Oh the irony of it all:
Republicans at the national and state level are targeting Democratic Senators who have been withholding “blue slips” and preventing federal appeals court nominees from moving forward in the Senate.
Blue slips are slips given to each Senator from a nominee’s home state where they write an opinion either a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the nominee before the Senate Judiciary Committee takes action.
Senator Bob Casey is one of the Senators who has been withholding his blue slip on Stephanos Bibas, a law professor from the University of Pennsylvania, who was nominated to the Third Circuit.
“Sadly, Bob Casey continues to embrace his far-left ‘resistance leader’ status. His newest form of obstruction — refusing to return his blue slip for our highly qualified Keystone State nominee — is a disservice to Pennsylvania and its citizens,” PA GOP Chairman Val DiGiorgio said in a statement.
The messaging on blue slips is also coming from national Republicans as well.
“Senate Democrats are using every weapon in their arsenal to delay President Trump’s nominees and ignore the will of the American people,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.
Well Republicans didn’t get this outraged when Tea Party U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R. PA) was blocking his own judicial nominee back in 2015:
Toomey has long supported Luis Felipe Restrepo, who President Barack Obama nominated in November to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. When Restrepo was nominated to be a district court judge in 2013, Toomey ushered him through the process, hailing his record as a magistrate judge and his volunteer work in the community. He boasted about Restrepo being one of three Latino federal judges he helped to confirm, and when Obama tapped him to be a circuit court judge last year, Toomey called him a “superb” choice.
But Toomey is now blocking Restrepo’s nomination by not submitting his so-called “blue slip” to the Judiciary Committee, which gives the chairman a green light to move forward with a nominee. The committee won’t take up a nominee until both home-state senators turn in their blue slips. Pennsylvania’s other senator, Bob Casey (D), turned his in back in November.
When asked Tuesday if he’s withholding his blue slip, the Republican senator gave The Huffington Post a confusing answer.
“No, I’m not. Well, let me explain how that works to you. But I’ve got to run for this lunch,” he said, walking away quickly. “But I support his confirmation.”
Toomey said he didn’t have any new concerns about Restrepo and that he would turn in his blue slip. At some point.
So yeah, this is just GOP fake outrage towards Casey. Meanwhile, both of Pennsylvania Senators continue to be leading figures on opposing sides in the current health care debate. Toomey, of course, continues to push to take away your health care:
As one of the plan’s architects, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is among those trying to bring moderate and conservative camps together with a revised version as more and more lawmakers draw lines in the sand.
“I still see a path. I’m not Pollyanna-ish about this. It’s very, very difficult when you can only lose two votes,” he told CNBC ‘s “Squawk Box” Monday morning. “We’re down to the point where we can’t lose anyone.”
He made the rounds Monday, also speaking with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,”Fox Business’s “Varney and Co.,” and Fox News “America’s Newsroom.”
nable to get consensus before the Independence Day break, Republicans are working on a new version of the legislation aimed at drawing in more moderates. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told reporters Monday that a revised bill will be unveiled this week, and “the goal continues to be to” vote next week.
One provision of the revised legislation adds spending for drug treatment programs, something wanted by senators including Rob Portman, R-Ohio, where there has been exponential growth in deadly opioid overdoses.
“They want more spending, more government spending,” Mr. Portman told “Squawk Box.” “Conservatives want less regulation so the premiums can come down in the individual market.”
As for Mr. Toomey, he wants a plan that increases state contributions to Medicaid and caps growth at a rate lower than inflation. Democrats and some Republicans — including Ohio Gov. John Kasich — complain that states can’t afford to pay more.
Mr. Toomey said it will be much worse if “this program collapses and we have a fiscal crisis because we refuse to do anything about runaway entitlement programs.”
The stakes are high, and the cost of doing nothing is huge, Mr. Toomey told Fox News. “We’ve been promising this for seven years and for good reason: Obamacare is failing,” he said.
Whereas Casey has been out on the road back in Pennsylvania continuing to build Resistance against Trumpcare:
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) unleashed some fiery rhetoric during a speaking event in Carlisle Monday afternoon, one of a number of sessions Casey has held across the state to fight against GOP health care policy.
“I would assert that it’s not a health care bill … it’s really just a tax cut bill that happens to affect health care,” Casey said, adding that he planned to “work night and day” to make sure the measure doesn’t pass the Senate if it comes up for a vote.
Disagreements between Republican senators have prevented the bill from coming up for a vote, and amendments are ongoing to try to reach a consensus, according to national reports.
However, Casey’s fellow senator, Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), has defended a number of core GOP policy points that would likely make it into the final version of the bill, if and when it is scheduled for a vote.
“We don’t agree at all when it comes to Medicaid,” Casey said of Toomey.
The critical point of contention is the proposed rollback of the Medicaid expansion that was introduced in 2010 under the Affordable Care Act, commonly dubbed Obamacare.
Prior to the Obama expansion, Medicaid programs were offered only to certain groups, such as the disabled, as well as those living below the poverty line. Since Pennsylvania opted into the expansion in 2015, Medicaid is available to all citizens making 138 percent or less of poverty income.
Under Obamacare, the federal government initially paid 100 percent of the cost for this expanded population, and will fund 90 percent after 2020.
Under the GOP health bill, the federal government would cease to fund the expansion at a 90 percent cost share, and instead fund it at the pre-expansion rate, which averages 57 percent depending on the state. The Senate’s bill would also introduce an inflation-indexed cap on Medicaid. Taken together, these two provisions would cut Medicaid spending by $772 billion through 2026 versus its current trajectory.
Toomey has championed the reductions, writing in a recent op-ed that “mathematical disaster is inevitable” unless Medicaid’s growth is reduced. Toomey has often cited the portion of the total federal budget consumed by Medicaid funding — 1.4 percent in 1970, rising to 10 percent today.
However, Casey opined that the GOP’s position would be more convincing if it devoted most of the savings from Medicaid cuts to reducing the federal deficit, as opposed to offsetting them with corresponding tax cuts for the wealthy.
Repeal of Obamacare’s taxes, used to fund the Medicaid expansion as well as subsidies for private plans purchased over state exchanges, would cut federal revenue by $541 billion through 2026. Much of this lies in repeal of the 3.8 percent investment tax on filers with more than $200,000 in income, meaning the bulk of the tax cuts will go toward the relatively wealthy.
“Cuts to Medicaid are being juxtaposed with tax cuts to the super-rich,” Casey said, citing data from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities showing that $33 billion of the total tax cut will go to just 400 families.
“I’m sorry … you don’t need a tax cut coming out of Medicaid when you make that much,” Casey said.
By the way, here are some other huge differences between Casey and Toomey that have come to light. One of them is afraid to face his constituents:
Gabrielle Trinkle has plenty she'd like to say to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey.
If only she could find him.
Trinkle, 28, a hairstylist and mom of two, says she's tried to meet with the Pennsylvania Republican over her concerns about the fate of Planned Parenthood in the Senate Republican healthcare bill. But so far, she's been unsuccessful.
"I haven't been able to get through to him," said Trinkle, who belongs to a local branch of the protest group "Tuesdays with Toomey," which has been picketing Toomey's Washington and state offices since earlier this year.
So Trinkle was in the one place where she knew her views would get a sympathetic airing, a rally/town hall here sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who's emerged as an implacable opponent of the healthcare bill.
And the other one has been benefiting from leading the Resistance rather than being a Trump loyalist:
Senator Bob Casey announced his campaign raised $2.6 million in the second quarter. Casey ended the quarter with $5.5 million on hand.
“Pennsylvanians know they can count on Bob Casey to fight for them and deliver results for workers, families, and seniors. Senator Casey’s fundraising pace and the broad support from hardworking Pennsylvanians demonstrate that the campaign is strongly positioned to compete in 2018,” Casey’s campaign manager M.E. Smith said.
Casey’s donations came from all 67 of Pennsylvania’s counties, and 93% of the donations were under $100.
Casey outraised Senator Pat Toomey for the same period in 2015. Toomey raised just under $2 million in the quarter. Toomey’s cash on hand in the same period was higher than Casey’s, Toomey had $8.3 million.
Let’s continue to help Casey lead the Resistance against Trump’s agenda. Click here to donate and get involved with Casey’s re-election campaign.