The laws of economics can be frustratingly inconvenient, especially in Washington. To many lawmakers, the fundamental principles of economics are neither fundamental nor even principles: They are tools to be bent, warped, and manipulated or outright ignored in order to yield up the answers those lawmakers want.
So it is that Democrats love to argue that raising taxes on things automatically yields more tax revenue for the government. They would have you believe that...
Opinion
Cutting Medicaid would force even more hospitals to close
How much austerity can our hospitals take? It’s a frightening question — and Congress is threatening to find out the answer.
America’s health care infrastructure is shrinking. Since 2018, more than 100 hospitals have closed across the U.S. When hospitals close, doctor visits go down, death rates go up and job losses are severe.
Now, Republicans in Congress are threatening to slash the Medicaid budget, which would strip even more hospitals of desperately needed fundin...
Trump and Musk are targeting Social Security, and you should worry
The most tone-deaf moment in recent politics arrived last week. In a podcast interview, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — worth over $1 billion — said of old people on Social Security, “If Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month, my 94-year-old mother-in-law wouldn’t complain. She’d think something got messed up and she’d get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming and yelling. Anybody who knows payments knows you stop th...
Congress must stop Biden’s VA mortgage bailout — before it’s too late
We are now witnessing an outcry from Democrats, loan servicers and the media over the prospect of Congress scaling back the Department of Veterans Affairs's new mortgage bailout program, the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program. If the program is curtailed as proposed by Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.), they warn, tens of thousands of veterans — perhaps as many as 80,000 — will lose their homes.
But the reality is quite different and far more dangerous. Left unc...
Wisconsin’s high-stakes Supreme Court election is a referendum on Trump
On Apr. 1, Wisconsin voters will elect a new state Supreme Court justice. Normally, such news would be met with a yawn, but not this year — the campaign has already made national news and drawn the attention of people from around the country
The Wisconsin election could be one of American history's most important judicial elections, and one of the most expensive. And, as has been the trend in recent decades in America, this one has turned nasty, full of what one spokesman ter...
The Republican plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act
Everyone is talking about Republicans' proposed Medicaid cuts, but hardly anyone is calling this what it really is: the strategy by Elon Musk, President Trump, and the Republican Party to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, one piece at a time.
The ACA, a historic piece of legislation that extended health coverage to millions of Americans, celebrated its 15th anniversary on March 23. Signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, the ACA expanded Medicaid and provided subsidies so t...
Trump won’t like what happens if Canada becomes our 51st state
President Trump wants to annex Canada and make it America’s 51st state. If he gets his way, here are just a few of the possible “unintended consequences.”
We currently have 50 states that divide up 435 congressional representatives. California, our largest state, has over 39 million people with 52 seats in the House of Representatives. Canada has 41 million people. If Canada were to become a state, Congress would have to add about 54 new House members to represent ...
Autism, ADHD and transgenderism: America’s epidemic of fake medical news
America’s health care system is a mess. Its incentives are costing the U.S. a fortune, both in cold hard cash and in real damage to human health. Nowhere is this more pernicious than in children’s health: The rise in autism, ADHD and transgender diagnoses appears to be driven by profit motive taking advantage of social pathologies.
While the capitalist, free-market system is superior to any socialist or single-payer system in promoting innovation and matching supply...
The impact on US elections if Canada and Greenland were states
President Trump keeps threatening to make Canada the 51st state and also buy Greenland, presumably making that country either a territory or a state. The possibility of either occurring is virtually zero, and that’s a good thing for Republicans. Because while Trump and his MAGA supporters may not realize it, giving those countries the vote would likely send the GOP to the political sidelines.
We’ve seen this movie before. Advocates have been working for years to give statehoo...
What to do about $1.1 trillion in improper Medicaid payments
As the 119th Congress seeks to reduce government spending through reconciliation, talk of Medicaid reductions has raised concerns about vulnerable populations losing Medicaid coverage. But simply following the law and paying only for what Medicaid allows would save hundreds of billions of dollars without ending coverage for any of Medicaid’s intended recipients.
According to official reports, the government issued $543 billion in improper Medicaid payments from ...