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PBC News & Comment: Senate GOP Health Bill is Really, Really Mean

Employer-provided healthcare is optional under GOP plan, putting the vast majority of Americans at the mercy of “free market”….–the “reverse Robin Hood” plan steals from the poor to enable tax cuts for the rich

–elimination of employer mandate exponentially expands the ranks of people with negative impact from this “reform”

–abortion opponents may reject the bill, as Senate rules limit inclusion of non-budget issues

–Trump says this draft “needs negotiation”

–Trump ends the guessing game he started, says he did not tape Comey chats

–45 rallies his fans in Iowa, rambles about solar panels on border wall, and a new welfare ban for immigrants, which is already the law

–leaks from Special Counsel and Senate Intel report that Trump made DNI leader Coats and NSA boss Rogers “uncomfortable” by asking them to deny “collusion”

–unverified claims of attempted Russian hacking of election sites draw headlines, while ignoring likely American suspects with means, motive and history

–national leader of secretaries of state group complains that feds have not shared any useful info about alleged hacking attempts, or how to prevent future tries

The Intercept, ignoring its bungling of leak from Reality Winner, exaggerates the info she leaked, and notes that Sen. Warner wants her prosecuted

–FOIA yields another gem for Jason Leopold, report from inspector general about DNI employee who broke lots of rules, snooped on Ed Snowden’s files 357 times

NY Times reports that IDT was hit by two different spyware attacks by software stolen from NSA by Shadow Brokers, much worse than WannaCry ransomware

Bradblog summarizes Georgia special election: 100% unverifiable

–in defensive response to calls for her to step down, Nancy Pelosi says “I’m worth the trouble, frankly

–Uber staffers are circulating petition to bring back bad boy Travis Kalanick

–in our new in-depth interview, Steve Early talks about his book, Refinery Town, which details the progressive renaissance in Chevron-dominated Richmond, CA

–next door in Berkeley, a council meeting about militarized police training brought aggressive police response to protesters

–Oakland’s rogue police department is slammed by court-ordered investigation of coverup in case of teenage prostitute who serviced many Oakland cops