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

Pharmacy Benefit Managers

Introduction to Pharmacy Benefit Managers and their role with pharmacies, insurance companies, drug manufacturers, and healthcare. They do have an impact on the costs of healthcare through the pricing of drugs. Also, a large impact on growth in drug prices, higher patient out-of-pocket costs, availability, and the closing of independent pharmacies. What Pharmacy Benefit Managers Do, and […]

Rules of the Game

A comment by J.P McJefferson who has written tis post at his site in 2023 and again in 2024. It is a great commentary on the House and Senate rules which are political in nature, block crossing the aisle types of legislation, punish constituents as a result, and lead to confrontations amongst citizens who also […]

No, America doesn’t need to birth more babies

I’m reading these religion-based and politically based articles saying Americans need to have more children. WTF? “In an effort to get Americans to have more children, the Trump administration has proposed ideas such as a $5,000 “baby bonus” or a $1,000 tax-deferred investment account for children born between 2025 and 2029. It’s as if we’re […]

Rhode Island Judge Blocks trump Again

It must be the state of Rhode Island citizens and judges are feistier than the rest of the nation. For the second time I am reading about a judge from Rhode Island blocking trump’s efforts to hold the nation up by blocking funding. Maybe it is the same judge? It kind of fits as Joel […]

The Big Beautiful Bill will kill American hospitals

It’s bad enough that Republicans believe poor Americans should be allowed to die without health care. But if you ever need a hospital, whether or not you have insurance, this could kill you, too. “That’s because each node of the system is interdependent. If the 190 rural hospitals estimated in a recent Center for American […]

Threats to Senate’s July 4 Reconciliation rush

What is sitting before the Republicans to be solved before taking a Reconciliation Vote. Been rush and scramble to get this bill in order to please holdouts and pass before July 4th. Hopefully, some of these critters will start to have a heart. Hopefully they start to think about how their actions will hurt their […]

Day of Remembrance on June 17 . . . Juneteenth

Juneteenth became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021. President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. When Melynda Price thinks of Juneteenth, she thinks of hope, home, and of heritage. A legal scholar at the University of Kentucky, Price is a fifth-generation Texan whose great-great-grandmother was enslaved in Southeast Texas. […]

Regressive Bill? Yes, in All of History

Robert Reich offering up how bad trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is and the havoc it will cause for low-income Americans. One example? The reversal of Biden’s subsidy increase from 600% to 400% FPL by Trump. It will price many families out of the healthcare market. There is more detail here “House Bill and Healthcare,” Angry […]

Industrial and manufacturing production mixed, but also consistent with the end of front-running

 – by New Deal democrat Today’s second report was for industrial production, including its important manufacturing component.  The data for May was mixed, as total production (blue) declined -0.2%, while manufacturing production (red) increased 0.1% In March I wrote that “I suspect the big increases in February and March in manufacturing, like this morning’s retail […]