• Enumerati

  50% to 42%

  A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot by eight points, 50% to 42%. It’s the largest lead any party has held on that generic ballot question since 2013.

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• Enumerati

  48% to 16%

  A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that by a 3-to-1 margin, the American public holds a negative view of the American Health Care Act, 48% to 16%. Strikingly, even Republican respondents in the poll are lukewarm about the House bill, with only 34% viewing it positively (and 17% viewing it negatively).

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• Enumerati

  60%

  A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that “nearly 60% of adults said they thought it would make insurance more expensive for low-income Americans and people with pre-existing conditions. Fifty-seven percent said it would make Medicaid less available, and 69% said it would cut federal money for Planned Parenthood.” Overall, 41% of American adults oppose the House plan, while 30% support it. Another 29% said they “don’t know.”

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• Enumerati

  49%

  A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds opposition to the Republican health bill is growing. “As the GOP-led Senate prepares to take up the measure, only 35% of voters surveyed approve of the bill passed by the House last month. Nearly half of voters, 49%, disapprove of the bill. The other 16% don’t know or don’t have an opinion, the poll shows.”

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• Enumerati

  52%

  Republican support for stronger gun control laws is up seven points from a year ago. More than half of Republicans (52 percent) said they oppose stricter gun control, down seven points from the June 2016 poll, according to a recent Morning Consult poll. The poll, conducted in the days following the shooting that wounded House Majority Whip Steve Scalise — along with a lobbyist, congressional staffer and a member of the Capitol Police — found 44 percent of Republicans said they support strengthening gun laws.

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Poetic Justice

Vlad the Comedian

Buck Banks | Jun. 15, 2017

We think we know why Putin always seems to be smilin’—
He uses sarcasm and humor on Trump to beguile him.
And his latest jest
Is surely one of his best —
He’s offering Jim Comey political asylum!

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• Verbatim

  “The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America.”

  — Barack Obama, in a Facebook post.

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• Verbatim

  “We no longer have a party caucus capable of riding this wave. We have 80-year-old leaders and 90-year-old ranking members. This isn’t a party. It’s a giant assisted living center. Complete with field trips, gym, dining room and attendants.”

  — A Democratic Party operative, quoted by Politico.

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• Verbatim

  “Our brand is worse than Trump. We can’t just run against Trump.”

  — Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), quoted by the New York Times, explaining Democratic losses in four special elections this year.

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• Verbatim

  “Inch by inch by inch, the Trump administration is rolling back press access, which means less information for the public. And lack of accessibility is only half the problem. Lack of accuracy in official statements is a big issue too. … The president’s anti-media defenders may support the administration’s approach, but it’s hard to justify the rollback in accountability. It’s not just the White House, either: the State Department and the Pentagon have all but stopped holding on-camera briefings, too. … This isn’t exclusive to the executive branch. There are heightened concerns about legislative branch secrecy as well.”

  — Brian Stelter

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• Verbatim

  “This is a very important issue. You know, we shouldn’t try to do it in the dark. And whatever final bill is produced should be available to the American public and to the members of the Senate, certainly, for enough time to come to grips with it… And we are going to insist — and the American people are going to insist — that it be done in a transparent, a fair and open way.”

  — Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by NBC News on October 2, 2009, nearly three months before passage of the Affordable Care Act.

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