Michael Cohen wasn't the biggest news today
The big news today, if you ask me, wasn’t Michael Cohen, as incredible as that was. It was the introduction, with 107 original cosponsors, of a sweeping Medicare for All bill that would cover everyone in the country within two years, and include universal long-term care and dental coverage.
Out of the gate, it has half the votes needed for passage, which gives advocates two years to round up the other half. Once people realize this is an actual possibility -- we could really have health coverage with no deductibles and not premiums -- there’s a chance there could be a public stampede toward it. The only serious objection anybody has is how it would be paid for. Since that objection is, ultimately, a silly one -- we (as in the public) already pay for it; all this would do is rearrange how it gets paid for, and, in the process, make it much cheaper -- I think people are seriously underrating the chance it has of passage in 2021 if a Democrat wins the White House.
Here’s my story for The Intercept on how the bill, sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, came together.
Sunrise Movement activists occupied Mitch McConnell’s office in a Green New Deal protest. I did a video dispatch for TYT here.
Speaking of which, Beto O’Rourke, a loyal Bad News reader, announced today he would not be running for the Senate. From everything I’ve been able to gather from people close to him, he plans to run for president, and will announce soon. A lot of folks are mad that he’s not running against John Cornyn in 2020, but if he loses the presidential race by March or so -- and that’s when people lose by -- he could actually still run for Senate. Though that might look a little strange, and I actually think Cornyn is harder to beat than Ted Cruz. Also, he might not lose. He has a plausible shot at the presidential nomination, and anybody who expects somebody to pass that up is asking a bit much. (In other words, it’s probably easier, at least in 2020, for Beto to win the White House as a Democrat than win a Senate seat in Texas.)
Strong Arm Press has a new book out, this one a fascinating narrative written by a trial lawyer about his life-and-death battle with Big Pharma. You’ll like it.
From Maryam Saleh, Muslim immigrants detained for no good reason are suing ICE for getting in the way of their religious observance, a First Amendment violation.
I was lax on this newsletter because I took the week off to finish my book, and it’s close. I have an update on that, which I’ll send out tomorrow to folks who either signed up to get updates or are paid subscribers to this newsletter. (I figure that’s a good proxy for people who are interested in it.)