AZ Congressional Delegation

AZ House GOP delegation votes to maintain the Trump swamp of conflicts of interest and corruption

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Democrats have forced seven votes in as many weeks on the House floor on resolutions calling for Donald Trump’s tax returns, all of which were defeated along party lines. An eighth vote failed this week. House GOP rebuffs bill to release Trump tax returns and visitor logs.

Our Arizona House GOP delegation, including the local media’s invention of the mythical moderate Republican Rep. Martha McSally, have consistently voted to maintain the Trump swamp of conflicts of interest and corruption by rejecting any transparency and public disclosure.

The Arizona Daily Star reports, Capitol link: How members of Congress from Arizona voted on major issues:

Disclosure of Trump Tax Returns: The House on April 26 blocked, 234-191, a parliamentary attempt by Democrats to force floor debate on a bill now in committee that would require presidents and major-party presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns for the preceding three years. A yes vote was to quash the Democratic bid for disclosure. (H Res 275)

Yes: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks

No: O’Halleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema

Congressional Oversight of President Trump: Voting 230-193, the House on April 27 blocked a Democratic bid for floor debate on a measure now in committee that would start congressional oversight of ethics and conflict-of-interest issues involving President Trump, in areas ranging from the public disclosure of official visitor logs to overlaps between the president’s business holdings and official acts. A yes vote was to quash the Democratic measure during debate on H Res 280.

Yes: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks

No: O’Halleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema

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Trump backs off hostage demand because GOP fears blame for a government shutdown

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With a federal government shutdown looming on Friday at midnight unless a continuing resolution (CR) spending bill is passed before then, last week Donald Trump resorted to hostage taking to try to get his way for funds for his border wall and undermining “Obamacare” for millions of Americans. Trump to Democrats: Pay for My Wall, or Obamacare Gets It! This was followed by this ridiculous hostage demand:

[B]udget chief Mick Mulvaney explained in an interview with Bloomberg Friday, the administration is offering $1 of funding for Obamacare’s crucial cost-sharing reduction subsidies for every $1 of money Democrats pony up for the wall. Here’s the full quote:

We’ve finally boiled this negotiation down to something that we want very badly, that the Democrats really don’t like, and that’s the border wall. At the same time there’s something they want very badly that we don’t like very much, which are these cost sharing reductions, the Obamacare payments. Ordinarily, in a properly functioning Washington, D.C., as in any business, this would be the basis upon which a negotiated resolution could be achieved. The question is how much of our stuff do we have to get, how much of their stuff are they willing to take, and that’s the way it should work. That’s the way that we hope that it works. We offer them $1 of CSR payments for $1 of wall payments. Right now, that’s the offer that we’ve given to our Democratic colleagues. That should form the fundamental understading that gets us to a bipartisan agreement.

The implicit threat here is that, if Democrats reject this deal, the White House will cease making the subsidy payments, and likely bring Obamacare crashing down. It is not especially credible. Democratic leaders are already responding with snark: Before, Mexico was supposed to pay for the border wall. Now, Trump’s threatening the health care of millions to get taxpayers to cover it.

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American Bridge 21st Century radio ad against Rep. Martha McSally

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The Democratic Super-PAC American Bridge 21st Century has released radio ads against three vulnerable Republican members of Congress, focusing on Donald Trump’s dangerous ties to Russia. American Bridge Releases Radio Ads on Trump’s Dangerous Ties to Russia:

The 60-second spots will run for the next seven days against Rep. Martha McSally (AZ-02), Rep. John Katko (NY-24), and Rep. Will Hurd (TX-23).

Here is a YouTube link to the radio ad airing against Rep. Martha McSally. Bridge Project | Martha McSally Radio Ad.

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With new revelations in the growing scandal surfacing weekly, the American people deserve the kind of answers that can only come from a truly independent investigation operating free of politics. That’s why Americans overwhelmingly support creating an independent commission to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia. But Republicans in Congress are standing in the way, instead putting their party ahead of the country.

Statement by American Bridge President Jessica Mackler:

“The country overwhelmingly wants an independent commission investigating the growing scandal surrounding Donald Trump’s ties to Russia and we’re going to hold Republicans accountable for standing in the way. Republicans who refuse to put country ahead of party are doing so at their own peril.”

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Rep. Martha McSally, Trumpism and ‘America First’

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The organization Save My Care says it “is a movement to bring together families, advocates and health care providers to protect the health and financial security of all Americans.”

The group is spending more than $1 million on ads during the congressional recess to urge people to contact their member of Congress to help keep the GOP’s American Health Care Act from becoming law. Rep. Martha McSally targeted for supporting GOP health bill.

Rep. Martha McSally supported the American Health Care Act pushed by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Trump, saying the amended bill “increases choice and access while bringing down health-care costs.” It does not. Not even Republicans are supportive of the American Health Care Act, and the public overall disapproved of the GOP plan by a margin of 56 percent to 17 percent. The public opposed cutting federal funds to Medicaid by an even larger margin — 74 percent to 22 percent. But not Martha McSally, who stands with her man Trump.

Five Thirty Eight’s congressional tracker (updated through April 7) shows McSally voting 100% with the positions of Donald Trump.

This is the 30 second ad you have seen airing against Rep. Martha McSally from Save My Care.

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It is a hard hitting and apparently effective ad.

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Obamacare: ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated’

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FactCheck.org reported, GOP’s Obamacare Obituary: Premature:

In reality the law — specifically the ACA marketplaces for those buying their own coverage — is ailing, but still very much alive.

Federal officials announced a few days ago that 12.2 million people were signed up to be covered by Obamacare health insurance policies sold through the federal and state ACA marketplaces, or exchanges, this year — down less than 4 percent from the 12.7 million who signed up during the same period a year earlier. That’s a pretty lively corpse.

Furthermore, this year’s sign-up figure is expected to rise; it doesn’t include “waiting in line” sign-ups that California and three other states allowed for people who had started the enrollment process before the Jan. 31 cut-off. Also, part of the difference is due to Louisiana’s recent expansion of Medicaid, which now covers some who had obtained coverage in 2016 through the Obamacare exchanges.

Indeed, independent experts predict that the Obamacare exchanges — should the GOP Congress fail to repeal the law as promised — likely will remain stable for many years.

“If nothing else changed they would probably stabilize at a lower level of enrollment,” says Mark V. Pauly, a professor of health care management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

That’s also the judgment of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which said in its analysis of the House bill to replace Obamacare that the market for individuals to purchase policies “would probably be stable in most areas under either current law or the [GOP replacement] legislation.”

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