Episode #28 Deep Dive – No Kings and No Cuts: A Miracle in Michigan
A deep dive into this week's episode of Paging America
Government shutdown politics
Democrats are sending a clear message that they won’t support a clean continuing resolution to fund the federal government unless the enhanced subsidies for ACA marketplace health insurance policies are extended. While there are other issues on the table (federal takeover of cities, etc.), this is where they have decided to plant their flag, politically-speaking.
On the other hand, Republicans are falsely saying, as Vice President JD Vance put it in a Sept. 28 Fox News interview, “Democrats are threatening to shut down the entire government because they want to give hundreds of billions of dollars of health care benefits to illegal aliens.”
KFF has rated this statement “wrong” and “false.” An NBC News article titled, “GOP misleads with claim that Democrats shut down to give health care to ‘illegal immigrants’” points out that “U.S. law prohibits federal health care benefits for undocumented immigrants” and that “Democrats want to return benefits for those with lawful presence, like DACA recipients and asylum-seekers”:
They are not “undocumented” or “illegal” immigrants. The government knows who they are, and many are going through the process of seeking official legal status or green cards. Among other things, they are not unlawful border-crossers who have been flagged for deportation.
Here’s more nuance from the BBC:
One key change which the Democrats want to repeal - and which the White House is highlighting in its pushback - is a Republican move [in the OBBBA] to restrict federally-funded healthcare for non citizens.
The “Alien Medicaid eligibility” provision - which will come into force next October - will only allow “an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence” and a small number of other categories to get coverage.
It will mean other groups of immigrants considered “lawfully present” in the US - for example, refugees who were allowed to enter the country - will lose access to these benefits, under the Republican plan… Trump’s bill…will result in about 1.4 million “lawfully present” immigrants becoming uninsured.
AXIOS reports that some moderate Senate Democrats say they are open to placing an income cap on eligibility for Affordable Care Act tax credits to help facilitate a deal with Republicans but that cutting off access for higher earners alone is unlikely to be enough for them.
For their part, Republicans are floating the idea of income limits, as well, along with minimum out-of-pocket premiums, cutting off enhanced tax credits for new enrollees, and adding new abortion restrictions, per POLITICO.
Trump is using the shutdown to further eviscerate the federal government workforce, continuing the purges started by Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts. The AP reports that, “Hundreds of federal employees working on mental health services, disease outbreaks and disaster preparedness were among those hit by the Trump administration’s mass firings over the weekend, current and laid-off workers said Monday, as the administration aimed to pressure Democratic lawmakers to give in and end the nearly two-week-long government shutdown.”
Republican Senators politicizing FDA, trying to ban mifepristone
A letter published on Oct. 9 and signed by every Republican senator except Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska recommends that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Martin Makary, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, suspend the FDA’s approval of a new generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, suspend the distribution of all forms of the drug “as an ‘imminent hazard’” under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and reinstate the prohibition against clinicians prescribing and dispensing the drug through telehealth services.
It’s worth noting last month marked the 25th anniversary of the FDA approving mifepristone and that the FDA conducted a safety review of mifepristone less than three years ago.
Katie O’Connor, director of federal abortion policy at the National Women’s Law Center, told The American Independent, “There is no question in my mind that, like all of these efforts … the ultimate goal is to ban abortion everywhere, for everyone, and for every reason.”
In what appears to be a move toward an egregious expansion of the anti-abortion surveillance state, a group of 25 conservative lawmakers asked the EPA if they could test wastewater for traces of mifepristone. They also asked what resources the EPA needed to develop such a test if one doesn’t currently exist. The letter to Congress was organized by the extremist anti-abortion group Students for Life of America who claim they just want to expose environmental harms and threats to public health these residues could cause.
Without proof, RFK ties autism to Tylenol use during circumcision
At a cabinet meeting last week, RFK Jr. bizarrely said, “There’s two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they are given Tylenol.” Kennedy didn’t offer any proof of this and the two studies identified by CBS News have serious problems with them. In fact, the author of one of the studies admitted that national and state averages may show correlation, not causation, and said their study may have mistakes, bias and confounding:
“Circumcision practices are also tied to culture and religion, which also affect autism diagnoses and health care use,” said Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News.
Confounding, which occurs when the relationship between an exposure and an outcome is distorted by the presence of a third variable, is “at the root of much of what RFK Jr. cites and claims,” said Gounder.
More from Scientific American:
Helen Tager-Flusberg, an autism researcher and a professor emerita at Boston University, calls the methods used in those studies “appalling.” Tager-Flusberg leads the Coalition of Autism Scientists, a group that advocates for high-quality autism research.
Neither study shows a causal link between circumcision—or the pain relief medications that are often prescribed along with the procedure—and higher rates of autism. In the decade-plus since each was published, autism researchers have heavily criticized these studies. And after reviewing both studies, scientists last year found no evidence supporting the claim that circumcision leads to autism or any other adverse psychological effects.
No Kings Saturday
The No Kings Day of Action is this Saturday, October 18th and the Committee has signed on to be an official partner. There will be over 2,600+ events in cities all across the country. We are encouraging physicians across the country to attend a protest near them and to join others in standing up against an authoritarian government with a leader who acts like a monarch.
Republicans are feebly trying to characterize the protests as “part of antifa, paid protesters” (Sec. of Transportation Sean Duffy), a “hate America rally” (House Republican Leader Steve Scalise), and “the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people” (House Speaker Mike Johnson.)
Links for a deeper dive on Episode #28
NBC News: GOP misleads with claim that Democrats shut down to give health care to ‘illegal immigrants’
KFF Health News: GOP Falsely Ties Shutdown to Democrats’ Alleged Drive To Give All Immigrants Health Care
BBC: Are Democrats really pushing for free healthcare for undocumented migrants?
CNN: Developer in chief Donald Trump envisions new arch in Washington, DC
AP: Federal employees in mental health and disease control were among targets in weekend firings
The Michigan Independent: Republican senators ask HHS and FDA to suspend distribution of abortion drug
The New York Times: The E.P.A. Followed Up on an Unusual Request About Abortion Pills
CBS News: RFK Jr. suggests circumcision is linked to autism. Here’s what experts say.
Scientific American: RFK, Jr., Says Tylenol Use for Circumcision Causes Autism. Here’s Why That Claim Is Flawed
No Kings Day of Action website: NoKings.org
Sean Duffy tweet about No Kings Day is HERE
Steve Scalise tweet about No Kings Day is HERE
Mike Johnson tweet about No Kings Day is HERE
Detroit Free Press: Michigan budget director hopes next budget process looks ‘a little bit more traditional’
Michigan Public: Whitmer ceremonially signs road funding bill
Bridge Michigan: Michigan officials miss budget deadline but pass bill to stop state government shutdown
Bridge Michigan: Michigan’s bipartisan budget deal aims to ‘protect’ Medicaid. Here’s how