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U.S. economy is the envy of the world

One of Donald Trump’s closing campaign arguments was that he would deliver a new “golden age” for America. This week, he announced that this Trump-powered golden age has already begun. That’s fitting insofar as Trump has rapidly eclipsed the current president, Joe Biden, in setting expectations and even an agenda for America at home and abroad. It feels as if the clock on the second Trump administration has already started. So has the usual fight over who should get the credit — or blame — for the economy the next president inherits. This happens to some extent with every ...

Blaming insurance companies is naive

Everyone’s blaming health insurance company greed for the soaring claims denials and roadblocks to care. That’s naive. Follow the money to find the real culprits: lying politicians. In 2013, before Affordable Care Act regulations kicked in, insurers denied roughly 1.5% of claims, according to the American Medical Association. But under ACA rules, denials increased tenfold. Now nearly 15% of claims are denied, reports Premier, an insurance consultant firm. Some insurers deny a third or more of claims, according to Kaiser Family Foundation research. Insurers are also demanding ...

The worst transition ever

The soon-to-expire Biden administration is behaving as if an invading foreign power is about to take over and the house must be burned down to keep the “invaders” from succeeding. In the past few weeks, the cynicism meter has ticked up several notches because of the decisions made by the outgoing president and others in his administration. First came the pardons of Hunter Biden, and then roughly 1,500 others, including a former Pennsylvania judge who used his private jail system to incarcerate juveniles, pocketing the profits. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) ripped the ...

What are Daniel Penny’s politics?

Is Daniel Penny a Republican, a Democrat or something else? As of this writing, his political leanings remain a mystery. Republicans clearly want to adopt the white Marine veteran who strangled a threatening Black passenger on a New York City subway car. They may deny it, but the racial dynamics created a desired optic for their warm support. And the racial dynamics surely played a part in protests by Jordan Neely’s supporters -- that this was a case of a white person killing a Black man who had already been subdued. After a jury dismissed manslaughter charges against Penny, they ...

Firster who loves America’s enemies

Glance through any post-election voter interview and you will inevitably find someone who mentions “America first” when explaining his or her vote. They understand the term in varying ways, but the throughline is the belief that Trump is a strong leader who will steadfastly pursue America’s national interests. Sorry, but that is deluded. Even by the strongman standard, Trump is not securing America. His nominees are not just unqualified; they are anti-qualified. If he were attempting to sabotage America’s interests, it’s hard to see how he would do things ...

America confronts its cruelty problem

The cold-blooded, targeted murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as he walked into a Manhattan hotel early last Wednesday morning has grabbed national attention, focusing some of it on America’s troubling embrace of simple cruelty, and of vThere’s chilling video circulating widely of the hooded, masked assassin pulling out a gun with a silencer, shooting Thompson in the back and then, as the businessman crumpled to the ground, pumping additional bullets into him as he died on the sidewalk. Thompson had a wife and two sons, one who had just graduated from high school and the ...