Roundup
(1) The House passes a budget resolution along party lines with one holdout, Massie:
… [A]fter a hard-fought battle, Speaker Mike Johnson secured the win thanks to a crucial boost from President Donald Trump. This victory paves the way for Republicans to advance Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in spending reductions over the next decade.
(2) Alarming article about surgical training these days:
One of my colleagues heads a surgical residency at an elite medical institution and has served as his certifying board’s examiner for nearly 20 years, overseeing the certification of young surgeons. He has noted two changes during this period. First, many candidates for certification complete their surgeries slowly—taking, for example, seven hours to complete an operation that should take at most four. The problem is so widespread that some insurers have put a cap on anesthesia reimbursement for cases that take too long, even though it is the surgeon, not the anesthesiologist, who determines the duration of the procedure.
Second, and relatedly, my colleague noted a rise in patients’ post-operative complications. This makes sense, since operating time is one of the determinants of surgical-complication rates. Additionally, he lamented that too many training programs fail to give residents adequate surgical experience. This has several potential causes: there may be too many residency positions for the available cases; some programs allow residents to list procedures that they merely observe as part of their surgical experience; and work hours for doctors in training have been reduced, giving them less time to learn.
Another reason why the quality of surgeons and of surgery has declined: DEI in our medical and educational institutions. I have spoken to program directors in residency programs who say that they are afraid to correct, hold back, or drop underperforming minority trainees for fear of being reprimanded, accused of bias, or even losing their jobs.
(3) The same left that cared not one whit who was running the show during the Biden administration – or that he skipped a whole year between meetings and then brought wife Jill to one – is upset that Musk has attended a Cabinet meeting.
(4) Jeff Bezos issued a new directive for the WaPo:
We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.
(5) Here’s an article trying to explain Mangione’s continuing popularity:
His fans embraced him as “our shooter.” The media made him a symbol of American rage towards a system that denies basic treatments with an eye toward the bottom line. Former Washington Post and New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz defended the celebrations of Thompson’s murder, writing that in a nation with “a barbaric healthcare system,” where “the people at the top…rake in millions while inflicting pain, suffering, and death on millions of innocent people,” “it’s natural to wish” that people like Brian Thompson “suffer the same fate.”
So, one reason is leftist propaganda about health care insurance as a right that should not be handled by a nefarious capitalist system. Fine, folks; go to the UK and experience their government healthcare system and see how much you like it. Pay particular attention to what’s covered there and what’s denied. And while you’re at it, interview Canadians crossing the border into the US in order to get healthcare here.
I also believe the author fails to sufficiently emphasize what I think is actually the most important element of all, although a shallow one: Mangione’s looks.
Some women love a sociopath? What could conceivablly go agley?
The perils of indoctrination, not Pauline.
There were women swooning over the Tsarnaev brother after the Boston Marathon bombing; his photo was on the cover of the Rolling Stone.
I’ve witnessed more than one person in leadership positions within health insurance and health care make excuses for Mangioni or express sympathy with what they assume his aims are. There’s a lot of people who will find a reason to sympathize with a killer, and it doesn’t always make sense on the surface why they would.
1) Much to love and much to criticize about the ‘big beautiful bill’. Personally, I’d prefer fewer tax cuts and more deficit reduction. But the broader point is this: the GOP acted in a united (Massie will remain the incorrigible gadfly) and relatively swift manner. Truly amazing.
2) Scary, but not surprising. It will take decades of concerted effort to bury DEI and decades to uncover all of its pernicious effects.
3) Yes. At this point Musk triggers and infuriates the left as much (or more) than Trump. I hope Trump keeps Musk as a prominent player. It’s just beautiful to witness the daily collective meltdowns.
4) Truly remarkable. This is one of the most prominent examples of a genuine ‘cultural shift’. Bezos might be acting on principle or might be looking out for the bottom line. Doesn’t really matter much. The point is: we’re seeing a slight (but significant) Overton shift to the right. Although I expected a Trump victory throughout 2024, I never envisioned it would have such cultural ramifications.
5) All too predictable. The logical conclusion of the warped progressive moral compass. Individuals do not matter and have no agency. It’s all about the struggle between oppressive groups and oppressed groups (and their allies). Private health insurance = capitalism = evil. Some people are denied coverage for life saving treatment (never any thought about all those approved for such treatment, how such treatment developed, why it is so costly, how this costs are absorbed, etc.), insurance companies make a profit, a CEO makes a competive salary. Therefore….he’s a ‘murderer’ and deserves the same fate as his ‘victims’.
It’s a sick, twisted logic but it’s a sine qua non of leftist thought. Beyond that, yeah some women are just attracted to sociopaths. I would argue progressivism carried to its logical conclusions results in sociopathy. But that’s just my opinion.
The tax cuts are a continuation of the existing tax structure (except for the new ones Trump promised– no tax on tips, overtime or ss. The 21% corporate income tax puts us in line (or slightly below) most of the exporting countries and increases our competitiveness in exports. Raising that just makes our products less competitive (and we already have some structural disadvantages). Trump’s two pronged approach– increase production/businesses in the US through two strategies– even lower corporate income taxes and tariffs.
Raising the corporate tax rate makes it harder for our companies to manufacture in the country and export, and makes the tariff structure even higher to remain competitive with imports from other countries.
We could raise the individual tax brackets back to the pre TCJA levels.
Tax brackets: Retaining the current rates (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, 37%) versus reverting to pre-TCJA levels (10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35%, 39.6%
Estimates supports a $200–$270 billion annual increase in revenue ($2–$2.7 trillion over 10 years).
It’s critical in my estimation that Trump delivers on the new tax deductions (tips is the most problematic) since Trump also promised a quick reduction in prices, which is very hard to do in the near term. Even slowing the inflation rate is going to take time if his broader economic policies of pro-growth are adopted.
These would give a quick boost to blue collar income.
Mangione is the new Che.
5)
Bad spine with screws in it that causes him pain when trying to have sex. Doesn’t look like much of a fighter.
Not as much sex going on in prisons that Freeworlders imagine, but good looking young men are going to get tested if they have that weak Mangione look. Weak back ‘n Weak look is gonna make him fight or…weellLLll, maybe his fame will save him in there…
May get the same as Che, but not in Bolivia. All in due form, of course.
Does New York have the death penalty for Democrats/leftists?
I expect the howls from the Left are music to the ears of Trump and Musk. Let them howl. I do hope that there is a plan to deal with the ideological, or is it just corrupt, Judges. Trump may have to bite the bullet and declare that an individual Judge will not be allowed to run the Executive Branch of the United States. The situation that permits this is beyond comprehension for starters.
When I worked in England, many years ago, the job advertisements frequently touted private health insurance. Indications are that the NHS has only deteriorated. People have lno understanding of the differences in systems. In the U.S,in order to stay in business, health insurance companies are forced to police skyrocketing health costs. As an Octogenarian with various issues, and with a wife fighting ovarian cancer, we have a close up view of modern medicine, and the associated costs. The number of tests involving ultra complicated devices is mind boggling, and the price of even the most routine test or procedure is astronomical. I hesitate to accuse Drs and medical facilities of gaming the system; but then—-
But nothing excuses those demented souls who glorify a cold blooded killer.
I have mentioned here the my Wife has Cancer. We got the readout of what was BILLED to the Insurance Co. It was about 6.5 MILLION dollars, yes MILLION. That is not what insurance paid, about 500K I think. Our portion was $4900.00. We actually paid around 6700. It should not have cost that much. We did not have any issues with the Insurance Co. Even the last treatments called CAR-T, which hasn’t been around all that long.
We thought she was in Remission. But, this past week we believe that she is getting it back. We take one day at a time.
@Oldflyer:In the U.S,in order to stay in business, health insurance companies are forced to police skyrocketing health costs.
Having spent years in that business I would love to agree with you, but they don’t try as hard for this as you might think, for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is regulations, and one of the next biggest reasons is that they are spending other people’s money on other people.
And of course it’s not just health insurance that is doing that. For example most of us have (or did before we retired) insurance through our employer. The employer is paying their own money for other people (their employees) to other people (the insurance company). The insurer negotiates rates it pays to the provider using the employer’s money, who’s providing the service to a third party (the employee).
Health care in the US is the same theme over and over, a first party paying a second party for a good or service rendered to a third party using money from a fourth party, with the government sticking its big fat snout in at every step. No one is paying for anything they get with their own money and in this swirl of third- and fourth-party money everyone wants some to stick to them. The human getting treated of course is hoping for some medical care.
And the third biggest reason health insurance does not try to police costs as hard as you might think is that they are generally huge entities that consider themselves to be in a sort of partnership with government and provider groups. A fourth reason is that the ones who can pay providers more can gain market share from their competitors. It may be counterintuitive that you can be more competitive by costing more, but sometimes it is true.
@SHIREHOME:It was about 6.5 MILLION dollars, yes MILLION. That is not what insurance paid, about 500K I think.
Hope your wife gets better…
“Billed” charges mean nothing. That’s the $100 Band Aid and $50 Tylenol they give you. Hospitals all have to report a factor called “ratio of cost to charges”, it’s usually around 30%, and if you look at any hospital’s financial statements (many are public) you’ll see that billed charges are discounted something like 60%.
SHIREHOME:
I’m hoping for your wife’s remission to continue.
@Ackler,
You may love the meltdowns, but the farmers in my state don’t “love” losing millions of dollars worth of sales because Musk decided USAID is “evil” and decided to destroy it.* A mother whose child is sick with cancer doesn’t “love” that Musk decided “Cancer research? Who needs that?” and cut it. And anyone who would like to keep their Social Security numbers, tax info, health records, etc. private does not “love” that Musk and his twenty something goon squad are being allowed to root through government computers for any and all info they want (Especially since said goon squad is making dim witted mistakes like firing nuclear teams and then having to hire them back, firing bird flu scientists and then having to hire them back, firing the only locksmith in a widely visited state park, etc).
Speaking of computers, these self proclaimed computer wizzes don’t even know basic COBOL, or they would have realized that nobody born in 1875 ever got Social Security, much less collecting it today.
*You’d think that if Musk was such a blessing, then the GOP would be eager to hold town halls to trumpet the many benefits. Instead, GOP pols are hiding out from their voters so they won’t have to answer any anything about him. One of our Senators, Jerry Moran, didn’t even have the guts to show up at a town hall meeting to answer the farmers’ anger, so the town hall folks put up an empty chair, said it represented Moran, and addressed the questions to it.
• Exactly (also see Wait Times, Options, MAID).
• The “USA Healthcare Problem” observation/ obsession is one I hear frequently when travelling.
• I encourage folks to think about these questions:
– What were the conditions – economy, healthcare delivery, etc. – when your government implemented socialized medicine?
– Did the private sector in your country – at that time – have the ability to accomplish what the government accomplished?
– Did your government nationalize an existing private, functional healthcare system that delivered on a nationwide scale?
– Does the private sector in your country – at this time – have the ability to accomplish what the government does?
– Have different countries developed solutions, to meet their non-healthcare needs, that are different than your solution?
• I also point out that their historical healthcare problems are not the problems the USA is trying to solve – see “Deliver health care throughout nation” v. “How purchased, regulated & managed” – which is why socialized medicine is not the right solution for the USA (nor is single-payer).
TDS has spawned the mutant MDS (Musk Derangement Syndrome).
You may love the meltdowns, but the farmers in my state don’t “love” losing millions of dollars worth of sales because Musk decided USAID is “evil” and decided to destroy it.*
==
Thanks for the fantasy. That’s what you lot are reduced to to defend Samantha Power’s slush fund.
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*You’d think that if Musk was such a blessing, then the GOP would be eager to hold town halls to trumpet the many benefits. Instead, GOP pols are hiding out from their voters so they won’t have to answer any anything about him.
==
I’m sure you’ve done a comparative study of the number of town halls Republican members of Congress hold in January and February.
Another poorly trained troll do better
https://x.com/paulsperry_/status/1894918689134104851
Doesnt the commerce department do the actual sales
So giving monies to the congo one of the most fabulously corrupt regimes and this is long after mobutu
Most of the monies dedicated to haiti ended up in the hands of beltway bandits maybe some in the hands of cannibal warlords
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1895118496415260831
Corporations don’t pay taxes; they collect them.
@ JohnTyler – indeed.
I have intelligent, well-educated friends and relations who don’t understand that principle.
Some of them also believe that their tax refund is the government giving them money.
@AesopFan:Some of them also believe that their tax refund is the government giving them money.
Worse are the ones who think that claiming 0 exemptions on their W4 is a smart move. Some of them worry about not having money to pay their taxes if they don’t have it all withheld up front, but maybe learn to save money?
I didn’t like giving the government an interest-free loan even before inflation got high.
Every year I figure out how much I will probably need to pay in taxes (which isn’t that hard since my income is not complicated) and have that much withheld. Sometimes I have to send in a small check, sometimes they have to send me one.
We, as a country, are going to be forced to make some difficult decisions as we try to get a handle on unsustainable levels of deficit spending and debt. People are going to be affected often to no fault of their own. They were merely taking advantage of programs offered by the government. We need some mechanism as we go through this period of downsizing government to offer a way to minimize the effects of this effort to reduce government spending.
USAID is really small potatoes compared to other ag funding.
I don’t know what these programs entail, but these may include set-aside programs where farmers are paid to take land out of production. These programs are offered with overproduction has caused a drop in commodity prices.
A lot of the uncertainty farmers are facing have nothing to do with USAID but a confluence of policies that could affect them.
Farmers continue to face high production costs and if prices for their commodity fall, it can spell hardship/disaster for the farmer. Compounding this is the nature of farming. The farmer has to commit to a crop, bear all the costs up front and then be subject to market conditions/weather when the crop is harvested 6-9 months later.
There are plenty of opportunities to reduce spending that won’t affect our food supplies or costs.
Billions of dollars at stake for farmers hit by Trump funding freeze, pause on foreign aid
https://www.oklahoman.com/story/business/agricultural/2025/02/19/federal-funding-freeze-could-devastate-american-farmers/79190024007/
The farmer has to commit to a crop, bear all the costs up front and then be subject to market conditions/weather when the crop is harvested 6-9 months later. — Brian E
Many or most of the sizeable farmers will have accounts with commodities and futures exchanges, and thus can trade their crops well before harvest. Though interestingly, a farmer I deal with is a Mennonite. “Do you trade futures?” I asked. Nope. He doesn’t even sell his crop harvested from our land, but instead feeds it to his livestock.
(3) and (4)
(3) is an example of Dems “making an argument” when there really is no cogent argument to be made. Log these under the heading, “A weak argument is better than no argument.” Oh, he’s unelected. Yes, just like all those other federal employees from the EPA or Dept. of Interior, etc., who have wielded enormous powers over citizens for many decades. I’m sure which ever weak argument they choose has been poll tested.
Perusing some of my lefty friends on Facebook, I have to conclude that there is primarily an entertainment value to repeating some of these arguments. Their snarkiness or irony far outweigh any validity the argument might have.
(4) is a little too rich to be believed at face value. I don’t doubt that Bezos will ape some semblance of “going with the flow.” I wouldn’t give it much credence. It reminds me of Google in the early days. Our motto is “Don’t be evil.” Ha! Don’t be pathetically duplicitous!
Is it possible to be too cynical about these two topics?
TommyJay, most farmers in my area, and probably everywhere get an operating loan so they do have the money up front– but that loan does come do. Loans get rolled over in a bad year.
I worked for a farm coop and they maintained some of the largest farms because it was cheaper to maintain their year to year loans because cutting them off would be bankruptcy as opposed to carrying them and a bumper year would allow them to pay off the loan.
In this area, where a lot of potatoes are grown, most of the crop is already sold to a processor before even planting. They may grow some for the open market, but the risk of a depressed price at harvest.
Back in the 80’s, the price of potatoes skyrocketed to $200/ton (normal price was $70/ton) due to a disease. Those that had planted for the open market made a killing. The next year everyone planted potatoes, many that shouldn’t have, and the price plummeted to $28/ton (below the cost of harvesting them). Needless to say, many farmers (mostly smaller farms) went bankrupt.
That might say more about greed than the risks of farming.
God bless your wife and you, SHIREHOME.
Old joke from the farm country: So, the Old Farmer won the lottery, couple of million dollars. When asked what he planned to do with it, he said he would probably farm a couple more years until it was gone.