SENATE // Senator John McCain, R-AZ, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. A statement from his doctors say he is recovering from surgery but it is unclear when the 80-year-old will be able to return to the Senate. Doctors are considering further treatment including chemotherapy and radiation. McCain was the GOP presidential candidate in 2008. http://cvote.it/2uBcuW0
ANTI-CHRISTIAN // Gay billionaire Democratic donor Tim Gill tells Rolling Stone he’s aiming to punish Christians who don’t want to participate in so-called same-sex “marriages.” Said Gill: “We’re going into the hardest states in the country. We’re going to punish the wicked.” http://cvote.it/2uBwjwE
HEALTH CARE // Republican Senators returned to the White House to have lunch with President Trump to discuss how to move forward with health care. “Any senator who votes against starting debate is really telling America that you’re fine with Obamacare,” Trump said. The president also ‘joked’ with moderate Sen. Dean Heller, R-NV, who has been very skeptical of the Senate health care bill. “Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn’t he?” Trump asked, with Heller smiling next to him. http://cvote.it/2uBnDXf
HEALTH CARE // The Department of Health and Human Services released an analysis which finds that the Cruz amendment lowers premiums and boosts enrollment. Cruz, R-Texas, authored an amendment that would allow insurers to sell plans that do not comply with Obamacare mandates if they offer plans that do. http://cvote.it/2uBrHGW
ELECTION 2018 // A new poll is a major warning sign for Democrats. First, the good news for Democrats: Registered voters want Democrats to control Congress to be a check on Trump by a 52-38 margin. But despite Russia, all the marches, and the Resistance movement — Democratic voters are less enthusiastic about voting than Republicans. The poll found that 65% of Republicans were “almost certain to vote” compared to 57% of Democrats. Are mid-term elections still a turnout problem for Democrats? http://cvote.it/2uBhbz8
LIBERALISM // Josh Barro is a former Republican who’s now firmly in the liberal camp, but he admits that his side has a “hamburger problem” in which progressives politicize all personal choices — all the way down to the hamburgers we eat. But one conservative noted that the Democrats’ “hamburger problem” isn’t going away anytime soon. http://cvote.it/2tJheoh
ONLINE SPEECH // Facebook restores the Catholic sites it had blocked. The website claimed the pages had been blocked due to a spam detection tool. http://cvote.it/2uBmiiR
LIFE // A House committee has passed legislation to give baby Charlie Gard legal resident status in an attempt to save his life. http://cvote.it/2tIyJ8i
CATHOLIC // You should read everything written by Anthony Esolen. But you must read his article on the 50th anniversary of the Land O’Lakes Statement by Catholic colleges on academic freedom. “What made the signatories of Land O’Lakes wheeze and gasp was not the possibility that the state would give them their marching orders. They seemed ready to jump and salute — we are Americans (and Canadians) too! The threat, they perceived, was from the Church,” said Esolen. http://cvote.it/2tIRc4l
SAINT // Saint Apollinaris – http://cvote.it/dailysaint
DAILY MASS // “The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.” (Ps 105:8) – http://cvote.it/Daily-Readings
HISTORY // 48 years ago… http://cvote.it/1eaddkG