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The Voter’s Speakeasy featuring unbiased reporting and insight into life at Vote Smart from our staff, interns, and volunteers.

Did the Senate vote to repeal Obamacare?

2017 July 27 - Alejandro Murguia-Ortiz

In my last post, I joked that voters don’t like to read. Well, the same can be said about some members of Congress and the Senate. Simply searching through our records of public statements, you’ll find calls to vote just days after a bill is finalized. This practice is so common that one senator has even re-introduced a “Read the Bills” resolution—most recently in response to the health care debate.

With such a rushed process, it’s inevitable that voters may feel out of touch with what is going on in the capitol. Lucky for you, and frankly for me, we have researchers who read and summarize bills so that you and I don’t have to.


Exhibit A: the national healthcare debate has caused major confusion. For the past few weeks, headline after headline announced the Senate healthcare bill was dead—only to be followed by another headline stating otherwise.


On July 25, your social media feed was likely filled with victory cries from those seeking to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with the still-evolving Senate version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Opponents also took to social media with messages of defeat. However, the debate is anything but finished.


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So what’s actually going on with the Senate healthcare bill? Is the Affordable Care Act repealed? And, what is the Senate voting on?


Well, it’s tricky, so bear with me—I’m not even sure if ...

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Trump Announces US-Cuba Relations Changing Once Again

2017 June 19 - Alejandro Ortiz

 “Good afternoon. Today, the United States of America is changing its relationship with the people of Cuba.” These were the opening lines of Barack Obama’s announcement of his plans to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba back in December of 2014. Those words could have also opened President Trump’s speech on Friday where he announced plans to roll back some of the changes set forth by the Obama administration.  
 

“We will not lift sanctions on the Cuban regime,” President Trump proclaimed, ”until all political prisoners are freed, freedoms of assembly and expression are respected, all political parties are legalized, and free and internationally supervised elections are scheduled. Elections.”

 

These plans come just weeks after the bipartisan coalition consisting of US Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced legislation that would lift the Cuban trade embargo.

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