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

Fixing the Anti-Worker H-1B Immigration Visa Scam

“Biden Can Fix the Anti-Worker H-1B Immigration” was written early on in 2022. It was not till recently a new Biden rule change is taking place for H-1B Visas. Of course, the problem with this change is how long will it last under a Trump – Musk presidency. I am sure the H1-B program is […]

Republicans want to defund the (tax) police

Under Biden, the IRS budget was significantly increased a couple years ago. Part of that increase was to fund the policing of tax returns, especially among the wealthy. According to Charles Rettig, an IRS commissioner appointed by Trump, the United States is losing $1 trillion in unpaid taxes every year. In the past two years, […]

Economics of Jailing for Profit and Budgets

Jailing for Profit: When Budgets Depend on Locking People Up – by Nazish Dholakia Vera Institute Across the country, more than 1,300 counties have expanded existing jails or built new ones over the last 20 years, increasing the nation’s capacity to lock people up in jails by almost 40 percent. One of the drivers of this growth […]

Immigration: the tech bros vs the Nazis

I’m surprised this hasn’t bubbled up sooner. Not only has immigration been a net strength for America throughout its history (unless you’re a Native American), but in the last three decades, immigrants—particularly from China and India—have fueled American biotech and computer technology innovation. So when I read Trump and his supporters vilifying immigrants and threatening […]

Consulting Firm Caught Promoting the Use of OxyContin

(Reuters File Photo) I picked this up while reading the Bangkok Post a newspaper I would pick up while in Thailand working. It is a notable newspaper. The following was printed in a press release by the Office of Public Affairs as released by the US Department of Justice. Justice Department Announces Resolution of Criminal […]

What Was Passed by Congress Favors One Person Over the United States

It appears Elon is more concerned about his profits than the security of the nation as a whole. This is much like his sponsor Donald who also likes to line his pockets too and at the expense of others. Elon blew up the original bill because it might have limited his ability his ability to […]

AI meets the Department Of Government Efficiency

I have a reflexive skepticism about fads. While AI isn’t exactly a fad, the relentless promotion by the media of an AI future certainly looks faddish to me. That said, there’s no question that AI is making inroads into data analysis. Watson can already read radiological images more accurately than trained radiologists. AI is transforming […]

Trump wants to end the debt ceiling

The US is one of a small handful of countries that has a statutory limit on the federal debt. It used to be routine for Congress to raise the debt ceiling, but recently, House Republicans have been using the debt ceiling to extract political concessions from Democratic Administrations. While raising the debt ceiling wasn’t in […]

The spider’s web called Healthcare Insurance

UnitedHealthcare posted profits of $22 billion in 2023, as many Americans struggle to afford the medical care they need. Witty reportedly took home $23.5 million that same year, while Thompson got over $10 million. Yes, United Healthcare is profitable. At whose expense? Delay, Deny, and Defend is a violation of consumer reliance on their insurance companies as written by […]

Public vs Private Wealth – Breaking Free

A More Democratic Economy A 1787 newly minted United States of America wasn’t far removed from an old Europe where not so long before all property belonged to the crown or state; where only a hundred years or so earlier John Locke had first defended the idea of private property at a time when most […]