MSNBC producer Steve Benen noticed President Donald Trump posting an exclamation point-laden demand on Truth Social for Democrats to “do something” about the state of U.S. healthcare. “As I have said for years, [Obamacare is a disaster]! Rates are going through the roof for really bad healthcare!" Trump wrote. "Do something Democrats!" he demanded. “He managed to say quite a bit in three sentences, so let’s unpack this,” Benen wrote. “First, [Trump] claimed that the Affordable Care Act is a ‘disaster.’ That’s plainly false: The ACA hasn’t just worked effectively for years, it also reached new levels of popularity with the American public over the summer,” Benen said, adding that support for Obama’s signature health reform law reached 66 percent in June, “making it more than 20 points more popular than the president who hates it, and raising the question of whether the president is just jealous.” Second, Benen took issue with Trump’s complaint that coverage costs are “going through the roof for really bad healthcare.” “The first part of this is true — consumers are facing sticker shock, though leading Republican officials have spent recent weeks suggesting this isn’t a big deal,” Benen said, referencing the frightening new prices for Obamacare health insurance plans after Republicans and Trump banned subsidies to keep the plans affordable. “But the idea that the care itself is 'really bad' is baseless,” Benen argued. “People raise concerns all the time about costs and access, but there’s no evidence to suggest Americans are dissatisfied with the services provided by medical professionals themselves. But at the center of Benen’s anger at Trump’s post was the president’s demand: “do something Democrats,” despite being out of power. “Republicans control the White House, the Senate, the House, most of the nation’s gubernatorial offices, most of the nation’s state legislative chambers and the U.S. Supreme Court — but the president wants Democrats, who have minimal power and even less influence in the nation’s capital, to fix the health care problem that Trump and his GOP allies have helped create,” Benen said. He added that Democrats are actually working to “do something” about the issue by refusing to sign onto a budget that blows up subsidized health insurance costs for millions of Americans. “Democrats continue to show up for work on Capitol Hill, pleading with GOP officials to negotiate a bipartisan solution,” Benen said. “So it’s now up to Trump and his party to ‘do something.’” Read the MSNBC report at this link.

Attorneys with the ACLU of Illinois and the MacArthur Justice Center say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have denied people being held at the Broadview facility private calls with atto...

Text SIGN PGHEBQ to 50409 — I am appalled. It is outrageous that the Trump administration can come up with $40 billion to bail out Argentina and refuses to spend the money that Congress has appropriated to feed hungry families in America. Do I need to remind you that refusing to spend funds appropriated by Congress is illegal? Do I need to remind you that impoundment is an impeachable offense? You are surely aware of the impoundment act of 1974? I therefore ask you to impeach the president now; and to reclaim the powers assigned to to Congress by the constitution-- the power of the purse, power over tariffs, war powers and all others that Congress has wrongfully ceded to executive. It is a moral abomination that people will go hungry here because Trump refuses to use appropriated funds for SNAP even while building a ball room and pouring money into Argentina. Stop tolerating such abuse. May the tears and discomfort of every hungry child haunt your conscience. Do your job.

Former federal employees are finding creative ways to cope with job loss and uncertainty — from starting businesses to hiking hundreds of miles across Colorado.