Episode #31 Deep Dive – Republicans Overplayed Their Hand: The Backlash Building in Health and Politics
A deep dive into this week's episode of Paging America
Elections Tuesday
Tuesday’s election results across the country were a bright spot in political news, especially in Virginia and Pennsylvania where the Committee spent considerable resources.
In Virginia, the Committee-endorsed candidates at the top of the ticket were all victorious: Abigail Spanberger for Governor, Ghazala Hashmi for Lt. Governor, and Jay Jones for Attorney General. In addition, the Democrats expanded their thin majority in the 100-seat House of Delegates from 51 to at least 64. This is a big win for abortion rights, as Jessica Valenti at ABORTION, EVERY DAY points out:
Virginia is the last pro-choice state in the South. Every neighboring state bans abortion: Florida and Georgia enforce six-week bans, North Carolina enforces a 12-week ban, and Tennessee enforces a total ban.
So as you can imagine, Virginia—where abortion remains legal through about 27 weeks—has become a haven for traveling patients: Between 2023 and 2024, out-of-state abortions made up nearly a quarter of all procedures.
Valenti also points out that Virginia law requires the legislature to pass the same measure twice—across two sessions—before it goes to voters. They’ve already passed a constitutional abortion rights amendment once. If Republicans had won a majority, they would have blocked the amendment entirely.
In Pennsylvania, voters maintained the 5-2 liberal majority on the state Supreme Court by retaining all three justices, Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht, for another ten years.
Other important victories Tuesday include Democrat Mikie Sherrill for Governor in New Jersey and the passage of Prop 50 in California to conduct mid-term redistricting to combat the efforts of Texas to rig the upcoming Congressional elections for the Republicans. Finally, liberal Zohran Mamdani was victorious in the New York City mayoral race.
Shutdown politics
The shutdown is now officially the longest in US history and Democrats are holding the line on their demand that ACA premium subsidies be renewed before they’ll agree to reopening it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson claims the Republicans already have a plan to solve the health care crisis in America (“we’ve been doing this for years”) but will have to “arm wrestle” with the Democrats about it. Why? “Because many of them are avowed to get us to a single-payer system,” Johnson said. “They do love socialism, my friends.”
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene begs to differ. She told Bill Maher“I’m waiting for the plan. I haven’t seen it yet.” She also tweeted, “Apparently I have to go into a SCIF to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!” Greene also wants the GOP to “go nuclear” and scrap the filibuster to end the stalemate.
Trump is also calling for Republicans to get rid of the filibuster. From reporting by CBS News:
President Trump pressured Republican senators to bring an end to the government shutdown following the Democratic sweep in key elections on Tuesday, saying at a breakfast meeting at the White House that “we must get the government back open soon and really immediately.” [...]
Doing so would allow Republicans to fund the government and pass other legislation without Democratic votes. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said later in the morning that the votes aren’t there to change the filibuster rule.
Meanwhile, poll after poll shows that Trump and Republicans continue to be blamed for the shutdown more than Democrats by double-digit margins. For example, the latest poll from Navigator, taken the week of Oct. 29th, shows that Americans now blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown by 14 points, up from 10 points last week:
Also: ABC News: Americans increasingly concerned about government shutdown, more blame Republicans and Trump than Democrats: Poll:
Nearly half of Americans, 45%, say Trump and congressional Republicans are responsible for the shutdown, while 33% say congressional Democrats are responsible and another 22% are not sure.
Children’s Defense Fund Thuggery
Children’s Health Defense, the virulently anti-vaxx group founded by RFK Jr., published a piece on their website saying the Committee is part of an “astroturf alliance” that organized this week’s “March For Health & Science” and that the Sixteen Thirty and Hopewell Funds — so-called “major financiers of the Center for Countering Digital Hate” — bankrolled the Committee’s petition to stop the nomination of RFK Jr.
None of this, of course, is true.
State Medicaid programs ordered to find undocumented immigrants
CNN reports that Trump’s HHS has ordered state Medicaid programs to help find undocumented immigrants:
The Trump administration has ordered states to investigate certain individuals enrolled in Medicaid to determine whether they are ineligible because of their immigration status, with five states reporting they’ve together received more than 170,000 names collectively — an “unprecedented” step by the federal government that ensnares the state-federal health program in the president’s immigration crackdown.
Advocates say the push burdens states with duplicative verification checks and could lead people to lose coverage just for missing paperwork deadlines. [CMS administrator Dr.] Oz, said…that more than $1 billion “of federal taxpayer dollars were being spent on funding Medicaid for illegal immigrants” [...]
Several states disputed Oz’s comments.
“Our payments for coverage of undocumented individuals are in accordance with state and federal laws,” said Marc Williams, a spokesperson for Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy & Financing, which administers the state’s Medicaid program. “The $1.5 million number referenced by federal leaders today is based on an incorrect preliminary finding, and has been refuted with supporting data by our Department experts.”
Links for a deeper dive on Episode #31
Virginia Mercury: Blue wave rebuilds the House: Democrats soar to at least 64 seats in Virginia
ABORTION, EVERY DAY: Abortion is on the Ballot, Here’s What You Need to Know
Virginia Scope: Youngkin vetoes Prescription Drug Affordability Board
NBC News: Pennsylvania voters retain three state Supreme Court justices, preserving Democrats’ 5-2 majority
CBS News: Democrats sweep key races in 2025 elections in early referendum on Trump
AP: California voters approve new US House map to boost Democrats in 2026
KOMO News video Johnson: ‘Republicans have been working on fixing healthcare; how to make Obamacare affordable’
The Hill: Speaker Johnson says GOP working on Republican health care plan amid shutdown
The Hill: Greene: GOP shoulders blame for not correcting ACA as health premiums set to rise
CBS News: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for nuclear option to end shutdown, slams GOP’s health care plans
The Hill: Trump summons GOP senators to White House to call for end to filibuster
CBS News: Government shutdown prompts FAA to float flight cancellations as Senate talks continue
CNN: Trump’s HHS orders state Medicaid programs to help find undocumented immigrants
Stand Up for Science website: StandUpForScience.net
The March for Health & Science website: 911forhealthandscience.org