Rich Guy’s Inequality Revolution Rant Stuns Morning Joe
Rich Guy’s Inequality Revolution Rant Stuns Morning Joe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKfEM2T9ib8
Month: March 2025
Jack Smith’s final say: Takeaways from the special counsel’s report
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/14/jack-smith-special-counsel-report-takeaways-00198252
SEC hits Elon Musk with lawsuit in final salvo
“For 11 days, Musk — the world’s richest man and a prominent backer of President-elect Donald Trump — allegedly failed to properly disclose that he had acquired a major stake in Twitter, the SEC said in a court filing in Washington. As a result, the agency said Musk benefited from “artificially low prices” as he snatched up shares in the company, which he eventually purchased for $44 billion and renamed X.
“In total, Musk underpaid Twitter investors by more than $150 million for his purchases of Twitter common stock during this period,” the SEC said in its complaint. “Investors who sold Twitter common stock during this period did so at artificially low prices and thus suffered substantial economic harm.””
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/14/sec-sues-elon-musk-over-twitter-purchase-disclosures-00198295
France’s Bayrou buys himself time with overture to Socialists
“Raising the pension age has long been one of the most contentious issues in French politics. The country enjoys a generous welfare state, but as public debt piles up, policymakers are increasingly desperate to make savings.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/france-prime-minister-francois-bayrou-retirement-age-socialists/
Austria’s Kickl brings Europe’s anti-populist firewall crashing down
“Twenty-five years ago, the European Union reacted with outrage at the prospect of a far-right politician, Jörg Haider, entering Austria’s government, turning the country into a virtual pariah.
This time? Crickets.
With Herbert Kickl, a right-wing hard-liner who advocates “remigration” for second- and third-generation immigrants, poised to become Austria’s next chancellor, the reaction from EU leaders so far has been to grin, bear it — and hope that Kickl won’t prove as disruptive around the EU leaders’ table as his prior positions suggest he might be.”
…
““At this point, which country doesn’t have a right-wing populist in government to reckon with?” asked the first EU diplomat. “It’s really coming down to being pragmatic and practical, not morality.””
https://www.politico.eu/article/austria-far-right-herbert-kickl-europe-populism/
Dying In America Is Too Expensive
Dying In America Is Too Expensive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBKxyfOLmc
A big insurer backed off its plan to pay less for anesthesia. That’s bad.
“this particular fight was not actually about putting the interests of patients against those of rapacious corporations. Anthem’s policy would not have increased costs for their enrollees. Rather, it would have reduced payments for some of the most overpaid physicians in America. And when millionaire doctors beat back cost controls — as they have here — patients pay the price through higher premiums.”
…
“the avarice and inefficiencies of private insurers are not the sole — or even primary — reasons why vital medical services are often unaffordable and inaccessible in the United States. The bigger issue is that America’s health care providers — hospitals, physicians, and drug companies — charge much higher rates than their peers in other wealthy nations.”
…
“In 2023, the average physician salary in the United States was $352,000. In Germany, that figure was $160,000; in the United Kingdom, it was $122,000; in France, it was $93,000.
This discrepancy is partly explained by the fact that those European nations have more socialized health care systems, in which the government imposes more cost controls on medical providers. In the past, progressives have emphasized that a Medicare-for-all system would reduce overall health care costs by forcing providers to accept lower payments.
With its new policy, Anthem was attempting to do precisely this: force anesthesiologists to accept lower rates of reimbursement.
And the case for forcing down payment rates for anesthesiologists is especially strong. According to Medscape’s 2024 Anesthesiologist Salary Report, the average salary for an American anesthesiologist in 2023 was $472,000. This represented a $70,000 increase over the field’s average salary in 2022. This puts anesthesiology in the top 10 highest-paid physician specialties in the United States.
If we want America’s health care system to treat more patients — while charging us all less money for coverage — then there is no alternative to forcing myriad specialists to accept lower payment rates.”
https://www.vox.com/policy/390031/anthem-blue-cross-blue-shield-anesthesia-limits-insurance
Are WE The Baddies?
Ukraine has paid the U.S. in information crucial to understanding the military learnings of the war in Ukraine. This includes successful tactics and data on how our weapons perform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTm0of2znlE
The Fallout From Zelensky and Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown
Zelensky points out flaws in Trump’s and Vance’s positions and rhetoric, then Vance and Trump get pissed. Trump starts ranting about Hunter Biden and “hoaxes” about Russia. Trump basically says: go along with what I want, or we abandon you.
After the conversation, Zelensky still wants a deal; the Trump team says no.
Senator Graham blames everything on Zelensky, as opposed to what actually happened, showing that he has no dignity or honesty in service of Trump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B0qHCWvgjc
Trump Admin Argues DOGE Is Exempt From Records Requests in FOIA Lawsuit
“In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the Trump administration is arguing that its much-hyped Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is exempt from public records requests.”
…
“”All aspects of the government must be fully transparent and accountable to the people,” Musk posted on X earlier this month. “No exceptions, including, if not especially, the Federal Reserve.”
At a White House press conference earlier this month, Musk said, “We are actually trying to be as transparent as possible, so all of our actions are maximally transparent. I don’t know of a case where an organization has been more transparent than the DOGE organization.”
And again, Musk declared last November: “There should be no need for FOIA requests. All government data should be default public for maximum transparency.”
But DOGE has struggled to make its data public while also claiming exemption from FOIA, which is a recipe for maximum opacity, not transparency.
Between the shifting claims of how much taxpayer money DOGE was going to save, the release and quiet deletion of error-filled data, and now attempts to hide DOGE from public record laws—well, it doesn’t inspire confidence.”
https://reason.com/2025/02/28/trump-admin-argues-doge-is-exempt-from-records-requests-in-foia-lawsuit/