The Graham-Cassidy proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is reviving the federal health reform debate and could come up for a vote in the Senate in the next two weeks before the budget reconciliation authority expires on September 30. The Graham-Cassidy proposal goes beyond the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed by the House in May and the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) that failed in the Senate in July. The Graham-Cassidy proposal revamps and cuts Medicaid, redistributes federal funds across states, and eliminates coverage for millions of poor Americans. 

H.R. 1701 would prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for official painted portraits of any officer or employee of the federal government, including the President, Vice President, Cabinet members, and Members of Congress. The legislation would not apply to the judicial branch. Appropriation laws have prohibited the use of federal funds for such portraits since fiscal year 2014. CBO is unaware of any comprehensive information on spending for official portraits before 2014, but we expect that most portraits of federal officials are for those in the line of succession to the presidency, members of the legislative branch, and military service personnel. The cost of such portraits appears to be about $25,000 per portrait, based on contract awards for a few federal portraits.

From her home in Texas, Laura Wilson set out across the state to photograph cattle ranches, the US - Mexico border region, and rural communities. She frequented rodeo arenas, witnessed parades and preachers’ sermons, and stood sideline at six-man football games. She traveled to remote corners of the West — to a naval air station in Nevada, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and Hutterite colonies in Montana. Camera in hand, Wilson sought images of daily life beyond the suburban and urban sprawl and composed a broader and unique vision of the modern West.

"Today, the FDA issued a Drug Safety Communication alerting health care providers and patients of the increased risk of serious side effects when combining these particular MAT drugs with benzodiazepines – often prescribed to treat anxiety, insomnia, or other conditions – and how to address these risks while continuing to maintain patients on MAT. In addition, the FDA also recently strengthened labeling for the MAT drug buprenorphine to emphasize that patients may require treatment indefinitely and should continue treatment for as long as they benefit and as long as the use of MAT contributes to their intended treatment goals."

Introduced: A bill to prioritize efforts to end human trafficking ... another to require mandatory restitution for victims of commercial sexual exploitation and continue efforts to combat sex tourism; a bill to modify the earned income tax credit to account for the amount by which economic growth has outpaced income growth; A bill to require institutions of higher education to have an independent advocate for campus sexual assault prevention and response.

Rose Madeline Mula writes: I must admit, though, that whenever I pass the bedroom door to go into the bathroom or to access my laundry, my spirits (and any drive I may have had) plummet when a glance reveals that crumpled bed. And I can’t erase that vision for the rest of the day. It remains emblazoned on my brain when I sit at my computer and try to finish that essay I started a week ago (the last time I made my bed) or go into the kitchen to cook dinner (which I hadn’t done since that day last week when I last made my bed).      

The 2016 real median earnings of men ($51,640) and women ($41,554) who worked full- time, year-round were not statistically different from their respective 2015 medians. The female-to-male earnings ratio was 0.805, an increase of 1.1 percent from the 2015 ratio of 0.796. This is the first time the female-to-male earnings ratio has experienced an annual increase since 2007.Between 2015 and 2016, the total number of people with earnings increased by about 1.2 million. In addition, the total number of full-time, year-round workers increased by 2.2 million between 2015 and 2016, suggesting a shift from part-year, part-time work status to full-time, year-round work status.

Casting is complete, filming has begun, and Downton Abbey's writer and creator Julian Fellowes is taking us back to 1922… but this time it's set in America, in his adaptation of Laura Moriarty’s best-selling novel, The Chaperone! Downton Abbey'‘s Elizabeth McGovern is Norma Carlisle, a Midwestern housewife whose life is forever changed when she chaperones a young and soon-to-be famous Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson, Columbus, The Edge of Seventeen) to the 1920s in New York. Returning series include Poldark, Victoria, The Durrels in Corfu while the new entries include The Collection, Little Women and The Man in the Orange Shirt.

"If we can better tailor the amount of opioids prescribed to the needs of patients, we can ensure patients receive appropriate pain control after surgery yet reduce the number of extra oxycodone and other opioid tablets in many homes that are just waiting to be lost, sold, taken by error, or accidentally discovered by a child," says Mark Bicket, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the paper's first author. Analysis of two studies — which focused on opioid storage and safety — shows that up to 77 percent of patients reported that their opioids were not stored in locked containers.

Editor's Note: Florida Disaster has a section on Florida Shelters; National Hurricane Center; Key Messages for Hurricane Irma. FEMA: Hurricane Irma; Read safety tips, up-to-date info & rumor control, and how to help Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. FloridaHealth.gov. and other sources: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; US Army Corps of Engineers Responses to Climate Change.

Secretary DeVos stated that Obama-era campus sexual assault guidelines are not working: Speaking about plans to revisit Obama-era Title IX guidelines on campus sexual assault, Secretary DeVos says that "the sad reality is that Lady Justice is not blind on campuses today," adding that "there must be a better way forward." The Secretary also said: "Instead of working with schools on behalf of students, the prior administration weaponized the [Department of Education] Office for Civil Rights to work against schools and against students." We've included the entire speech.

Jo Freeman writes: Establishing a non-violent containment squad can't be done by a state agency, such as the University or the police. Too many legal complications. But it could be done by the churches, or by an independent group committed to non-violence. That's how it started in the South. Long before the sit-ins hit the airwaves, students and young people were being trained in non-violence. Some of the people who did that training are still alive, as are many who practiced it.

When shopping online, consumers engage in a type of social learning by which they become informed from the decisions of others. For example, you’re probably more likely to purchase a book at the top of the New York Times' best-sellers list or buy an app that’s been downloaded millions of times. But observing other people’s choices is only a part of social learning. The other is noting the resulting outcomes through mechanisms like online star ratings. But how people interpret — or fail to interpret — this data is affecting their decision-making in a negative way. 

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From these, a movement developed to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.