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.