Newsletter Archive

March 2019

How the US Is Losing Billions in Unpaid Taxes

President Trump this week boldly proclaimed that “the Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care.” The president reportedly told lawmakers that he had come up with the new branding on his way from the White House to…

Plus: Plus, Why the GOP won't be 'the party of health care'

A Better Way to Tax the Rich?

Right idea, wrong approach. That’s the message from Larry Summers, former Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, and Natasha Sarin, a Penn law professor, on the tax-the-rich proposals from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and…

Plus: Plus, a bipartisan step to fix the IRS

Trump’s Plan to Kill Obamacare Rattles Republicans

The Trump administration’s decision to back an effort to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act stunned legal and health care experts, baffled political pundits, thrilled Democrats and rattled Republicans.

Plus: Plus, Trump's promised $4 trillion bonanza is falling short

Trump’s Surprising New Assault on Obamacare

A new fight over the future of the Affordable Care Act has erupted in the nation’s capital — and is likely to ensure that health care remains in the spotlight through the 2020 elections.

Plus: Plus, Kamala Harris's plan to give teachers a big raise

GOP Springs a ‘Surprise’ Over Trump’s Defense Spending Plan

President Trump’s 2020 budget called for boosting defense spending to $750 billion, largely by using what fiscal hawks decried as a gimmick: relying on an off-the-books account meant for war funding. The Senate Republican budget resolution…

Plus: Plus: Obamacare, 9 years later

The US in Decline: Americans' Fears for the Future

A Pew Research Center report published Thursday shows how staggeringly pessimistic Americans are about where the country is heading. “When Americans peer 30 years into the future, they see a country in decline economically, politically and…

Plus: Plus, the biggest monthly deficit ever

A Trump Landslide in 2020?

Despite low approval ratings, constant controversy and the perpetual peril of numerous ongoing investigations, multiple economic models with successful track records of picking presidential winners currently forecast President Trump easily…

Plus: Plus, the politics of tax refunds

Where Defense Dollars Get Spent in the US: The Top 10 States

The Department of Defense spent $407 billion on contracts and payroll in the U.S. in 2017, equal to $1,466 per resident. And while that money was spread around the 50 states, it wasn’t shared equally. The Pentagon spent more money in…

Plus: Plus, the Trump administration's Medicaid moves

Trump Boom May Go Bust Without More MAGAnomics, White House Says

The U.S. economy is chugging along. A new CNN poll found that 71 percent of Americans say that economic conditions are good, the highest percentage to say that since 2001. And the White House is happy to take credit for it. The 2019…

Plus: Plus, who's financing the budget deficit

Warren Buffett’s Prescription for Fixing US Health Care

Warren Buffett says the U.S. health care industry must overcome its resistance to change and figure out ways to fix itself — or run the risk that the public will start clamoring for a government-run system, which could be even worse.

Plus: Plus, Republicans push to restrict Medicaid

Trump Vetoes Congress on Border Emergency

President Trump on Friday issued the first veto of his presidency, striking down a resolution passed by Congress opposing his declaration of a national emergency to secure additional funds for his promised wall on the southern border.

Plus: Plus, the Pentagon's missing $2B in F-35 equipment

12 Republican Senators Turn on Trump

The Senate on Thursday delivered an extraordinary rebuke to President Trump, voting 59-41 to terminate his declaration of a national emergency at the southern border. The vote sets up a likely veto by the president, his first since taking…

Plus: Plus, Pentagon defends its budget request

Pay Off the Debt? Trump Is Adding Trillions to It

Time after time in recent years, Republican budget writers have tried harder than Olympic gymnasts to achieve balance. In a sometimes quixotic-seeming quest to wipe out the federal deficit within 10 years, they’ve resorted to using overly…

Plus: Plus, a look inside his massive Pentagon budget plan

Trump’s $4.75 Trillion Budget Sets Up Another Fight with Congress

President Trump on Monday proposed a record $4.75 trillion budget for fiscal 2020 that calls for steep cuts to domestic spending on programs like health care and education and seeks to further increase spending on the military. The…

Plus: Plus, the money trail for prescription drugs

Trump Tries to Avert GOP Rebellion on National Emergency

Facing a potentially embarrassing political rebuke, the White House is scrambling to rein in nearly a dozen Republican senators who have indicated they may vote to reject President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the border…

Plus: Plus - Trump demands allies pay billions more for U.S. troops

Trump’s Ex Chief of Staff: Full Border Wall Would Be ‘Waste of Money’

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly says that building a border wall across the full length of the southern border would be a "waste of money." In a wide-ranging, news-making question-and-answer session at Duke University on…

Plus: Plus, how tax season is going at the IRS

Trump’s Record-Shattering Trade Deficit

President Trump’s efforts to reduce the trade deficit don’t seem to be working — and his fiscal policies are almost certainly making it bigger.

Plus: Plus, can the Netflix model work for prescription drugs?

Why You Don’t Want to Mess with Americans’ Tax Refunds

Amid the controversy over the tax refunds the IRS is paying out this year, new research from the JPMorgan Chase Institute underscores the important role tax refunds play in the financial lives of millions of American families.

Plus: Plus, Obamacare’s premium problem

Rand Paul Says No to Trump's National Emergency

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) over the weekend became the fourth Republican senator to come out in favor of a resolution to block President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to redirect funds toward construction of a wall on the southern…

Plus: Plus, Trump's new tune on the deficit