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

Cuts to Medicaid and maybe Medicare

Briefly, a fast read . . . Trumps extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is a $3.8 trillion extension of it which will mostly benefit the wealthy and corporations. Professor Heather at “Letters from an American” (to which I subscribe) had this to say yesterday about the extension current being passed […]

Some Links to Healthcare Articles You May Find Interesting

I was reading about various healthcare issues I found on the internet and in particular Today on Medscape. The snippets are of longer articles which go into greater detail. You may find other articles to be of interest on Medscape at Latest Medical News, Clinical Trials, Guidelines, Today on Medscape. That is if they are […]

Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and Eli Crane of Arizona and Medicaid

In Arizona’s Mr. Andrew Biggs is lecturing us on how Republicans are going to pass a spending bill benefiting those who do not need tax breaks to get by. Instead of cutting Defense or some other programs, Andrew along with other AZ Republicans such as Elijah James Crane will be cutting Medicaid which supports lower […]

Book Review and Analysis: “Seeing Like a State”

David Zetland, “The one-handed economist “Sometimes you just want the answer” Review: “Seeing Like a State,” The one-handed economist I read this 1998 book by James C. Scott (1936-2024) while I was in graduate school (maybe 20 years ago). I loved it then and — after re-reading it recently — I love it now. This is one of my top […]

Train Drain

I know of Phillip Longman more so from his authoring a couple books. One called “The Best Care Anywhere” about the Veterans Administration. This is an article about deregulation and what happens when private equity takes over. It is a good read. Deregulation and private equity have gutted the U.S. freight rail system—and with it, […]

Rural Hospitals Financial Losses, Closures, and Revenue

Part One of this report is an introduction to Losses, Revenue, and Costs incurred by Rural Hospitals. I have broken the report up so as to allow a reader some time to absorb the information on Rural Hospitals. It is a bit lengthy although it does have numerous graphs and charts. The report itself was […]

No Social Security Scandal . . . Just Fake News . . .

Gee, “Whata Surprise” . . . There is no overwhelming Social Security Scandal or Fraud. A newly reported document shows that “anti-fraud checks” implemented at the Social Security agency found virtually no improper benefit claims. This find, while slowing payments substantially. ‘A Huge Scandal’: Internal Doc Exposes Trump-Musk Hunt for Social Security Fraud as a […]

Medicaid’s Role in Small Towns and Rural Areas

In analyzing the Medicaid cuts under consideration by House Republicans for inclusion in budget reconciliation legislation, it is often easier to examine each specific proposal in isolation. But singular reviews does not paint a complete picture It is important to take a step back and look at how these proposals would interact with each other and […]

Energy Star Efficiency Program

You may think the Energy Star program is about helping industry by making it easier and less expensive to manufacture product. Not particularly so; but, the Energy Star on a product could promote greater sales. Much of the costs of manufacture are low as it is and due to offshoring manufacture of product. When manufacturing […]

Most Medicaid adults under age 65 are working already . . .

If this was about people taking advantage of Medicaid, Unemployment, or other government programs, there might be a reason to do what Congress is doing. Instead, elected Republican Senators and Representatives are moving in mass to cut programs so as to maintain Trump’s 2017 TCJA tax breaks which was passed under reconciliation. The tax break […]