Next time anybody wonders whether it's worth voting, here's a story to tell them: coming into the 2017 elections in Virginia, nobody (outside of Tom Perriello) thought Democrats had a chance to take control of the House of Delegates from Republicans. On election night, as you may recall, they came one seat short, and four races went to a recount.
As of this afternoon, Democrat Shelly Simonds came from behind in a recount to win 11,608 to 11,607. Yes, she won by one vote. And that one, single vote makes the chamber split 50-50, meaning there'll be a power-sharing arrangement rather than Republican control -- which had been the status quo in Virginia for decades. That makes Medicaid expansion much more likely, meaning hundreds of thousands of people could be getting health care as a result. If you're one of the 11,608 people who voted for Simonds, reach out, I want to interview you. You changed the world with that vote. (Or maybe you didn't and Ralph Northam will still screw everything up. We'll see.)
2. A scoop on the tax bill that passed the House today: Republicans screwed up the drafting of it, and included two provisions that break the parliamentary rules under which the bill could slip through on a 50-vote threshold. Paul Ryan said today that voting on this tax cut was the moment he'd been waiting for his whole life. He's in luck: he's going to get to do it again!
The House will have to vote again after it's dramatic, valedictory affair on the House floor today. This screw-up stands very little chance of actually stopping the bill, but it's one more example of the abject failure of this process from start to stumbling finish.
The provisions that are problematic are interesting in themselves: One, inserted by Ted Cruz, would let families use 529 college savings money for home-schooling expenses. And the other provision exempted colleges with under 500 tuition-paying students from a particular tax. But the only school it applied to was Berea College in Kentucky. The parliamentarian said neither passed the Byrd Rule test.
3. It's no secret what corporations plan to do with the tax cuts: pocket them. Zaid Jilani asked Republicans today if they were worried about that possibility. Short version: no, not really.
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