Incredibly, Pelosi Still Hasn't Fired Ben Ray Luján-- How Many States Does He Have To Screw Up Before She Does?

DCCC's fearless leader

Tomorrow is the first step in the process of Texans deciding who will represent them in Congress. Although the state is one of the most gerrymandered in the country, demographics-- and an enormous anti-Trump backlash-- seem to be negating GOP gerrymandered advantages in many districts. Not all though. Yes, there is at least one Democrat running in every Texas district, there are half a dozen that are so unbelievably red, that the incumbents are immune even to the kind of wave that is shaping up to define the 2018 midterms:

• TX-01- Louie Gohmert R+25
• TX-04- John Ratcliffe R+28
• TX-08- Kevin Brady R+28
• TX-11- Mike Conaway R+32
• TX-13- Mac Thornberry R+33
• TX-19- Jodey Arrington R+27

Normally Brian Babin's R+26 seat (TX-36) would be on the list as well. But Babin is such a weak and ineffective congressman and the Democrats have such a powerful and well-liked candidate in Dayna Steele-- formerly Houston's most popular rock dj-- that some are predicting an upset in this district east and northeast of Houston. As of the February 14 FEC reporting deadline Babin had raised $572,452 and Steele had raised $275,946, enough to make her competitive. All the competitive Texas races tomorrow are likely to result on May 22 runoffs-- except for TX-36, where Steele is favored to win her primary outright. These are the half dozen districts that are viewed as the most likely to flip from red to blue and are the most competitive in Tuesday's primaries:

• TX-07- John Culberson R+7
• TX-21- (Lamar Smith) R+10
• TX-22- Pete Olson R+10
• TX-23- Will Hurd R+1
• TX- 24- Kenny Marchant R+9
• TX-32- Pete Sessions R+5

Over the weekend, Jackie Wang, writing for the Dallas Morning News stunned many who hadn't been paying close attention by reporting that the early voting numbers were lopsidedly favoring Democrats across the state. "According to the Texas secretary of state’s website-- which tracks only the 15 counties with the most registered voters-- 161,607 people voted in the Democratic primary in 2014 during the first 10 days of early voting. This year, 310,275 people voted in the Democratic primary in the same span-- a 92 percent increase... On the GOP side, 273,293 people had voted in the Republican primary as of Thursday. That’s still an 18 percent increase from 2014, when 231,530 voted in the Republican primary during the first 10 days of early voting." Democratic enthusiasm is sky-high. GOP enthusiasm... meh. The Democrats already have a nearly 37,000 vote lead.

Political experts attribute much of Texas' increased voter turnout as a reaction to the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, as well as the state's eight open congressional seats.

Harold Clarke, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, said one reason Democratic primary voting numbers are up is because people think Democrats have a reasonable chance of winning.

“One of the things we know is that competition stirs turnout, and it looks now that here in Texas, perhaps especially for the first time in a long time, winning the Democratic primary is really a prize worth having because you have a real shot at the general election,” Clarke said. “That perception is fairly widespread both among potential candidates as well as Democratic voters.”

Dallas County's traditionally strong Democratic base appeared to respond to that competition, with turnout increasing 89 percent from 2014. Republican turnout decreased 6 percent.

The jump in Collin County, which votes for more conservative candidates, is even greater-- the number of Democratic primary voters increased 235 percent from 2014, while Republican voters increased by 47 percent.

...According to Ryan Data & Research, 85 percent of early voters this year have a history of voting in Republican primaries, but not Democratic. Derek Ryan, who runs the research group that supports Republican campaigns, analyzed voter data from the top 17 counties with the most Republican turnout in the last primary election.

He said the biggest takeaway was that nearly a quarter of the people who voted Democrat this year had never voted in a primary.

“I don’t necessarily know who these people are, but my thinking is on the Democratic side, these are probably people who voted for Hillary Clinton or even straight party Democrat in the 2016 general election and prior general elections,” he said. “But this is the first time they’re getting involved in the Democratic primary process.”

In Culberson's west Houston district, TX-07, the DCCC may have inadvertently increased turnout by clumsily big footing into the race with a savage attack against one of the two progressives in the primary, Laura Moser. Democrats (not just in Texas but all over the country) are furious that the DCCC in Washington is trying to rig the primary in Houston. Abby Livingston has been covering the self-inflicted controversy for the Texas Tribune, as Moser's slim chance to get into the primary appears to have increased significantly in response to the DCCC's blunder.

Last week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, fearing Moser would be too liberal to beat Culberson in the district were she to nab the nomination, dumped a pile of opposition research about her onto the internet, sparking a firestorm in the political world.

It is near-impossible to find anyone in Houston who thinks the move was fair-- or even smart.

Even those in the heat of Houston Democratic politics who agree with the DCCC in spirit are appalled with the tactic and fear it has backfired and strengthened Moser. Republicans, meanwhile, watched the pyrotechnics with delight.

...Seven total candidates are running for the seat, but University of Houston fundraiser Joshua Butler, attorney James Cargas and former Congressional staffer Ivan Sanchez lag behind Fletcher, Triantaphyllis, Westin and Moser in fundraising and prominence.

The impetus for most of these candidates running this time around was that Hillary Clinton got more votes than Donald Trump in the district in 2016, while Culberson faced marginal Democratic opposition spending. But within the top tier, it is hard to find anyone who will say that the DCCC’s action is on the minds of voters.

“It depends who we’re talking to-- there’s the social media bubble and the indivisible crowd that’s engaged in the race-- they all heard about it, and in general the reaction is ‘Why the heck did they do that?’ But if you’re knocking in doors in Jersey Village or Katy and talking to voters, it’s rare that they’ve heard about it," Westin said.

"It’s the second universe that is probably more relevant" he added. "Social media can feel like real life, but it’s not, and voters are a bit more important than Twitter and Facebook."

...Harris County Democratic early vote turnout has exploded, and no one is sure exactly who is voting-- will moderates frustrated with Trump decide this primary? Or are newer, first-time Democratic voters coming to the polls?

Livingston also wrote that "This is shaping up to be a must-win seat if Democrats take control of the U.S. House next fall, and the national party is taking extraordinary steps to influence the primary." But she may be incorrect about that. Meet Kyle Layman, bungling right-of-center DCCC staffer in Orange County... California. Granted, Layman is an inept idiot, the worst of teh garbage staffers the DCCC hires. Layman was practicing his magic last weekend in a San Diego bar during the California Democratic Party convention. He told anyone who would listen that the DCCC has written off TX-07 as unwinnable and that the DCCC doesn't give a damn about Moser. He claims that the attack on her is all about Orange County and that they smeared Moser to strike fear into the hearts of progressive candidates in California who the DCCC is trying to chase out of congressional primaries.

Layman was particularly riled up about one of the self-funding multimillionaires, Andy Thorburn-- who has already self-funded his campaign to the tune of $2,335,900 and is trying to run as a progressive against the DCCC's joke of a candidate (another self-funding multimillionaire), "ex"-Republican Gil Cisneros, a former Fitto-Lay's potato chip taster who won $266 million in the state lottery and has been spreading the money around among easily bribed Democrats to win their backing. He's self-funded his campaign with checks amounting to $1,352,762 and the DCCC is worried that Thorburn will outspend him and allow one of the progressives in the primary, Sam Jammal or Jay Chen, to outpace Cisneros in the jungle primary. Layman is trying to clear the field and claims the DCCC has deadly opposition research on Thorburn. Thorburn's campaign says that, unlike Moser, if the DCCC smears him, he'll sue their asses off. Pelosi still adamantly refuses to fire the pathetic excuse she has for a DCCC chairman, ridiculous closet case Ben Ray Luján. It's 2018. Why does a Democrat still think he has to sneak around in closets and base his life on deceit? And why is Pelosi clinging to this bungling imbecile?

Or maybe this bungling imbecile is doing just what Pelosi is telling him to do. As Tim Murphy wrote this week for Mother Jones, "Pelosi has shown a greater tolerance for Blue Dog Democrats than others in her caucus have. When progressives criticized the DCCC for refusing to apply a reproductive rights litmus test to 2018 candidates-- it never has-- Pelosi insisted there was room in the party for anti-abortion candidates. 'This is the Democratic Party, this is not a rubber-stamp party,' she told the Washington Post. Notably, Pelosi is showing Lipinski a degree of loyalty that the congressman has never extended to her-- Lipinski has routinely voted against Pelosi for minority leader. After helping elect Pelosi speaker of the House in 2009, he voted against her in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Notably, he was also a major impediment to Pelosi’s top legislative accomplishment-- the Affordable Care Act-- and was one of only a few blue-district Democrats to vote against the measure."

Marianne Williamson And Bernie Sanders-- Taking To The Road To Help Save America

A little over a month ago we looked at Marianne Williamson's plans for a national tour-- the Love America Your. It's not a plan anymore. She's right in the middle of it, having completed events in Richmond, Winston-Salem (with Jenny Marshall), Houston, Austin (with Derrick Crowe) and Las Vegas. She's taking a break now and then picking up again in Florida in March.

But her event in Houston was very special-- even mind-blowing-- and it was covered by two Houston Chronicle reporters, one black (Joy Sewing) and one white (Erica Grieder). "Marianne Williamson walked to the middle of the stage," wrote Sewing, "paused for a second, then she asked all the black people to stand." There were nearly a thousand people in the room and 200, including Sewing, stood up.

The New York Times best-selling author, internationally known spiritual teacher and native Houstonian was in town recently for her "Love America Tour" at Unity of Houston. She urged the 200 of us from our seats. She then instructed a white person to hold the hand of a black person standing.

A white woman and a teenage girl who looked to be mother and daughter in the row behind me took my hand and arm.

Williamson then told the white people to repeat after her. She began with, "I apologize..."

I was at Williamson's event to celebrate my birthday, January 15, the same as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Each year, I try to attend a talk, lecture or event for my birthday that inspires and uplifts as he did. This year, it was Williamson's sell-out talk at Unity Church with some 700 people in attendance.

Her focus was on racism and politics, saying that until the United States addresses slavery honestly, gets deep about its enduring impact on African Americans and makes amends, we will continue a cycle of hate and racism in this country.

She cited Germany's effort to apologize to Jewish people for the Holocaust and pay out billions in reparations.

According to the New York Times, many Germans are not even aware that their country, after paying $89 billion in compensation mostly to Jewish victims of Nazi crimes over six decades, still meets regularly to revise and expand the guidelines for reparations. The mission is to reach as many of the tens of thousands of elderly survivors who have never received any form of support.

The U.S. State Department also has paid or approved 90 claims for $11 million in reparations from France to former World War II prisoners who were carried to Nazi death camps in French trains — the first French reparations paid to Holocaust survivors living in the U.S.

Reparations, even the "forty acres and a mule" promised in part by General William Tecumseh Sherman on Jan. 16, 1865, to former slaves, has been an ongoing debate in this country, but that's not really what Williamson focused on.

A black woman stood up and told Williamson, who is Jewish, she was struggling to deal with the hurt and hate in her heart for white people because of racism. Williamson said one of the problems is that many white people are in denial about racism, don't want to talk about it and want black people to "get over it."

Black people are angry, and it's understandable, she said.

Unfortunately, anger is our Achilles' heel.

A colleague, whom I have tremendous respect for, once asked me why many black people are so angry today. I responded with, "Why aren't you angry?"

She looked at me with a puzzled stare.

I explained that ending racism is just as much a responsibility for her white community to "get it" as it is for my black community to "explain it." Frankly, I said many of us are tired of explaining racist actions and racially insensitive and dismissive messages that permeate our world.

It's time for white people to get it and speak up, too. That's why Williamson's apology to African Americans at Unity was so powerful.

In 2016, she penned, Prayer of Apology to African Americans, and shared it on Twitter.

"With this prayer I acknowledge the depth of evils that have been perpetrated against black people in America... I apologize, please forgive us."

Before she even started, I felt on edge as I often feel when white people say things, like "You don't talk black." Honestly, I was waiting to be offended.

With nearly 200 black people in the audience on their feet, Williamson apologized for slavery, lynching, murders, rapes of black women, destruction of the black family, mass incarceration of black men, being called the N-word and systemic and institutionalized racism and more.

As she continued for what seemed like forever, I felt a rage boiling inside of me that was followed by a Viola Davis ugly cry. (Fans of Davis in ABC's How to Get Away with Murder know what I'm talking about.)

I never thought I needed an apology from white people, but it felt like I was crying for my grandmother, my great-grandmother and all my people who endured and died because of hate in this country.

I cried for all of the times I've felt marginalized, discriminated against and invisible because of the color of my skin, even in my own industry.

I cried for all of the times I've watched black children, especially girls, had their esteem beaten down to nothing because they didn't fit the standard of white beauty.

I cried because I didn't know how deep the hurt was.

I could not stop crying.

I opened my eyes to see everyone around me-- white, black, Asian like my friend, Sydney Dao, who is Vietnamese-- crying, too. I nearly collapsed to floor from the emotional weight I was feeling.

But the harder I cried, the tighter the white woman and girl held on to me.

There was a white man in the front pew who had turned around to face the entire audience. He had no one black to hold onto, but he seemed to be shouting Williamson's words for me to hear.

It was one of the most powerful spiritual experiences I have ever had.

On my way out, I whispered "thank you" to the white woman and girl who held onto me so tightly. They had kind eyes and thanked me back.

Marianne Williamson is right. We need healing. We need real talk about racism in this country. It's time for white people to get it.

An apology is a start.

Chronicle columnist Erica Grieder hadn't planned on attending; she didn't really know who Marianne is and hadn't read any of her books. "I really had no idea what to expect," she wrote. "On Williamson's website, the tour is billed as an effort to promote political renewal via 'a revolution in consciousness.' Fear and hatred, the site explains, have become powerful forces in politics. In Williamson's view, we can harness the powers of love and decency in response-- and, if our democracy is to survive, we must." Grieder noted that just hours before Marianne took the stage, Trump blurted out his ugly bigoted statement about people from "shithole countries."

She began by emphasizing how important it is for Americans to know the history of our nation, and to be clear-eyed about both its virtues and its flaws, and the contradictions that they reflect. We're the only country founded on small-d democratic principles, for example, but many of the men who signed the Constitution, which enshrines those principles, nonetheless owned slaves.

Since then, in Williamson's telling, the Americans who want to realize those ideals have been in a constant struggle against those who would rather not, for various reasons. Perhaps they're beneficiaries of an unjust status quo, or are subconsciously seeking to re-create a regime in which the people are subordinate to an entitled aristocracy.

The latter, Williamson continued, currently have the upper hand. And so it's incumbent on spiritual and religious communities to lead the change-- as, historically, they always have.

"People just being anti-slavery was not going to end slavery," she noted. They had to actually do something, as the Quakers did in the abolitionist movement, or as Martin Luther King Jr. did in the fight for civil rights.

But what struck me most in Williamson's talk was her explanation for why spiritual and religious communities step up to the plate.

"We don't believe in a God out there, and a devil out there, that is stalking the planet, trying to grab men's souls. We believe in something in here," she said, pointing at her head.

That being the case, spiritual and religious Americans agree that there is a world beyond the world in which we live-- a "truer reality," according to our beliefs. A world in which people are equal, and truly free.

Like all Americans, we also believe that's how things should be in this world, or at least in this country. But religious communities have, historically, been leaders in so many fights for change.

Beliefs can't be quantified, measured, or documented; as Williamson put it, the truth sometimes "becomes out-pictured" by the proximate reality. But when political leaders are flouting basic American principles, spiritual and religious Americans often object, because our civic beliefs are often reinforced by our beliefs about the truer reality.

Williamson is right, I think, about the powers of love and decency: They can harnessed, for political purposes, and should be channeled into actions accordingly. Voting is one example. Another would be pointing out that Trump's comments on Thursday should be offensive to all Americans, regardless of their political beliefs. As Americans, we believe that all people are created equal, even if they come from suboptimal countries; that is a foundational premise of this one, which Trump supposedly leads.

They have different ways of going about it but Marianne and Bernie-- who are admirers of each other-- have similar goals. Earlier today, Bernie sent his supporters about how can push back against the toxic and devastating Republican agenda. "This government shutdown and budget fight in Washington," he wrote, "is also about our priorities as a nation. Republicans want massive increases in military spending while refusing to address the crises we face in health care, education, college affordability, infrastructure and more... From coast to coast Americans want a government that represents all of us, not the 1 percent. They don't want congressional leadership that has tried repeatedly to throw tens of millions of people off their health insurance and then looted the U.S. Treasury to give massive tax breaks to their fat cat donors. This right-wing Republican leadership has got to go! And we are the ones who have to send them packing." And, like Marianne, he's getting on the road, to help foster change.

How we win is straightforward. We have all witnessed the power of grassroots politics. Whether it was the 2016 primary campaign, the millions of women who took to the streets, the people from all walks of life who showed up at airports to protest the bigoted Trump Muslim ban, or the overwhelming majority standing with our Dreamer brothers and sisters, the message is clear. When we stand together we can build the America we all want to see.

Grassroots efforts have been successful in electing new progressive voices from all walks of life in places like Virginia, New York, Alabama, Mississippi and elsewhere. Grassroots efforts can transform this country. But we have to redouble our efforts if we are going to wrest our country back from those whose greed and dishonesty is destroying it.

That is why I want to announce to you a major new three-part initiative for this year and how you can be part of the fight to take our country back.

First, I am committing to travel the country in support of progressives running up and down the ballot. Like I did when together we rallied millions against the Republicans' failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I intend to go to every corner of this country to help build the electoral wave that will sweep Republicans out of the Congress, out of governors' mansions, out of state houses and out of city and town halls.

I hope in my travels that I will see you at these events. Your attendance is critically important to showing the strength of our movement and our resolve.

Second, as we work to create Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, I will be giving special focus to a core group of up-and-coming progressive candidates at the national and state level. We need progressive Democrats who are going to vigorously stand up against Republicans and fight for our values. But the only way they win is if we help them.

These are the type of candidates who do not draw big dollar contributions but they can prevail if we provide them the small dollar, grassroots support they need. As we introduce this growing list of candidates to you over the next couple of months I hope you will give them the support they need to carry our fight forward in their primaries and in the general election.

Finally, I am excited to announce that we will be reactivating the distributed organizing network that was at the heart of our grassroots success in 2015/2016. This will give us the capacity to reach out to millions of households by phone, by email, on social media and by text message.

This will give each of you the power to help elect progressives and defeat Republicans all across the country.

What we have seen over the last depressing year is a full out assault on working people of all races, an assault on marginalized communities and an assault on people based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and national origin.

Trump and the Republicans want to divide and conquer while the billionaire class laughs all the way to the bank and the rest of America falls further and further behind. We cannot let them do it.

The late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan summed it up so well when she described the aspiration of everyone in this country-- "What the people want is very simple-- they want an America as good as its promise."

Creating that America has been the motivation of my entire political life. I have always believed that together we could make it a reality. Even in these dire times, I feel it more strongly than ever.

See that thermometer on just above, on the right? If you donate on the page that leads to, the contributions go to Bernie's federal campaign account-- either his Senate campaign or... Well, as you know, 2020 is just around the corner. You can probably guess who we're supporting (again).

Who Is Hector Morales?

Gene Green is one of the worst Democrats in Congress-- very conservative and very corrupt, a pairing that you often find together. And he's retiring early. No realistic explanation why since he's been raising money hand over first all year. He raised $474,164 so far this year and has a campaign war-chest with $1,272,398 as of the September 30 FEC filing deadline. TX-29 is a strongly blue district-- PVI was D+12 in 2015 and is D+19 this year-- and Obama won it in a walk both times. A 77% Hispanic district, it wraps around Houston (north, east and south) and includes much of the Ship Channel area, South Houston and Pasadena. Green has promised to help solve the endemic pollution problem at election time while taking massive bribes from the oil and gas industries the rest of the time and helping push through their agenda. He should have been replaced years ago.

The only Democrat brave enough to take him on this cycle has been progressive activist and public school teacher Hector Morales. Hector has been one of the few progressives challenging an entrenched incumbent conservaDem anywhere in the country-- the toughest job in politics (please contribute to his campaign here). When the Republicans-- with Green's help. passed a fracking bill last July, we asked him about Green's vote and, he told us that "This should not come as a surprise as Gene Green is one of the founding members of the Congressional Oil & Gas Caucus along with Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, to name a few. Green was also one of the scarce Democrats that voted in favor of the Keystone Pipeline... Perhaps the Congressman should look no further than the Manchester neighborhood deep in the heart of the 29th Congressional District where all the refineries are located. After all, the low-income, heavily Latino community has high rates of childhood leukemia, asthma, and bronchitis-- an observation that has been backed up by data from the Environmental Protection Agency and the University of Texas which found “unacceptable” levels of cancer-causing pollutants in Manchester’s air. Gene Green is nothing more than a corporate shill who has gotten away with representing the oil and gas companies while claiming to look after the well being of the community he has sworn to protect. But with $260,000 worth of campaign contributions in this quarter alone from special interests, what more could you expect?"

The Houston Chronicle called Green "a fixture in the Texas Legislature and Congress for nearly half a century." What a terrible, terrible waste of a seat!

Until now, Green's longevity in city politics helped preserve Houston's status as America's largest Hispanic city without a Hispanic member of the U.S. House. Aware of that status, Green worked assiduously to serve constituent needs through job fairs, immunization drives, and town halls. He also worked to court the city's top Latino activists.

A pretty wretched bunch of opportunists jumped right into the race yesterday, starting with anti-charisma state Senator Sylvia Garcia and state Rep. Armando Walle, both Green disciples who seem to have had advance notice.

Hector, who is part of the Blue America Take Back Texas Team (tap the thermometer on the right) was born in Monterrey, Mexico and moved with his family to Houston when he was 3 years old. He grew up poor and told us that he "will forever remember the Pasadena refineries, just on the outskirts of Houston, that dominated the skyline and the smoke that emitted from them every day and the glow from the fires at night when we moved."

In 1994, I remember I was 7 years old and we were driving on the highway and at the intersection of I-45S and I-610E I saw a large green billboard with a four leaf clover that asked “Who is Gene Green?” It caught my attention every time we drove past it and never much more. Eventually the sign was replaced with another advertisement but I began to wonder “who is Gene Green?” In 1998, dial up internet took off and I decided to look up on askjeeves.com (now ask.com) “WHO IS GENE GREEN” and found that he was a Democratic member of Congress Representing the 29th District of Texas. Turns out he had always been representing me!

  I had always been interested in debating and politics always seemed like fun to me-- a large group of people who worked together to better our community. I went about intermediate school and high school not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I went to Pasadena Independent School District schools which are all Title I schools, which means a majority of students and parents live under the poverty line and the District receives federal money to try and close the achievement gaps. It was that way in the 2000’s and continues to be that way to this very day.

My teachers were very frank about my prospects as a hispanic male wanting to get into politics. Their responses to finding out I wanted to be a “politician” were always “you’re not white” and “it’s not going to happen.” This was the pattern until my senior year in high school when my economics teacher, Phyllis Geries, said “I think that’s great” and began introducing me to the world of politics. It was at that point that I knew that I wanted to do something big, I just did not know what. But that all changed in the summer of 2004.

We had a family friend who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and it really caught all of us off guard. At our friend’s recommendation, my mom went to the doctor to get a well women check. That is when the clinic called back and said “something is wrong.” My mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We were devastated. But things became bleak when the insurance company said my mother’s cancer was not a “life threatening condition,” “pre-existing,” and would not be covered under our plan. She was kicked off the insurance and we were left with an insurmountable amount of debt. A corporation had decided that my mother’s life was not worth the cost of saving her. However, we did not falter. With my dad’s salary as a school teacher, my $5.15 minimum wage job, and my brother’s side job stringing tennis rackets, we did as much as we could for my mom. My mom bested her cancer and recovered, but our economic situation did not. We had to file for bankruptcy and it placed my college plans on the cutting board. I vowed to never let anyone else go through that and decided I wanted to ensure healthcare as a right to all people. No one should ever be considered too poor to survive.

I went to San Jacinto Community College and was determined to leave my mark on the world and make my family proud. I became involved in the Honors Program and Student Government, went to national conferences to represent San Jacinto College, and was able to take courses from some of the finest professors I have ever had the privilege of learning from. I transferred to UT Austin where I made healthcare my passion and interned for State Representative Kevin Bailey and the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign, after which I earned an internship in the Office of Healthcare Reform at the White House with the Obama Administration. It was there that I experienced first hand how policy gets formed. I was able to help craft a very small portion of what became known as the Affordable Care Act in regards to the privacy rules and disclosures of data breaches from healthcare organizations to patients. I had the opportunity to remain in Washington and make a career as a staffer, but deiced that my community needed me and I wanted to make sure I was the change that I wanted to see.

I returned to Houston in 2009 and until this day have been a school teacher. I taught 3rd grade bilingual classes, 6th grade english language arts classes, and for the last four years I have taught Advanced Placement Government and Advanced Placement Macroeconomics to high school seniors. Every step of the way, I made sure to share my passion for helping those in need and motivating our young people to get involved in politics. It was during this time that I finally noticed things that were not much different than when I was growing up.

I have an answer for the billboard that asked "Who is Gene Green?" He is a corporate Democrat who sided with large donors to cement his position as a member of congress. In the 29th Congressional District, the average household income is under $40,000 with an average household size of 5 and a half people. Our infrastructure is crumbling. We have schools in our district that are among the top 1% of the most polluted in the nation. We had an incumbent who took in hundreds of thousands of dollars from special interests and sold out the health and well-being of our people. We had an incumbent who actively supported building the Keystone Pipeline and sided with President Trump and Republican Leadership on it regardless of the negative impact it would have on health and the environment. Our schools have graduation rates that are three times lower than the national average and twice as low as the state average.

I decided to run in January 2017 to change things. For far too long members of congress have made careers out of politics, always doing things for a quick campaign contribution. I have vowed to not accept a single cent of special interest money or PAC money. Elections should be hard-fought with issues at the forefront, not bought with contributions or handed down to friends in state government. I have singed a pledge to support a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress, both in the House and Senate.

Midnight Meme Of The Day

-by Noah

Since Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, we're all thinking of the horror the victims are going through, but my mind has turned to other things as well. For instance, I can remember that Texas Senators Cruz and Cornyn were against approving funding for the victims of Super Storm Sandy that hit the Northeast just a few years ago, yet, there they were, the day after Harvey came onshore, hypocritically begging their hated, evil, no-good federal government for free, taxpayer funded disaster relief money for their state.

Those who opposed the money for the victims of Sandy back in 2012 spewed out a whole list of excuses as to why. Most of their childish excuses centered around the theme of corruption. Take a pause and consider the hypocrisy of that aspect; very selective, aren't they?

Then, I think about all of those Texans who wanted to secede when President Obama won the presidency. They wanted to secede even more when he got re-elected. They even concocted conspiracies about Jade Helm being an Obama plot to take over Texas. Do they still want to secede, or, do they now want to wait until American taxpayers from all over the nation help them out with a nice socialistic handout? I'm guessing they want that handout, just as they wanted rescue and didn't give a damn who was paying for it. There's so much irony in politicians and voters who seem to decry the idea of socialism right up until the moment they want it and its benefits for themselves. They wail on and on about free market forces and how welfare and handouts lead to communism... you've heard it all so many times. Obamacare, Head Start programs, Meals On Wheels, veterans benefits, Medicaid, Social Security...

Guess what. They'll get their money to clean up and repair as they should. That's what we do in America despite malformed, festering, steaming pussbags like Cruz and Cornyn. You can lump in Governor Abbott and all those wackjob congresscretins like Stockman and Gohmert, too. Texas will rebuild but you can bet corporations will make out better than what politicians like to call "ordinary Americans". The Houston oil companies will get more free socialistic subsidies from our money, too. That kind of thing is the real corruption; moral corruption. Politicians like Cruz and Cornyn are never, for even one second, concerned about moral corruption. Lives will never be the same. People will be in a worse position than before. Recovery is never complete, no matter what any politician or media hack spews out at you on your television.

They'll all get their money, our money. They'll even slyly hire undocumented workers to do the rebuilding. As soon as the power comes back on, they'll go back to tuning in FOX and Alex Jones. They'll immediately go back to whining about "socialism", "illegals", wanting to secede, and big bad government conspiracies as they drive down their newly re-paved streets.

You can even bet that American Terrorist Paul Ryan is already sickly smiling about using the human misery caused by the storm as an excuse to take away even more from "ordinary Americans" while Donald Trumpanzee thinks about having his name on some nice new hotels along the Texas gulf coast. Thinking like that takes a special kind of vermin, and that's what way too many Americans voted for.

Can The East Texas Steeleworkers Shake Up TX-36 Politics? Why Not!

Dayna Steele-- reaching out to a Republican... and making him smile

There are 36 congressional districts in Texas and the 36th is probably best known for two rather unfortunate reasons-- Jasper, "Butterfly Capital of Texas, in the rural northern part of the district" is where 3 white nationalist neo-Nazis mudered James Byrd, Jr, by dragging Byrd for three miles behind a pick-up truck in 1988-- and because far right crackpot Steve Stockman, suspected of ties to the Oklahoma City bombers, was the congressman there for two single terms separated by over 15 years. (Stockman was arrested on felony corruption charges this past March and his trial is scheduled to begin next January.) After he left office another right-wing lunatic, Brian Babin, was elected to the seat. Last year Babin had no Democratic Party opponent. The district's PVI is a daunting R+25. Now that is red! Trump beat Hillary there 72.0% to 25.2%-- and Romney had actually done even better against Obama!

There are 9 counties in the district, which goes all the way to the Texas-Louisiana border, but half the voters live in the Houston area (Harris County). The Johnson Space Center is in the very south of the district. Something like 80% of the district's voters grew up within the listening area of the iconic rock station, KLOL-- as in 101 FM. Starting in 1970, KLOL was Houston's powerhouse album rock station. Everyone listened to it. The music director-- and midday on air personality-- was Dayna Steele (once hailed as Houston's "The First Lady of Rock ‘n Roll") to whom I used to have to beg for radio play for my label's artists. We shared a love for rock music and for musicians, a kind of kinship that made it easy for us to reconnect recently-- reconnect because in her post-radio career, Dayna has been an author and a motivation speaker and now... a politician. She's running for Congress in that red district Babin now occupies. When I told her it might take more than one try, she rescinded instantly, "Oh, I'm very aware of that." And that's the kind of campaign she's waging. I asked her to introduce herself.



Answer The Request Line
-by Dayna Steele,
First Lady of Rock'n'Roll, Candidate For Congress

When I was in radio, I always answered the request line every chance I got. I knew early on the listeners were my customers and if I wanted to succeed, I needed to keep the customers happy. Not only did we talk about music, we talked about weather, their kids, where they worked, where to find things, when a show was coming, or help with a fundraiser for a sick friend or relative. The Steeleworkers (the name my listeners coined for themselves) got to know me and I got to know them. For 20+ years we were together daily.

The same should hold true for elected officials. I happen to be represented by a man who doesn’t answer the request line, doesn’t hold town halls and doesn’t even keep regular office hours for constituents. And he ran unopposed in a deep red district in 2016 that no Democrat would touch.

As the election process unfolded in late 2015 and into 2016, I found my political voice. I’ve always discussed politics with family and close friends but this was different. Though always advising against speaking about ‘politicis, religion or cats’ in business or with potential customers, I started to speak out on social media-- and then in public. I could not believe what I was seeing and what I was hearing. A presidential candidate mock a disabled person, tell blatant lies, talk about women in such disgusting ways-- you know the list.

Someone even challenged me on the future president’s pussy comment, saying I followed a raunchy morning radio team for years on the air at KLOL and that didn’t seem to bother me. They were a raunchy morning radio team. That was their job. You could change the channel. This was the potential President of the United States we were talking about.

Then he who shall not be named was elected. I wrote a blog post on the day of the inauguration that basically said I was taught to respect the office of the President and now he is president and I will. I must give him a chance and we all should. Each and every day for seven months now he has ruined any chance of respect from me. And through all of these seven month, my Congressman has been in lockstep with everything he does.

So the gathering of friends concerned for our nation and for our freedoms and safety started to grow. The meetings at our house and over meals became more frequent. The desire to find a candidate who could actually win in 2018 in this crazy district became imperative.

It had to be someone who believes in the protection of the U.S. Constitution, equal rights, human rights, civil rights, LGBTQ rights. It had to be someone who was pro-choice and pro-business. Someone who had integrity, empathy, and an understanding of the vast unemployment and poverty in the district as well as lack of opportunity for women and minorities. Someone who wasn’t afraid to travel the district and reach out to all groups-- Democratic, Progressive, Independent, undecided, even rational Republicans. It had to be someone with strong name recognition and strong people skills. It had to be someone who truly cared and had “no skin in the game.” It had to be someone not afraid to come out of the shadows and speak up for all of these things.

And then the eyes and the voices started to turn towards me. Until one night Wonder Husband sat me down, poured me a glass of wine as I ranted about needing a candidate I could work for, looked me in the eye and said, “You are the one who can do it. You can win this.”

The KLOL-FM signal in Houston stretched way up and over in Texas Congressional District 36. A large section of voters in this district grew up listening to me and feel like they know me. That goes a long way towards getting someone to look for your name on the ballot and vote. We’ve already seen it happen again and again as we travel a district larger than Connecticut with more people than Denver or Seattle. When they learn I’m a Democrat, they literally turn their back on me. But then they recognize the name and/or the voice and they remember an old friend and reach out for a hand shake and more often a hug. Then we talk. The conversation may be about Van Halen or a pair of tickets they won from me but we talk. And I listen. Those are the people that will think twice the next time they are casting a ballot, many will consciously look for the name Dayna Steele. Their old friend from the radio.

I spend a lot of my time these days traveling the district, just listening to what people say on all sides. It is like answering the request line a million times over with a pickup truck, lots of diners, many potluck dinners, plus thousands of great people face to face added into the mix. I live in and have grown up in this amazing part of Southeast Texas. I have broadcasted, married, and raised three great sons here in this district. I have worked and created successful companies in this district. I sincerely love the area and her people. And I’m terrified at what our Texas representatvies and our president are doing to this great area and this great country.

On May 31, 2017 I announced I had officially filed to run to be the first congresswoman for Texas Congressional District 36. Yes, I know it will be hard. In fact, all too often these days, including from Blue America’s Howie Klein, I hear, “Oh no, that’s a very red district. Why are you doing this?” Because someone must do it. Texas is NOT a red state. It is a don’t show up and vote state. And I intend to find every Steeleworker I can in the district and bring them to the polls.

When you listen to people, you come to understand what they need.

When you listen to people you find what they have to offer.

When you listen to people, you figure out how to get these two groups together and make the system work to improve all our lives.

The philosophy I pass on in business speeches, the one I practiced in 20+ years of radio, that I write about in my books, that I speak about on stage is: the more you do to make someone successful, the more successful you will become.

Steeleworkers supported me for all those years on the radio. The very least I can do for them now is go to Congress and improve their lives. I owe them that.



More about Dayna and her TX-36 congressional campaign here. The 8 books she's written include LinkedIn: 101 Ways to Rock Your Personal Brand and Rock to the Top: What I Learned about Success from the World’s Greatest Rock Stars. Dayna also hosts The Rock Business video series for GoDaddy’s Garage for Small Business highlighting entrepreneurs who also happen to be real rock stars. Dayna lives in Seabrook, Texas, with her former NASA pilot husband and has three sons. ABC News has called Dayna’s advice “ridiculously sane.”

Why Would One Of America's Top Cancer Researchers Run For Congress? Meet Jason Westin Of Houston

The DCCC hasn't seriously contested the Houston area congressional district since 1966 when George H.W. Bush beat ultra-conservative Harris County District Attorney Frank Briscoe (D) to become the first-ever Republican to represent Houston. Back in those days, TX-07 included all of Harris County; now it's just 17% of the county and is basically known as the west Houston district. It stretches from Memorial Park and West University Place, through Bellaire, north to Hedwig and Spring Valley Village, west to Barker Reservoir and then north to Jersey Village. The PVI is R+13 and Obama got wiped out by both McCain and Romney there, with around 40% of the vote. John Culberson has been congressman since far right ideologue Bill Archer retired in 2000 and he's never faced a serious challenge. Until 2016 only one Democrat had ever hit 40%. In 2016 an oil industry Democrat, James Cargas, ran and Culberson beat him by around 30,000 votes, 56.2% to 43.8%. Hillary managed to win the district or, more accurately, Trump managed to lose it. The district is around 31.5% Hispanic, 12.5% black and 10% Asian-- so a white minority district now. Trump's share of the vote was 47.1% (from Romney's 59.9%) and Hillary took 48.5%. The DCCC seems to feel this is reason enough to think they're going to flip TX-07 from red to blue and there are 7 candidates so far, included two DCCC-types, lawyers from other districts, one, Alex Traintaphyllis, a former Goldman Sachs guy. Cargas is running again as well. There are two viable progressives in the race, a cancer research doctor, Jason Westin, and author Laura Moser. We like them both.

Over the past 4 months DWT have gotten to know Dr. Westin for his frequent commentaries on all matters regarding healthcare. Today, as we add him to our list of endorsed candidates-- click on the ActBlue thermometer on the right to see the whole list and, if you'd like, to contribute to Dr. Westin's campaign-- we asked him to write another guest post to help us get an unambiguous idea about what kind of a congressmember he will make if he wins the primary and goes on to defeat Culberson in 2018. His enthusiastic and well-reasoned support for Medicare-For-All differentiates him not just from John Culberson but from the other primary candidates running in his district. After Dr. David Gill (IL-13), Jason Westin is the second politically progressive physician Blue America is backing in 2018.


Healthcare Is A Human Right
-by Dr. Jason Westin,
Candidate for Congress, TX-07

“Doctor, thank you. This means the world to me” she said as I left her exam room. In my first year of medical school, I learned countless lessons ranging from how the human body works and breaks down to how to deal with enormous stress. But the most important lesson wasn’t taught in a classroom or a textbook: I learned that healthcare is a human right. Working in the student run Equal Access clinic, a place where I provided care for people with real medical problems but without insurance, was one of the most formative experiences of my career. The people I treated knew they had problems, but because they lacked insurance they were getting sicker and felt no one cared. When I helped them, their gratitude was about more than getting their blood pressure, cholesterol, or diabetes under control, it was about feeling valued as a human being. Nearly 20 years later, I can still remember the look on their faces.

In my career as a doctor, I’ve seen many incredible things across the full spectrum of the human experience. I vividly remember my first patient that recovered after a critical illness, and sadly my first patient that did not. As an award winning researcher at the top-rated cancer center in the world, I remember my first patient whose cancer went into remission on a clinical trial I designed, wrote, and lead, and others who were less fortunate. Those experiences motivate me to fight for my patients, to find new treatments and new cures, and to refuse to be satisfied with the status quo. The doctor-patient relationship is truly unique: patients share with their doctors things they would not tell anyone else, and in exchange doctors make decisions that determine the fate of their patients’ lives. It is an awesome responsibility.

Unfortunately, my ability to provide the best care for my patients is frequently not up to me. Too often my plans are blocked by a for-profit insurance company denying to pay for my patient’s treatment plan. Most medical practices have a large team dedicated solely to navigating the complex insurance claims approval process, often with seemingly random results. This makes healthcare less efficient and effective. The amount of time, effort, and money wasted dealing with paperwork or appealing denials of universally accepted standard care is truly astounding. How much money is wasted? The Center for Economic and Policy Research calculated that the American healthcare system spends over $100 Billion each year on private insurance overhead costs, 12 times more than Medicare spends on operating costs. This spending is completely wasted money that does nothing to make people healthier. If another industry found that it had a $100 Billion dollar per year inefficiency, it would be corrected faster than Mr. Trump could tweet about it being SAD! But for profit insurance companies have no motivation to correct this waste of their consumers’ money – it reinforces their stated need for high costs. The bottom line is this: insurance companies are motivated to maximize profits and bonuses for their executives, not to improve our health.

The Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, has been a step forward, but still leaves nearly 30 million Americans without coverage. Due to a refusal to expand Medicaid, the uninsured rate in Texas is 16%, the worst in the nation for three years in a row. Career Congressman John Culberson (R, TX-07) voted dozens of times to “repeal and replace” the ACA, and “absolutely” supported and voted for the TrumpCare bill. Sadly, despite seven years of sloganeering, Culberson has no serious solutions to our healthcare system. The ACA is not a perfect solution, but it did slow the rapid growth of healthcare costs. However, it has not impacted medication prices, use of treatments or testing are not of significant value, or lifestyle choices many of us make that lead to poor health. As a doctor, I know that we can do better.

I believe that healthcare is a human right and the best way to fulfill this duty is a “Medicare for all” single-payer system. Medicare and Medicaid cover nearly 125 million Americans, 33% of our population, but more can be done. The United States is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, but is the only developed country without universal healthcare. Critics will ask “how can we afford a single-payer system?”. I ask, “How can we afford not to change our current approach?”. We spend more than any other country in the world per person on healthcare, over $9000 each year and rising, but rank 28th in healthcare outcomes according to the United Nations. Despite spending this fortune, we rank behind Andorra, Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus, Brunei, and Solvenia. Why do we pay more for less? The price of prescription drugs, inefficiencies in insurance, and a lack of prevention and cure of chronic illnesses are all a part, and they are only getting worse. The United States healthcare system today reminds me of my patients from the Equal Access clinic: we know that our problems are getting worse, but we feel powerless to act. It is obvious that our current system of rising costs and mediocre outcomes is not sustainable, and the only viable way to improve our health and control our costs for the long term is universal healthcare.

It is now time for a change, for a serious discussion about facts instead of talking points. The American people are ready for this discussion. The Pew Research Center reported 60% of Americans believe the federal government is responsible for providing healthcare coverage to all Americans. This is an astounding number. Moving to a “Medicare for all” system could do more than just insure all Americans, it could tackle the unsustainable rising costs of prescription medications and healthcare, and even more importantly, make us healthier and more secure. Greater access to care and a real focus on prevention of and finding cures for dreaded diseases, would reduce long term costs and increase American productivity and longevity. We should increase funding for research from public sources and have less reliance on for profit organizations. We have a true opportunity to build upon the legacy of the Medicare and Medicaid platform, and we must seize this moment. America does great things, like leaving our world and setting foot on our moon, why can’t we do great things for something as fundamental as our healthcare?

If your doctor continued to use the same failing treatments over and over, you would find another doctor. Our leaders in Washington are elected by the people to lead, and if they refuse lead on healthcare, we should elect leaders who will. I’m running for Congress because I know that healthcare is a human right and that’s worth fighting for.

Houston Cancer Specialist Looks At The GOP Repeal Plan-- And He's Running For Congress

Dr. Jason Westin

In the earlier post about the Ryan ACA repeal today we promised to introduce you to a doctor running for Congress in Harris County, Texas. TX-07 is one of those gerrymandered, traditionally Republican Texas districts where well-educated voters don't like Trump. Romney beat Obama there by a daunting 59.9% to 38.6% in 2012. But with Trump spewing his ignorance and bluster all year, the district gave Hillary a 48.5% to 47.1% win in November. The DCCC has never considered getting involved in TX-07 before. That's changed now and with Jared Polis (D-CO) as the new regional vice-chair for the area including Texas, we can expect a real fight for a change.

Jason Westin is a father of 3 young children, a husband, and a doctor who fights cancer by working to find cures every single day. He will be 41 years old during the 2018 election season. After graduating college in 3 years with a degree in Microbiology and minors in History and Chemistry, Jason moved to Washington to serve as an intern in the Senate where he worked for Florida Democrat Bob Graham on health care policy. It was during the Great Tobacco Debates of 1998 that he told us he saw "the true power of politics for good first-hand."

He says he was tempted to remain in politics, but he felt he "could accomplish more for more people in Medicine, graduating from Medical School with Honors before being recruited to his first academic medical job as a college professor at age 28. After cofounding a new hospital department, he decided to focus his career on treating patients with cancer.

He and his wife Shannon moved to Houston, Texas to train at one of the top cancer hospitals in the world, where they both remain on faculty as Oncologists. Jason now leads a large research team that focuses of finding cures for the most common cancer of the immune system.

So... why is Dr. Westin running for US House District TX07? He told us that he's long considered himself an "armchair politician, informed by not involved." During the 2016 campaign, he was stunned when an entire party, and then an electoral college majority was "taken over by a reality TV host who was uniformed and uninterested, vulgar and vindictive, and who wouldn’t be believable as a political candidate in a movie, let alone be qualified in real life."

He told us that when his kids have setbacks in sports, he tells them that "complaining accomplishes very little, that the only way to fix a problem is to get up, dust yourself off, and come up with a plan." After the election, like many people he spent a lot of time complaining about the results, but felt like a hypocrite for not taking the advice he gives to his own kids. He resolved to work hard to fix what went wrong, and the best way he can accomplish this goal is to be elected to Congress.

How will his background translate to his new job? Every patient who comes to see Dr. Westin has a life threatening illness. His job is “high stakes” personified. Each patient requires a detailed and personalized problem solving approach, cutting to core of complicated information, which must be communicated clearly and in a way that his patient’s can easily understand. Dr. Westin must listen to the needs of his patients, work in a collaborative way with many groups to ensure the needs of his patient are addressed, and think strategically to ensure an achievable plan exists for all contingencies. These skills would directly translate into what is needed in an effective Congressperson. The ability to listen to concerns, communicate complex ideas clearly, and work across disciplines to achieve his goals would serve those he represents well. Dr. Westin thrives under pressure and is used to multitasking successfully. In short, his medical and research career provide him the skills to be an excellent member of Congress and serve his constituents well.

Trump Is Flat Out Wrong About The US Health Care System
-by Dr. Jason Westin

Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”
-President Trump, February 27, 2017

Not surprisingly, Mr. Trump is flat out wrong about the US health care system. It embodies complexity, a byzantine system of state and federal regulations, organizations, and tax codes cobbled together over time. If you tried to explain our healthcare system to a completely uninformed person, for example, someone with a background in reality television and hotels, they would likely be due for their next flu shot before you were halfway done.

During our medical school training, we were taught about the amazing function of the human body and how it can break down, but we received very little education on the economics of healthcare. As a cancer-fighting doctor, when I enter the room of my patient and work with them to create a battle plan, I consider dozens of factors. These include their cancer type, overall health, previous results, social support, availability of new treatment options, and likelihood of success. It usually does not include the simple question, “who will pay for this life saving care?” With a laser focus on finding cures for my patients by designing cutting edge research, I have been intentionally oblivious to their insurance status, justified by saying that my job was to treat their cancer, not their wallet. But my eyes were opened when several of my patients, including young single mothers and beloved grandfathers, were threatened to have successful treatments stopped due to insurance issues. I could no longer claim this was someone else’s problem. Fixing the U.S. health care system is our problem, even if it's complicated.

When doctors graduate from medical school, they recite the Hippocratic Oath, which compels them to “First, do no harm.” Normally, I interpret this oath to apply to how I care for my patients, but “normal” seems to be in short supply these days. Watching the current debate about the future of our nation’s health care, I feel that my oath also says that I must speak up so that American health care does no harm. I believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that we must work to ensure all Americans have access. In the parlance of our times, I am “woke.”

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as ObamaCare, was a milestone for health care when it was enacted in 2010. At the time, nearly 50 million Americans had no health insurance and 27% of adults under age 65 were essentially uninsurable due to “pre-existing” medical conditions. Insurance companies charged substantially more or refused to insure Americans with cancer, diabetes, drug abuse, heart disease, and even pregnancy. Americans with these and other medical conditions who received insurance through their work were often reluctant to change jobs due to fear of being denied insurance with their new employer. Those who could buy insurance had no easy way to compare various policies, and many insurance plans did not cover preventative care, ranging from mammograms to vaccines, resulting in missed early detection and sicker patients. The ACA is not perfect, but it directly addressed each of these important issues by expanding coverage, increasing patient protections, and creating accessible webpages to compare plans.

The ACA prevents insurance from discriminating based on pre-existing medical conditions and gender, but still allows coverage and cost differences for age, location, and tobacco usage. It requires all individual and small group plans to cover 10 essential health benefits including preventative care, prescription medications, addiction treatment, and maternity and newborn care, and allows adults up to 26 years old to remain on their parents’ insurance plan.

The controversial parts of the law relate to how it expands the number of people with insurance via the creation of subsidies based upon income, the expansion of Medicaid, and the ‘individual mandate’ and other taxes. If the subsidies and Medicaid expansion (for the 32 states that adopted it) are the carrot, then the mandate is the stick. The subsidies are automatic coupons based upon income for people who make up to 4x the poverty line applied on webpages called insurance exchanges, making insurance more affordable for those who make less. The lower your income, the greater your subsidy. The expansion of Medicaid, the federal program that provides insurance to the least wealthy Americans, now allows those making up to 138% of the poverty level to qualify. The individual mandate is a penalty, or tax increase, of $695 or 2.5% of your income, whichever is greater, if you do not obtain an insurance policy that meets certain minimum standards. Other taxes created by the ACA include a 40% excise tax on premium insurance plans starting in 2018, Medicare taxes on individuals who earn at least $200,000 each year, and Medicare taxes on companies with at least 50 employees.

The two main reasons to increase the number of insured Americans are improved health and reduced costs. Uninsured people rarely seek care until they are very sick, often relying on emergency rooms that provide only short-term, high-cost solutions. Increasing access to insurance should lead to earlier intervention, continual control of chronic medical problems, and preventative care. The cost reductions come from having more healthy people paying for insurance without the need for high cost treatments. The entire premise of insurance relies on the idea that the vast majority of people pay more in than they get out, with the promise that if they get sick that they will be covered. The more healthy people that sign up for insurance, the less they all have to pay.

To date, the ACA has been very successful on many fronts, despite what you hear from Republicans like Speaker Paul Ryan. Due to the ACA, nearly 20 million Americans have new access to affordable high-quality health insurance. More than 3 million Americans who were previously refused insurance due to pre-existing conditions are now covered, and 2.3 million young adults are covered by their parents’ insurance until they can afford their own. Over 9 million Americans were able to afford insurance with the help of subsidies through the ACA exchanges, and 14 million more are newly covered through the Medicaid expansion. The Medicaid expansion would have had a much greater impact if 18 states had not refused the ACA funds. With these clear measures of success, the uninsured rate across America is the lowest it has ever been at 8.6%, a drop of nearly 50% from 2010. When announcing the American Health Care Act, the replacement plan for the ACA that would gut Medicaid, Speaker Ryan said that the “unified Republican government will deliver relief and peace of mind to the millions of Americans suffering under ObamaCare.” I would bet that the nearly 20 million Americans who are “suffering” by finally being able to afford insurance due to ObamaCare would reject the “peace of mind” offered by Speaker Ryan, and in return give him a “piece of their mind.”

In the 7th Congressional District of Texas, where I am running against career politician John Culberson, our uninsured rate dropped from 18.6% to 15.1% since the ACA was enacted. Almost 400,000 district residents now have mandated coverage of preventative care with no copay or deductible charges as a result of the ACA. Nearly 30,000 residents purchased high quality insurance with the assistance of a subsidy, and 24,100 more could have obtained Medicaid coverage if not for the refusal of Texas to accept federal expansion funding. Even with these gains, our uninsured rate is nearly double the national average despite having a median household income of over $71,000. If Congressman Culberson votes to repeal the ACA, he should guarantee his new plan won’t hurt the newly covered and define how his new plan will help the more than 100,000 of his constituents who remain uninsured.

Critics point out that insurance costs have gone up since the ACA was enacted, which is true. However, they usually fail to point out that the annual rate of increase is now 37% lower than it was pre-ACA. Congressional Republicans will make the case that the ACA is failing, in a death spiral, and that it is hurting Americans. These arguments have just about as much validity as the President’s tweets.

On March 6th 2017, the Republicans in Congress, in coordination with Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Tom Price and director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, finally provided details on the American Health Care Act, a.k.a. TrumpCare, to rollback the ACA. The new TrumpCare plan will remove the individual mandate in name under the guise of “promoting freedom and personal choice”, but keep it in spirit by increasing insurance costs by 30% for one year if you allow your plan to lapse. Instead of paying a penalty for not having insurance to the federal government for re-investment in America, now penalties will be paid directly to the insurance companies and their shareholders.

TrumpCare will dismantle the income-based subsidies that have allowed over 9 million Americans to finally afford insurance. In their place, new reimbursable tax credits will be created based mainly on age, with slight increases based upon income. Contrary to the ACA, these tax credits will provide a 575% greater benefit to wealthier and older Americans, many of whom happen to be reliable Republican voters. The age-based tax credits may seem like good news for older Americans, but insurances will now be able to charge them up to 5 times what they charge a young customer for the same coverage, a 67% increase over ACA practices. These tax credits will not vary by region, meaning that those who live in states with high insurance premiums will have less purchasing power. Another real problem with the TrumpCare tax credits is that they do not increase with increasing premiums over time, as ACA subsidies do. These credits will only increase if the much less volatile consumer price index goes up. This disconnect will mean that those who are the youngest and have the lowest income will slowly drop out of the insurance market when their tax credits shrink compared to their insurance costs. You will now have the freedom to not buy insurance you can no longer afford.

Several Republican Senators expressed their concern about a full repeal of the Medicaid expansion that occurred in their states, and thus there are some olive branches in TrumpCare included to entice their support, but make no mistake: it will be rolled back by 2020 by defunding the federal obligation defined by the ACA. Instead, states will be given a capped amount of Medicaid dollars based upon enrollment numbers and 2016 spending, a fundamental change in this bedrock system of the American safety net. States will need to determine who and what they will be willing to cover, and what they will need to cut. Even more concerning, the ACA expansion of who is eligible for Medicaid will be repealed, preventing millions of Americans living just above the poverty level from enrolling. Remember, the ACA changes to Medicaid eligibility allowed 14 million new enrollees. Where will Americans who are now left out in the cold go after the expansion is repealed? Will the 2% TrumpCare tax credit they receive in lieu of Medicaid be sufficient to provide high quality health care to their family?

For the 27% of Americans under age 65 with pre-existing conditions, TrumpCare prohibits insurance companies from returning to their old tricks of charging exorbitant fees or flat out refusing to cover these Americans. However, without the individual mandate, it remains unclear how insurance companies will remain viable if fewer healthy people maintain coverage. States will receive “Stability Funds,” euphemisms for handouts to insurance companies to help cover the most expensive patients, but these will max out at $350,000 per patient. In my clinic, the cost of many of the newest and most promising cancer fighting drugs will quickly exceed these limits. What happens beyond these limits is not defined in the law, which means that patients will be either responsible to pay out of pocket or will be required to stop receiving further care.

Private insurance will still be mandated to cover the 10 essential health benefits required by the ACA, but how much coverage will be determined by each state. This will result in a piecemeal system where preventative care could be fully covered to some residents of Kansas City, but not to their neighbors a few blocks away. Lastly, the TrumpCare bill will completely defund Planned Parenthood, including all the critical preventative care provided to low-income women. In 2015, only 3% of all Planned Parenthood services were abortion-related, and no federal funds were used for abortions that were not required to protect the life of the mother or related to incest or rape.

To make matters worse, some of these draconian changes aren’t steep enough for some Republicans who demand a complete and total repeal of the ACA. To put in simply, this would be a very bad idea. Without assistance, many of the newly insured Americans would immediately no longer be able to afford their insurance. The rapid withdrawal would cause premiums to increase for those who remain insured, causing even more to withdraw, and so on. This scenario is often referred to as a “death spiral,” and for many who could no longer afford insurance this term would be quite literal.

Republicans will claim the above drastic changes will be needed to reduce the cost of healthcare. What they won’t tell you is that they will pay for these changes by gutting Medicare and keeping a tax on the middle class. Nearly half of all Americans receive their insurance through their employer, and under the ACA all but the most expensive plans are considered tax exempt. Starting in 2025, the TrumpCare plan will cap this exemption at the 90th percentile, which means that many hardworking families who purchased a costly plan for greater piece of mind will now regret their decision as they are slapped with a tax increase.

Perhaps the most significant change planned in TrumpCare will be the complete repeal of the ACA taxes on the wealthiest Americans and large businesses. The drastic cuts in Medicaid will be used to pay for an enormous tax cut for the “job creators,” because we all know well “trickle down economics” has worked before. These tax cuts provide zero benefit to Speaker Ryan’s stated goals of “universal access to quality, (and) affordable health care,” or his desire to “move decisions away from Washington and into state programs, doctors’ offices, and family living rooms.” As someone who has worked in health care for nearly 20 years, I cannot see how a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans will do anything to further these worthy goals. It appears the real purpose of turning Medicaid into a ‘per capita block grant’ may be to force states to make long-term deep cuts in the health care of our most vulnerable. In short, TrumpCare is a reverse Robin Hood bill, robbing from the poor and giving to the rich.

The Rice University football stadium, about two miles from my house in Houston, Texas, is where President John F. Kennedy gave his famous speech about our country going to the moon. In his speech, he said “we choose to go the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.” As a nation, we should approach reform of our health care system with the same intensity that President Kennedy approached going to the moon. Improving our health care will be hard, but that is precisely why we must do it and do it well.

What should progressive Democrats do? First, we must continue the pressure on members of Congress personified by the Indivisible and Swing Left movements. Showing up and asking polite but pointed questions at events and calling local and Washington offices will ensure our representatives understand that we are paying attention, and that we will vote. Second, we need to make sure that we have candidates who can speak intelligently on these and other critical issues. Our greatest hope to seize control of the House may be first time candidates, and we should penalize them for being newly motivated by recent events to finally get off the sidelines. We are watching the rapid erosion of the post World War II safety net both domestically and abroad, and thus we must increase our intensity beyond what was achieved in 2016, a difficult task for off year elections.

What should we not do? We must avoid the temptation to hyperventilate over each distraction the President deploys. We must avoid being so focused on perfect solutions that we miss incremental improvements. And lastly, we must not lose hope that America remains the greatest force for good, and that better days will come if we work hard and keep our focus.

Many on the left ask “Why don’t we create Medicare for all?” A single payer system would simplify life for those trying to compare insurance A vs. insurance B, but I worry that if rolled out as Medicare exists today that the reality could lead to a system like the VA, riddled with inefficiencies and delays in services. I strongly believe that health care is a right, an idea which meshes well with the universal coverage a single payer system provides, but I am skeptical that the bureaucracy would run as smoothly as promised. I have worked in VA hospitals, and our veterans deserve better. To truly fix healthcare, I believe that we need to have a bipartisan commission, supported by involvement from the key stakeholders including patient advocacy groups, insurers, states, and medical associations, who would review all available facts free from a partisan perspective, including multiple points of view from the brightest minds in healthcare and health policy, not from politicians and their lobbyist informed staffers. It would not surprise me if this commission recommended a single payer system, similar to that proposed by Senator Sanders, with the right reforms to the bureaucracy to make it work.

I would propose this commission should dramatically increase funding for research to find cures for chronic medical conditions, not just managing them with expensive medications for life. Our current system of treating expensive chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes with lifelong daily pills or shots is a great business model for pharmaceutical companies, but makes little sense for our health or our wallets. In the richest country the world has ever known, only 3% of all Americans with cancer are enrolled on a clinical trial, where all new knowledge and practice changing ideas occur. Simply put, research must be prioritized, not just provided lip service. If we can slip the surly bonds of earth and touch our moon, surely we can do better for our own health care than TrumpCare. I propose this bipartisan commission present their findings to the American people, and that their proposed legislation be brought for a vote after a new Congress is seated, ideally in 2020 when the Senate and White House will be contested again, thus giving the voters a chance to elect candidates who share their beliefs, not just their party affiliation.

I’m running for Congress because I believe we can and must do better to improve our nation’s health care. The ACA is not perfect, but we should not let our attempts to obtain perfection cause us to reject the good the ACA has accomplished. In 2018, we will have an important choice. Will we continue the Republican dominance of Congress, allowing one party to have unilateral control over health care? Or will we elect representatives who will represent us and reject the special interest groups like the Koch Brothers pushing to repeal the ACA for the reverse Robin Hood TrumpCare? I’m betting the American people, including the residents of the 7th Congressional District of Texas, will make the right call.

For regular updates, be sure to follow Jason on Twitter: @Westin4Congress