Republicans the Party of Healthcare?

I think not.

In 1965, the House of Representatives began voting on H R 6675.  That bill was what we've since come to know as Medicare.  It started life in the Ways and Means Committee of the House, where it passed by a vote of 313 to 115.

The Senate then began work on the legislation, with the Finance Committee reporting the bill out on June 30th.  Debate began the same day, with the bill ultimately passing on July 9, 1965 by a vote of 68-21.

The Conference Committee whose role it was to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill finished on July 26th. The reconciled version of H.R. 6675 achieved final passage in the House on July 27th,  and final passage in the Senate the following day.

What does any of that have to do with the subject of this post?  Take a look at the tallies of the votes in question.

Summary of Party Affiliation on Medicare Vote
SENATE	YEA	NAY	NOT VOTING
Democrats	57	7	4
Republicans	13	17	2
HOUSE	YEA	NAY	NOT VOTING
Democrats	237	48	8
Republicans	70	68	2

Republicans the party of health care?  Neither in history nor in the Trump-verse.

First Ocasio-Cortez, Then Schiff

During a meeting of the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives, Republican members of the Committee upbraided Chairman Adam ASchiff, and attempted to force him to resign his chairmanship.

As Aexandria Ocasio-Cortez did a couple of days earlier, Schiff responded with brilliant use of facts and emotion, IMHO decimating his opponents and their senseless charges.

It's so good to see Democrats showing resolve in the face of reactionary rhetoric (and positions).  Again a thing of beauty; take a look .

You Go, Girl!

During a meeting of the Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lost it, but very effectively.

After Republican Rep. Sean Duffy of Michigan mocked the Green New Deal as costly and elitist,
Ocasio-Cortez put him and his Repug talking points away.  It's a thing of beauty; take a look here.

Not So Special?

To paraphrase one of the sources for this post, the recently-announced budget for the U. S. Department of Education looks more like a road-map for crony capitalism.

Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education under Donald Trump, was at one time a promoter of charter schools, and an advocate of education-for-profit.  But now she's outdone even her most crony-capitalistic stances.  Under her direction (and possibly at the insistence of the scrooge-in-Chief), yesterday DeVos proposed completely eliminating, from her Department's budget, every penny that has gone to support the Special Olympics.

Still Eliminating the Electoral College

As of March 26th, 2019: 
 

These States	Offer This Many Electoral Votes
California	55
Connecticut	7
Delaware	3
DC	3
Hawaii	4
Illinois	20
Maryland	10
Massachusetts	11
New Jersey	14
New York	29
New Mexico	5
Rhode Island	4
Vermont	3
Washington	12
Total Electoral Votes Available	189

If we add the states below to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, we’d eliminate the Electoral College.

Electoral Votes Available Per Above	189
Arizona	11
Arkansas	6
Indiana	11
Iowa	6
Kentucky	8
Mississippi	6
Missouri	10
Montana	3
Nebraska	5
North Carolina	15
Votes Now Available	270

To be sure, not all the above are likely to come to fruition – e.g., North Carolina, with its recent history of voter suppression, might not want to contribute 15 votes to doing away with the Electoral College.  But it’s always worth thinking creatively.

Another Conspiracy Theory

My theory relies on a pair of facts.

1. Donald Trump didn't expect to win the 2016 election.
2. Trump now claims the Mueller Report completely vindicated him, and that it shows he had no involvement with efforts to steal that election.

I'm of the opinion that Point 2 derives from Point 1.  Since he was elected, and in true narcissistic fashion, Mr. Trump has continued on the It's all about me path he's followed all his life. His original and long-standing opposition to the Mueller investigation, and his unexpected conversion experience on that topic (e.g., in claiming he felt Mueller to be honorable) exist for one reason only.

If he felt he could make beaucoup bucks from losing the Presidency, how much more might he now think can be his by virtue of endless signing of executive orders (with attendant flourish), or photo-op meetings in the Oval Office with far-right heads of state?

I shudder to think of the harm this very damaged individual might do, not only in the remaining years of his first term, but - Buddha on a bicycle, mon dieu, and all other similar exclamations - in another one.

It Ain't Over Till It's Over

Despite Trumpers preparing to dance in the end zone and spike the ball there, the Mueller Report hasn't cleared the current occupant of the White House.  In the letter from Attorney General William Barr that accompanied the release of conclusions based upon the report, it was specifically stated that the report does not exonerate Mr. Trump.  Further, it's anticipated that more than one Committee in the House of Representatives may subpoena not only the details of the report, but also possible under-oath, open-session testimony from Mueller himself.

Stay tuned, folks ...