Chop Wood, Carry Water 5/21

Wednesday mini-edition--Medicare emergency!

Hi, all. Happy Wednesday.

I’d intended to take today off from the newsletter—really!—but we learned this morning from the CBO’s new report that Republicans’ “death bill” will trigger 500B in cuts to Medicare. Yes, Medicare. This is in addition to the almost 800B in cuts to Medicaid and the roughly 279B in cuts to SNAP.

The cuts will happen automatically because of something called PAYGO. To quote from the Tax Policy Center:

PAYGO, which stands for “pay as you go,” is a budget rule requiring that tax cuts and mandatory spending increases must be offset (i.e., “paid for”) by tax increases or cuts in mandatory spending.

Because the Republican bill will add somewhere between 2 and 3T to the deficit it will require these cuts. They can’t be waived. They are mandatory.

So I’ve written a new script for you. But we’re going to need more than just us calling. We absolutely must make “average” Americans understand what’s happening and get them to call as well. Please reach out to friends and family who live in Republican districts and loop them in. If you live in such a district think of 5 people you can send this script to, along with your rep’s district office phone number. Most folks will call if you make it that easy.

The script is simply:

Hi, my name is _______and I’m a constituent from [address]. I’m calling because I just learned that the Republican reconciliation bill not only cuts Medicaid and SNAP but will also trigger $500 billion in cuts to Medicare. That is a complete and total outrage. I’m going to make this very clear. If the Representative votes for this bill, they will lose their seat next year. I will help make sure of it. Vote no. Thank you.

Obviously people who rely on Medicare should make sure to tell their rep that when they call, too.

If sharing a video is helpful I made one this morning explaining what’s happening. You can find it on YouTube here.

The wonderful

Coleman Rogers

also did a Resistbot letter demanding that our reps oppose this bill. You can send it by texting SIGN PXKWVO to 50409 or go here to read it first and then send.

On an unrelated but important note, there’s a lot going on in the Middle East right now, so a friendly reminder that, while I don’t address that topic in this newsletter (other that the occasional good news item) I do have a separate newsletter about global politics. It comes out only infrequently, but at the moment it’s a bit more active, for what are likely obvious reasons. My latest post is here—if you like it you can subscribe. It’s free.

Finally, I will be interviewing Mayor Steven Fulop, candidate for governor in New Jersey, today at 1PM PT / 4PM ET on Instagram. I’ve committed to talking to all of the Democratic candidates for that seat—at least any that will agree to be interviewed—so he’s next! Fulop is the long-time mayor of Jersey City and is running to run to succeed term-limited Governor Phil Murphy. If you’re interested in the race be sure to hop on at that time and look for the Live!

OK, all. I’m off to record the podcast. Hang in there. There’s just a ridiculous amount of stuff coming at us, so don’t let yourself become overwhelmed. Take breaks and be kind to yourself. Remember, we fight best when we’re well-rested and emotionally centered.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Jess