The Senate Votes on Health Care Next Week, Gird Your Loins

Sick and tired of being sick and tired: The Senate was on a momentary hiatus for the Independence Day holiday and when GOP senators returned to work they had an unwelcome surprise. Protesters who opposed their health care plan, the one that's supposed to repeal and replace the ACA while simultaneously stripping 22 million citizens of basic coverage, showed up in droves to give lawmakers a piece of their minds. The police arrested 80 protesters on Capitol Hill, but the demonstrators seemed undeterred. The Senate votes on health care next week.

Ready to make your voice heard? Call the US Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to connect with your state senators and let them know that you believe health care is a human right. What did you say to your Senator? Did they call you back? Let us know how the call went using Ense! Ense allows you to record your thoughts in short audio posts kind of like a voice message board. Share below to get started.

Waving the white flag: Over the weekend the KKK held a rally in opposition to the removal of a statue of Confederate Civil War General Robert in Charlottesville Virginia and were made by thousands of counter-protesters rejecting their views of hatred and bigotry. This week, a group of demonstrators conducted a ceremony in which they raised the Confederate flag outside the South Carolina Statehouse on a temporary plastic stand.

The Confederate-sympathizers gave the same old story of taking pride in their heritage and history, but completely ignored people, both minorities and whites, who view the flag of a symbol of racism. The flag was removed from grounds of the Statehouse in July 2015 following the terror attack by self-proclaimed white nationalist Dylan Roof against 9 members of a predominantly black church.

The limit does exist: At the end of today, July 12, the US closes its borders to refugees under the ruling of President Trump's revised travel ban. The number of resettled refugees, which capped at 50, 000, has been reached meaning refugees from the banned countries aren't able to enter unless they have a "bona fide relationship" with someone in the US. Now that the quota has been met and the deadline has been set, the fate of refugees that didn't it make is up in the air.

Check out some more video from VICE News:

Weather whiplash: Last winter was an extremely wet season for California and other western states, but it's still not enough to offset drought conditions. Scientists say that ironically the heavy rains set in motion growth, which became kindling for the wildfires of this latest heatwave. Right now there are dozens of wildfires that have engulfed six Western states. While people are being evacuated from their homes to escape the fires, President Trump barrels forward on cutting funding for fighting wildfires. This tragic situation is evidence that the effects of climate change can be unpredictable, but the cause is avoidable if we all pitch in. Tell your mayor that you're ready to end climate change by committing your city to clean renewable energy.

But his emails: The saga of political intrigue into whether or not members of Trump's team colluded with the Russians during his campaign in 2016 has a new character and another plot twist. It's come to light that Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., met with a Russian lawyer last June to get dirt about Hillary Clinton. Maybe Trump Jr. didn't know this, but asking for or accepting campaign contributions from a foreign government is a federal crime.

Trump Jr. posted his email exchange, which shows that he not only met with Russian lawyer but brought along his brother-in-law and White House Advisor Jared Kushner and former-campaign chairman Paul Manafort. This scandal is yet another instance of the Trump family's small hands getting caught in the Russian cookie jar, but whether or not there will be consequences for their actions is up to special counsel Bob Mueller.