By CAP Action War Room

A Year After The Government Shutdown, Conservatives Haven’t Learned Their Lesson

Today marks the one-year anniversary of when federal offices began closing due to a Republican-forced government shutdown — that lasted 16 days — in an effort to pursue their extreme ideological agenda. A quick reminder of what the government shutdown costs America:

• $24 Billion: What the shutdown cost the economy.
• $2.5 Billion: What the shutdown cost taxpayers.
• 120,000 Jobs: The number of jobs lost due to the shutdown.
• $414 Million: The estimated lost revenue to parks and surrounding communities due to the closure of 401 national parks.

Despite the deep unpopularity of the government shutdown shenanigans among the American public, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised more of the same if the GOP takes control of the upper chamber in 2015.

“The typically reserved McConnell laid out his clearest thinking yet of how he would lead the Senate if Republicans gain control of the chamber. The emerging strategy: Attach riders to spending bills that would limit Obama policies on everything from the environment to health care, consider using an arcane budget tactic to circumvent Democratic filibusters and force the president to “move to the center” if he wants to get any new legislation through Congress. McConnell risks overreaching if he follows through with his pledge to attach policy riders to spending bills. If Obama refuses to accept such measures, a government shutdown could ensue. Republicans bore much of the blame for last year’s government shutdown, and their fortunes rebounded only when the administration bungled the rollout of Obamacare…But asked about the potential that his approach could spark another shutdown, McConnell said it would be up to the president to decide whether to veto spending bills that would keep the government open.

This is a stark reminder of how much is at stake this election cycle. But the implications go beyond just government shutdown threats. A Republican-controlled Senate would also mean:

• A Senate focused on creating an economy that only works for the wealthiest and select few, instead of an economy that works for everyone.
• A Senate focused on taking away people’s healthcare and gutting environmental safeguards that provide vital public health protections.
• A Senate focused on obstruction of progressive appointments to the executive and judiciary, which will impact voting rights, marriage equality, health care, immigration and more.
• A Senate focused on overblown Administration scandals instead of addressing the serious issues facing Americans.

BOTTOM LINE: One year after the shutdown, it’s clear conservatives haven’t learned their lesson. Americans want a Senate that works for them, not one that holds them hostage for political reasons.

By CAP Action War Room

What Other States Can Learn From Kentucky

Despite its deep red perception, common sense policies implemented in Kentucky are succeeding and helping improve the lives of people throughout the state.

COMMON CORE:

Today, the Kentucky Department of Education released data showing improvements in student performance and college/career readiness, after three years of implementing the Common Core standards. Despite the Tea Party-driven controversy over the standards, early adopters like Kentucky are showing their potential, and educators are saying the standards are going well.

• College/career readiness has jumped to 62.3 percent, from 47.2 after 2012, the first year of implementation. Before the new standards were implemented, that number sat at just 34 percent.

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT:

Kentucky has also found success with its implementation of the Affordable Care Act. As with Common Core, it was an early adopter of the program.

• The total uninsured figure is down almost 50%, after 527,000 Kentuckians enrolled in new insurance.
• The use of preventative services has increased.
• Veterans, young people, and those with preexisting conditions are now getting coverage more easily thanks to the ACA.
• The number of reimbursements received by health care providers, especially hospitals, increased by $200 million in fiscal year 2014.
• In 2016, Medicaid expansion will support 14,7000 new jobs and a $1.7 billion increase of economic activity.

BOTTOM LINE: Kentucky shows that no matter if your state is red, blue, or purple, common sense policies like Common Core and the Affordable Care Act work when they are not obstructed by conservatives determined to make anything a failure for political purposes.

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It was New Year’s Eve in 2009 when my helmet saved my life.

Training for the Winter Olympics in Utah, I was at the top of competitive snowboarding when I suffered a life-threatening traumatic brain injury that I’m still recovering from to this day. And while I can never snowboard competitively again, I hope to be a voice for the millions of Americans who grapple with diseases of the brain.

Until my injury, I didn’t spend too much time thinking about my brain, but in the last few years, I’ve learned a lot about the engine that drives our thoughts, emotions, and actions.

I’ve learned that in my battle to recover from this devastating injury, I am not alone. Researchers estimate that around 100 million Americans suffer from brain disorders at some point in their lives. From Alzheimer’s to autism and ALS all the way to traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and chronic depression, diseases of the brain are not only catastrophic, they are common.

That’s why the President’s BRAIN Initiative — an all-hands-on-deck effort to understand the human brain and enable the tools, techniques, and technologies that can improve scientists’ ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent neurological diseases — is personal for me.

Learn more about the initiative here — and if you or someone you know stands to benefit from this sort of research, tell that story here.

Since my injury, I’ve learned that the human brain remains one of the greatest mysteries in science. Decades of neuroscience have revealed much about how the brain works, but the great majority of the brain’s activity, involving about 100 trillion neural connections, remains uncharted.

That’s changing quickly. Since the President announced the BRAIN Initiative last year, the research community, federal agencies, foundations, patient advocacy groups, private research institutes, companies, scientific societies, and individual scientists have committed more than $300 million to this bold effort to capture a dynamic image of the human brain, similar to the one that mapped the human genome.

The goals of the BRAIN Initiative are ambitious, but they’re achievable.

Imagine if no family had to grapple with the helplessness and heartache of a loved one with Parkinson’s, or TBI, or PTSD. Imagine if Alzheimer’s, or ALS, or chronic depression were eradicated in our lifetime. Imagine if we played a role in those breakthroughs.

That’s why I’ve worked so hard on connecting, educating, and empowering around brain health, and to tell the story about how much the brain can improve, adapt, heal, and grow. And that’s why I’m so excited to lend my voice to these efforts to help catalyze the next generation of treatments for brain diseases. Though my voice may be more public than most, I know that so many Americans have loved ones that have battled brain disorders just as I have.

If you want to make your voice heard, share your story at WhiteHouse.gov/BRAIN.

I may never get to stand on the Olympic podium, but I’m thrilled to stand with the scientists and students, researchers and citizens on the edge of the next great frontier — unlocking and understanding the three pounds of matter that sit between our ears.

Sincerely,

Kevin Pearce
Carlsbad, California