Politics Information
Court Packing—Destabilizing and Unnecessary
The idea of expanding the size of the U.S. Supreme Court, also known as “court packing,” has surfaced once again, as it did after the Brett Kavanaugh appointment. Often mentioned is a proposal by Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of University of California Berkeley’s Law School. He favors increasing the size of the court to 13 instead of its current nine. There are other calls for a larger court, such as those produced by organizations like “Take Back the Court” and “Demand Justice.” Of course, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez simply demands: “Expand the court.”
The Sun is Shining
The Sun is shining today and will rise tomorrow. For more years than we know the Sun has followed this same pattern.
Why Fracking is a Big Issue
In my previous column, I described the “paradox of prosperity”—the strange tendency of many people who have benefited from economic advances to denounce and vilify the source of their prosperity, a sort of “bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you” phenomenon.
With New Drug Pricing Order, Trump Flirts with Socialism
President Trump's recent executive order on drug prices gets almost everything right -- except the solution.
Drug Price Controls: Right Objective, Wrong Solution
This month, President Trump signed an executive order to reduce Medicare spending on prescription drugs. For each medication, Medicare will pay no more than the lowest price available in other developed countries.
Biden and Trump, Follow Your Heart and Mind
Typically, the heart leads us and keeps us in various places throughout life.
Trump's Reference Pricing Order Imports Joblessness
Never in the history of the modern world has there been such a need for the pharmaceutical industry to save our world and return us to a form of normality. Covid-19 is impacting everyone, including the leader of the free world. Yet before becoming ill himself, in a last-minute bid to curry favor with senior voters, President Trump signed executive orders aimed directly at this industry and its ability to perform.
President Trump's Executive Order Will Put an End to Pharmaceutical Breakthroughs
Every day, scientists get closer to a COVID-19 vaccine. A handful of biopharmaceutical firms hope to make one available by year's end.
For Workers' Sake, Keep the Pressure on America's Trading Partners
In his marathon testimony before Congress earlier this summer, United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer detailed the trade-policy achievements of President Trump's first term. It's a list that should make the administration proud.
President Trump's Latest Executive Order Will Decimate U.S. Innovation
With only a few months left in his first term, President Trump is trying to make good on his campaign promise to lower drug prices.
Halloween is Coming and Americans Are Scared.
Halloween is typically a relaxed day for America's kids to fill their coffers with candy. Children and adults often don their favorite wacky attire for a day of comic relief.
Enjoy Your Usual Life, But Vote
Occasionally we all feel like we are living in a rut. Our days and weeks are filled with the same activities and schedules. We mow grass, rake leaves, clean the house, sweep out the garage and do the same jobs. We go to the same grocery store on a certain day, wash our car at the same place and see the same people along the way. We go to the same place of worship, and read the same daily or weekly newspaper. Our lives are made up of routines, schedules and the usual.
Support Freelancers to Revive the Post-Pandemic Economy
More than 50 million Americans have filed unemployment claims since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And business bankruptcies are expected to rise nearly 50 percent this year.
Pandemic Hasn't Broken the Employer Health Insurance System
Over 55 million Americans have filed for unemployment since COVID-19 struck. But for the most part, they haven't lost their health insurance. An astounding 98 percent of workers who had employer-sponsored health benefits before the pandemic are still enrolled in workplace plans, according to a July report.
Trade Enforcement Can Accelerate America's Economic Recovery
The stock market has largely rebounded from COVID-19 and American retail sales are improving steadily. Even more encouraging is that the U.S. unemployment rate fell for the fifth consecutive month in September. Each of these gains are sure signs that the Trump administration's economic response to the coronavirus crisis is working.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett and the Purdue Sexual Assault Case
Will some senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee vilify Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee? Attacks on her religion, her large family, or claims that she will block the advance of women may make good fodder for Facebook, but senators who pursue those tacks are likely to reap public disapproval from their own constituents. What is more likely is that liberal senators will take a page from liberal/progressive organizations like Public Justice and portray Barrett as soft on and complicit with campus sexual abusers. How?
Defund Walter Reed? Are Liberals Nuts?
Those desperate for power, as well as those unable to separate reason from emotion, often make fools of themselves - thinking they are at once smarter, possess "unique" experiences (unlike the rest of us), are ideologically pure, and just better at living life. We call those people liberals.
Abusing March-in Rights Would Jeopardize COVID-19 Research
Thirty-one state attorneys general recently urged the Trump administration to disregard the intellectual property protections on remdesivir -- the only FDA-approved treatment for COVID-19 -- and then license its patents to multiple drug manufacturers.
If Trump is Not Reelected, America Will Be Hurting
Most every American has an opinion about the upcoming election.
However, there are several realities we must face.
A Coronavirus Vaccine Doesn't Mean the Pandemic is Over
Dr. Anthony Fauci thinks that drug companies may develop a COVID-19 vaccine before year's end.
Drug Price Controls Bring Socialism to America
Last month, President Trump signed an executive order to lower U.S. drug prices.
New Drug Pricing Executive Order Burdens Patients
President Trump just signed an executive order designed to reduce drug prices. Dubbed a "Most Favored Nations" policy, the order pegs Medicare payments for medicines to the prices paid by foreign governments.
The Paradox of Prosperity
In Friedrich Hayek's 1954 book Capitalism and the Historians, the late French philosopher and political economist Bertrand de Jouvenel noted a baffling historical trend: "Strangely enough, the fall from favor of the money-maker coincides with an increase in his social usefulness."
Fix Our Medical Insurance Dilemma
Give all Americans the option to buy into Medicare. I've paid into Social Security and Medicare my entire life. I'm still paying to be on plan B and supplemental coverage. I also pay for prescription insurance. I often feel like a coffee coupon from McDonald's would pay for about as much medicine as my prescription card pays.
Proposed Healthcare Reforms Will Not Help the Latinx Community
Joe Biden is officially the Democratic presidential nominee, all thanks to his moderate reputation.
Price Controls Inhibit Inovation and Patients' Health
With COVID-19 still raging, it's unlikely that trade negotiators from the United States and the United Kingdom will finalize a bilateral agreement before year's end.
The Bengals and The Browns Stood Together
I haven't watched much professional sports over the last few months. Last Thursday I did tune into the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns football game. My attention grew when I saw both teams on the field, arm in arm standing together for the national anthem. I didn't see three or four kneeling or one team in the locker room and another team on the field. I didn't see anyone standing on their heads or someone else doing flip flops or something else. Both teams were standing, arm in arm in attention for the national anthem. I watched the entire game. The Bengals and Browns played one of the best games I've watched in some time. The game was fun to watch.
Marx on Christianity, Judaism, and Evolution/Race
"If someone calls it socialism," said the Rev. William Barber at an August 2019 conference of the Democratic National Committee, "then we must compel them to acknowledge that the Bible must then promote socialism, because Jesus offered free health care to everyone, and he never charged a leper a co-pay."
Clearing the Air on the EPA's Coronavirus Response
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agency recently issued a memo waiving certain compliance requirements for energy firms in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. A group of House Democrats falsely claimed the EPA's memo gives oil and gas companies an "open license to pollute." To address lawmakers' concerns, the EPA has tapped an internal watchdog to review the policy. But no matter how hard they look, the investigators won't find anything close to what Democrats have suggested.
I Like Ike
As other statues and monuments are being removed or criticized throughout our nation, a new $150 million memorial located near the U.S. Capitol will be dedicated Thursday honoring the general who helped defeat the Axis Powers in World War II and the president who worked diligently to preserve peace during the Cold War.
Price Controls Rob Patients of Future Therapies
President Trump just announced a sweeping executive order that'd forbid Medicare from paying more for advanced medicines than any other developed country.
Biden Won't Win Votes by Threatening Swing State Jobs
It sometimes seems as if former Vice President Biden is hell bent on losing this November.
Sorry, Environmentalists. There's Nothing Good About COVID-19
Environmentalists think they've found an upside to COVID-19. Although the outbreak has claimed over 180,000 American lives and upended the economy, it has also caused pollution to plummet in cities across the country.
Seizing Patents Will Hamper COVID-19 Vaccine Development
It's full speed ahead on the scientific front in the fight against COVID-19. We're on track to have an arsenal of vaccines and medicines for the novel coronavirus within a year.
Why Are People Complaining About Innovative COVID Treatments?
Gilead Sciences just announced it will charge $3,120 for a full course of Remdesivir, the first new FDA-approved treatment for COVID-19. Some knee-jerk members of Congress like Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) immediately condemned that price tag as "outrageous." The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a left-leaning nonprofit that releases its own recommendations of "fair" drug prices, claimed that Gilead could afford to price Remdesivir as low as $10 per course of treatment -- the cost of the raw ingredients used to make the drug.
Why Did They Steal Our Flag?
For 20 years we have lived in our current home in humble Grove City, Pennsylvania. It came with a nice flagpole mounted on the front. We change the flag a lot. Sometimes we display flags with various types of art celebrating the seasons—for Fall, Winter, and Spring. Around July 4 and Memorial Day, it is an American flag. Lately, it has been a flag in honor of my oldest son.
A New U.S.-U.K. Trade Agreement Must Prioritize American INtellectual Property and INnovation
It looks increasingly unlikely that American and British negotiators will finalize a U.S.-UK trade agreement this year. When asked whether a deal could be struck by the end of 2020, one UK official recently responded, "Basically, no."
With Biomedical Research, Taxpayers are Getting a Great Deal
Gilead Sciences' novel drug remdesivir has shown immense promise for treating coronavirus. Yet every time a company develops a promising drug, some policymakers call for the government to take control of the compound in question.
Trump Administration Should Reject Foreign Prescription Drug Price Controls
In responding to the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump has rightly focused on the tremendous innovative capacity of American businesses -- first by waiving regulations that impose unnecessary burdens, next by providing incentives to get tough jobs such as vaccine development done as quickly as possible.
We Need New Antimicrobials To Prevent the Next Infectious Disease Crisis
Imagine if scientists had seen Covid-19 coming years in advance yet did little to prepare. Unthinkable, right?
