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

How Much Does The ARP/IRA Lower Health Insurance Premiums Now?

In 2020, after Democrats had retaken control of the House of Representatives, the third version of the larger bill managed to actually pass the House under the more reasonable title of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act. Of course, it didn’t even get a vote in the Senate. In early 2021, a temporary version of this bill by […]

Pride, Chaos, and Kegs on Labor’s First ‘Day’

A bit of history leading up to the creation of Labor Day as a holiday, the first day of celebration, the politics, how it came to be, and the politics as told by Prof. Heather. That first celebration being held September 5, 1882; at noon that day, when the marchers arrived at Reservoir Park, the […]

Lest We Forget . . .

How we got to this point? Maybe now seems like a good time to review the five core truths about the Russia scandal. “Lest We Forget …” | Homeless on the High Desert, August 29, 2022, g’da said “It was a few days after the FBI executed a court-approved search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. Donald Trump started […]

“Finally, Some Accountability for Medicare Advantage Ads”

This was sent to me by Dale Coberly. I was wondering why Dale was sending me trash advertisements. Skimmed it and then it dawned on me. Much of this advertising is made to sway people’s minds to do something. It is the type of advertising I sometimes wish to throw a shoe at the 65-inch […]

Weekly Indicators for August 29 – September 2 at Seeking Alpha

Weekly Indicators for August 29 – September 2 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. The consumer portion of the economy continues to benefit from lower gas prices, while the producer side continues to suffer from higher interest rates. As usual, clicking over and reading will bring you up to the […]

What the IRA could mean for PBMs

“What the Inflation Reduction Act means for PBMs” Times of News This is a strange little article trying to fill a gap in knowledge. The italicized sentences are mine. It does make some sound points on PBMs so I kept it. If you can get into Seeking Alpha or Modern Healthcare, you may find a […]

Where Will M.S. Gorbachev Be Buried?

Where Will M.S. Gorbachev Be Buried?  Mikhail Sergeivich Gorbachev died on the same day as our daughter Sasha’s 33rd birthday. Sasha herself noted that if it were not for him she probably would not exist. It was ultimately Gorbachev who decided that the USSR would obey the Helsinki Accords rules on letting people get married […]

August jobs report: despite a good headline number, the decelerating trend resumes

August jobs report: despite a good headline number, the decelerating trend resumes  I have written a number of times since February that the short leading indicators have signaled that we should expect weaker monthly employment reports, with both fewer new jobs and a higher unemployment rate. That was completely *not* the case in July, In […]

Introducing the New USPS Sorting & Delivery Centers

Save The Post Office, Steve Hutkins Steve Hutkins and Mark Jamison (retired NC postmaster) have been writing about the USPS for a long time now (years). This post is about Louis DeJoy’s efforts to centralize the Post Office into hubs with carriers leaving from the hubs and having local post offices becoming little more than […]