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The pain oftransportation fiascos tends to be sharp but short-lived, but the story of David Daothe 69-year-old doctor wrestled off a United Airlines flight by the Chicago Aviation Policemay be different.

Henry Grabar is a staff writer for Slates Moneybox.

That was horrible, President Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Daos lawyer said his client had suffered a concussion, a broken nose, and lost his two front teeth when he lost his seat on a flight to Louisville on Sunday evening.

Enter the Democrats, who appear to be seizing a moment of bipartisan outrage to advance a hastily drafted set ofairline regulations. For starters, Dems on the House Transportation Committee have asked TransportationSecretary Elaine Chao to share the results of her departments investigation into the incident.

Chris Van Hollen, the Democraticsenator from Maryland, is seeking co-sponsors for a new bill called the Customers Not Cargo Act, which would direct Chao to revise the Department of Transportations oversale rule to prevent passengers from being removed after theyve been seated.

And Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut says hes working on a broader passenger bill of rights to address this issue and others. (Though as Kathryn Wolfe and Lauren Gardner note in Politico, the last attempt to impose some kind of passenger protections on the airline industry took five years.)

On the one hand, its easy to be cynical about politicians trying to grab their place in the outrage cycle. On the other, as I wrote Tuesday,it feels like Democrats should embrace this Square Deal strain ofliberalism. (Its not meatpacking anymore:Americans least-favorite consumer-facing industries areairlines, health insurance, phone companies, cable and satellite TV, and internet providers.)

Now is an especially good time to agitate for a new raft of consumer protections since the Republican Party is currently undertaking unpopular attacks on those very things. In February, President Trump delayed an Obama-era rule that required financial advisers to act in their clients best interests when picking retirement accounts. Last week, he signed a law to scuttle another Obama-era rule that forbade internet service providers from selling user data without permission.

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Dems won the states that travel by air. They need to be the party of vehicles you find while mowing your lawn. More...

And whats on deck is a battle over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of the most significant legal advances for financial industry customers in the past half-century, which House Republicans would like to abolishreducing oversight of payday loans, private education loans, credit card contracts, and more.

That shouldnt be popular with constituents. If Democrats do their job right, David Dao wont be the only one losing his seat.

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Democrats Are Already Trying to Make Themselves the Party of Protecting Air Travelers - Slate Magazine (blog)

110TH TENNESSEE GENERAL ASSEMBLYLawmakers call for more oversight of state prisons | 0:36

Democrats are pushing for more oversight of state prisons after an attack Sunday. Jake Lowary/USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

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State lawmakers push for more oversight of prisons. Jake Lowary/USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

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Sen. Bo Watson discusses de-annexation in Senate committee. Jake Lowary/The Tennessean

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Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh discusses Medicaid expansion. Jake Lowary/The Tennessean

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Chris Blue of The Voice sings Star Spangled Banner in Tennessee House of Representatives. Jake Lowary/The Tennessean

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5 things to watch this week in the Tennessee General Assembly Wochit

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Sen. Kerry Roberts speaks supporting relocating Polk to Columbia. Jake Lowary/The Tennessean

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Sen. Bo Watson speaks against moving Polk remains to Columbia.

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Over 100 years since he was last moved, James K. Polk might have a new final resting place. Kirk A. Bado

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What to watch the week of March 27th in the Tennessee General Assembly Wochit

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5 things coming up this week in the legislature you should pay attention to. Jake Lowary/The Tennessean

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Some legislation to keep an eye on this week. Wochit

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Speaker Harwell remembers Douglas Henry Wochit

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Pro-choice supporters congratulate Rep. John Ray Clemmons after abortion bill halted. Jake Lowary/The Tennessean

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Maisy Stella plays before state Senate. She stars on the CMT show Nashville.

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The Nashville delegation leads tribute to the late Sen. Doug Henry.

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Lt. Gov. Randy McNally remarks on the late Sen. Doug Henry.

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A look at 5 topics coming up this week in Nashville. Jake Lowary/Tennessean

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Democrats tout delay in privatization of state parks at weekly press conference.

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Randy McNally on future of public records.

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Protestors flank Democrats at news conference about their Peoples Bill of Rights package of legislation. Jake Lowary/Tennessean

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Lawmakers aim to increase penalties for elder abuse. Jake Lowary/Tennessean

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Here's 5 things that are happening this week in the state legislature. Week of Feb. 27-March 2. Wochit

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Week of Feb. 20 Kirk A. Bado

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David Haw, R-Greeneville, discusses transportation legislation. Joel Ebert / The Tennessean

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David Hawk, R-Greenevill discusses transportation legislation. Joel Ebert / The Tennessean

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Protestors brought a swift end to a news conference Wednesday about controversial legislation in Tennessee. Jake Lowary/USA Today Network Tennessee

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Protestors followed lawmakers who are sponsoring controversial legislation in Tennessee's legislature. Jake Lowary

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Supply side economist Arthur Laffer testifies about the gas tax plan before the legislature. Laffer is popular economist in conservative circles for his emphasis on keeping taxes low and applied to the broadest base. Jake Lowary

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Freshman state House Rep. Mark Lovell has submitted his letter of resignation amid allegations he had inappropriate contact with a woman last week, several sources, including a Tennessee Republican lawmaker, told The Tennessean. Kyleah Starling / Tennessean / Wochit

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Democratic Rep. Bo Mitchell calls for 'Jeremy's Law' repeal in wake of scandals involving Republican lawmakers Jeremy Durham and Mark Lovell

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Rep. John Ray Clemmons and Sen. Sara Kyle share their alternative to address Tennessee transportation backlogs. Jake Lowary/USA Today Network

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Here's a quick look at 5 things to watch for this week at the capitol in Nashville. Jake Lowary, Joel Ebert/Tennessean

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Tennessee lawmakers are back in session. Here are five things to watch for the week of Feb. 5. Joel Ebert and Duane W. Gang / The Tennessean

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Jan. 30, 2017 gave his annual State of the State address before the General Assembly. Here are three takeways from his speech, the next to last before leaving office. Joel Ebert and Duane W. Gang / The Tennessean / Wochit

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Gov. Bill Haslam's 2017-18 budget includes $100 million for teacher pay raises and $22.2 million for English-language learning students. Jason Gonzales / The Tennessean / Wochit

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Sen. Doug Overbey discussed wilfire recovery efforts Tuesday in the Senate finance committee meeting in Nashville. Jake Lowary/Tennessean

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Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, reacts to Gov. Bill Haslam's State of the State address Jan. 30 at the capitol. Jake Lowary/Tennessean

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Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, reacts to Gov. Bill Haslam's State of the State address Jan. 30 at the capitol. Jake Lowary/Tennessean

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Democrats Rep. Mike Stewart and Sen. Jeff Yarbro, both of Nashville, react to State of the State address Jan. 30 at the capitol. Jake Lowary/Tennessean

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Gov. Bill Haslam outlined his 2018 budget with reporters on Jan. 30 at the capitol. Jake Lowary/Tennessean

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State of the State Kirk Bado / The Tennessean

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Norris reacts to State of the State.

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Here are 5 big topics coming up to watch for this week in the 110th General Assembly. Jake Lowary / The Tennessean / Wochit

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Gov. Bill Haslam on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017 announced efforts to expand broadband access. Adam Tamburin/The Tennessean

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Gov. Bill Haslam announced the latest plank of his legislative agenda -- a broadband initiative -- Thursday morning at Cane Ridge High School in Antioch. Haslam's plan will provide $45 million over 3 years in grants and tax credits for service providers. The governor said theplan focuses on three broad issues: funding, cutting regulation and education "digital literacy." Karen Kraft / The Tennessean

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The plan, which is officially known as the Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy or IMPROVE ACT was unveiled on Wednesday. Karen Kraft / The Tennessean

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Sen. Doug Overbey discusses Gatlinburg recovery after a meeting Thursday at the legislature in Nashville. Jake Lowary / The Tennessean

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With lawmakers set to return to Nashville on Tuesday to officially convene the 110th General Assembly, the session is expected to cover a multitude of issues ranging from a potential gas tax increase to how to spend the state's budget surplus. Kyleah Starling/The Tennessean

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Outgoing Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey talks about retiring from the leadership position in the Tennessee legislature. Lacey Atkins / Tennessean

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Democrats seek leverage from Haslam as gas tax vote nears - The Tennessean

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Republican voters in Georgias special election have caught up to the hefty advantage that Democrats built in early voting, according to two elections analyses, and are poised to take the lead on Friday.

Democrat Jon Ossoffs campaign for the suburban Atlanta district was buoyed by early numbers that gave left-leaning voters a sizable lead in the early voting. But thats all but vanished as the Tuesday election nears and more early voting sites open.

One reason the Democratic voter numbers may have stalled: While Democrats appeared to quickly consolidate around Ossoff, the leading contender of five Democrats on the ballot, Republicans may have taken longer to choose between the 11 GOP contenders on the ballot.

Nate Cohn, the New York Times polling expert, tweeted that roughly 42 percent of the 46,000 or so early ballots cast are from Democratic-leaning voters, while Republican-leaning voters have cast 41 percent of the ballots. He predicted Republicans will take the lead on Friday, the final day of early voting.

Thats in line with the analysis of Michael McDonald, a University of Florida political scientists who also crunched the numbers.

The early voting numbers are far from fool-proof, but they are considered an indicator of voter enthusiasm. And they could complicate Ossoffs goal of winning the race outright on Tuesday by getting a majority of the vote. In the mid-40s in most of the polls, the Democrat hopes a late push can close the gap.

Ossoff told students at Georgia Tech on Thursday that his internal polling and early voting numbers show the race still give him an opening to win the 18-candidate race outright on Tuesday and avoid a head-to-head matchup against a Republican on June 20.

The early voting numbers and our internal polling continue to demonstrate that this is winnable on Tuesday, he said, but its only winnable if we sprint through the finish line with more intensity, more passion and less sleep than any other campaign out there.

More AJC coverage of the Sixth District race:

Nearly $14M in ads have flooded Georgias Sixth for special election

Ossoff pulls in record donations for Georgia special election

Georgia Democrats, Republicans seek lessons in tight Kansas race

With Ossoff at the gates, Republicans try to fortify Georgias Sixth

Ossoff fights top-secret attacks in Georgia special election

Staff raids and social media hijinks: GOP infighting ramps up in Georgia Sixth In the final week, Karen Handel becomes a target for GOP rivals

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Republicans catch up to Democrats in Georgia special election early voting - Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)

Get ready for another big congressional fight over Obamacare.

The flashpoint this time is a key funding stream for the program one that subsidizes insurers so they can offer low-income consumers plans with reduced out-of-pocket expenses.

President Donald Trumpsuggested in a WednesdayWall Street Journalinterview that he and other Republicans mightcut off the funds.Now Democrats are saying theyll fight this by demanding that Congress include the money as part of a spending bill that is supposed to keep the government running past April.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will be pushing hard for it as part of the negotiations, a senior Democratic leadership aide told The Huffington Post.

An aide to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that the issue is her top priority in the negotiations.

The politics of the emerging conflict are complicated and unpredictable, and one possible outcome is an impasse that prevents the spending bill from passing. In other words, another government shutdown over Obamacare could be in the offing.

But the stakes in the fight are higher than normal, because withholding the money could throw insurance markets into disarray potentially unraveling insurance coverage for millions of people. In the Journal interview, Trump said he hoped that would motivate Democrats to negotiate with him over repeal.

Democrats, predictably, are having none of it. They say they are happy to talk about modifying the health care law but only if Republicans agree to leave the bulk of the coverage expansion in place, and only if Trump stops trying to sabotage the law.

The payments in question so-called cost-sharing reductions, or CSRs reimburse insurers for providing more generous coverage to consumers with incomes below 250 percent of the poverty line. Thats $61,500 for a family of four.

The 2010 Affordable Care Act instructs the federal government to make these payments, but it does not actually appropriate the money. The Obama administration paid the money anyway, saying it had legal authority to do so. House Republicans then launched alawsuitover the payments.

Last year, a federal district court ruled the payments unconstitutional but alsostayed the decision, assuming the Obama administration would appeal which it did.

As long as the decision is stayed, the federal government can continue to pay the money.But the Trump administration hasnt indicated whether it will keep the Obama administration appeal going. Thats rattled insurers, who are busy calculating rates for next year and, in some cases, deciding whether to keep offering exchange coverage at all.

If the money were to vanish, insurers couldnt simply stop offering the plans with the reduced cost-sharing.Instead, theyd be required by law to keep offering them and to account for the extra expense by raising premiums for everyone.

Doing so would likely mean raising premiums for the typical plan by 19 percent, according to an analysis by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Realistically, many of the insurers still recovering from losses they incurred in the Affordable Care Acts early years and uncertain about the programs future would drop out altogether.

An increasingly vocal chorus of interest groups, including everybody from the American Medical Association to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have been calling on the president and Congress to address the issue ideally, with a permanent solution. One way to do that would be to appropriate the money for the next few years, or maybe indefinitely.

The coming spending bill would be an obvious place to try that, because, unlike most of the bills that go through the House these days, it will probably end up passing with a combination of Democratic and Republican votes over the objections of the most conservative members.

Lawmakers wouldnt even have to find offsetting revenue or spending cuts, because the official budget baseline, from the Congressional Budget Office, anticipates the money (roughly $7 to $8 billion for next year) being spent.

Key House Republicans have already said they would like the money to keep flowing, their objections to Obamacare notwithstanding.

I will do everything I can to make sure the cost-sharing reduction payments get made, especially this year, where they were promised by the federal government under the contracts, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, told Bloomberg News last month. Thats an obligation not only to insurers but also to the people who took on those plans. We cannot leave them high and dry.

But that was before Trump made his statements about withholding the subsidies and its not clear what House Republicans will do if Trump decides to oppose the funding strongly.

We continue to work with the Trump administration to evaluate the options in front of us, AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), said on Thursday.

CORRECTION: Chuck Schumer is the Senate minority leader, not the majority leader.

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Democrats Say They Will Fight Trump Over Health Insurance Subsidies - Huffington Post

Democrats are savoring a moral victory despite coming up short in the special election to represent the 4th Congressional District of Kansas. A district that five months ago gave Donald Trump a 27-point blowout gave Republican Ron Estes a merely respectable 7-percentage point margin over Democrat James Thompson.

The president tweeted this morning: Great win in Kansas last night for Ron Estes, easily winning the Congressional race against the Dems, who spent heavily & predicted victory! Almost none of that was true: Democrats spent next to nothing to help Thompson, and it was Republicans who raced in at the last minute with emergency cash for Estes. The question now is whether Thompsons surprisingly strong showing in one of the most reliably Republican districts in the country means anything for the elections yet to come.

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With Trumps presidential approval languishing in the upper 30s to low 40s, Democrats are certainly hoping that his misfortunes are building a blue wave for 2018. There are over 100 Republicans sitting in districts that wouldn't have been heavily GOP enough to overcome the D swing we saw in KS tonight, Democratic data specialist Tom Bonier observed on Twitter.

But it is far from certain that were going to see a 20-point swing toward the Democrats in every precinct in every state across the country, whether its for the upcoming special House elections for what were Republican-held seats in Georgia, Montana and South Carolina, or in the 2018 midterm elections.

Two big questions remain. Was this race just another fluky special election that will not be easily replicated? And did Thompson in defeat give Democrats a road map for a winning strategy in 2018?

Special elections are often low-turnout affairs marked by local quirks, which can lead to aberrations in voting patterns. And the biggest quirk in Kansas was the Republican deadweight of its governor, Sam Brownback.

Brownbacks deep tax cuts had led to unpopular spending cuts in education, driving his approval down to a rock bottom 27 percent. Estes was tied to Brownbacks administration as state treasurer, and Thompson whose internal polling showed Trump retaining majority approval in the district mainly trained his fire on Brownback. In fact, Thompson credited Trump and his last-minute robocall endorsement with dragging Estes over the finish line: I probably shouldn't say this, but Mr. Estes didn't beat us. It took the president of the United States.

Still, its difficult to fully separate whats happening in Washington from a congressional election, and whats happening is a Republican meltdown. And that may be sapping enthusiasm among GOP voters nationwide.

Before last night, there was some evidence of depleted Republican energy in other special elections. As the New York Times Nate Cohn reported last week, Republicans suffered a 5-point turnout drop in a Delaware state legislative race. And in the early vote for Georgias 6th Congressional District, he wrote, [Democratic] turnout is running about twice as high as it did at this point in 2014, while Republican turnout is about half what it was. These are hopeful signs for Democrats, but they are only wisps of data.

Whether it was the troubles of Trump, Brownback or a combination of the twoor just the usual pattern of special electionsRepublican turnout plummeted on Tuesday. Based on the unofficial results, Estes suffered a 62 percent drop in votes compared to the Republican candidate in 2016, while Thompsons Democratic decline was only 32 percent.

Another Brownback wont be hovering over the next round of special congressional elections. Georgias Republican governor, Nathan Deal, is riding high with 63 percent approval, and Montanas Democratic governor, Steve Bullock, has a solid 59 percent. South Carolinas governor, Henry McMaster, has barely begun his tenure.

Without the aid of a gubernatorial albatross, and with uncertainty over how much Republican voters have soured on Trump, Democrats will need a potent national message that resonates in red America. And in the wake of Bernie Sanders improbable campaign, many progressives are pushing Democrats to adopt his populist platform and style to paint those working-class conservative districts blue. Did Thompsons valiant effort make that case?

Sanders acolytes saw a kindred spirit in Thompson, but he stopped short of embracing the entirety of the Vermont senators platform. For example, he said of Bernies signature health care proposal, I like the idea of single payer, [but] I don't see it getting accomplished in our current political environment.

But he campaigned with Sanders, credited him giving him the inspiration to run and relentlessly used Sanders frame of fighting for the working class. Thompson was also unabashedly liberal on combating climate change, protecting LGBT rights and providing undocumented immigrants with pathways to citizenship, though he mixed in support for the right to bear arms.

[Thompson] felt he had already won reported The Huffington Post, because he had shown that Democrats could make a Republican district competitive by running on an unapologetically progressive platform. True enough. Thompsons gun-toting progressive populism was a marked improvement over last Novembers blowout. But Michael Dukakis was an improvement over Walter Mondale; it didnt mean Democrats should run as diminutive technocrats.

The hypothesis that a progressive economic populism can fully flip a white working-class district from red to blue remains unproven, especially when confronting a competing right-wing populism that intertwines protectionism with promises of deportation and environmental deregulation. In fact, Thompsons populist pitch hit a wall similar to the one Hillary Clintons pragmatist campaign did. The only part of the Kansas district that Thompson won outright was urban Wichita; he failed to make a significant dent in the surrounding rural areas.

Meanwhile, the Democratic hope in Georgias 6th Congressional District, the buttoned-down Jon Ossoff, is running a campaign thats more pointedly anti-Trump and more ideologically moderate than the one we saw from Thompson. A recent ad shows Ossoff silently tweeting that we should fix Obamacare, NOT repeal it as well as cut wasteful spending and, instead of pining for the jobs of the past, attract more high-tech jobs. He ends by tweeting, Ill stand up to Donald Trump he should act like a president.

Georgia 6th does not resemble Kansas 4th in the slightest. The district is not economically hard hit. It includes affluent Atlanta suburbs and more than half the voters are college graduates. Trump barely edged Clinton there in November. A pitchfork populism would not be the right fit for the district. A poll from Atlantas 11Alive News found Ossoffs current lead is based on young, educated and affluent voters who like his talk of high-tech jobs and economic development.

But just as Thompsons strategy cant be easily adopted by Ossoff, Ossoffs upscale centrist message doesnt provide much guidance to Montana Democrat Rob Quist. An Ossoff upset wouldnt mean the country-singing Berniecrat should ditch his cowboy hat and tack rightward to win his statewide special election next month. The Big Sky state has a long history of Democrats successfully running as prairie populists, including Sen. Jon Tester, as well as the current governor, Bullock, and his predecessor, Brian Schweitzer. Quist is sensibly following their well-worn path. Ossoffs performance also cant tell Quist whether or not he should focus on skewering Trumps conduct in office, since Trump won Montana by 20 points and likely still holds majority support.

Such is the Democratic challenge in building a blue wave. As the Clinton campaign learned the hard way, what works in the college-educated suburbs is not what works in the working-class manufacturing hubs and farm towns. The close Kansas contest may give Democrats a morale boost, but they have yet to solve the biggest political puzzle of all: a message that transcends Americas entrenched political, economic and cultural divides.

Bill Scher is a contributing editor to Politico Magazine, and co-host of the Bloggingheads.tv show The DMZ.

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What Kansas Didn't Do for Democrats - POLITICO Magazine