By Eliot Nelson & Arthur Delaney
THOUSANDS MAY LOSE ACCESS TO CRAPTASTIC PROGRAM IF JOHN BOEHNER GETS HIS WAY - House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) vowed Wednesday that Republicans would repeal whatever parts of health care reform remain standing following Thursday's highly anticipated Supreme Court ruling -- even if doing so would jeopardize insurance coverage for thousands of people. "We've made it pretty clear and I'll make it clear one more time: If the court does not strike down the entire law, the House will move to repeal what's left of it," Boehner said. A House Republican leadership aide confirmed that Boehner would not spare the law's fledgling high-risk pool program. The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, as it is formally known, is a Republican-inspired component of the Affordable Care Act currently insuring 67,000 Americans. A similar high-risk pool program formed a major plank of the GOP alternative to health care reform in 2009. "The White House did a truly craptastically lousy job designing their high-risk pools," the Republican aide said. "If we do something on this topic, it would be based on our better policy solutions, like the one in the House Republican alternative during the debate in 2009. So starting with repealing everything is the best option." [HuffPost]
INSIGHT FROM MUDCAT - "We are pussies, good God you can quote me on that," said David "Mudcat" Saunders, the longtime Democratic consultant. "There is nothing wrong with having a fine car and a fine house and living the American dream. But the greed! Bain Capital is about greed. ... It stinks morally." [HuffPost]
BOEHNER TO MERGE HIGHWAY AND STUDENT LOAN BILLS - Thankfully, this doesn't involve some kind of misguided jab at austerity involving your kids learning social studies underneath a highway onramp. Although... that would definitely make them appreciate what they have. Anyhoo, Roll Call: "Speaker John Boehner said this morning that a highway bill agreement will likely include a one-year extension of current student loan interest rates, a measure the two chambers have been separately working to reconcile... Senate aides in both parties confirmed that the current state of negotiations suggested a final agreement could last more than two years, meaning lawmakers would extend highway spending authorizations until September 2014, and that the contentious Keystone XL pipeline and coal ash provisions had been dropped from the list of GOP demands. In return, Democrats have included significant easing of environmental standards, especially when it comes to streamlining, the process by which project sites need to be reviewed before construction can begin. These same sources, however, emphasized that no deal was completed and the talks are still fragile." [Roll Call]
Paul Ryan is skipping an event celebrating Ayn Rand, which is as shocking as Newt Gingrich declining to visit the small mammal house. Jen Bendery: "At a time when Rep. Paul Ryan's star is rising -- he is reportedly being vetted as a possible vice presidential candidate for Mitt Romney -- one old associate is getting the cold shoulder. Ryan will not be speaking at a Washington event this week celebrating his hero, philosopher Ayn Rand. Ryan turned down a request to speak at the annual gathering of the Atlas Society, a group that advocates Rand's me-first brand of capitalism. Two months earlier, the Wisconsin Republican had abruptly declared that he "reject[s] her philosophy," despite his known obsession with Rand's views. Ryan has credited her with leading him into public service, he has videos on his Facebook page applying Rand's philosophies to his role in Congress, and he has said he directs his interns to read her book "Atlas Shrugged." Ryan has also previously spoken at events hosted by the Atlas Society, gushing about the influence Rand has had on him. But not this time." [HuffPost]
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - "@aterkel: i'm so lonely." Hang in there, Amanda! [Twitter]
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HOUSE PROGRESSIVES READY SINGLE-PAYER SYSTEM TO DIE... AGAIN - Jen Bendery: "The last thing House progressives want is for the Supreme Court to strike down President Barack Obama's health care law. But if the high court rules Thursday that some or all of the law is unconstitutional, progressives are ready to renew their push for the model of health care they wanted all along: the single-payer option... [Rep. Keith] Ellison said all 75 members of the caucus have already signed onto a bill by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) to create a single-payer, publicly financed, privately delivered universal health care program. The proposal would essentially build on and expand Medicare, under which all Americans would be guaranteed access to health care regardless of an ability to pay or pre-existing health conditions." [HuffPost]
DEMOCRATS GET AHEAD OF THE 'WE'RE LOSERS' NARRATIVE - DCCC Chair Steve Israel is trying to stop an increasingly embarrassing narrative by telling his members to stay home during the Charlotte convention. Reuters: "'If they want to win an election, they need to be in their districts,' New York congressman Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told the Reuters Washington Summit on Tuesday. Israel emphasized that Democratic President Barack Obama's poll ratings - which have hovered around 50 percent - have little to do with his stance... Israel's admonition comes as a growing list of Democrats say they will not be joining their fellow partisans in Charlotte." [Reuters]
JIM MATHESON OWN GOALS - Salt Lake Tribune: "Rep. Jim Matheson will vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for withholding documents pertaining to a failed Justice Department sting that let guns get into the hands of drug runners... Matheson, D-Utah, announced his position Tuesday, joining House Republicans, such as Utah Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz, who have railed against Holder's reaction to the congressional probe into the Justice Department's 'Fast and Furious' operation. One of the lost guns was later used in the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.'It just compounds the tragedy when both sides play politics instead of releasing the facts. The Terry family, the public and Congress deserve answers,' Matheson said. 'Sadly, it seems that it will take holding the attorney general in contempt to communicate that evasiveness is unacceptable.'" [Salt Lake Tribune]
@politico: Justin Bieber & Selena Gomez make a (poster board) appearance on the House floor: politi.co/MU92bk
THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO ACCELERATE OUR TIME TRAVEL RESEARCH - Because then we could travel back in time, pick up these members of a 2002 focus group who found Mitt Romney to be awful, and rush them to 2007 to warn everyone about his awfulness... or something. Sorry. Jason Cherkis: "In the 2002 Massachusetts governor's race, a focus group of 11 suburban women were asked just that about ads paid for by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Shannon O'Brien's campaign. The videotaped session, obtained by The Huffington Post, shows that GOP presidential candidate Romney had a sympathetic audience. Most appeared to view the candidate's business record and experience running the Salt Lake City Olympics as positives. But nearly everyone in the room found the anti-Bain ads damning. The women were especially drawn to the testimonials from workers who saw their jobs cut by Romney's firm." [HuffPost]
BEN NELSON REALLY SCARED ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM GOING AWAY... FOR SOME REASON - In short, the outgoing Nebraska Democrat is worried that overturning legislation he wasn't crazy about to begin with might beget legislation he hates even more. Man, the walls are really closing in on Nebraska's senior senator. TPM: "Retiring Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) -- the most conservative Democratic senator, and the member of the caucus who held out longest before voting for the Affordable Care Act -- warns that if the Supreme Court throws out the law, it'll put the country on the road toward single-payer health care. 'Many expect an activist Supreme Court will strike down part or all of health reform,' Nelson said in a prepared statement. 'If they strike down the mandate, the Supreme Court will be paving the way to a single-payer system, or back to the old broken health care system -- neither of which are good for Nebraskans.'" [TPM]
A friendly reminder of just how prettyprettyprettyplease badly 2009 Mitt Romney wanted the president to mimic Romneycare
MICHELLE OBAMA AND ANN ROMNEY FACE OFF IN A... COOKING CONTEST - Now before you start crying sexism, we still haven't gotten our hands on a copy of Family Circle, the publication running the contest, so for all we know the contest is just the prelude to the back-of-book symposium on Virginia Woolf's lesser works. BuzzFeed has a screenshot and, in case you were dying of curiosity, the First Lady's (post-racial, natch) "White and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies" uses mint chocolate chips and Ann Romney's "M&M Cookies" supports American farmers with its patriotic use of corn syrup. [BuzzFeed]
@BuzzFeedPol: Ann Romney's And Michelle Obama's Cookies Will Make You Fat bzfd.it/LDobAb
Important update from the people's chamber: "C-SPAN's cameras caught a small child making himself comfortable as Massachusetts Rep. John Olver (D) said something. FamousDC helpfully posted the clip. The kid stuck both hands down his pants before curling up and falling fast asleep." [Roll Call]
NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE REP EXPOSES THE PETRI DISH OF CRIME THAT IS KINDERGARTEN - And don't even get him started on the socially destructive effects of summer camp (popsicle art can kill, dude). Laconia Daily Sun: "During a Belknap County Convention meeting on Monday night, called to discuss the proposed hiring of a consultant to help the county commission design a new jail around innovative programming, a couple of state representatives from Laconia espoused theories about what has contributed to an apparent growth in crime in the county. One of them observed a direct link between the proliferation of kindergarten and the increasing inmate population at the Belknap County Jail... Representative Bob Kingsbury said he's been working on a theory since 1996, when he analyzed local crime rates and compared them to a list of communities that offered public kindergarten. Then, he told his colleagues, Laconia offered kindergarten and had the highest rates of crime. Meanwhile, surrounding towns, some of which didn't offer kindergarten, had less crime. 'We're taking children away from their mothers too soon,' Kingsbury concluded." [Laconia Daily Sun]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Newborn white tigers, including an ALBINO cub!
IT'S TIME FOR AN EXCLUSIVE INDOOR PICNIC! - HuffPost DC "Like any Sally Quinn dinner party in Georgetown, you had to have an invitation to TableTribes. But this was no Sally Quinn dinner party." [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
By @bradjshannon!
- Hey, Olympics, we have your new sport. [http://chzb.gr/Lh2zFe]
- Here's a bear cub dangling from a garage door rail thing. Then mama comes to the rescue. [http://chzb.gr/Lh4RnS]
- MoJo has a great interactive visual of the "Dark-Money Universe" of super PACs and related. [http://bit.ly/Lh5JZA]
- Robot will beat you at Rock, Paper, Scissors. [http://bit.ly/Lh4hGy]
- The trailer for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie.[http://bit.ly/Lh4lGs]
- Why we're so brilliant: "7 Ways Videogames Make Us Smarter" [http://bit.ly/Lh2lhn]
- Like reading but hate picking books? There's an infographic for that. [http://bit.ly/Lh4BW2]
TWITTERAMA
@pourmecoffee: Congressional picnic at WH tonight, a wonderful tradition where politicians pretend not to loathe each other outdoors.
@evanmc_s: sadly less popular is NORML's First Lady "bake-off" contest #420
@aburnspolitico: Tomorrow's story, today: "What if [disappointing health care ruling for SIDE X] actually just fires up the [SIDE X] base?"
ON TAP
TONIGHT
6:00 pm: Much to our surprise, Minnesotans don't subsists off of smiles and waves. Amy Klobuchar asks for money. [Williams and Jensen Townhouse, 324 Independence Ave SE]
TOMORROW
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm: Because you'll be busy on Independence Day celebrating Independence day, why don't you celebrate, uh, Independence Day at the DSCC's July 4th BBQ on the 28th! [The Mott House, 122 Maryland Ave NE] Corrected date -- yesterday we said this was on 6/27
6:30 pm: The African American Leadership Council, the LGBT Leadership Council and former NFLer Wade Davis raise funds for the president's reelection. This being an African-American event, the president will naturally be somewhere else. [Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, 1152 15th Street]
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