This week, Joe Biden gave a populist State of the Union. And the administration reduced the price of inhalers and slashed credit card late fees. But Biden also cut his own Antitrust Division's budget.
Our government is based on bribery via campaign contributions, special tax breaks, and back-office deals. Imagine leaders concerned solely for the good of the country and world.
What I find nuts are people I have met who really like the sound of those "No Labels" creeps. Most of them for some reason are also of the "corporations have way too much power" belief. Hello! No Labels' big problem with both Trump and Biden is they are not friendly enough to corporate power. What is it that causes people to turn their brains off whenever the words "bipartisan" or "centrist" get uttered?
Matt, great stuff as always. Remember we can always want more, but we have to win to get it. Can you really have imagined an administration with both Rohit Chopra and Lina Khan in major policy positions! People = Policy!
Good stuff as always, Matt. I think it is fair to point out that Trump appointed Powell, not Biden. Moreover, the issue with FERC's transmission policy and the right of first refusal is complicated by a lot of things, not least of which being that states regulate poles and wires companies. Still, I am a lot more energized to fight for a second Biden term.
I do not see Biden and Trump as equals on the anti-monopoly situation, because according to Trump's plans he won't be funding the department and Lina Khan, the star of the show, will be gone. Secondly, Trump supports a White Supremacist agenda, which Biden is more successful in undoing. Also, I wanted to point out that years ago in Germany I was able to get my daughter's asthma medication at a pharmacy for 35€ which is about what the USA is going to have now, so that is a good deal. At the time in the USA it was around $300. These things are lifesaving, so I am glad to hear this. For my own inhalers as well. I am back and forth between the two countries. I care about health care and air travel. Boeing 737s terrify me still until they fix their problems with management and oversight.
Could you explain how a deputy press flak going to work for Apple is a sign of corruption? It may be obvious to you, but it’s not at all obvious to me.
“There’s also obvious corruption; a long-time Biden aide, Olivia Dalton, just announced she’s leaving her position in the White House to work for Apple.”
Also, my understanding of Trump‘s tariffs were that he simply paid off American farmers for their loyalty and votes, and he didn’t demand anything of them or produce any more food or lower prices, or reduce horrific agricultural practices or make people treat Ag Workers better.— he just used tax money mainly raised in blue states to buy votes in red states . What was so great about that? Concentration in big Ag didn’t go down.
He also didn’t do a damn thing to unsnarl the tariffs on Chinese solar panels, which is an industry that we are not going to get back in 1 million years, and what we should want to be as productive as possible, in order to keep the costs of decarbonization Declining worldwide.
Always easy to vilify PBMs, but like 'em or not - they do serve a legitimate function in our Casino Healthcare and that function won't end with the dissolution of PBMs. It'll just become more opaque (than it already is). Cuban's great - but his drug company isn't always the lowest price either - so there's that.
The only real function of PBMs is to deliver tiered pricing - as the mechanism to maximize revenue/profits. It's not that different from commercial coverage (tiered to support tiered pricing on the hospital/provider side).
It's always a good gut check tho on just how dysfunctional our gov't is. Of course $740 million (the amount of money the healthcare industry spent on lobbying in 2023) buys a shit-ton of dysfunction ;-)
As I've said to conservative friends, Trump's biggest strength is entirely apolitical: he's a very skilled dealmaker and usually phenomenal at reading the room; and his single biggest weakness is that it's apolitical and not agenda-driven: he almost never cares who he's making deals with and as often as not is reading the wrong room.
That said, I'll repeat here the idea I had the other week: Biden should lob some Trumpian rhetoric in Trump's general direction specifically on how concrete enforcement policy (and personnel choices!) has made a difference for the populist antitrust, anti-Big-Tech, anti-Big-Business movement, in hopes of goading Trump's ego into crusading in favor of antitrust (and other) enforcement and such to prove he's a better populist than his opponents. Whether he wins or loses, it would be helpful to have the yuge man ranting and raving wrestling style about how we need more people fighting for us like Lina Khan, and I really do think he could be prodded into it even though he doesn't consistently "get it" on his own accord.
Brother Matt, do you believe there are actually 100 sincere members of the so-called Progressive caucus?
What have they done? They allowed Pelosi to stay in office when he only needed about 8 votes to get rid of her. The only needed about the same number of votes stop the inflation reduction act, which has 250 to 300,000,000,000 of pork for so-called green energy.
Great update, but a question re: Forest Service quote—-
Having two fire retardant sources not only increases COMPLETION in the sector, or COMPETITION in the sector? Hope I don’t sound persnickety but I’m reading a distinct meaning in the word as written.
Thanks Matt, good summary. Per your GPO link, healthcare suppliers factor in GPO fees when pricing their products. Ten years since my retirement but recall fees at that time were around 3%. A large percentage especially for commodity like products. GPOs original mission of buying aggregation now eclipsed with the consolidation of Hospital groups like UPMC, HCA. Novant etc, who amass their own purchaser leverage. Agree with you on PBMs and GPOs.
Good summary. I feel caught up.
Our government is based on bribery via campaign contributions, special tax breaks, and back-office deals. Imagine leaders concerned solely for the good of the country and world.
What I find nuts are people I have met who really like the sound of those "No Labels" creeps. Most of them for some reason are also of the "corporations have way too much power" belief. Hello! No Labels' big problem with both Trump and Biden is they are not friendly enough to corporate power. What is it that causes people to turn their brains off whenever the words "bipartisan" or "centrist" get uttered?
Matt, great stuff as always. Remember we can always want more, but we have to win to get it. Can you really have imagined an administration with both Rohit Chopra and Lina Khan in major policy positions! People = Policy!
Good stuff as always, Matt. I think it is fair to point out that Trump appointed Powell, not Biden. Moreover, the issue with FERC's transmission policy and the right of first refusal is complicated by a lot of things, not least of which being that states regulate poles and wires companies. Still, I am a lot more energized to fight for a second Biden term.
I do not see Biden and Trump as equals on the anti-monopoly situation, because according to Trump's plans he won't be funding the department and Lina Khan, the star of the show, will be gone. Secondly, Trump supports a White Supremacist agenda, which Biden is more successful in undoing. Also, I wanted to point out that years ago in Germany I was able to get my daughter's asthma medication at a pharmacy for 35€ which is about what the USA is going to have now, so that is a good deal. At the time in the USA it was around $300. These things are lifesaving, so I am glad to hear this. For my own inhalers as well. I am back and forth between the two countries. I care about health care and air travel. Boeing 737s terrify me still until they fix their problems with management and oversight.
We need Sincere Reformers, not pussy progressives
I canceled my subscription. Why can’t I get an immediate cancellation and refund? It’s laughably lame that this isn’t done by default.
Could you explain how a deputy press flak going to work for Apple is a sign of corruption? It may be obvious to you, but it’s not at all obvious to me.
“There’s also obvious corruption; a long-time Biden aide, Olivia Dalton, just announced she’s leaving her position in the White House to work for Apple.”
Also, my understanding of Trump‘s tariffs were that he simply paid off American farmers for their loyalty and votes, and he didn’t demand anything of them or produce any more food or lower prices, or reduce horrific agricultural practices or make people treat Ag Workers better.— he just used tax money mainly raised in blue states to buy votes in red states . What was so great about that? Concentration in big Ag didn’t go down.
He also didn’t do a damn thing to unsnarl the tariffs on Chinese solar panels, which is an industry that we are not going to get back in 1 million years, and what we should want to be as productive as possible, in order to keep the costs of decarbonization Declining worldwide.
Always easy to vilify PBMs, but like 'em or not - they do serve a legitimate function in our Casino Healthcare and that function won't end with the dissolution of PBMs. It'll just become more opaque (than it already is). Cuban's great - but his drug company isn't always the lowest price either - so there's that.
The only real function of PBMs is to deliver tiered pricing - as the mechanism to maximize revenue/profits. It's not that different from commercial coverage (tiered to support tiered pricing on the hospital/provider side).
It's always a good gut check tho on just how dysfunctional our gov't is. Of course $740 million (the amount of money the healthcare industry spent on lobbying in 2023) buys a shit-ton of dysfunction ;-)
As I've said to conservative friends, Trump's biggest strength is entirely apolitical: he's a very skilled dealmaker and usually phenomenal at reading the room; and his single biggest weakness is that it's apolitical and not agenda-driven: he almost never cares who he's making deals with and as often as not is reading the wrong room.
That said, I'll repeat here the idea I had the other week: Biden should lob some Trumpian rhetoric in Trump's general direction specifically on how concrete enforcement policy (and personnel choices!) has made a difference for the populist antitrust, anti-Big-Tech, anti-Big-Business movement, in hopes of goading Trump's ego into crusading in favor of antitrust (and other) enforcement and such to prove he's a better populist than his opponents. Whether he wins or loses, it would be helpful to have the yuge man ranting and raving wrestling style about how we need more people fighting for us like Lina Khan, and I really do think he could be prodded into it even though he doesn't consistently "get it" on his own accord.
What would Noam say, or Michael Hudson?
Matt, You are doing a great service for the American people! Keep it up!
I believe big money is pretending to be Progressive and they’re fucking them up big time!
Brother Matt, do you believe there are actually 100 sincere members of the so-called Progressive caucus?
What have they done? They allowed Pelosi to stay in office when he only needed about 8 votes to get rid of her. The only needed about the same number of votes stop the inflation reduction act, which has 250 to 300,000,000,000 of pork for so-called green energy.
Great update, but a question re: Forest Service quote—-
Having two fire retardant sources not only increases COMPLETION in the sector, or COMPETITION in the sector? Hope I don’t sound persnickety but I’m reading a distinct meaning in the word as written.
Thanks Matt, good summary. Per your GPO link, healthcare suppliers factor in GPO fees when pricing their products. Ten years since my retirement but recall fees at that time were around 3%. A large percentage especially for commodity like products. GPOs original mission of buying aggregation now eclipsed with the consolidation of Hospital groups like UPMC, HCA. Novant etc, who amass their own purchaser leverage. Agree with you on PBMs and GPOs.