Newsletter Archive

March 2020

Joe Biden’s $4 Trillion Tax Plan

The Senate on Thursday passed a bipartisan $8.3 billion emergency spending package meant to speed funds to help the government’s response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Plus: Plus: Senate sends coronavirus spending bill to Trump

Obamacare Is Going Back to the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court said Monday that it will consider a legal challenge that has the potential to overturn the Affordable Care Act, though a final decision in the case is unlikely before the election in November.

Plus: Plus: Elizabeth Warren’s $400 Billion Coronavirus Plan

February 2020

Trump: We’ll Spend ‘Whatever Is Appropriate’ to Fight Coronavirus

President Trump on Wednesday evening defended his administration’s preparedness for the new coronavirus, saying that Vice President Mike Pence will be his point person leading the federal response to the outbreak. Trump said that the risk…

Plus: Plus: Trump's history of CDC cuts

Trump’s Coronavirus Response Raises Alarms

With those words, public health officials on Tuesday urged Americans to prepare for the coronavirus to spread across U.S. communities and bring with it potentially significant disruptions to their lives.

Plus: Plus: Bernie Sanders explains how he might pay for his plans

Trump's Emergency Coronavirus Response

The Trump White House is preparing to ask Congress for emergency funding to combat the coronavirus outbreak, which spooked financial markets on Monday, fueling the biggest stock market selloff in two years as the number of cases worldwide…

Plus: Plus: Bernie Sanders still doesn't want to talk pay-fors

Trump Promises More Bailout Cash for Farmers

The Trump administration has allocated $28 billion in aid for farmers hurt by the president’s trade war, with $12 billion set aside in 2018, followed by an additional $16 billion last year. On Friday, President Trump indicated that more…

Plus: Plus: Record support for Obamacare

Elizabeth Warren Won the Debate. Will It Matter?

The fight was on. The gloves were off. The knives were out. Whatever metaphor you prefer, Wednesday night’s vigorous Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas was worthy of the city known for hosting pugilistic prize fights.

Plus: Plus: Trump economists say GDP growth will fall short of 3%

How Medicare for All Is Tearing Democrats Apart

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made headlines last week by suggesting in an interview with HuffPost that, given how difficult it would almost certainly be to secure the congressional votes needed to enact Medicare for All, a public option…

Plus: Plus: How Dems would boost corporate tax revenue

Mike Bloomberg's Plan to Boost Social Security

Democratic presidential contender Mike Bloomberg rolled out a plan Sunday that calls for shoring up Social Security’s finances, expanding benefits for the poorest and creating a government-backed “public option” retirement savings plans.

Plus: Plus: Medicare for All would save money and lives, study says

Court Strikes Down Trump Admin’s Medicaid Work Rules

A federal appeals court on Friday struck down the Trump administration’s approval of work requirements in the Arkansas Medicaid program, delivering a serious blow to the effort to impose more stringent rules for participation in the…

Plus: Plus: Bernie Sanders' big spending plans

Pete Buttigieg’s Deficit Talk Scares the Left

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has sparked a strong backlash from the left by suggesting that his party should take a firm stand on the importance of the national debt.

Plus: Plus: Trump’s latest raid on military funding

Deficit Soars 25% Over First Four Months of Fiscal 2020

The federal budget deficit over the first four months of fiscal year 2020 totaled $389 billion, up more than 25% from the same period last year, according to data released Wednesday by the Treasury Department. Spending has risen by 10%…

Plus: Plus: Americans struggling to pay medical bills

The $844 Billion Mystery in Trump’s Budget

Unlike in previous years, the White House budget proposal released Monday didn’t include a detailed plan to replace major portions of Obamacare. It did include what Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of the Associated Press calls “an $844 billion…

Plus: Plus: In search of the ‘disappearing corporate income tax’

Trump’s $4.8 Trillion Fiscal Fantasy

The Trump White House on Monday released a $4.8 trillion budget for 2021 that calls for steep reductions in spending on safety net programs including Medicaid while proposing greater outlays for the military and an extension of the 2017…

Plus: Plus: Your Monday news roundup

Trump’s Company Charged Secret Service Hefty Rates

The Secret Service paid President Trump’s company rates as high as $650 a night for rooms used by agents protecting the president, The Washington Post reports based on documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Plus: Plus: Trump's 2021 budget is coming

Is the Trump Administration Gutting Medicaid?

The Trump administration last week announced major changes to Medicaid, the federal-state health care plan for the poor. The new guidance invites states to opt-in to block grants that provide capped federal payments for a subset of…

Plus: Plus: The Pope on tax cuts

5 Whoppers From Trump’s State of the Union Address

President Trump delivered a polarizing, reality-show tinged State of the Union address Tuesday in which he claimed credit for three years of solid economic growth while making more than 30 “dubious statements” about everything from blue…

Plus: Plus, what Trump didn't talk about

3 Takeaways From the Chaotic Iowa Caucuses

Partial results from Monday night’s Iowa caucuses, released late Tuesday afternoon, show Pete Buttigieg leading in state delegates and Sen. Bernie Sanders leading in overall votes, with 62% of precincts reporting. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was…

Plus: Plus: Medicare could save billions on insulin