November, 04 2014, 03:30pm EDT
After a Dismal Campaign, Still Plenty of Reasons to Vote
A political season marked by an epic Battle of the Airwaves and a disgraceful War on Voting is drawing to a merciful close, but behind the dust kicked up by all those attack ads, there is plenty at stake and compelling reasons for Americans to get out and vote, Common Cause said today.
"Finally, after months of being drowned out by misleading and sometimes downright false advertising, often paid for by hidden, multi-million dollar investors, today is the day American voters can make themselves heard," said Common Cause President Miles Rapoport.
WASHINGTON
A political season marked by an epic Battle of the Airwaves and a disgraceful War on Voting is drawing to a merciful close, but behind the dust kicked up by all those attack ads, there is plenty at stake and compelling reasons for Americans to get out and vote, Common Cause said today.
"Finally, after months of being drowned out by misleading and sometimes downright false advertising, often paid for by hidden, multi-million dollar investors, today is the day American voters can make themselves heard," said Common Cause President Miles Rapoport.
"Critical issues are on the ballot across America. In my home state of Connecticut, Common Cause is leading the fight for a state constitutional amendment that would permit early voting. In New York, we're working to defeat a fatally-flawed redistricting scheme," Rapoport said.
Voters in Arkansas will get to vote for ethics reform and improved government transparency, Illinois voters get to take a stand on a fundamental right to vote and in Montana, reformers are fighting an attempt to repeal Election Day voter registration, he added.
Elsewhere, millions of voters can take a stand for greater economic opportunity. Five states - Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Nebraska, and South Dakota - have measures on the ballot to increase the minimum wage; Massachusetts voters get to decide whether employers must provide paid sick leave; Hawaiians are voting on whether the state should provide funds for early childhood private school programs; Nevadans are considering a special tax on businesses, with proceeds devoted to public and charter schools, as well as removing a tax cap on mining companies; Coloradans will decide whether to require labels on genetically-modified foods; Floridians are voting on whether to direct proceeds of one state tax to procuring and protecting wildlife habitat; and Alaskans get a chance to ban controversial mining in salmon-rich Bristol Bay.
"We salute everyone who votes today, or already has voted, particularly the hundreds of thousands who've refused to be deterred by a disgraceful, multi-state campaign to erect barriers on their path to the ballot box," Rapoport said.
While the next Congress will be more beholden to big-money donors than any in recent history - no matter which party claims a majority - Rapoport said Common Cause will continue fighting for economic opportunity for all and for a democracy where everyone can participate and money doesn't rule. "We believe significant gains in these battles are likely at the state level," he added.
"Surveys done by Democratic and Republican pollsters alike find that large majorities of Americans believe we're on the wrong track, with economic and political power concentrated in the hands of the richest 1 percent," Rapoport said.
"Today's ballots in much of the country offer the rest of us ways to start reclaiming control of government and fixing problems Congress seems unable or unwilling to tackle. We must exercise that power or risk losing it forever. Voting is our right and responsibility; we need to ensure the process is safeguarded - from big money and from bad laws.
"Those who experience problems at the polling place are encouraged to call 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Together, we can better the process."
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
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Vice President J.D. Vance took heat from critics this week when he downplayed legislation that would result in millions of Americans losing Medicaid coverage as mere "minutiae."
Writing on X, Vance defended the budget megabill that's currently being pushed through the United States Senate by arguing that it will massively increase funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which he deemed to be a necessary component of carrying out the Trump administration's mass deportation operation.
"The thing that will bankrupt this country more than any other policy is flooding the country with illegal immigration and then giving those migrants generous benefits," wrote Vance. "The [One Big Beautiful Bill] fixes this problem. And therefore it must pass."
He then added that "everything else—the CBO score, the proper baseline, the minutiae of the Medicaid policy—is immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions."
It was this line that drew the ire of many critics, as the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the Senate version of the budget bill would slash spending on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program by more than $1 trillion over a ten-year-period, which would result in more than 10 million people losing their coverage. Additionally, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) has proposed an amendment that would roll back the expansion of Medicaid under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which would likely kick millions more off of the program.
Many congressional Democrats were quick to pounce on Vance for what they said were callous comments about a vital government program.
"So if the only thing that matters is immigration... why didn't you support the bipartisan Lankford-Murphy bill that tackled immigration far better than your Ugly Bill?" asked Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.). "And it didn't have 'minutiae' that will kick 12m+ Americans off healthcare or raise the debt by $4tn."
"What happened to you J.D. Vance—author of Hillbilly Elegy—now shrugging off Medicaid cuts that will close rural hospitals and kick millions off healthcare as 'minutiae?'" asked Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
Veteran healthcare reporter Jonathan Cohn put some numbers behind the policies that are being minimized by the vice president.
"11.8M projected to lose health insurance," he wrote. "Clinics and hospitals taking a hit, especially in rural areas. Low-income seniors facing higher costs. 'Minutiae.'"
Activist Leah Greenberg, the co-chair of progressive organizing group Indivisible, zeroed in on Vance's emphasis on ramping up ICE's funding as particularly problematic.
"They are just coming right out and saying they want an exponential increase in $$$ so they can build their own personal Gestapo," she warned.
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The deep-pocketed and powerful pharmaceutical industry notched a significant victory on Monday when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a bill described by critics as a handout to drug corporations can be included in the Republican reconciliation package, which could become law as soon as this week.
The legislation, titled the Optimizing Research Progress Hope and New (ORPHAN) Cures Act, would exempt drugs that treat more than one rare disease from Medicare's drug-price negotiation program, allowing pharmaceutical companies to charge exorbitant prices for life-saving medications in a purported effort to encourage innovation. (Medications developed to treat rare diseases are known as "orphan drugs.")
The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen observed that if the legislation were already in effect, Medicare "would have been barred from negotiating lower prices for important treatments like cancer drugs Imbruvica, Calquence, and Pomalyst."
Among the bill's leading supporters is Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), whose spokesperson announced the parliamentarian's decision to allow the measure in the reconciliation package after previously advising that it be excluded. Heinrich is listed as the legislation's only co-sponsor in the Senate, alongside lead sponsor Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).
"Sen. Heinrich should be ashamed of prioritizing drug corporation profits over lower medicine prices for seniors and people with disabilities," Steve Knievel, access to medicines advocate at Public Citizen, said in a statement Monday. "Patients and consumers breathed a sigh of relief when the Senate parliamentarian stripped the proposal from Republicans' Big Ugly Betrayal, so it comes as a gut punch to hear that Sen. Heinrich welcomed the reversal and continued to champion a proposal that will transfer billions from taxpayers to Big Pharma."
"People across the country are demanding lower drug prices and for Medicare drug price negotiations to be expanded, not restricted," Knievel added. "Sen. Heinrich should apologize to his constituents and start listening to them instead of drug corporation lobbyists."
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a lobbying group whose members include pharmaceutical companies, has publicly endorsed and promoted the legislation, urging lawmakers to pass it "as soon as possible."
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The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the ORPHAN Cures Act would cost U.S. taxpayers around $5 billion over the next decade.
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"This is a blatant giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry that would keep drug prices high for patients while draining $5 billion in taxpayer dollars," said Basey. "We call on lawmakers to remove this unnecessary provision immediately and stand with an overwhelming majority of Americans who want the Medicare Negotiation program to go further. Medicare negotiation will deliver huge savings for seniors and taxpayers; this bill would undermine that progress."
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A study published Monday by the medical journal The Lancet found that deep funding cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development, a main target of the Department of Government Efficiency's government-slashing efforts, could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by the year 2030.
For months, humanitarian programs and experts have sounded the alarm on the impact of cutting funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is the largest funding agency for humanitarian and development aid around the globe, according to the study.
"Our analysis shows that USAID funding has been an essential force in saving lives and improving health outcomes in some of the world's most vulnerable regions over the past two decades," said Daniella Cavalcanti, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Collective Health and an author of the study, according to a statement published Tuesday. Between 2001 and 2021, an estimated 91 million deaths were prevented in low and middle income countries thanks programs supported by USAID, according to the study.
The study was coordinated by researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health with the help of the Institute of Collective Health of the Federal University of Bahia, the University of California Los Angeles, and the Manhiça Centre for Health Research, as well as others.
To project the future consequences of USAID funding cuts and arrive at the 14 million figure, the researchers used forecasting models to simulate the impact of two scenarios, continuing USAID funding at 2023 levels versus implementing the reductions announced earlier this year, and then comparing the two.
Those estimated 14 million additional deaths include 4.5 million deaths among children younger than five, according to the researchers.
The journalist Jeff Jarvis shared reporting about the study and wrote "murder" on X on Tuesday.
In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the 83% of the programs at USAID were being canceled. In the same post on X, he praised the Department of Government Efficiency, which at that point had already infiltrated the agency. "Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform," he wrote.
Davide Rasella, research professor at Barcelona Institute for Global Health and coordinator of the study, said in a statement Tuesday that "our projections indicate that these cuts could lead to a sharp increase in preventable deaths, particularly in the most fragile countries. They risk abruptly halting—and even reversing—two decades of progress in health among vulnerable populations. For many low- and middle-income countries, the resulting shock would be comparable in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict."
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