnerable incumbents.

Democrats were spared the sight of their progressive base battling centrists on Obamacare, which proved a uniquely unifying issue for both wings of the party. But theres no guarantee that taxes will be another kumbaya moment for Democratic leaders, who have long struggled to contain tensions between red-state lawmakers facing tough reelections and a grass roots emboldened by resistance to President Donald Trumps agenda.

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Whether Democrats can stay united will help determine the fate of Trumps tax push, a legislative priority that's become all the more important to Republicans after the demise of his health care bill.

And Democratic harmony is already somewhat at risk. The White House is reaching out to centrist House Democrats, and three moderate Senate Democrats declined to sign onto a recent letter outlining their caucus consensus position on taxes. Winning any bipartisan support would make rewriting the tax code far easier for Trump and Republican leaders.

Liberal groups are vowing to fight the GOP tax bill as hard as they battled Obamacare repeal. Theyre expecting Democrats to stand together against any legislation that cuts taxes for the rich, even if it also trims tax bills for others. And theyre prepared to unleash their energized grass roots on any lawmaker who doesnt get on board.

The goal is to defeat any attempt to cut taxes for the wealthy, MoveOn.org Washington director Ben Wikler said in an interview. That means any Democrat or Republican who signs on for such a proposal should expect to incur the wrath of a public that thinks the economy is already rigged in favor of the rich and shouldnt get any worse.

MoveOn and more than two dozen other liberal groups have launched a campaign dubbed Not One Penny thats designed to marshal opposition to any tax legislation that lowers the tax bills of wealthy individuals and corporations.

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Liberals hope their focus on grass-roots organizing will overcome a push by conservative groups like the Koch-backed Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity, which are spending millions of dollars aimed partly at pressuring Senate Democrats from Trump states to back a new tax bill.

Still, outside-the-Beltway-style civil disobedience proved effective at mobilizing public opposition to Republicans Obamacare repeal plan. Liberal activists are betting that red-state Senate Democrats like Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana the trio that did not endorse their caucus principles of no tax cuts for the wealthy, no increase in the deficit and no use of procedures to avoid the filibuster wont want to attract the glare of their spotlight.

Were not really worried about the Democratic ranks right now, because were in a political situation where we have [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell and the White House punching themselves out, said CREDO Action political director Murshed Zaheed, whose group launched a pro-Obamacare billboard campaign in June targeting Manchin, Heitkamp and Donnelly.

Of course, if we see any movement, any tangible report that Senate Democrats are having trouble holding the line on the tax reform fight, then we will engage, Zaheed added.

Indivisible, the anti-Trump group that rocketed to prominence this year by flooding town hall meetings with frustrated constituents, is routing tax reform information to its members even though significant votes may not happen until next year. Policy manager Chad Bolt vowed the group would work just as hard to keep Democrats aligned on taxes as it did on health care.

We really wanted Democrats to stand strong and draw attention to the health care bill moving through the Senate, and they did, Bolt said in an interview. So we intend to hold Democrats accountable just as strongly on the tax fight as we did on health care.

McConnell already has announced plans to shield any tax bill from a filibuster using budget reconciliation, a procedure that allows him to pass legislation with as few as 50 votes from his party alone. Its the same tactic he tried and failed to use to repeal Obamacare.

Republicans point out that reconciliation doesn't preclude minority-party votes for a tax package, and note that bipartisan tax cuts passed in similar fashion in 2001 and 2003. But the parties are far more polarized in the Trump era, and using the filibuster-proof maneuver so soon after the health care battle risks poisoning the well with many Democrats.

"There's actually an argument that it's easier to get to 60 than it is to get to 51, because when you operate from the premise that you're going to do a partisan proposal, you end up with odious policies," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said in a recent interview. Republicans would surely beg to differ, but McConnell was ultimately unable to find the votes for a health care bill that could satisfy all his partys factions.

Conservative groups counter that red-state Democrats have an opportunity to help shape the tax bill by buying into the process early.

Democrats and Republicans have been saying the same thing for years about problems with the tax code the difference is that now we have the opportunity to fix it, Freedom Partners spokesman Michael Bars said. Were hopeful that people like Joe Manchin, Claire McCaskill, Joe Donnelly and others will put politics and partisanship aside and work together to help deliver a simple, fairer and flatter tax code that will lead to more jobs, higher wages and greater financial security.

Although the tax fight is in its earliest stages, progressives don't believe they need to spend big money or threaten to support primary challengers to Democrats who back a GOP-written tax bill. Liberals say momentum is on their side thanks to an activist base that was further galvanized by the failure of Obamacare repeal.

Without question, it plays to the advantage of holding Democrats together on taxes, Center for American Progress Action Fund campaign director Emily Tisch Sussman said in an interview.

For Democrats holding a hard line against Republicans and against Trump, theyre in very high favorability with their base and independents right now, Tisch Sussman added. Red-state Democrats want to find an issue to moderate on, but cutting taxes for the wealthy and corporations is unpopular.

In a memo written last week with top Democratic pollsters at Hart Research and the Mellman Group, the Not One Penny campaign sought to stiffen Democratic spines by citing widespread public opposition to further tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations.

Progressives can win this tax debate, declares the memo, a copy of which was shared with POLITICO.

But the memo also cites polling in which a majority of respondents supported tax cuts for the wealthy as part of a broader proposal that also slashes taxes for people like me unless activists emphasize the comparably larger size of the breaks that higher-income taxpayers would get.

[I]t is critical for progressives to contextualize the disproportionate benefit that the wealthy and corporations will receive from this tax plan, the memo states.

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Left warns Democrats in tax reform fight - Politico

Hes been out of office for nearly eight months, but former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaCongress needs to assert the war power against a dangerous president CNN's Don Lemon: Anyone supporting Trump complicit' in racism DOJ warrant of Trump resistance site triggers alarm MORE remains the Democratic Partys best weapon for 2018.

Democrats are already nostalgic for Obama as they battle against President Trumps agenda. When he talks, they listen, as evidenced this week by a tweet from Obama about Charlottesville that became the most popular in the history of the platform.

The tricky question now facing the party is how to use the former president on the campaign trail.

Some Democrats are pushing for Obama to have a more elevated role, but the president has made clear he is wary of sliding back into the role of party leader, which could prevent new leaders from emerging.

Democrats acknowledge that being stuck in the Obama era is a concern, but say the party cant afford to have him on the sidelines.

Democrats badly need Barack Obama, said Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist. He offers such a vivid contrast to Trump in behavior and temperament.

He always sounded reasonable and acted responsibly even if you disagreed with him, Bannon continued. None of the potential Democratic presidential candidates have the visibility or credibility to be effective.

Others complain Obama has been doing too little to help the party at a time when it is struggling to rebuild.

Brent Budowsky, a former Democratic aide and columnist for The Hill, said Obama should play a far more aggressive role, starting today, to win back the House and Senate in 2018.

America faces an enormous political crisis and it is unconscionable how little Obama and other former top officials have done to help Democrats since Trump began his ugly abuses of power.

Under Obama's eight years, Democrats lost power at every level of national and state government, and Obama should feel an urgent sense of duty, especially on fundraising, and act with the fierce urgency of now and not generic promises about the future, Budowsky added. Obama should spend less time giving paid speeches and more time raising real money for Democrats.

Obama is expected to campaign for Democrats beginning this fall, allies close to the president said. But his reemergence will a delicate dance as one aide told The Hill last week.

The former president has already been involved in fundraising efforts and has met with party leaders and held private meetings with lawmakers seeking advice.

Obamas top aides will huddle with him in the next several weeks to plan his fall schedule. And while his allies say he will play an active role in assisting the Democratic Party, much of the work will be out of public view.

One reason for the behind-the-scenes role is to keep the president from becoming a foil to Trump and Republicans, allies say.

The s--t is hitting the fan on the other side, one former senior administration official said. Why play the foil?

Democratic strategist Christy Setzer agreed, saying while the Democratic nostalgia is deep and real, it isnt wise to have Obama become Trumps sparring partner.

For Democrats, never has the contrast been stronger between what we just gave up and what we have now, Setzer said.

But she added that for potential 2020 candidates like Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) or Cory BookerCory Anthony BookerBooker: Republicans can't force new healthcare plan 'down our throats' Bill targets lead in schools drinking water Batman v Superman star pushes Cory Booker for president MORE (D-N.J.) to truly move into the political spotlight, Obama has to remain in the shadows.

While Democrats may be in a different place a year from now, she added, right now, were still trying to figure out who the next leaders of the party are. Until thats more clear, Obama cant be as prominent.

But Obamas Charlottesville tweet this week which featured a quote from Nelson Mandelas autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, in three separate messages made clear Democrats long for the leader they already know.

I think a lot of Democrats are really missing him, the former senior administration official said. I think thats pretty evident.

Originally posted here:
Democrats long for Obama's return - The Hill