Episode #33 Deep Dive – RFK Jr.: GOP Asset or Albatross?
A deep dive into this week's episode of Paging America
The CDC’s “Autism and Vaccines” page has been changed.
The Washington Post: CDC in turmoil after agency backpedals on debunking vaccines-autism link
The page now has these “key points” listed at the top:
The claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.
Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.
HHS has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism, including investigations on plausible biologic mechanisms and potential causal links.
The page has this at the top:
The asterisk takes you to this statement at the very bottom of the page:
Insider Stock Trading by Members of Congress
NBC News: Rep. Rob Bresnahan sold stock in several Medicaid providers before voting for cuts
A week before he voted to significantly cut Medicaid, Rep. Rob Bresnahan dumped six figures’ worth of stock in a quartet of companies that manage nearly half of all Medicaid enrollees in the country, according to public disclosure documents reviewed by NBC News.
Bresnahan, R-Pa., who became one of the most prolific stock traders in Congress after he took office this year, offloaded up to $130,000 worth of stock in Centene, Elevance Health, UnitedHealth and CVS Health on May 15, the periodic transaction reports he filed with the House clerk in June show. Taken together, those four companies oversee roughly half of all Medicaid managed care organizations, according to the KFF, a health policy research organization.
This news was actually first reported back in July when Quiver Quantitative raised the alarm:
Republican Congressman Robert Bresnahan of Pennsylvania got publicly shamed by many of his congressional colleagues on Thursday after it was revealed he unloaded a Medicaid-related stock before voting for a massive budget package that enacted historically devastating cuts to the program.
Quiver Quantitative, an investment data platform that tracks stock trades made by politicians and other prominent public figures, revealed on its X account that Bresnahan recently sold shares he’d owned in Centene Corporation, a for-profit firm that specializes in delivering healthcare exchanges for Medicaid. In the weeks since he sold his shares in the company, their value plunged by more than 40 percent.
Links for a deeper dive on Episode #33
The Washington Post: CDC in turmoil after agency backpedals on debunking vaccines-autism link
The CDC’s “Autism and Vaccines” website is HERE
NBC News: Rep. Rob Bresnahan sold stock in several Medicaid providers before voting for cuts
Quiver Quantitative’s tweet raising the alarm about Rep. Robert Bresnahan’s apparent insider trading is HERE
Truthout (from July 3, 2025): Republican Lawmaker Dumped Medicaid-Related Stock Before Voting to Gut Program
Alice Miranda Ollstein’s work at POLITICO can be found HERE
POLITICO: ‘You can’t eat if you’re dead’: Dems eye RFK Jr. as their 2026 boogeyman
POLITICO: ‘Rolling Thunder’: Inside conservatives’ strategy to curb abortion pill access
The Nation: The Misinformation Campaign Trying to Bring Down Abortion Pills
Mother Jones: On Its 25th Birthday, Mifepristone Is More Under Attack Than Ever
The New York Times: Abortion Has Remained Mostly Accessible. That May Soon Change.