The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.
Brad is first joined by Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an Immigration Attorney and Advocate. The pair discusses Trump's new efforts to block immigration from 19 countries he deemed 'high risk.'
Kate also explains the details of the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to take up one of President Trump's most contentious policies by reviewing the American legal principle of "birthright citizenship," potentially upending a 127-year-old understanding of who gets to be a U.S. citizen.
Kate and Brad also discussed how alarmingly frequent it has been for ICE to arrest and detain U.S. citizens for hours to even days, with some of them being assaulted in the process.
Then, Center for American Progress's Natasha Murphy talks with Brad about healthcare, including premiums that are set to skyrocket at the end of the month if Republicans refuse to extend ACA tax credits.
Natasha also breaks down why the Health Savings Account options, which many congressional Republicans are pushing as a replacement for ACA tax credits, do nothing to help pay for skyrocketing health insurance premiums themselves.
Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch is also the Owner and CEO of Lincoln-Goldfinch Law. Their website is www.LincolnGoldfinch.com. Kate's handle is @AttorneyKLG on X, @attorneykatelg on Instagram, and @abogadakate on TikTok.
Additionally, she's currently running for State Representative for Texas House district 50 as a Democrat.
Natasha Murphy is the director of Health Policy at American Progress, where she develops and advances policy proposals to lower health care costs and improve health care coverage, affordability, and quality.
Brad is on the National Journal's panel of political insiders, is an American political analyst for The Times of India TV, and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles. Brad also writes a political column every Sunday for 'The Hill.'
You can read his columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon.
His handle on BlueSky is @bradbannon.bsky.social.
Brad is first joined by Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an Immigration Attorney and Advocate. The pair discusses Trump's new efforts to block immigration from 19 countries he deemed 'high risk.'
Kate also explains the details of the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to take up one of President Trump's most contentious policies by reviewing the American legal principle of "birthright citizenship," potentially upending a 127-year-old understanding of who gets to be a U.S. citizen.
Kate and Brad also discussed how alarmingly frequent it has been for ICE to arrest and detain U.S. citizens for hours to even days, with some of them being assaulted in the process.
Then, Center for American Progress's Natasha Murphy talks with Brad about healthcare, including premiums that are set to skyrocket at the end of the month if Republicans refuse to extend ACA tax credits.
Natasha also breaks down why the Health Savings Account options, which many congressional Republicans are pushing as a replacement for ACA tax credits, do nothing to help pay for skyrocketing health insurance premiums themselves.
Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch is also the Owner and CEO of Lincoln-Goldfinch Law. Their website is www.LincolnGoldfinch.com. Kate's handle is @AttorneyKLG on X, @attorneykatelg on Instagram, and @abogadakate on TikTok.
Additionally, she's currently running for State Representative for Texas House district 50 as a Democrat.
Natasha Murphy is the director of Health Policy at American Progress, where she develops and advances policy proposals to lower health care costs and improve health care coverage, affordability, and quality.
Brad is on the National Journal's panel of political insiders, is an American political analyst for The Times of India TV, and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles. Brad also writes a political column every Sunday for 'The Hill.'
You can read his columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon.
His handle on BlueSky is @bradbannon.bsky.social.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Leslie Marshall Show, a true democracy in talk radio
of for and by you, the people.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Live from our nation's capital, It's Deadline d C with
Brad Bannon.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Welcome to Deadline d C with Brad Bannon. It's really
cold outside, but here on Deadline d C. Every week
we fix, try to fix anyway the problems caused by
Donald Trump and the right wing extreamers to call him Daddy.
(01:02):
I'm Brad Bannon, the host of Deadline DC. I'm a
national Democratic and progressive strategist, a analyst and American politics
for the Network at Times of India International Television Network,
and a columnist for The Hill in Washington, DC. To
(01:26):
get my take on Donald Trump's imperial presidency, you can
read my columns in The Hill at muckrap dot com,
front Slash Brad Bannon Monday's on Deadline DC, I talk
to the people and players behind the politics and policies
that drive our great nation forward or at least keep
(01:50):
it from going backwards. During Trump two point zero today,
We've got a great show for you with great guests
in the first half hour. In the hour, we're going
to talk about the hot button issues that will define
the midterm elections next year. In the first half hour,
(02:10):
our guest is activist and attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch, who's
going to talk about the big immigration issues. And then
in the second half hour, our guest will be Natasha Murphy,
who is healthcare director policy at the Center for American Progress.
(02:34):
Before we bring on our first guest, we're going to
play this clip which is really pretty horrible. Don't let
your kids listen to it. It's Donald Trump talking about
Somalian refuge refugees. Here.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
They ripped off some Adians, ripped off that state for
billions of dollars billions every year, billions of dollars. And
they contribute nothing. The welfare is like eighty eight percent.
They contribute nothing. I don't want them in our country.
(03:12):
I'll be honest with you. Okay, So we would say, oh,
that's not politically correct. I don't care. I don't want
them in our country. Their country is no good for
a reason. Their country stakes, and we don't want them
in our country. I could say that about other countries too.
I can say that about other countries too. We don't
want them to help. We got to we have to
rebuild our country. You know, our country is at a
(03:34):
tipping point. We could go bad. We're at a tipping point.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
People mind me saying that, but I'm saying that we
could go one way or the other, and we're gonna
go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage
into our country. Elan Omar is garbage. She's garbage. Her
friends are garbage. These are people that work. These are
people that say, let's go, come on, let's make this
place great. These are people that do nothing but complain.
(04:02):
They complain and from where they came from they got nothing.
You know, they came from paradise and they said, this
isn't paradise. But when they come from hell and they
complain and do nothing, but bitch, we don't want them
in our country. Let them go back to where they
(04:22):
came from and fix it.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
That, of course, was Donald Trump off on one of
his anti immigrant rants. Our guest in this half hour
is Kate Lincoln gold Goldfinch, who is an attorney and
immigration activist. Welcome back to Deadline, DC, Kate. I'm glad
you could make it today.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Hi, Brad, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Let me ask you since you're an attorney, isn't there
a textbook legal definition of racism and does Trump's rant
fit that definition?
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Oh, that's a great question.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
I think that there is absolutely racism at play in
Trump's policies.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
And you don't have to look any further than his.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
Refugee policy, where he canceled refugee processing globally except for
white South Africans and created a welcome wagon for them.
And you know, I mean, that's one example of of course,
many many examples, and I think it's really rich coming
(05:35):
from a guy like Trump when he's talking about somebody
ripping off the state of Minnesota to the tune of billions.
When you look at Trump's kleptocracy and his policies of
personal enrichment to the cost of the voters in the
American public, and when you dive in and you look
at the people who invest and buy into Trump's.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Property globally and his bitcoin.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
Schemes and give him four hundred million dollar airplanes, and
the fact that this man has literally personally enriched himself
to the tune of billions of dollars trading favors for
America and horse trading on our backs. And then he
turns around and accuses hard working refugees in the state
(06:28):
of Minnesota of doing the very thing that he and
his family members do. And I'm not saying that there
aren't a couple of or a few. Who knows how
many bad Somali actors in Minnesota. I think there were
fraud schemes. But I've been doing immigration law for twenty years.
I've represented many clients from Somalia. I've done a lot
(06:49):
of asylum cases from Somalia. I've studied the country and
I know it's people, and I know that the people
who make it out of a situation like that and
they come to this country as refugees, they are so grateful,
They love this country, they work so hard. In many ways,
they're more American than most people who are born here.
(07:11):
And it's an absolute garbage statement from a garbage president
to claim that people from a nation, everybody from an
entire nation, is a garbage person. I mean, I just
it's nauseating. It's nauseating, and it is so ironic that
(07:32):
the most corrupt thief that we have ever had in
the White House is accusing refugees of the.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Very thing that he himself does.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It's intolerable, really what's it like for the immigrants you
work with as we approach the holiday season. I even
read somewhere there immigrants you're afraid to go to church
for Christmas service because they're afraid ice wood beast might
be staking out the premises. What kind of fear exists
(08:08):
among immigrants?
Speaker 5 (08:10):
Oh, their lives are completely upended. Just last night, I
was talking to someone I know who was going over
to her aunt's house because her aunt and their entire
family were self deporting. They just can't take it anymore,
and so their family was having a goodbye dinner, the
whole big, extended family. And I have clients daily who
(08:33):
report to me that they don't seek medical care, they
don't go to church, some kids don't go to school.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
These communities are living in.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Fear and hiding, and they're not overreacting. You know, these
are reasonable responses to what is an outright attack.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
On a community. And it's it's horrific.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
It's horrific, and it is you know, from a humanitarian
perspective for those of us who care about these families,
this community and the stories and the children who are suffering,
it's painful. And I also spend a lot of time
talking to people, probably not a lot of your listeners,
but people who you know consider themselves moderate or even
(09:20):
conservative and aren't as moved by the humanitarian aspect.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
But all those folks really.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
Ought to start paying attention from an economic perspective, because
this is also damaging our entire country and our ability
to have a labor force and to innovate and have
a strong nation, and all of that is being dismantled
by Stephen Miller and Donald Trump right before our very eyes.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Great, what kind of legal advice as an attorney do
you give immigrants who are facing deportation or family immigrants
who are family me me verus facing deportation.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
So really strong piece of advice and non negotiable is
every in a documented person needs to consult with an
immigration lawyer to find out whether you can get legal
status and what you can do about it. You need
to have a safety plan where you have collected all
your important documents, and especially if you have kids here,
(10:24):
you need to have a plan for the kids about
who is authorized to pick them up, that that person
has the proper documentation they're always going to have their
phone on them, and that you have done the groundwork
as a parent to make sure that those kids aren't
going to go into state custody if you get picked up,
because I've seen that.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
D I'm going to have to interrupt you because we
have to take a quick break to give our radio
listeners a vacation, but we will be continuous interview with
our online TV viewers. We'll be right back right after
this quick break. Welcome back to Deadline DC with Brad Bay.
(11:00):
My guest in this half hour is immigration activists and
attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch. Let's I want to ask you this, Kate.
This US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case
challenging birthright citizenship. Could you explain to our viewers what
(11:23):
birth rate citizenship is and why the Trump administration is
challenging its constitutionality.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Sure, the birthright citizenship is part of the fourteenth Amendment
of the US Constitution, which states that any person born
on US soil and subject to the jurisdiction thereof as
a US citizen. And this four centuries has meant precisely
that people born in the United States are automatically US citizens.
(11:52):
The Supreme Court was asked to review and define this
in the late eighteen hundreds in a case called Wong
Kim arc. The Supreme Court held the very same thing
anyone born in the United States as a United States citizen,
and it has been established constitutional law ever since. And
on the first day of Trump's second administration, he attempted
(12:13):
to revoke birthright citizenship through executive order, where he's just
signed a memo saying that moving forward, anyone who's born
in the United States to an undocumented parent will no
longer be granted you as citizenship. There were immediate lawsuits.
Federal courts immediately blocked issued nationwide injunctions against the policy
because it is so clearly unconstitutional and illegal. The DOJ
(12:38):
appealed those cases up to the Supreme Court earlier this year,
which did not rule on the question of the legality
of birthright citizenship, but what they ruled on was whether
lower federal courts can issue nationwide injunctions, and the Supreme
Court held that they cannot do that and instead would
need to certify a class. So that was the early
(12:58):
holding of the Supreme Court, and I think most constitutional
scholars in the legal community thought that that was really
kind of the end of that because it's so crystal
clear that birthright citizenship is in the Constitution. But in
what was kind of a surprise this week, the Supreme Court,
and setting their calendar and granting sert for next year,
(13:18):
decided to grant sert to the case on birthright citizenship itself,
in which the Court will actually decide on the legality
of the executive order revoking birthright citizenship. And I think that,
of course, it means that it's up in the air,
and it is a question. On the other hand, I'm
(13:40):
trying not to panic because I believe that based on
the oral arguments of the nationwide injunction case, it does
appear that even the conservative justices on the Court seem
pretty clear that the president can't revoke birthright citizenship through
executive order. But we won't know really how the Court's
going to decide until the middle of next year.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Let me ask you quick quick, and unfortunately just have
a few seconds before we got to take another quick break.
Why is what? How is what is the Trump And
you know, the Constitution is pretty clear about birthright citizenship,
So what's the basis of the Trump challenge?
Speaker 5 (14:21):
So I think that their argument is going to be
about those words subject to the jurisdiction thereof. I think
they're going to argue that undocumented children, parents and children
of undocumented parents are not subject to the jurisdiction of
the United States, in which case the counter argument is, well,
then why are you detaining them and deporting.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I have to interrupt you again, Kate. We're going to
take a quick break to bring back our radio listeners.
Welcome back to Deadline DC, Brad Bannon. I'm Brad Bannon.
Of course, somebody has to do it, and our guest
in this half hour is immigration activist attorney Pate Lincoln Goldfinch. Tate,
(15:06):
I wanted to ask you another question about immigration before
we talk about Texas politics. Are there American citizens who
were being deported by ice.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
There have been a couple of mistaken deportations of US citizens.
That's not happening on a large scale. What is happening
on way too large of a scale are detentions, temporary
detentions of US citizens. So Pro Publica came out with
an investigation about two months ago where since January they
were able to uncover over a one hundred and seventy
(15:40):
instances of US citizens who had been detained by immigration authorities,
and most of them had reported detention for hours or days, beating,
you know, very difficult circumstances, inability to contact lawyers, et cetera.
And the majority of them were held on suspicion of
not having legal status. And every single one of those
(16:02):
people was Latino. So very clear racial profiling being demonstrated
in ICE and CBP enforcement actions, even against you as citizens.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Okay, is let's turn to Texas politics. First of all, Oh,
I want before I do that, I want to welcome
back our radio listeners. If you want to watch us
as well as listen to us, there are all sorts
of ways you can watch Deadline DC with Bradbannon. You
(16:34):
can watch us at YouTube dot com front Slash at
Deadline DC, on Twitter at Twitter dot com front Slash
Brad Bannon, and at Facebook dot com front Slash, Deadline
(16:55):
d C with Brad Bannon front Slash videos. Kay, you
are running for the state legislature. Will you can you
tell our viewers and listeners why you're running?
Speaker 4 (17:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
Temporary insanity, Brad.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Okay, that's a very good explanation.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
I'm from Austin, Texas, born and raised. I've been an
immigration lawyer here for twenty years. I live in northeast Austin,
which is currently represented by James Tallerico, who is running
for US Senate and his seat is being vacated.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
And I've been very.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
Active politically, especially within immigration issues. I've testified at the
Capitol and watched the way things happen, and I've been very,
very frustrated as a Texan with the way that the
legislature and the governor and the Lieutenant governor and the
Attorney General spend our money and treat regular Texans. And
(17:55):
when I realized that tall Rico's seat was opening up,
I thought, well, if there were ever a time to
throw my hat in the ring, it's now.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
And so I'm a.
Speaker 5 (18:03):
First time candidate for public office and I'm learning and
growing and stretching every day.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Well, good luck, good luck on your race. Let me
ask you a more general question about Texas politics. Texas
has been read at the statelide level that seems forever.
Every once in a while someone runs for the Senate
or for governor, and people in Washington get excited. This
(18:34):
might be finally at the time that Democrats breakthrough. Let
me ask you, first of all, why has Texas been
read so long?
Speaker 5 (18:45):
I think that's a very good question and worthy of
actual research and exploration. But my quick answer to that
is that there's a lot of rural area in Texas.
There's a lot of ranchers and business owners and a
general you know that, don't tread on me. There's a
(19:05):
sense of a desire for limited government and regulation. At
the same time, there's a strong evangelical Christian base within
the state. And finally, I think a big part of
it is gerrymandering, the way that the districts are drawn,
and interference of billionaires and conservative Christian nationalist types who
(19:34):
just infuse millions and millions of dollars into candidacies and
campaigns and movements in a way that it's really really
difficult for the Democratic Party to stand up.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Again, it's not impossible, but.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
I think that there's you know, there's a course, as
with anything complicated, there's a lot of factors at play,
but I think those are the baseline issues that have
led to sort of this Republican str.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
On hold in the state for so many decades.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Now, okay, well, let me out the next question is
is that going Is that red disc going to turned
purple or even blue anytime soon. There's always again talking Washington. Well,
you've got growing Latino population, and sooner or later it's
going to tip Democrat. Uh, what what are your expectations
(20:27):
are we? You know, we've got you've got very good
Democratic candidates running for the Senate and governor. Uh is
this the year it finally turns around and you have
a you know, for instance, a Democratic governor to work
with after you were elected to the legislature.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
I mean, they would be so exciting. We do have
some really exciting candidates. I mean, James Tallerico himself running
for Senate is really exciting. Of course, flipping a state
is not about one candidate.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
It's about a movement.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
It's about the Democratic Party. We have a great new
party chair of the Democratic Party, and they're doing a
lot of get out the vote.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
You know.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
One of the things that they realize is that one
in three households in our state is speak Spanish at home,
and the party really needs to communicate in the languages
the language of the voters. And so these are some
changes that the Democratic Party can make. But as I
mentioned before, it's a really hard thing to fight against
(21:26):
billionaires and unscrupulous Republicans who will do things like mid
decade redistrict and gerrymander in ways that that steal seats
in elections. And so it's very dirty, I mean Republican
politics in Texas and many other places, but very very dirty.
(21:46):
And so I mean, you know, on the plus side,
Democrats have to learn how to get real scrappy and
are you know, getting creative and that's pushing out some
really interesting and times.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
As a Democrat, I'm pretty scrappy. Yeah, it seems that way.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Yeah, So I.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
Mean we'll see, maybe this is the year and wouldn't
that be great? And it'll be up to the voters
to decide.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
One quick question, what impact will congressional redistricting have in Texas?
Republicans are hoping to pick up four or five seats
and flip them from red to blue, which you know
is a real problem for Democrats nationally. What's your take
(22:33):
on that.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Yeah, that's been you know, a recent blow because they
redistricted in Texas and we had, you know, a bunch
of Democrats go to Chicago and break quorum and then
the new maps passed anyway, and then there was a
lawsuit out in El Paso and a three judge panel
blocked the new maps, including a Trump appointee, and unfortunately,
(22:59):
the court, in a really disappointing decision, decide to reverse
that decision.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And I'm going to have to sadly interrupt you because
we're out of time, but I hope you can come
back to Deadline DC. I enjoy talking to you. We'll
be back with more of Deadline DC and our guest
Natasha Murphy from the Center for American Progress to discuss
healthcare right after this very quick break, come back to
(23:33):
Deadline DC with Brad Bannon. I'm Brad Bannon. My guest
in this half hour is Natasha Murphy, who is director
of health Policy at the Center for American Progress. Before
we get to Natasha, we're going to play this clip
where we have Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick talking about the
(23:59):
chief attitude towards healthcare insurance.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
Well, I say that if you don't have a better plan,
then get on board with ours. But doing nothing is
not an option, right. I mean, I've heard so many
people on the Republican conference rail on the Affordable Care Act,
rail on Obamacare, rail on the premium tax credits. And
if you want to criticize something, that's okay, as long
as you have a better alternative. They have never offered
a better alternative. We went down this healthcare path my
(24:30):
freshman term. I voted against the repeal DACA. I thought
the replacement was insufficient. It was hastily put together, not
well thought out. And here we are, you know what,
eight years later, and they still have not been able
to put together an articulable plan that's going to work
for everyday American. So, you know, is a premium tax
credit structure perfect?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
No, it's not.
Speaker 6 (24:51):
I don't like the fact that there's no income caps.
I don't like the fact that the money all goes
to the insurance company and rather than having some go
to the individual. But right now, with a cliff upon
us at the end of the year, I think we
have to extend it out a minimum of two years
with guardrails, with income caps.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
That was Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick criticizing his own party,
the GOP, for failing to come up with an alternative
to the health insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act.
Our guest in this half hour is Natasha Murphy, director
(25:29):
of health policy at the Center for American Progress. Welcome
to Deadline DC. Natasha. We're glad you could be with
us today.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Brad, thank you so much for having me. Always always
a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
First of all, will you explain to our audience. You know,
this is a complicated area, which is why we have
you on today. What is the Affordable Care Act? What
does it do?
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yes?
Speaker 7 (25:54):
So happy to help level set for the listening and
viewing audience so as many are like aware. The Affordable
Care Act was a landmark piece of legislation that was
passed in twenty ten that really changed the American insurance landscape.
And so one of the most notable things about the
ACA was that it created these health insurance marketplaces where
(26:17):
individuals who don't get insurance through their employer and who
previously kind of really were on their own trying to
find coverage and oftentimes struggled because either their premiums were
so unaffordable or they had a pre existing condition that
you allowed insurers to deny them coverage. But post ACA,
you had these marketplaces that were created, and so every
(26:39):
year during the open enrollment period, individuals who buy coverage
on their own will log onto healthcare dot Gov or
their state based marketplace to shop and compare plans for
the upcoming year. And so currently we are in the
midst of that shopping cycle. It kicked off on November first,
and we have a few more weeks to go. But
one of the things that is kind of right now
(27:01):
at the center of the health policy conversation, and honestly,
more broadly the federal policy conversation, is a battle around
the extension or lack thereof, of these enhanced Premium tax credits.
And these were tax credits that were introduced about four
years ago and they helped make premiums more affordable for
(27:24):
a broader swath of Americans who buy their coverage through
the ACA, and so it helped to you know, significantly
lower costs. And because of that, we saw a record
number of people enroll on the marketplaces really for the
past four years, and they are slated to expire at
the end of December, and as you can imagine, that
(27:44):
is honestly going to be a catastrophe. We are going
to see folks have their premium costs more than double
in some instances, and in this broader affordability crisis. There's
huge concern that without some type of federal or congressional action,
we are going to see millions of Americans lose cuverage
in twenty twenty six and beyond.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Let me ask you this question, Natasha, probably do you
know roughly how many bankruptcies in the United States are
caused by people who can't you know, essentially, you know,
sell their houses more dope, the double mortgages on their
house to pay for their health care expenses. You're always
(28:26):
hearing about healthcare bankruptcies. How prevalent is that?
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yeah, great question, Brad.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
So I don't have the exact number at my fingertips,
but I do know that medical debt and health care
costs are actually the leading cause of bankruptcy in the
US and has been for quite some time. Unlike you know,
so many other services, for the most part, healthcare is
not particularly shoppable. When you need to see your doctor
or in an emergency, you're not taking the time to
(28:55):
you know, check to see, well what's the cost of
an MRI at hospital A versus hospital B. Those services
you need them right then and there, and so therefore,
you know, a patients tend to be at the mercy
of you know, their doctor or a health system, or
in this case, sometimes the insurance company. That the price
that's set is honestly the price that we end up paying.
(29:15):
And as a result of that, you know, so many
of those prices are unaffordable due to a variety of.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Different reasons, ranging from you know, the lack of competition in.
Speaker 7 (29:25):
The healthcare space all the way down to prescription drug costs.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
But overall, you know, healthcare and the.
Speaker 7 (29:31):
Lack of affordability is a primary concern for Americans across
the country.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Let me ask you this blunt question, Natasha, ye are
there people in the United States who die because they
can't afford afford they can't afford healthcare?
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Yes, it is such an unfortunate reality, Brad. Honestly, so
many millions of Americans lack insurance coverage as a whole.
And the reality is just because they don't have insurance
doesn't mean that they don't have health care needs. And
oftentimes they know that they're not going to be able
to afford to see a doctor, and so they will
(30:09):
wait until you know, the condition worsens or you know,
they find themselves in an er and oftentimes, you know,
that delayed care. That care that's been put off leads
to you know, really worse outcomes, and you know, in
the worst instances, it does lead to unnecessary and avoidable depths.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Okay, the uh, let's let's take Canada. Canada has a
national health care insurance program. Yes, is you know, does
that national health care system they have prevent some of
(30:50):
the horrible things that happen in the United States because
people can't afford to buy it. On you know, other hand,
you know, people criticize, we can't you know, put healthcare
and completely in the hands of the government. Could you
speak to that please?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yeah, absolutely so, yes.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
You know, with the United States kind of being the
only developed nation that does not have, you know, a
national health service, oftentimes, you know, folks will compare our
fragmented system to places like Canada or you know, the
litany of countries in Europe that have you know, these
more centralized universal coverage models, and there's certainly trade offs.
(31:31):
So one of the biggest benefits of you know, a
centralized or nationalized health service is the fact that people
do not have to worry about having health insurance coverage.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
When they go to see their provider.
Speaker 7 (31:41):
They are not concerned about you know, receiving a bill
on the back end or having to pay you know,
a co insurance amount or a copay, and so it
really having that coverage helps to improve access. Now, there
are certainly challenges that exist in a nationalized health service.
You know, there's concerns around kind of provider compensation, as
well as things like wait times, particularly for services that
(32:06):
might be viewed as elective or not as urgent. But overall,
I would certainly take a system where everyone knows that
they have health insurance so that they have access to
a doctor when they need one, as opposed to you know,
some of the current challenges of our system where we
have folks who lack insurance altogether, or you know, people
(32:26):
who have insurance technically but they can't use it because
of the fact that it is so unaffordable.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Okay, let's you know what is for the sake of argument,
do you happen to know you know, we're talking everything.
Crisis for everything are going off these days, which is
a major problem for the President. Even if he doesn't
recognize it, maybe I shouldn't tell him now I want
(32:53):
them to do something about it. How bad is healthcare inflation?
Speaker 7 (32:59):
Yes, health care costs as a whole have been steadily rising,
and like you mentioned, similar to the costs of really
every other good in service. We are seeing significant increases
and health care costs and insurance costs as well in
twenty twenty six and beyond. And so some of this
is driven by things like tariffs, it's driven by things
(33:20):
like utilization, and some of it is just the overall
inefficiencies in the US healthcare system.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Okay, we're going to have to take a brief break
here to bring to let our radio listeners have a
little vacation, but we're going to continue this interview for
our online viewers, and again, if you're listening, I encourage
you to watch us online. But anyway, our guest in
(33:51):
this half hour is Natasha Murphy, whose health policy director
at the Center for American Progress. We're gonna come back,
and we come back we'll talk about the proposals that
before Congress to solve this problem. We'll be right back
right after this break with more talk about healthcare policy,
(34:16):
cost inflation, and the prospects for remedying the problem. Welcome
back to our radio listeners. We missed you, and we're
glad you're back guests in this half hour of Deadline
(34:38):
DC with Brad Bannon is Natasha Murphy, who is health
policy director at the Center for American Progress. Natasha, let
me ask you this. The President has been promising to
unveil his own healthcare insurance program ever since he announced
(35:00):
he was running for president the first time in twenty sixteen.
Has he ever got around to it.
Speaker 7 (35:07):
No, Honestly, we have not seen a tangible proposal from
the White House to address healthcare, whether it's in the
ACA or even more broadly, and that's been a huge disappointment.
Like you mentioned, clearly, it's was supposed to be a
priority on the campaign, but you know, now that the
president's in office, healthcare just does not seem like it's
(35:28):
at the top of his agenda.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Steer a Republican proposal in Congress now as for an
alternative to Affordable Care Plan Care Act, And if so,
what is it?
Speaker 7 (35:43):
Yeah, So, just today there has been a florry of activity,
particularly coming from Senate Republicans who are each trying to,
you know, share their policy proposals as an alternative for
what the marketplaces will look like in twenty twenty six
All of these proposals that I've seen. They actually allow
the enhanced tax credits to expire, so you're, you know,
(36:06):
we're looking at those premium increases that we talked about before.
But also what Republicans are proposing are health savings accounts. Basically,
they would take the money that's being used right now
for the tax credits and funnel them into HSA deposits.
And honestly, these are policy proposals that we've seen and
heard before during the last round of you know, kind
(36:27):
of the attempt to repeal and replace the ACA. And
the reality is hsas are not beneficial for everyone. You know,
they disproportionately benefit higher income households who have the funds
to actually you know, make deposits into these savings accounts.
But beyond that, hsas do nothing to address monthly premium costs,
and that's what the tax credits are designed to do.
(36:48):
And so the solution that I've seen floating around today
actually does not solve the problem, which is, you know,
millions of Americans facing these significantly higher premiums beginning in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Sive okay, uh, let me ask you this this question
about uh the current state of Congress. Uh is uh
is there enough support in either House? And I think
I know the answer to this is there either support
in either house, the House or the Senate UH to
(37:22):
continue the UH subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, or
have the Republicans control of the House and the Senate
made that impossible.
Speaker 7 (37:34):
Yes, at this point, you know, we are expecting actually
a vote on Thursday on this very topic. And despite
the Republican proposals that came out today, and then I know,
the Democrats last week released some legislation calling for a
three year extension of the tax credits.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
The numbers just don't seem like they're there on either side.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
You know, there's I don't I doubt that there will
be enough votes any type of bipartisan activity to pass
the Demo credit proposal. And then you know, given the
quote that we even heard earlier from Rep. Fitzpatrick, I
don't think that there's going to be enough Republicans to
support the proposal that was released earlier today.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Is we heard a clip at the beginning of the
interview with Congressman Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania who seemed to be
arguing to extend the ACA credits tax credits. Other Republicans
who feel that way.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
There are, yes, there's a handful of folks.
Speaker 7 (38:36):
Again, I've seen some quotes from individuals, you know, in
New Hampshire as well as some folks in Florida recognizing
that it is going to be their constituents who ultimately
are going to be harmed and bear the brunt of
a lot.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Of these premium increases.
Speaker 7 (38:50):
And so there is a lot of discord, particularly on
the Republican side, on whether the tax credit should be extended.
If so, how I heard Rep It's Patrick talking about Guardrail.
So there's just a lot of confusion and a lack
of clarity about where we go from here.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Okay, Now, in the Senate, because of the Senate's arcane rules,
you essentially need sixty votes to pass something. Is there
any hope that you can wrangle sixty senators and the
voting for ACA continuation and expansion for two or three years.
Speaker 7 (39:30):
Honestly, I am not particularly confident about, you know, kind
of reaching reaching that sixty number. The gridlock here in
Washington has been terrible, and honestly, it feels like it's
only getting worse. And again, it is going to be
the American public that pays the price for the lack
of congressional action.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
Has Donald Trump made any indication if he favors what
he favors as an alternative? I know the Republicans have
a plan sort of. Has Donald Trump's said what he wants?
Speaker 7 (40:01):
Brad, This is a rare occasion where the President has
been largely m I a right before Thanksgiving, there was
chatter and talk that, you know, he was going to
release a proposal coming from the White House, and I
think that that would have included actually a one year
extension giving folks time to you know, identify the ideal
policy solution. But that was walked back almost immediately because
(40:24):
it seems like, you know, the House Republicans were not
a fan of it. And so the lack of leadership
coming from the White House I think also explains why
there is such a lack of traction on this issue.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I'm a democratic political strategist, so I will give you
my take on what the impact might be if Congress
fails to act. I spend too much time reading and
analyzing national polling data, and what I see in the
(40:59):
national polling data is inflation is by far the most
important issue to voters. As we go into the twenty
twenty six in the mid term elections about a year
from now. I also see that after inflate general concerns
(41:22):
about inflation, healthcare costs are also a big deal. And
the final piece of the puzzle is right now, Donald
Trump's job approval rating for dealing with inflation is about
forty points underwater. That's four oh. And I put the
(41:46):
pieces together in my own humble way, and I see
a political disaster developing for the GOP if they don't
do something to solve this problem. Do you agree with
that sentiment or or are my way off? It wouldn't
be the first time.
Speaker 7 (42:03):
I definitely agree with that sentiment, Brad, Honestly, with healthcare
being a primary issue for Americans and for voters as
we stare down the midterms, folks are not going to
forget who you know, which party it was that caused
their health insurance premiums to skyrocket.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
Okay, let's let's try this. You know, and I don't
you know. I guess you don't know what's gonna finally
play out in Congress. We have our hopes, and I
certainly know expert on how Congress works or doesn't work.
Let me ask you this, and this is probably a
(42:45):
question for the future. But let's say let's be optimistic
here and say Congress passes an extension of the Affordable
Care Act and the President actually signs it. Americans, even
with the Affordable Care Act, Americans having problems paying the
(43:09):
healthcare bills. So the question is, even if the Affordable
Care Act gets renewed and extended, what's the next step,
because we will still have lots of problems. I think
I'm no healthcare expert. You are, What do you think
and what is the next step?
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Yeah, great question, Brad.
Speaker 7 (43:31):
Yes, even you know, if we get best case scenario,
we get an extension of the tax credits, we preserve
folks premium affordability.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
You're right, the system has so many problems, and there are.
Speaker 7 (43:41):
Quite a few other other areas that will require legislative intervention.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I do think that one of the next.
Speaker 7 (43:48):
Biggest areas for you know, concerted policy attention will be
addressing the rising costs of prescription drugs.
Speaker 2 (43:56):
You know, so many.
Speaker 7 (43:57):
Americans are unable to afford their you know, regular prescriptions,
and that has a huge impact on their overall health
and quality of life. So I think that's going to
be the next next problem that we tackle.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Okay, Natasha, Unfortunately that's all the time we have. I
thought that you're very informative and interesting, which means you're
probably going to have to drag you back to the show,
and if you've already, maybe you don't want to after
this half hour, but we'd like to have you back.
(44:30):
You've been speaking for our executive producer, Markomaldy, who I
want to thank for keeping this mess together every week.
I also want to thank both our guests Natasha Murphy,
healthcare and health policy director at the Center for American Progress,
and also our first guest, immigration activists and attorney hey
(44:55):
Lincoln Goldfinch. Holidays greetings. Missed the very best holiday greetings
from Deadline DC uh miss the best and aggressive progressive
online must e TV at your own peril.
The Leslie Marshall Show, a true democracy in talk radio
of for and by you, the people.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Live from our nation's capital, It's Deadline d C with
Brad Bannon.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Welcome to Deadline d C with Brad Bannon. It's really
cold outside, but here on Deadline d C. Every week
we fix, try to fix anyway the problems caused by
Donald Trump and the right wing extreamers to call him Daddy.
(01:02):
I'm Brad Bannon, the host of Deadline DC. I'm a
national Democratic and progressive strategist, a analyst and American politics
for the Network at Times of India International Television Network,
and a columnist for The Hill in Washington, DC. To
(01:26):
get my take on Donald Trump's imperial presidency, you can
read my columns in The Hill at muckrap dot com,
front Slash Brad Bannon Monday's on Deadline DC, I talk
to the people and players behind the politics and policies
that drive our great nation forward or at least keep
(01:50):
it from going backwards. During Trump two point zero today,
We've got a great show for you with great guests
in the first half hour. In the hour, we're going
to talk about the hot button issues that will define
the midterm elections next year. In the first half hour,
(02:10):
our guest is activist and attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch, who's
going to talk about the big immigration issues. And then
in the second half hour, our guest will be Natasha Murphy,
who is healthcare director policy at the Center for American Progress.
(02:34):
Before we bring on our first guest, we're going to
play this clip which is really pretty horrible. Don't let
your kids listen to it. It's Donald Trump talking about
Somalian refuge refugees. Here.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
They ripped off some Adians, ripped off that state for
billions of dollars billions every year, billions of dollars. And
they contribute nothing. The welfare is like eighty eight percent.
They contribute nothing. I don't want them in our country.
(03:12):
I'll be honest with you. Okay, So we would say, oh,
that's not politically correct. I don't care. I don't want
them in our country. Their country is no good for
a reason. Their country stakes, and we don't want them
in our country. I could say that about other countries too.
I can say that about other countries too. We don't
want them to help. We got to we have to
rebuild our country. You know, our country is at a
(03:34):
tipping point. We could go bad. We're at a tipping point.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
People mind me saying that, but I'm saying that we
could go one way or the other, and we're gonna
go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage
into our country. Elan Omar is garbage. She's garbage. Her
friends are garbage. These are people that work. These are
people that say, let's go, come on, let's make this
place great. These are people that do nothing but complain.
(04:02):
They complain and from where they came from they got nothing.
You know, they came from paradise and they said, this
isn't paradise. But when they come from hell and they
complain and do nothing, but bitch, we don't want them
in our country. Let them go back to where they
(04:22):
came from and fix it.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
That, of course, was Donald Trump off on one of
his anti immigrant rants. Our guest in this half hour
is Kate Lincoln gold Goldfinch, who is an attorney and
immigration activist. Welcome back to Deadline, DC, Kate. I'm glad
you could make it today.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Hi, Brad, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Let me ask you since you're an attorney, isn't there
a textbook legal definition of racism and does Trump's rant
fit that definition?
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Oh, that's a great question.
Speaker 5 (05:02):
I think that there is absolutely racism at play in
Trump's policies.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
And you don't have to look any further than his.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
Refugee policy, where he canceled refugee processing globally except for
white South Africans and created a welcome wagon for them.
And you know, I mean, that's one example of of course,
many many examples, and I think it's really rich coming
(05:35):
from a guy like Trump when he's talking about somebody
ripping off the state of Minnesota to the tune of billions.
When you look at Trump's kleptocracy and his policies of
personal enrichment to the cost of the voters in the
American public, and when you dive in and you look
at the people who invest and buy into Trump's.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Property globally and his bitcoin.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
Schemes and give him four hundred million dollar airplanes, and
the fact that this man has literally personally enriched himself
to the tune of billions of dollars trading favors for
America and horse trading on our backs. And then he
turns around and accuses hard working refugees in the state
(06:28):
of Minnesota of doing the very thing that he and
his family members do. And I'm not saying that there
aren't a couple of or a few. Who knows how
many bad Somali actors in Minnesota. I think there were
fraud schemes. But I've been doing immigration law for twenty years.
I've represented many clients from Somalia. I've done a lot
(06:49):
of asylum cases from Somalia. I've studied the country and
I know it's people, and I know that the people
who make it out of a situation like that and
they come to this country as refugees, they are so grateful,
They love this country, they work so hard. In many ways,
they're more American than most people who are born here.
(07:11):
And it's an absolute garbage statement from a garbage president
to claim that people from a nation, everybody from an
entire nation, is a garbage person. I mean, I just
it's nauseating. It's nauseating, and it is so ironic that
(07:32):
the most corrupt thief that we have ever had in
the White House is accusing refugees of the.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Very thing that he himself does.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It's intolerable, really what's it like for the immigrants you
work with as we approach the holiday season. I even
read somewhere there immigrants you're afraid to go to church
for Christmas service because they're afraid ice wood beast might
be staking out the premises. What kind of fear exists
(08:08):
among immigrants?
Speaker 5 (08:10):
Oh, their lives are completely upended. Just last night, I
was talking to someone I know who was going over
to her aunt's house because her aunt and their entire
family were self deporting. They just can't take it anymore,
and so their family was having a goodbye dinner, the
whole big, extended family. And I have clients daily who
(08:33):
report to me that they don't seek medical care, they
don't go to church, some kids don't go to school.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
These communities are living in.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Fear and hiding, and they're not overreacting. You know, these
are reasonable responses to what is an outright attack.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
On a community. And it's it's horrific.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
It's horrific, and it is you know, from a humanitarian
perspective for those of us who care about these families,
this community and the stories and the children who are suffering,
it's painful. And I also spend a lot of time
talking to people, probably not a lot of your listeners,
but people who you know consider themselves moderate or even
(09:20):
conservative and aren't as moved by the humanitarian aspect.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
But all those folks really.
Speaker 5 (09:26):
Ought to start paying attention from an economic perspective, because
this is also damaging our entire country and our ability
to have a labor force and to innovate and have
a strong nation, and all of that is being dismantled
by Stephen Miller and Donald Trump right before our very eyes.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Great, what kind of legal advice as an attorney do
you give immigrants who are facing deportation or family immigrants
who are family me me verus facing deportation.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
So really strong piece of advice and non negotiable is
every in a documented person needs to consult with an
immigration lawyer to find out whether you can get legal
status and what you can do about it. You need
to have a safety plan where you have collected all
your important documents, and especially if you have kids here,
(10:24):
you need to have a plan for the kids about
who is authorized to pick them up, that that person
has the proper documentation they're always going to have their
phone on them, and that you have done the groundwork
as a parent to make sure that those kids aren't
going to go into state custody if you get picked up,
because I've seen that.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
D I'm going to have to interrupt you because we
have to take a quick break to give our radio
listeners a vacation, but we will be continuous interview with
our online TV viewers. We'll be right back right after
this quick break. Welcome back to Deadline DC with Brad Bay.
(11:00):
My guest in this half hour is immigration activists and
attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch. Let's I want to ask you this, Kate.
This US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case
challenging birthright citizenship. Could you explain to our viewers what
(11:23):
birth rate citizenship is and why the Trump administration is
challenging its constitutionality.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Sure, the birthright citizenship is part of the fourteenth Amendment
of the US Constitution, which states that any person born
on US soil and subject to the jurisdiction thereof as
a US citizen. And this four centuries has meant precisely
that people born in the United States are automatically US citizens.
(11:52):
The Supreme Court was asked to review and define this
in the late eighteen hundreds in a case called Wong
Kim arc. The Supreme Court held the very same thing
anyone born in the United States as a United States citizen,
and it has been established constitutional law ever since. And
on the first day of Trump's second administration, he attempted
(12:13):
to revoke birthright citizenship through executive order, where he's just
signed a memo saying that moving forward, anyone who's born
in the United States to an undocumented parent will no
longer be granted you as citizenship. There were immediate lawsuits.
Federal courts immediately blocked issued nationwide injunctions against the policy
because it is so clearly unconstitutional and illegal. The DOJ
(12:38):
appealed those cases up to the Supreme Court earlier this year,
which did not rule on the question of the legality
of birthright citizenship, but what they ruled on was whether
lower federal courts can issue nationwide injunctions, and the Supreme
Court held that they cannot do that and instead would
need to certify a class. So that was the early
(12:58):
holding of the Supreme Court, and I think most constitutional
scholars in the legal community thought that that was really
kind of the end of that because it's so crystal
clear that birthright citizenship is in the Constitution. But in
what was kind of a surprise this week, the Supreme Court,
and setting their calendar and granting sert for next year,
(13:18):
decided to grant sert to the case on birthright citizenship itself,
in which the Court will actually decide on the legality
of the executive order revoking birthright citizenship. And I think that,
of course, it means that it's up in the air,
and it is a question. On the other hand, I'm
(13:40):
trying not to panic because I believe that based on
the oral arguments of the nationwide injunction case, it does
appear that even the conservative justices on the Court seem
pretty clear that the president can't revoke birthright citizenship through
executive order. But we won't know really how the Court's
going to decide until the middle of next year.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Let me ask you quick quick, and unfortunately just have
a few seconds before we got to take another quick break.
Why is what? How is what is the Trump And
you know, the Constitution is pretty clear about birthright citizenship,
So what's the basis of the Trump challenge?
Speaker 5 (14:21):
So I think that their argument is going to be
about those words subject to the jurisdiction thereof. I think
they're going to argue that undocumented children, parents and children
of undocumented parents are not subject to the jurisdiction of
the United States, in which case the counter argument is, well,
then why are you detaining them and deporting.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I have to interrupt you again, Kate. We're going to
take a quick break to bring back our radio listeners.
Welcome back to Deadline DC, Brad Bannon. I'm Brad Bannon.
Of course, somebody has to do it, and our guest
in this half hour is immigration activist attorney Pate Lincoln Goldfinch. Tate,
(15:06):
I wanted to ask you another question about immigration before
we talk about Texas politics. Are there American citizens who
were being deported by ice.
Speaker 5 (15:19):
There have been a couple of mistaken deportations of US citizens.
That's not happening on a large scale. What is happening
on way too large of a scale are detentions, temporary
detentions of US citizens. So Pro Publica came out with
an investigation about two months ago where since January they
were able to uncover over a one hundred and seventy
(15:40):
instances of US citizens who had been detained by immigration authorities,
and most of them had reported detention for hours or days, beating,
you know, very difficult circumstances, inability to contact lawyers, et cetera.
And the majority of them were held on suspicion of
not having legal status. And every single one of those
(16:02):
people was Latino. So very clear racial profiling being demonstrated
in ICE and CBP enforcement actions, even against you as citizens.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Okay, is let's turn to Texas politics. First of all, Oh,
I want before I do that, I want to welcome
back our radio listeners. If you want to watch us
as well as listen to us, there are all sorts
of ways you can watch Deadline DC with Bradbannon. You
(16:34):
can watch us at YouTube dot com front Slash at
Deadline DC, on Twitter at Twitter dot com front Slash
Brad Bannon, and at Facebook dot com front Slash, Deadline
(16:55):
d C with Brad Bannon front Slash videos. Kay, you
are running for the state legislature. Will you can you
tell our viewers and listeners why you're running?
Speaker 4 (17:08):
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
Temporary insanity, Brad.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Okay, that's a very good explanation.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
I'm from Austin, Texas, born and raised. I've been an
immigration lawyer here for twenty years. I live in northeast Austin,
which is currently represented by James Tallerico, who is running
for US Senate and his seat is being vacated.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
And I've been very.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
Active politically, especially within immigration issues. I've testified at the
Capitol and watched the way things happen, and I've been very,
very frustrated as a Texan with the way that the
legislature and the governor and the Lieutenant governor and the
Attorney General spend our money and treat regular Texans. And
(17:55):
when I realized that tall Rico's seat was opening up,
I thought, well, if there were ever a time to
throw my hat in the ring, it's now.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
And so I'm a.
Speaker 5 (18:03):
First time candidate for public office and I'm learning and
growing and stretching every day.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Well, good luck, good luck on your race. Let me
ask you a more general question about Texas politics. Texas
has been read at the statelide level that seems forever.
Every once in a while someone runs for the Senate
or for governor, and people in Washington get excited. This
(18:34):
might be finally at the time that Democrats breakthrough. Let
me ask you, first of all, why has Texas been
read so long?
Speaker 5 (18:45):
I think that's a very good question and worthy of
actual research and exploration. But my quick answer to that
is that there's a lot of rural area in Texas.
There's a lot of ranchers and business owners and a
general you know that, don't tread on me. There's a
(19:05):
sense of a desire for limited government and regulation. At
the same time, there's a strong evangelical Christian base within
the state. And finally, I think a big part of
it is gerrymandering, the way that the districts are drawn,
and interference of billionaires and conservative Christian nationalist types who
(19:34):
just infuse millions and millions of dollars into candidacies and
campaigns and movements in a way that it's really really
difficult for the Democratic Party to stand up.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Again, it's not impossible, but.
Speaker 5 (19:49):
I think that there's you know, there's a course, as
with anything complicated, there's a lot of factors at play,
but I think those are the baseline issues that have
led to sort of this Republican str.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
On hold in the state for so many decades.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Now, okay, well, let me out the next question is
is that going Is that red disc going to turned
purple or even blue anytime soon. There's always again talking Washington. Well,
you've got growing Latino population, and sooner or later it's
going to tip Democrat. Uh, what what are your expectations
(20:27):
are we? You know, we've got you've got very good
Democratic candidates running for the Senate and governor. Uh is
this the year it finally turns around and you have
a you know, for instance, a Democratic governor to work
with after you were elected to the legislature.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
I mean, they would be so exciting. We do have
some really exciting candidates. I mean, James Tallerico himself running
for Senate is really exciting. Of course, flipping a state
is not about one candidate.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
It's about a movement.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
It's about the Democratic Party. We have a great new
party chair of the Democratic Party, and they're doing a
lot of get out the vote.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
You know.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
One of the things that they realize is that one
in three households in our state is speak Spanish at home,
and the party really needs to communicate in the languages
the language of the voters. And so these are some
changes that the Democratic Party can make. But as I
mentioned before, it's a really hard thing to fight against
(21:26):
billionaires and unscrupulous Republicans who will do things like mid
decade redistrict and gerrymander in ways that that steal seats
in elections. And so it's very dirty, I mean Republican
politics in Texas and many other places, but very very dirty.
(21:46):
And so I mean, you know, on the plus side,
Democrats have to learn how to get real scrappy and
are you know, getting creative and that's pushing out some
really interesting and times.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
As a Democrat, I'm pretty scrappy. Yeah, it seems that way.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Yeah, So I.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
Mean we'll see, maybe this is the year and wouldn't
that be great? And it'll be up to the voters
to decide.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
One quick question, what impact will congressional redistricting have in Texas?
Republicans are hoping to pick up four or five seats
and flip them from red to blue, which you know
is a real problem for Democrats nationally. What's your take
(22:33):
on that.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Yeah, that's been you know, a recent blow because they
redistricted in Texas and we had, you know, a bunch
of Democrats go to Chicago and break quorum and then
the new maps passed anyway, and then there was a
lawsuit out in El Paso and a three judge panel
blocked the new maps, including a Trump appointee, and unfortunately,
(22:59):
the court, in a really disappointing decision, decide to reverse
that decision.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
And I'm going to have to sadly interrupt you because
we're out of time, but I hope you can come
back to Deadline DC. I enjoy talking to you. We'll
be back with more of Deadline DC and our guest
Natasha Murphy from the Center for American Progress to discuss
healthcare right after this very quick break, come back to
(23:33):
Deadline DC with Brad Bannon. I'm Brad Bannon. My guest
in this half hour is Natasha Murphy, who is director
of health Policy at the Center for American Progress. Before
we get to Natasha, we're going to play this clip
where we have Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick talking about the
(23:59):
chief attitude towards healthcare insurance.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
Well, I say that if you don't have a better plan,
then get on board with ours. But doing nothing is
not an option, right. I mean, I've heard so many
people on the Republican conference rail on the Affordable Care Act,
rail on Obamacare, rail on the premium tax credits. And
if you want to criticize something, that's okay, as long
as you have a better alternative. They have never offered
a better alternative. We went down this healthcare path my
(24:30):
freshman term. I voted against the repeal DACA. I thought
the replacement was insufficient. It was hastily put together, not
well thought out. And here we are, you know what,
eight years later, and they still have not been able
to put together an articulable plan that's going to work
for everyday American. So, you know, is a premium tax
credit structure perfect?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
No, it's not.
Speaker 6 (24:51):
I don't like the fact that there's no income caps.
I don't like the fact that the money all goes
to the insurance company and rather than having some go
to the individual. But right now, with a cliff upon
us at the end of the year, I think we
have to extend it out a minimum of two years
with guardrails, with income caps.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
That was Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick criticizing his own party,
the GOP, for failing to come up with an alternative
to the health insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act.
Our guest in this half hour is Natasha Murphy, director
(25:29):
of health policy at the Center for American Progress. Welcome
to Deadline DC. Natasha. We're glad you could be with
us today.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
Brad, thank you so much for having me. Always always
a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
First of all, will you explain to our audience. You know,
this is a complicated area, which is why we have
you on today. What is the Affordable Care Act? What
does it do?
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Yes?
Speaker 7 (25:54):
So happy to help level set for the listening and
viewing audience so as many are like aware. The Affordable
Care Act was a landmark piece of legislation that was
passed in twenty ten that really changed the American insurance landscape.
And so one of the most notable things about the
ACA was that it created these health insurance marketplaces where
(26:17):
individuals who don't get insurance through their employer and who
previously kind of really were on their own trying to
find coverage and oftentimes struggled because either their premiums were
so unaffordable or they had a pre existing condition that
you allowed insurers to deny them coverage. But post ACA,
you had these marketplaces that were created, and so every
(26:39):
year during the open enrollment period, individuals who buy coverage
on their own will log onto healthcare dot Gov or
their state based marketplace to shop and compare plans for
the upcoming year. And so currently we are in the
midst of that shopping cycle. It kicked off on November first,
and we have a few more weeks to go. But
one of the things that is kind of right now
(27:01):
at the center of the health policy conversation, and honestly,
more broadly the federal policy conversation, is a battle around
the extension or lack thereof, of these enhanced Premium tax credits.
And these were tax credits that were introduced about four
years ago and they helped make premiums more affordable for
(27:24):
a broader swath of Americans who buy their coverage through
the ACA, and so it helped to you know, significantly
lower costs. And because of that, we saw a record
number of people enroll on the marketplaces really for the
past four years, and they are slated to expire at
the end of December, and as you can imagine, that
(27:44):
is honestly going to be a catastrophe. We are going
to see folks have their premium costs more than double
in some instances, and in this broader affordability crisis. There's
huge concern that without some type of federal or congressional action,
we are going to see millions of Americans lose cuverage
in twenty twenty six and beyond.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Let me ask you this question, Natasha, probably do you
know roughly how many bankruptcies in the United States are
caused by people who can't you know, essentially, you know,
sell their houses more dope, the double mortgages on their
house to pay for their health care expenses. You're always
(28:26):
hearing about healthcare bankruptcies. How prevalent is that?
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yeah, great question, Brad.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
So I don't have the exact number at my fingertips,
but I do know that medical debt and health care
costs are actually the leading cause of bankruptcy in the
US and has been for quite some time. Unlike you know,
so many other services, for the most part, healthcare is
not particularly shoppable. When you need to see your doctor
or in an emergency, you're not taking the time to
(28:55):
you know, check to see, well what's the cost of
an MRI at hospital A versus hospital B. Those services
you need them right then and there, and so therefore,
you know, a patients tend to be at the mercy
of you know, their doctor or a health system, or
in this case, sometimes the insurance company. That the price
that's set is honestly the price that we end up paying.
(29:15):
And as a result of that, you know, so many
of those prices are unaffordable due to a variety of.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Different reasons, ranging from you know, the lack of competition in.
Speaker 7 (29:25):
The healthcare space all the way down to prescription drug costs.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
But overall, you know, healthcare and the.
Speaker 7 (29:31):
Lack of affordability is a primary concern for Americans across
the country.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Let me ask you this blunt question, Natasha, ye are
there people in the United States who die because they
can't afford afford they can't afford healthcare?
Speaker 7 (29:49):
Yes, it is such an unfortunate reality, Brad. Honestly, so
many millions of Americans lack insurance coverage as a whole.
And the reality is just because they don't have insurance
doesn't mean that they don't have health care needs. And
oftentimes they know that they're not going to be able
to afford to see a doctor, and so they will
(30:09):
wait until you know, the condition worsens or you know,
they find themselves in an er and oftentimes, you know,
that delayed care. That care that's been put off leads
to you know, really worse outcomes, and you know, in
the worst instances, it does lead to unnecessary and avoidable depths.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Okay, the uh, let's let's take Canada. Canada has a
national health care insurance program. Yes, is you know, does
that national health care system they have prevent some of
(30:50):
the horrible things that happen in the United States because
people can't afford to buy it. On you know, other hand,
you know, people criticize, we can't you know, put healthcare
and completely in the hands of the government. Could you
speak to that please?
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yeah, absolutely so, yes.
Speaker 7 (31:09):
You know, with the United States kind of being the
only developed nation that does not have, you know, a
national health service, oftentimes, you know, folks will compare our
fragmented system to places like Canada or you know, the
litany of countries in Europe that have you know, these
more centralized universal coverage models, and there's certainly trade offs.
(31:31):
So one of the biggest benefits of you know, a
centralized or nationalized health service is the fact that people
do not have to worry about having health insurance coverage.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
When they go to see their provider.
Speaker 7 (31:41):
They are not concerned about you know, receiving a bill
on the back end or having to pay you know,
a co insurance amount or a copay, and so it
really having that coverage helps to improve access. Now, there
are certainly challenges that exist in a nationalized health service.
You know, there's concerns around kind of provider compensation, as
well as things like wait times, particularly for services that
(32:06):
might be viewed as elective or not as urgent. But overall,
I would certainly take a system where everyone knows that
they have health insurance so that they have access to
a doctor when they need one, as opposed to you know,
some of the current challenges of our system where we
have folks who lack insurance altogether, or you know, people
(32:26):
who have insurance technically but they can't use it because
of the fact that it is so unaffordable.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Okay, let's you know what is for the sake of argument,
do you happen to know you know, we're talking everything.
Crisis for everything are going off these days, which is
a major problem for the President. Even if he doesn't
recognize it, maybe I shouldn't tell him now I want
(32:53):
them to do something about it. How bad is healthcare inflation?
Speaker 7 (32:59):
Yes, health care costs as a whole have been steadily rising,
and like you mentioned, similar to the costs of really
every other good in service. We are seeing significant increases
and health care costs and insurance costs as well in
twenty twenty six and beyond. And so some of this
is driven by things like tariffs, it's driven by things
(33:20):
like utilization, and some of it is just the overall
inefficiencies in the US healthcare system.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Okay, we're going to have to take a brief break
here to bring to let our radio listeners have a
little vacation, but we're going to continue this interview for
our online viewers, and again, if you're listening, I encourage
you to watch us online. But anyway, our guest in
(33:51):
this half hour is Natasha Murphy, whose health policy director
at the Center for American Progress. We're gonna come back,
and we come back we'll talk about the proposals that
before Congress to solve this problem. We'll be right back
right after this break with more talk about healthcare policy,
(34:16):
cost inflation, and the prospects for remedying the problem. Welcome
back to our radio listeners. We missed you, and we're
glad you're back guests in this half hour of Deadline
(34:38):
DC with Brad Bannon is Natasha Murphy, who is health
policy director at the Center for American Progress. Natasha, let
me ask you this. The President has been promising to
unveil his own healthcare insurance program ever since he announced
(35:00):
he was running for president the first time in twenty sixteen.
Has he ever got around to it.
Speaker 7 (35:07):
No, Honestly, we have not seen a tangible proposal from
the White House to address healthcare, whether it's in the
ACA or even more broadly, and that's been a huge disappointment.
Like you mentioned, clearly, it's was supposed to be a
priority on the campaign, but you know, now that the
president's in office, healthcare just does not seem like it's
(35:28):
at the top of his agenda.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
Steer a Republican proposal in Congress now as for an
alternative to Affordable Care Plan Care Act, And if so,
what is it?
Speaker 7 (35:43):
Yeah, So, just today there has been a florry of activity,
particularly coming from Senate Republicans who are each trying to,
you know, share their policy proposals as an alternative for
what the marketplaces will look like in twenty twenty six
All of these proposals that I've seen. They actually allow
the enhanced tax credits to expire, so you're, you know,
(36:06):
we're looking at those premium increases that we talked about before.
But also what Republicans are proposing are health savings accounts. Basically,
they would take the money that's being used right now
for the tax credits and funnel them into HSA deposits.
And honestly, these are policy proposals that we've seen and
heard before during the last round of you know, kind
(36:27):
of the attempt to repeal and replace the ACA. And
the reality is hsas are not beneficial for everyone. You know,
they disproportionately benefit higher income households who have the funds
to actually you know, make deposits into these savings accounts.
But beyond that, hsas do nothing to address monthly premium costs,
and that's what the tax credits are designed to do.
(36:48):
And so the solution that I've seen floating around today
actually does not solve the problem, which is, you know,
millions of Americans facing these significantly higher premiums beginning in
twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Sive okay, uh, let me ask you this this question
about uh the current state of Congress. Uh is uh
is there enough support in either House? And I think
I know the answer to this is there either support
in either house, the House or the Senate UH to
(37:22):
continue the UH subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, or
have the Republicans control of the House and the Senate
made that impossible.
Speaker 7 (37:34):
Yes, at this point, you know, we are expecting actually
a vote on Thursday on this very topic. And despite
the Republican proposals that came out today, and then I know,
the Democrats last week released some legislation calling for a
three year extension of the tax credits.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
The numbers just don't seem like they're there on either side.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
You know, there's I don't I doubt that there will
be enough votes any type of bipartisan activity to pass
the Demo credit proposal. And then you know, given the
quote that we even heard earlier from Rep. Fitzpatrick, I
don't think that there's going to be enough Republicans to
support the proposal that was released earlier today.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Is we heard a clip at the beginning of the
interview with Congressman Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania who seemed to be
arguing to extend the ACA credits tax credits. Other Republicans
who feel that way.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
There are, yes, there's a handful of folks.
Speaker 7 (38:36):
Again, I've seen some quotes from individuals, you know, in
New Hampshire as well as some folks in Florida recognizing
that it is going to be their constituents who ultimately
are going to be harmed and bear the brunt of
a lot.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Of these premium increases.
Speaker 7 (38:50):
And so there is a lot of discord, particularly on
the Republican side, on whether the tax credit should be extended.
If so, how I heard Rep It's Patrick talking about Guardrail.
So there's just a lot of confusion and a lack
of clarity about where we go from here.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Okay, Now, in the Senate, because of the Senate's arcane rules,
you essentially need sixty votes to pass something. Is there
any hope that you can wrangle sixty senators and the
voting for ACA continuation and expansion for two or three years.
Speaker 7 (39:30):
Honestly, I am not particularly confident about, you know, kind
of reaching reaching that sixty number. The gridlock here in
Washington has been terrible, and honestly, it feels like it's
only getting worse. And again, it is going to be
the American public that pays the price for the lack
of congressional action.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
Has Donald Trump made any indication if he favors what
he favors as an alternative? I know the Republicans have
a plan sort of. Has Donald Trump's said what he wants?
Speaker 7 (40:01):
Brad, This is a rare occasion where the President has
been largely m I a right before Thanksgiving, there was
chatter and talk that, you know, he was going to
release a proposal coming from the White House, and I
think that that would have included actually a one year
extension giving folks time to you know, identify the ideal
policy solution. But that was walked back almost immediately because
(40:24):
it seems like, you know, the House Republicans were not
a fan of it. And so the lack of leadership
coming from the White House I think also explains why
there is such a lack of traction on this issue.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I'm a democratic political strategist, so I will give you
my take on what the impact might be if Congress
fails to act. I spend too much time reading and
analyzing national polling data, and what I see in the
(40:59):
national polling data is inflation is by far the most
important issue to voters. As we go into the twenty
twenty six in the mid term elections about a year
from now. I also see that after inflate general concerns
(41:22):
about inflation, healthcare costs are also a big deal. And
the final piece of the puzzle is right now, Donald
Trump's job approval rating for dealing with inflation is about
forty points underwater. That's four oh. And I put the
(41:46):
pieces together in my own humble way, and I see
a political disaster developing for the GOP if they don't
do something to solve this problem. Do you agree with
that sentiment or or are my way off? It wouldn't
be the first time.
Speaker 7 (42:03):
I definitely agree with that sentiment, Brad, Honestly, with healthcare
being a primary issue for Americans and for voters as
we stare down the midterms, folks are not going to
forget who you know, which party it was that caused
their health insurance premiums to skyrocket.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
Okay, let's let's try this. You know, and I don't
you know. I guess you don't know what's gonna finally
play out in Congress. We have our hopes, and I
certainly know expert on how Congress works or doesn't work.
Let me ask you this, and this is probably a
(42:45):
question for the future. But let's say let's be optimistic
here and say Congress passes an extension of the Affordable
Care Act and the President actually signs it. Americans, even
with the Affordable Care Act, Americans having problems paying the
(43:09):
healthcare bills. So the question is, even if the Affordable
Care Act gets renewed and extended, what's the next step,
because we will still have lots of problems. I think
I'm no healthcare expert. You are, What do you think
and what is the next step?
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Yeah, great question, Brad.
Speaker 7 (43:31):
Yes, even you know, if we get best case scenario,
we get an extension of the tax credits, we preserve
folks premium affordability.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
You're right, the system has so many problems, and there are.
Speaker 7 (43:41):
Quite a few other other areas that will require legislative intervention.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I do think that one of the next.
Speaker 7 (43:48):
Biggest areas for you know, concerted policy attention will be
addressing the rising costs of prescription drugs.
Speaker 2 (43:56):
You know, so many.
Speaker 7 (43:57):
Americans are unable to afford their you know, regular prescriptions,
and that has a huge impact on their overall health
and quality of life. So I think that's going to
be the next next problem that we tackle.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
Okay, Natasha, Unfortunately that's all the time we have. I
thought that you're very informative and interesting, which means you're
probably going to have to drag you back to the show,
and if you've already, maybe you don't want to after
this half hour, but we'd like to have you back.
(44:30):
You've been speaking for our executive producer, Markomaldy, who I
want to thank for keeping this mess together every week.
I also want to thank both our guests Natasha Murphy,
healthcare and health policy director at the Center for American Progress,
and also our first guest, immigration activists and attorney hey
(44:55):
Lincoln Goldfinch. Holidays greetings. Missed the very best holiday greetings
from Deadline DC uh miss the best and aggressive progressive
online must e TV at your own peril.
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