Under the cover of darkness the Republicans pass massive tax overhaul.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

The Senate passed the most sweeping tax rewrite in decades early Saturday, with Republicans lining up to approve an overhaul that will touch almost every corner of the United States economy, affecting families, small business owners and multinational corporations, with the biggest benefits flowing to the highest-earning Americans. 

Senators voted 51-49, as Republicans approved the nearly 500-page bill in the early morning hours after lawmakers received a rewritten version, which contained significant changes from the original bill that passed two Senate panels last month along party lines. The last-minute revisions prompted an outcry from Democrats, who said it was impossible — and irresponsible — for lawmakers to read and digest a significant piece of legislation in such a short period of time. 

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader and Kentucky Republican, called it “a great day for the country.” 

The president praised Republican lawmakers on Saturday morning on Twitter, saying, “Biggest Tax Bill and Tax Cuts in history just passed in the Senate. Now these great Republicans will be going for final passage. Thank you to House and Senate Republicans for your hard work and commitment!”

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, said in a statement that with Senate approval “we will move quickly to a conference committee so we can get a final bill to President Trump’s desk.”

But, speaking on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, called the Republican approach “a process and a product that no one can be proud of and everyone should be ashamed of.”

As explained by Senator Jon Tester last night, this bill was handed to the Democrats with only a handful of hours before the vote, and with revisions being added almost up until the last minute.

I was just handed a 479-page tax bill a few hours before the vote. One page literally has hand scribbled policy changes on it that can’t be read. This is Washington, D.C. at its worst. Montanans deserve so much better. pic.twitter.com/q6lTpXoXS0

— Senator Jon Tester (@SenatorTester) December 2, 2017

Many of those revisions contained sweetheart deals for Senators who were previous hold outs like Susan Collins:  

Several amendments that Collins offered were incorporated into the bill, including the restoration of a $10,000 deduction for property taxes and a lower threshold for deducting medical expenses. 

Collins touted the ability for her to get changes into the bill as crucial to her decision to ultimately be able to support it.

And Lisa Murkowski:  

Senate Republicans passed legislation early Saturday allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part of a tax reform package, moving closer to fulfilling a long-time GOP goal. 

The passage of the bill marked a significant achievement for Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, who has introduced legislation to open a portion of the Alaskan refuge to drilling every term she has served in the chamber, only to be blocked by Democrats. 

“This small package offers a tremendous opportunity for Alaska, for the Gulf Coast, and for all of our nation,” Murkowski said before the vote. “We have authorized responsible energy development in the 1002 area.” 

This has already received significant backlash from conversations groups: 

A major conservation group is blasting the newly passed Senate GOP tax bill for allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), calling the bill “simply shameful.” 

“Opening the Arctic to drilling as part of this tax plan is simply shameful. The Arctic Refuge isn’t a bank—drilling there won’t pay for the tax cuts the Senate just passed,” National Audubon Society President and CEO David Yarnold said in a statement Saturday.

Actually it is not likely to bring in much money at all as the cost of new drilling is quite high in Alaska and with the price of oil plunging the risk to cost ratio may mean that few, if any, new wells are dug.

In the meantime the bill did repeal the Obamacare mandate which means that the healthcare of millions of Americans will likely be affected by the vote.

The editorial board of the New York Times called it an "Historic Tax Heist":

The bill is expected to add more than $1.4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade, a debt that will be paid by the poor and middle class in future tax increases and spending cuts to Medicare, Social Security and other government programs. Its modest tax cuts for the middle class disappear after eight years. And up to 13 million people stand to lose their health insurance because the bill makes a big change to the Affordable Care Act. 

Yet Republicans somehow found a way to give a giant and permanent tax cut to corporations like Apple, General Electric and Goldman Sachs, saving those businesses tens of billions of dollars.

All in all it is a truly terrible bill, which is why the Republicans demanded that it be passed late last night, because they well knew that if the American people had the opportunity to really know what was in it that they would take to the streets with pitchforks and torches. 

Lisa Murkowski just betrayed the people of Alaska and the American people.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she supports GOP efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, the Alaska Republican wrote in an op-ed for a local newspaper Friday. "I have always supported the freedom to choose," Murkowski wrote in her op-ed for the Daily News-Miner, an Alaska newspaper.

 "I believe that the federal government should not force anyone to buy something they do not wish to buy, in order to avoid being taxed." 

Murkowski's renewed support for repealing the mandate — after repeatedly opposing her party's Obamacare repeal bills this year — may be a boon for Senate Republicans' tax legislation, which includes mandate repeal and is expected to be taken up on the Senate floor next week. 

A spokesperson for Murkowski told POLITICO that the comments should not be construed as support for the tax bill, which does not yet appear to have sufficient support to pass the chamber. 

“Senator Murkowski said on Friday that she will be reviewing the work of the Finance Committee over the Thanksgiving holiday and plans to look at the entire package before coming to any conclusion on the legislation," the spokesperson said.

Murkowski gained some national prominence, and the undying support of the Alaska people, when she was a "no" vote on the GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

However this time around apparently she is choosing oil over healthcare.

Courtesy of Think Progress:

Murkowski was a key vote in stopping repeal of the Affordable Care Act earlier this year, but there’s one crucial difference this time around: repealing the individual mandate is tied to the Republican’s tax bill, which also includes legislation opening up the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling. 

Murkowski has supported opening portions of the refuge to development for years, though her efforts have been met with little success. This most recent push — which would require only a simple majority to pass — might be Murkowski’s best chance to accomplish a long-held goal.

Murkowski knows full well that doing away with this mandate would undermine the solvency of the program, and result in higher premiums and fewer people being insured.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

By 2027, absent a mandate, the number of Americans without coverage would rise by 13 million, while premiums would be up an additional 10 percent, according to the most recent assessment by the Congressional Budget Office ― although the CBO is currently re-evaluating its model, and Republicans say the agency wildly overestimates the mandate’s effects.

Senator Murkowski made a promise to the people of Alaska, and whether she admits it or not, she just broke it.

And she has just now made herself vulnerable in the next election cycle.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski reminding everybody that she is still a Republican.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced legislation Wednesday night that would open a portion of a pristine wildlife refuge in her state to oil and gas development, a move expected to bring in slightly more than $1 billion in federal revenue over the next decade. 

The bill would open up part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), described by some as “America’s Serengeti,” which covers more than 19 million acres in northeastern Alaska. The region is home to polar bears, caribou, moose and hundreds of species of migratory birds. It’s considered one of the state’s crown jewels. 

In a statement, Murkowski called it “a tremendous opportunity” for the country. 

“The legislation ... will put Alaska and the entire nation on a path toward greater prosperity by creating jobs, keeping energy affordable for families and businesses, generating new wealth, and strengthening our security — while reducing the federal deficit not just by $1 billion over ten years, but tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars over the decades to come,” she said.

This is usually the point where somebody not from Alaska will chime in that Murkowski needs to be voted out of office.

The problem with saying that over and over is that it will essentially have the same effect as spitting into the ocean over and over again. In a word...none.

The problem is that instead of making Murkowski toxic in Alaska this will only prove to endear her to Alaskans most of who overwhelmingly support the opening of ANWR.

The hard truth is that the money is drying up faster than our glaciers are melting up here, and people in the state are starting to feel a little desperate.

I actually have very little confidence that this bill will pass, but even if it does not it still reinforces Murkowski's conservative credentials and signals to the voters that she is somebody who is working to make the state more prosperous.

I really do not think opening ANWR would accomplish that, but I am definitely in the minority.

In his desperate need to undo everything that Obama accomplished Donald Trump even wanted to change the name of North America's highest mountain, which happens to be in Alaska.

This was from a story in Alaska Dispatch published two ago about Senator Dan Sullivan's appearance at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention.

During that appearance Sullivan shared this anecdote:  

He described an hour-plus meeting that he and Sen. Lisa Murkowski had a few months back with Trump and Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke in the Oval Office. 

"We had maps and we were talking all about Alaska issues. So many issues. Our fisheries. Whaling, the culture of whaling in Alaska. The economy. The military," Sullivan said. 

They brought up Obama administration actions that they said hurt Alaska, such as a block on the King Cove-Cold Bay road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Sullivan said. 

On each one, Trump asked Zinke: "Can we change that and help Alaska?" 

Trump thought of one on his own. Wasn't the name of a big mountain in Alaska changed by executive order? he asked, referring to Denali, the former Mount McKinley named for the president from Ohio. 

"Lisa — Sen. Murkowski — and I jumped over the desk. We said no, no!" said Sullivan, who is originally from Ohio. 

Why? Trump asked. 

"The Alaska Native people named that mountain over 10,000 years ago," Sullivan said he told him. "Denali, that was the name."

Not that we needed it, but this is just more proof that Trump's presidency is almost exclusively defined by his desire to undo every single thing that President Obama accomplished during his eight years in office.

By  the way you can bet big money that if Murkowski and Sullivan had not seen their political future pass before their eyes at the prospect of being blamed for the renaming of Denali, that Trump would already have written that executive order and christened it "Trump Mountain."

Susan Collins pulls a John McCain and kills the most recent Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare.

Breaking: Susan Collins is a NO. Her statement: pic.twitter.com/QKgv8wrsde

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) September 25, 2017

I am no Nostradamus or anything but I knew that neither Collins nor Murkowski were going to sign on to this bill.

In fact this came out earlier today concerning Lisa's vote.

Friend saw @lisamurkowski at farmer's mkt in Anchorage this Sat. Asked re ACA. She looked him in the eye & said "I will not be bought off."

— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) September 25, 2017

This is where I would typically say that this thing is now dead for good, and we can all relax.

But that it what they used to say about Jason Voorhees, and he kept coming back over and over again. 

John McCain has killed another Trumpcare bill.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Senator John McCain of Arizona announced on Friday that he would oppose the latest proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, leaving Republican leaders with little hope of succeeding in their last-ditch attempt to dismantle the health law.

Mr. McCain, who killed the previous repeal effort with his dramatic “no” vote in July, released a statement saying he would not support the latest proposal, by Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who is Mr. McCain’s closest friend in the Senate. 

“I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal,” Mr. McCain said. “I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried. Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will affect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it.”

With McCain out this deal is dead, because I am convinced that both Senator Murkowski and Collins will also likely vote no on this bill. And right now the Republicans cannot afford to lose even one of them.

I imagine this was hard for McCain since his bestest buddy in the whole world, Lindsey Graham, put his name on this, but the man has brain cancer so how COULD he in good conscience have voted any other way?

Somebody in another thread asked if this meant we had to forgive John McCain for Sarah Palin, and the answer to that is no, no we do not.

What John McCain has done may seem admirable, but seriously it is the bare minimum that people should expect from their representatives.

Sarah Palin is a plague on this nation which keeps on giving, and there is NO undoing that.

Don't mess with the Murkowski!

Oh yeah, you're going down.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

The Senate blocked President Trump from being able to make recess appointments on Thursday as lawmakers leave Washington for their August break. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), doing wrap up for the entire Senate, locked in nine "pro-forma" sessions — brief meetings that normally last roughly a minute. 

The move, which requires the agreement of every senator, means the Senate will be in session every three business days throughout the August recess. 

As the article points out this is not a new tactic for the Senate, they have done this before.

However typically it is Senators from one party blocking the president from another party, NOT blocking one of their own.

What Lisa Murkowski is doing is straight up gangster, and since she apparently has the support of every single Senator clearly she is leading a revolt to stop Donald Trump in his tracks.

Our Senator sat down with CNN to explain why she was not intimidated by Donald Trump: 

“You want to vote to do the right thing. And so worrying about the consequences, are you fearful of repercussion from your party? A tweet from the President? A backlash from your leadership? I don’t believe that we should be motivated or discouraged from taking the positions that are important to the people that we represent in our respective states,” Murkowski said.

As I pointed out before, Trump did NOT know who he was messing with when he tried to start some shit with Murkowski.

But I bet he knows now.

Donald Trump's attacks on Lisa Murkowski have failed, making her a political hero instead.

Murkowski being welcomed back to Alaska. https://t.co/cXYawEtZW5 pic.twitter.com/9WcfwfeLYP

— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 30, 2017

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:

If there's anything Alaskans don't like, it's having Alaska threatened by Washington, D.C. That's why Sen. Lisa Murkowski came out of this historic political week with unique new stature and why Sen. Dan Sullivan hurt himself badly. 

On Wednesday, Sullivan told an Alaska Dispatch News reporter that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had delivered a threat against Alaska energy development if Murkowski wouldn't reverse her opposition to the Republicans' repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Sullivan was the third link in a chain of incredible political ineptitude leading from President Donald Trump through Zinke.

Sullivan not only revealed the threat — really dumb — but seemed to take it seriously and, if media reports are accurate, pushed Murkowski to capitulate. 

I have no doubt Murkowski was as furious as has been reported. But she didn't blab. She simply froze Interior nominations at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee she chairs — the committee that oversees Zinke's department.

Murkowski came out looking like a steel-spined hero, bucking Washington threats against Alaska to do what was right. I suspect even her conservative Alaska critics got a tingle from the spectacle, if they aren't Republican Central Committee members. 

Sullivan came out looking like a pipsqueak.

This is how one Republican consultant described the idea of attacking Lisa Murkowski and the people of Alaska:  

“Let me tell you what little bit I know about Alaska and Lisa. When you go to attack those people, you better take two sandwiches because she’ll eat the first one for lunch and maybe give you the second one back.”

That is essentially what I said right after Trump's Interior Secretary delivered his ham handed threat:  

If Donald Trump thinks that he can make Alaskans turn on one of their own by threatening our economy he has another think coming. 

We may not all agree with each other politically, but if an out of stater attacks one of our own, they are going to witness a circling of the wagons like they have never seen before. 

We live in one of the harshest climates on the planet, and are constantly surrounded by predators that will kill us just as soon as look at us, so if that corpulent orange POS thinks that Alaskans cave to threats than he knows nothing about us as a people.

I stand by that.

All that Trump has done is ensure that Lisa Murkowski remains a Senator for Alaska until she, on her own, decides that she no longer wants the job.

Back in 2010 when Murkowski won a write in vote and defeated both the Republican and Democratic candidates I said that she would be almost impossible to defeat in the next election cycle.

The only thing I would change about that statement is to remove the word "almost."

The one characteristic that Alaskans prize above all others is toughness.

Lisa Murkowski stood up against virtually the entire Republican party and a president who is well know for bullying and abusing women.

That is the kind of powerful image that you cannot buy, and the kind of image that intimidates political challengers and energizes voters.

On the other hand, when it comes to Dan Sullivan I do believe I smell blood in the water.

The "skinny" version of Trumpcare failed last night.

Here's the moment the Skinny Repeal failed. pic.twitter.com/y6kiT2HzC5

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 28, 2017

Courtesy of NPR: 

In a moment of unexpected high drama, Republicans were stymied once again in their effort to repeal Obamacare — and they have John McCain to thank for it. 

The senator who earned the nickname "Maverick" over his long tenure showed why in the early morning hours Friday. 

McCain, who was diagnosed with brain cancer and returned to Washington to advance the health care bill, turned around and bucked his party's leadership — and President Trump — by joining two moderate Republicans and every Democrat in voting against the so-called "skinny repeal" of the Affordable Care Act.

Personally I am in no way ready to throw a parade in McCain's honor.

This is clearly the right thing to do, and the fact that he was one of only three Republicans to do it should shame the GOP into hiding under their beds.

However as we know Republicans don't feel shame.

Having said that I am going to give another shout out to Lisa Murkowski who kept her promise to the Alaska natives who helped her hang on to her Senate seat when the Republican party abandoned her.

Losing Obamacare would have been devastating for them, and she stood by them as they stood by her.

So I think this thing is really dead dead now.

There are now calls from some on the GOP side to start working with the Democrats to move forward and repair Obamacare so that it works better.

And I think that is really the best we can hope for at this point.

In response to Lisa Murkowski's no vote on Trumpcare, the Administration threatens Alaska. Update!

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch: 

Early Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter to express displeasure with Murkowski's vote. By that afternoon, each of Alaska's two Republican senators had received a phone call from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke letting them know the vote had put Alaska's future with the administration in jeopardy. 

The response follows Trump's no-holds-barred style of governing, even when it comes to his own party. It is his first strike of retaliation against Murkowski, however, despite her tendency to stray from the party line and the president's priorities. 

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan said the call from Zinke heralded a "troubling message." 

"I'm not going to go into the details, but I fear that the strong economic growth, pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-jobs and personnel from Alaska who are part of those policies are going to stop," Sullivan said. 

"I tried to push back on behalf of all Alaskans. … We're facing some difficult times and there's a lot of enthusiasm for the policies that Secretary Zinke and the president have been talking about with regard to our economy. But the message was pretty clear," Sullivan said. The Interior secretary also contacted Murkowski, he said.

Oh you fucking stepped in it now.

If Donald Trump thinks that he can make Alaskans turn on one of their own by threatening our economy he has another think coming.

We may not all agree with each other politically, but if an out of stater attacks one of our own, they are going to witness a circling of the wagons like they have never seen before.

We live in one of the harshest climates on the planet, and are constantly surrounded by predators that will kill us just as soon as look at us, so if that corpulent orange POS thinks that Alaskans cave to threats than he knows nothing about us as a people.

And by the way if Lisa Murkowski's no vote on Trumpcare keeps his administration from inflicting their economic plans on us, I might even erect a statue to her in my backyard.

The very LAST thing I want is for the guy who has almost as even more bankruptcies than ex-wives, to "help" Alaska economically.

Yes, yes I know, Lisa Murkowski is a political animal who probably made her decions based on careful political calculations, but at least she is actually one of us.

Dan Sullivan on the other hand is a carpetbagger bought and paid for by the Koch brothers who does not give a shit about Alaskans, and is only interested in furthering his own career and lining his own pockets.

So of COURSE he is going to vote along with Donald Trump and support Donald Trump policies.

Look if we get a good Democrat to run against her I will likely vote against her in the next election cycle, but if I have to choose sides between my Senator and that shitgibbon in the White House, I will stand with Lisa Murkowski every time.

Update: Lisa retaliates.

DELAYED: Hearing to confirm a series of nominees to Zinke's Interior. Murkowski also controls Interior $$ via approps subcom chair

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) July 27, 2017

Interior nomination hearing delayed "due to uncertainty of the Senate schedule," per committee spokesperson #Murkowski

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) July 27, 2017

Have to remember that Lisa Murkowski learned at the feet of her father Frank, and a guy named Ted Stevens.

I was not a fan of either one, but when it came to playing political hardball those guys had very few equals.
 

Today's Trump Twitter tirade targets Lisa Murkowski, the transgendered, and the Acting FBI Director. Update!

Senator @lisamurkowski of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

Actually Murkowski sat down for an interview in which she explains why she voted against Trumpcare: 

"I voted no on the motion to proceed today because I didn't think that we were ready for the debate. And I have said pretty consistently that process really does matter, particularly when you're dealing with something that is as direct and personal as health care, something that has an impact on one-sixth of the nation's economy," Murkowski said in an interview Tuesday evening after the vote. "This is big, and then you throw in major Medicaid reform on top of that," she said. 

Murkowski argued that revisions to the Affordable Care Act, often called "Obamacare," are necessary, but that the Senate process has not been conducive to crafting good policy, "enduring policy." 

"And so my vote today was one that said, 'We're not ready to go to the floor to wrap this up,' " she said.

Of course Murkowski has been pilloried by many Republicans for her vote, both here at home and in Washington.

However there was one GOP Senator who was not disappointed: 

Of course, McCain came to a different conclusion, and flew in from Arizona just for the vote. A long, stitched-up gash covered one eye, and his complexion was pale, a man facing down potentially deadly brain cancer. 

"He did tell me, though … 'You did the right thing,' which made me feel good," Murkowski said of a conversation with the veteran senator right after the vote.

Trump also decided to go back on Obama's promise, and block transgendered folks from serving in the military.

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

According to Newsweek there are approximately 15,000 transgendered soldiers already serving this country's military, and that any medical costs have been greatly exaggerated by opponents.

Then a little later this morning Trump turned his attention back to Jeff Sessions and the Acting Director of the FBI.

Why didn't A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation but got....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

...big dollars ($700,000) for his wife's political run from Hillary Clinton and her representatives. Drain the Swamp!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

It would appear that Trump is still pressuring Sessions to quit so he can replace him with an AG that will shut down the Russia investigation.

However Trump's charges that Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe's wife directly received money from Hillary Clinton, or that it would have influenced the investigation into Clinton's email server, is bullshit according to Newsweek.

This is every day now that we have to address the rantings of a mad man.

When will enough be enough?

Update: Here is what is behind Trump dumping on the transgendered military members.

Just spoke to a Trump administration official about the transgender military decision. Here's what they said... pic.twitter.com/eOWdvlxTfd

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) July 26, 2017

"This forces Democrats in Rust Belt states like Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin to take complete ownership of this issue. How will the blue collar voters in these states respond when senators up for re-election in 2018 like Debbie Stabenow are forced to make their opposition to this a key plank of their campaigns?"  

Jesus Christ! They are using tactics from Karl Rove's playbook during the first George W. Bush campaign!

John McCain victoriously returns from fighting cancer to help steal healthcare away from millions of Americans.

I'll bet you thought I would do the right thing. Sucker!

Courtesy of CNN: 

Senate Republicans voted to advance to floor debate on their efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. 

Vice President Mike Pence cast the tiebreaking vote. 

In a dramatic moment, Sen. John McCain returned from Arizona to applause from fellow senators. He cast a necessary Republican vote for the motion after two GOP senators -- Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski -- sided with all Democrats in opposition. 

As the vote began, protesters in the Senate gallery shouted "kill the bill" and "shame, shame, shame!" 

The vote came as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump dared their fellow Republicans to block their seven-year campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.

You might have hoped that having this fresh new cancer diagnosis would have helped John McCain find his humanity, but apparently any ethics or morals he may once have possessed are now gone forever. 

John McCain has essentially been dead to me since he plucked that lunatic from the wilds of Wasilla, Alaska and inflicted her on the American people.

There is simply no coming back from a fuck up that bad. 

I will say I felt a little tinge of pride that my Senator Lisa Murkowski refused to help push this death sentence for millions of Americans forward. She has let me down time and time again, but at least this time, for whatever reason, she did the right thing.

It should be noted that this is not yet a done deal, it is only a vote to advance this to a floor debate so there is still plenty of time for opponents to make their case and for the American people to flood the phone lines of these Republican assholes and make them feel our rage over a bill that will cost 22 million more Americans there health care coverage.

If I were a betting man I would bet that this thing will die, but in a world where up is down, black is white, and facts no longer matter, it is hard to have confidence in much of anything. 

Donald Trump brings Republican Senators together for lunch, threatens the reelection of one, and then lies to the public about what is in the Senate Health Care bill.

TRUMP to HELLER: "Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn't he?" pic.twitter.com/LFiwuEY693

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) July 19, 2017

Courtesy of Slate:

President Donald Trump invited the Republican Senate caucus to lunch to talk about health care on Wednesday. The goal of the lunch was kind of a mystery, considering that enough Republican Senators have already come forward to torpedo both Trump’s signature effort to repeal and replace Obamacare with a program that would cost tens of millions of people their insurance, as well as his back up plan of just repealing it outright in a way that would cost more than 30 million people their insurance. 

It turned out that Trump had brought them to the White House to try to browbeat and harangue recalcitrant Senators into changing their mind. The most emphatic example of this attempted bullying came with Trump's treatment of Nevada Sen. Dean Heller. The seating arrangements conveniently placed Heller, one of the earliest Senators to come out publicly and vociferously against the initial Senate health care bill, next to the president. This offered the insult comic in chief the opportunity to come up with a singularly awkward gibe. 

As it turns out Heller's seat is especially vulnerable, so Trump putting a target on his back should be especially troubling to Mitch McConnell and the GOP.

Besides Heller was not one of the Republican Senators who actually torpedoed the health care plan:

What's especially fun about this is that Heller wasn't even one of the Senators to come out and kill the revised version of the bill, nor did he kill the backup plan of repealing Obamacare without a replacement. That was Sens. Susan Collins, Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Jerry Moran in the first instance, and Sens. Collins, Shelley Moore Capito, and Lisa Murkowski in the latter. 

Murkowski, by the way, was sitting several seats over on Trump's left, looking decidedly uncomfortable and completely unconvinced by his pathetic sales pitch.

And what a pitch it was. When Trump was not threatening or shaming the Republican Senators he was outright lying to the American people.

Trump listed off a number of bald faced lies about a bill that it is clear he has never read, including that it will cover more Americans, bring insurance costs down, and still cover all preexisting conditions.

The bill will do none of that, however it will will gut $772 billion in Medicaid funding over the next ten years which will imperil health care for millions of Americans including 5 million special needs children. And it will also kick tens of millions off of their health care plans.

 Perhaps Donald Trump should try selling THAT to the American people?

Mitch McConnell attempts to bribe Alaskan Senators into supporting Trumpcare.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

The latest version of the Senate health care bill has a host of provisions designed to woo hesitant lawmakers — but perhaps none is more blatant than a change targeted at Alaska’s two GOP senators. 

Both Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski have not committed to supporting the proposal, and Murkowski has been one of the harshest critics of the bill’s closed-door drafting process.

Mich McConnell cannot afford to lose any more votes, so this is how desperate he has become:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., apparently hopes to appeal to Murkowski by slipping in a provision that could allow her state to access more than $1 billion in federal money. 

States with high premiums would receive access to a $182 billion fund designed to stabilize their insurance exchanges. One percent of that money would be earmarked specifically for states that have premiums more than 75 percent higher than the national average — and Alaska is the only state that would meet the standard. 

This means the state could get more than $1.8 billion over the next decade. Alaska has some of the highest health care costs in the nation because of its remoteness and lack of medical facilities in many rural areas. 

Sullivan said that the program, dubbed the “Kodiak Kickback” or “Polar Payoff” by pundits, would serve as a big boost for his state.

Dan Sullivan is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Koch brothers, so he will vote as they tell him to.

Murkowski on the other hand at least has some semblance of independence, though she will vote in what ever way will ensure her reelection.

So I guess as Alaskans we need to pressure her into doing the right thing, for all of her wrong reasons.

Personally as an Alaskan I do not want to be singled out so that we are protected from a policy that hurts millions of my fellow Americans. And I was raised to believe that Alaskans were kinder and more giving than those living in other parts of the United States.

That may not be as true anymore, but back in the day when all we had was each other to survive in one of the harshest climates on the planet, nobody sat in a broken down car on the side of the road for more than a few minutes without somebody stopping to help.

And nobody went hungry in the winter without the community coming together to help their family get enough to eat and warm clothes to wear.

THAT is who we used to be, and THAT is how many of us still would still like to see ourselves.

We cannot have while others have not.

So Lisa Murkowski needs to vote NO on this bill, and then needs to lead the GOP to work together with the Democrats to fix Obamacare and make it work better for ALL of us.

THAT is how she ensures her reelection.

A number of Republican Senators are begging Mitch McConnell to cancel the August recess for fear of what they may face from constituents this 4th of July after failing to make progress on a health care bill.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

An even larger group of Senate Republicans suggested Friday that McConnell should scale back or cancel the chamber’s month-long August recess, given the lack of progress they have made on not just health care but a tax-code overhaul, spending bills, the debt ceiling and a budget resolution. 

Senate Republicans David Perdue (Ga.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), John Neely Kennedy (La.), James Lankford (Okla.), Mike Lee (Utah), Mike Rounds (S.D.), Luther Strange (Ala.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) sent McConnell a letter Friday asking him to shorten or cancel the August recess so they can get more done. 

“Delivering meaningful results was never assumed to be easy, but the millions of Americans who placed their confidence in our leadership expect our full and best effort,” the 10 senators wrote. 

Republicans are steeling themselves for attacks on their health-care negotiations over the July Fourth recess, with progressive activists planning to pressure any members of Congress they see at public events. Most GOP senators were keeping their plans close to their vests, though a handful, including Cassidy, Ted Cruz (Tex.), Susan Collins (Maine), Jerry Moran (Kan.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) have announced town halls or parade visits. 

Collins, a vocal critic of the current Senate draft, had publicized just one scheduled appearance — in the 1,300-person town of Eastport, Maine, near the Canadian border. 

At (Louisiana Senator Bill) Cassidy’s town hall at the Living Faith Christian Center in Baton Rouge, he tried to make the case for transitioning Medicaid recipients into private insurance. But constituents interrupted him repeatedly, prompting him to chastise them for being rude. 

“I’ll tell you what’s rude — kicking 22 million people off of health care in this country,” said a man in the front row after the senator recognized him to speak. 

The audience erupted into cheers. 

Reminding Cassidy, a medical doctor, of his stint treating patients at a hospital for the uninsured, the man continued: “You worked at Earl K. Long for many years. You know what people are like at their lowest.” 

Senate Democrats are staging events aimed at highlighting how the Senate’s draft bill could hurt health-care delivery in their home states. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) is visiting at least two rural hospitals over the break to underscore the impact of proposed funding cuts.

Yeah I bet these GOP Senators are absolutely dreading these 4th of July events.  

I think that Alaska's two senators are only planning on attending the parades, but I have little doubt that they will be inundated with demands that they protect Medicaid and work to expand health coverage up here.

I especially think that is true of Lisa, who many see as being much more likely to reject the GOP plan, and who is the subject of a lot of anti-repeal advertising on our local radio and television stations right now.

The GOP's plan to repeal Obamacare just went into a ditch. Or careened off a cliff. Kinda depends on who you ask.

WATCH: Senate Dems hold "People's Filibuster" against ObamaCare repeal pic.twitter.com/mGkyRvBwFQ

— The Hill (@thehill) June 27, 2017

Courtesy of CNN Politics:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will delay the vote on the Republican leadership's health care bill until after the July 4 recess. 

McConnell told GOP senators that he wants to make changes to the bill, get a new Congressional Budget Office score and have a vote after the holiday, two sources told CNN. 

McConnell said that President Donald Trump had invited all Republican senators to the White House on Tuesday afternoon. 

"We're going to continue discussion in our conference," McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill after his meeting with his caucus.

The republicans are insisting that this does not mean the bill is dead, but can you imagine what these Senators will face back home during this break?

Most will likely hide in their houses or state offices at avoid the angry crowds gathered outside, and those that are brave enough to hold a town hall will spend the entire time pressed up against the wall attempting to inch toward the exit.

There is NO WAY they come back from that anxious to pass a health care bill.

Alaska's Lisa Murkowski is clearly a no vote on anything that the Republicans could come up with.

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski: “People support greater access to health care. Planned Parenthood provides for that.” https://t.co/XLEolQj5AG

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 27, 2017

And even Mitch McConnell has signaled that it might be time to bring in the "A" Team.

You know, the Democrats:  

Mitch McConnell is delivering an urgent warning to staffers, Republican senators and even the president himself: 

If Obamacare repeal fails this week, the GOP will lose all leverage and be forced to work with Chuck Schumer.

Those ought to be some fun negotiations, especially since Elizabeth Warren has now stated categorically that it is time for Democrats to push for single payer.

Warren: The Next Step For Dems Is Single-Payer Health Care https://t.co/syfo9PhUNV via @TPM

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 27, 2017

As we have already reported Americans are supporting the idea of single payer now more than ever, which might give Democrats a little more leverage than in times past.

I think the most important thing that Democrats can do in the interim is to make the Republicans solely responsible for every problem that crops up in health care until new legislation gets passed, and that includes higher rates, loss of coverage, and fewer available options.

If I were a Democratic Senator or Congressperson I would have a bumper sticker on my car that read "We can permanently fix health care in America, ask us how."

Senator Lisa Murkowski takes stand for Planned Parenthood. Wait, MY Senator Lisa Murkowski?

Courtesy of Politico: 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has assured an Alaska constituent that she's committed to preserving Planned Parenthood funding as part of a health care bill — the strongest line she's drawn yet over one of the most controversial elements of the Obamacare repeal effort. 

"I am committed to ensuring that important provisions of the ACA, such as covering those with pre-existing conditions, continued support for Medicaid expansion, coverage for dependents and no lifetime limits, and funding for Planned Parenthood remain intact," Murkowski wrote in the constituent letter obtained by POLITICO.

Murkowski is one of the most important swing votes in the health care debate, making her position on Planned Parenthood potentially pivotal to the shape of the final bill. Most Republicans, as well as anti-abortion groups, want the organization defunded as part of the health bill. 

In the past, Murkowski has said publicly that she doesn't think Planned Parenthood defunding should be part of the repeal effort. But she hasn't said that she would automatically vote against a bill that included it.

Well damn, I'm actually impressed by this.

It is not often that Murkowski takes a political stance that some lobbyist is not paying her to take, so this is to be celebrated.

And having said this out loud, I really don't think that Murkowski can renege on this position without it essentially dooming her reelection chances, so I am pretty confident that she will stand by it despite the pressures put on her by her fellow Republicans.

Look I know it's not much, but she is all we Alaskans have by way of ethical politicians representing us in Washington.

Besides her we only have Dan "Koch brothers' bitch" Sullivan and Don "How much will you pay me for my vote" Young.

Sometimes Lisa can be as wishy washy as they come, but if she stands by this decision, and I really think she will, she has essentially ensured that Trumpcare is dead in the water.

Trumpcare only has about 17% support among the American people. They are still working to pass it though.

Courtesy of The Independent:  

Less than a fifth of Americans support Donald Trump’s new healthcare plan, a new poll suggests. 

According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 17 per cent of US voters approve the Republican Healthcare plan.

Sixty-two per cent of people polled disapprove, and 21 per cent said they don’t know.

That however has not stopped the Republicans from trying to force this tax break for the wealthy masquerading as a health bill through however.

Courtesy of Politico: 

As Obamacare repeal talks enter crunch time with a vote as soon as this month, the Senate bill continues to tilt toward more moderate members of the GOP on keeping some of Obamacare’s regulatory structure and providing a more generous wind-down of the law’s Medicaid expansion. The movement has made Republicans increasingly pessimistic that two critical conservative senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky, will be able to vote for the GOP’s ultimate agreement on health care, according to senators and aides. 

“I think [Lee is a no]. And Rand will be a no," said a Republican senator granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal conference matters. 

Losing those two senators would be a major blow that would allow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell no further defections in his 52-senator majority and make Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska the key swing votes, further imperiling conservatives’ negotiating position in a Senate in which McConnell needs 50 votes at a minimum.

I can't speak for Susan Collins, but I know that Lisa Murkowski has been shaken by the number of calls and emails that she has received speaking out against this bill. 

I would be very surprised if she voted in favor of the bill because she is constantly testing to see which way the wind is blowing and it is clearly blowing against this bullshit bill.

However let's not forget that even if the Republicans fail to push this through they are still working to undermine the Affordable Care Act at every opportunity.

Seriously our only real hope is to clean house and put a Democratic majority in the House and the Senate.

Donald Trump signs executive order to expand drilling in the Arctic. Because saving the planet is for pussies.

MOMENTS AGO: @POTUS signs executive order to review offshore oil and gas exploration locations. pic.twitter.com/VNPDEyL01K

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 28, 2017

Courtesy of ADN: 

Surrounded by members of Alaska's congressional delegation, President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that directs the Interior Department to rethink some of President Barack Obama's regulations and decrees that put large swaths of the Arctic Ocean off limits to oil drilling. 

The order requires Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review previously issued five-year development plans for offshore oil and natural gas leases and regulations governing oil, gas and renewable energy leasing in waters of the Arctic and Atlantic. 

The new move holds potentially big changes for Alaska: reopening the option of future Arctic Ocean drilling, a reversal of the Obama-era approach that sought to limit and eventually ban offshore drilling there. 

The executive order only outright rescinds one of Obama's orders, pertaining to the Bering Sea, issued on December 9, 2016. Actions related to the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas from 2015 and 2016 are modified, rather than rescinded, confirming status as a marine sanctuary, but not barring leasing and drilling. In all cases, the Interior Department will have to rework its five-year plan for oil and gas leasing — an effort that will take up to two years. The Interior Department will also review oil and gas regulations for offshore drilling, though the outcome is undetermined.

Oh I think the outcome is clearly determined and that we know the review is just a formality and that the Republicans will start raping the Alaska coastline just as soon as their drill bit Viagra kicks in.

Along with pen recipient Lisa Murkowski you can also see Rep. Don Young skulking in the background. 

I am not sure why Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan was not included, because if Alaska Republicans can agree on anything it is that drilling giant holes all over the state is job one.

I swear the more executive orders this tangerine colored shitgibbon signs that more desperately I miss President Obama.

Obama tried so very hard to protect us, this planet, and our future. And it seems with every stroke of the pen this POS brings us that much closer to disaster.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski seems a little testy. Gee, I can't imagine why.

Courtesy of Mediaite:

Earlier today, CNN’s Manu Raju waited in the halls so he could toss some questions at approaching members of Congress. At one point, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was walking with a purpose when Raju tried to get her opinion on the Republican proposal. And she wasn’t having it. 

“Could you give me a moment to get to my constituents, please?” Murkowski derisively asked Raju. When the reporter tried again, asking if she could give a yes or no on the bill, she stopped and went back to confront Raju. 

“Would you please be respectful?!” Murkowski angrily asked. As Raju insisted he was being respectful, the Alaskan lawmaker stomped off.

Since Murkowski was in Washington DC, and her constituents are way the hell up here in Alaska, I am a little confused as to who she was rushing off to talk with.

Besides how long can it really take to respond to that question with a "Are you kidding me? I can't vote for that bill! It would destroy my career!"?