Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Top Supreme Court Health Cases to Watch

by Lawrence O. Gostin and Sarah Wetter MEDPAGE TODAY — A slew of cases this term could reshape health policy. Undecided Issues still before SCOTUS which should be decided this month. The Justices will then take off for a bit to reconcile the decisions they made causing issues amongst the population. Nothing unusual here, it […]

“We must not let our Rulers load us with perpetual debt”

Extract from Thomas Jefferson to “Henry Tompkinson” (Samuel Kercheval) “I am not among those who fear the people. they and not the rich, are our dependance for continued freedom. and to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt . . . if we run into such debts as that we […]

Is increased carbon dioxide good for trees?

One of the climate change denialist memes is that, since plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen during the day, then increased CO2 will be *good* for trees. Setting aside the facts that increased desertification and increased coastal flooding are decidedly *not* good for trees, a recent study suggests that it more CO2 doesn’t necessarily […]

Supreme Court didn’t end access to Mifepristone

Today, the Supreme Court released its opinion in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. Here’s a little background—you can be forgiven if you’ve lost track of how this case has evolved since I first wrote about District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s order granting a nationwide injunction banning mifepristone in April of 2023. In April of 2023, Matthew Kacsmaryk, a federal district […]

Initial jobless claims now in a clear uptrend – but is it unresolved post-pandemic seasonality?

 – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose significantly last week, up 13,000 to 242,000, the highest level since last August. The four-week moving average rose 4,750 to 227,000, the highest level since last September. And with the usual one-week delay, continuing claims rose 30,000 to 1.820 million, the highest since this January: There […]

“Supreme Court Justices Accepted Hundreds of Gifts Worth Millions of Dollars”

by Fix the Court AB: April 2023 Propublica reported on the largesse of outsiders and their generous nature of their gift giving to SCOTUS. June 2024 and we are again hearing of the propensity of the gift givers to SCOTUS and in particular Justice Clarence Thomas. If only they acted in the same way with […]

Auto Insurance Rates Jump 11.2%

There are many comments about the increasing costs of automobile insurance. In Michigan, once the no fault insurance was dropped and catastrophic injury insurance was cut, the care of long-term care was edecimated. Many people with serious lifetime injuries were left to fend on their own after reduced payments to caregivers. Past payments to medical […]