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Congressional Republicans have laid out their mega MAGA trickle-down economic plan clearly. Their economic plan will raise costs and make inflation worse. Their five part plan includes:
1. $3 TRILLION IN TAX CUTS SKEWED TO THE WEALTHY – WHICH WOULD ADD TO THE DEFICIT AND MAKE INFLATION WORSE
“GOP wants to push to extend Trump tax cuts… Republican lawmakers gear up to push 2017 tax law after midterm elections, despite potential impact on inflation.” — Washington Post (10/17/22)
Congressional Republicans are calling for extending expiring provisions of the Trump tax cuts and repealing Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provisions that require large, profitable corporations to pay taxes and stop wealthy people and corporations from cheating on their taxes. These tax policies would add about $3 trillion to deficits over 10 years, Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation estimates have shown. By adding to near-term deficits, the tax cuts would increase inflation and work against efforts to bring inflation down in 2023.
And, these tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the wealthy. Under the Congressional Republican plan, the top 0.1% of Americans (with incomes over $4 million per year) would get tax cuts averaging over $110,000 per year, Tax Policy Center estimates show. That’s an annual tax cut that exceeds the typical American household’s total annual income.
2. RAISING PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS FOR MILLIONS OF SENIORS
“House GOP eyes repeal of Dems’ drug pricing law … Some key House Republicans are calling for the repeal of Democrats’ newly-passed drug pricing measure.” — Axios (9/23/22)
“Because those drug provisions are so dangerous… I would imagine [repealing the Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug policies] will be a top priority for Republicans in the new session.” — Rep. Kevin Brady (Ranking Member, Ways and Means Committee)
Repealing the IRA prescription drug provisions would increase prescription drug prices by eliminating the requirement that drug companies pay rebates to Medicare when they raise prices faster than inflation, as they did for 1,200 drugs from 2021-2022. It would expose millions of Medicare beneficiaries to the risk of higher costs by eliminating the IRA’s $2,000 cap on drug costs at the pharmacy, and immediately increase Medicare beneficiaries’ costs for insulin.
3. INCREASING HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS
The IRA provisions making Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums more affordable “bribe people into Obamacare,” give help to “people making over 400% of the poverty line, a group that was never intended to get subsidies under the original ACA,” “hide the true cost of health insurance,” and make “working taxpayers pay for Obamacare subsidies.” — Ways and Means Committee Minority press releases: 8/8, 8/10
Repealing the IRA improvements to ACA premium tax credits would raise health insurance premiums by an average of about $800 for 13 million people starting next year, with about 3 million people becoming uninsured. And if Congressional Republicans repeal the IRA provision that lets middle-class people get ACA premium tax credits, a 60-year old making $60,000 would pay over $10,000 for marketplace coverage in most states, versus half that today.
4. INCREASING ENERGY BILLS IN 2023 AND BEYOND
“GOP leaders have discussed using the debt limit and government shutdown fights to press for cuts to clean energy spending — which many experts view as necessary to slow climate change — approved as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s signature economic legislation.” — Washington Post, 10/25
The Congressional GOP plan will eliminate tax credits that will save Americans thousands of dollars starting next year if they buy an electric vehicle, weatherize their homes, install a super-efficient heating and cooling system like a heat pump, install rooftop solar, or make other investments that will also directly cut their energy bills. Independent experts expect these clean energy provisions will cut households’ electricity bills by hundreds of dollars per year.
5. INCREASING STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS
“[Student debt relief is] too significant to allow the Secretary to act without Congressional approval… This student loan debt scheme is not a legal or responsible policy…” — Rep. Virginia Foxx (Ranking Member, Education and Labor Committee) and 22 House Republicans, 9/7/22
Republican officials are suing to block the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan. If they succeed, that would mean higher debt payments for the over 40 million Americans who could benefit from up to $20,000 in student debt relief. The vast majority of that relief (nearly 90% of all relief dollars) will go to those earning less than $75,000.
BONUS: CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS ARE THREATENING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY TO CUT SOCIAL SECURITY OR MEDICARE
Sen. Rick Scott has called for putting Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block every five years. Sen. Ron Johnson has gone even further and said Medicare and Social Security should be put up for a vote every single year.
Congressional Republicans keep declaring they will hold the American economy hostage by putting the full faith and credit of the United States at risk in order to cut Medicare and Social Security. Rep. Kevin McCarthy endorsed the idea, and Rep. Nancy Mace said Sunday “I support this strategy.”
And the Republican Study Committee, which represents a majority of House Republicans, has proposed a specific plan to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits, including through privatization and raising the eligibility age.
Congressional Republicans will deny seniors’ benefits they have already paid into.
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lookingforcactus · 1 month
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A big cost and concern for many seniors in the U.S. is the price of prescription drugs and other healthcare expenses—and this year, thanks to The Inflation Reduction Act, their costs may go down dramatically, especially for patients fighting cancer or heart disease.
I learned about the new benefits because my ‘Medicare birthday’ is coming up in a couple months when I turn 65. I was shocked that there were so many positive changes being made, which I never heard about on the news.
Thousands of Americans on Medicare have been paying more than $14,000 a year for blood cancer drugs, more than $10,000 a year for ovarian cancer drugs, and more than $9,000 a year for breast cancer drugs, for instance.
That all changed beginning in 2023, after the Biden administration capped out-of-pocket prescriptions at $3,500—no matter what drugs were needed. And this year, in 2024, the cap for all Medicare out-of-pocket prescriptions went down to a maximum of $2,000.
“The American people won, and Big Pharma lost,” said President Biden in September 2022, after the legislation passed. “It’s going to be a godsend to many families.”
Another crucial medical necessity, the shingles vaccine, which many seniors skip because of the cost, is now free. Shingles is a painful rash with blisters, that can be followed by chronic pain, and other complications, for which there is no cure
In 2022, more than 2 million seniors paid between $100 and $200 for that vaccine, but starting last year, Medicare prescription drug plans dropped the cost for shots down to zero.
Another victory for consumers over Big Pharma affects anyone of any age who struggles with diabetes. The cost of life-saving insulin was capped at $35 a month [for people on Medicare].
Medicare is also lowering the costs of the premium for Part B—which covers outpatient visits to your doctors. 15 million Americans will save an average of $800 per year on health insurance costs, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Last year, for the first time in history, Medicare began using the leverage power of its large patient pool to negotiate fair prices for drugs. Medicare is no longer accepting whatever drug prices that pharmaceutical companies demand.
Negotiations began on ten of the most widely used and expensive drugs.
Among the ten drugs selected for Medicare drug price negotiation were Eliquis, used by 3.7 million Americans and Jardiance and Xarelto, each used by over a million people. The ten drugs account for the highest total spending in Medicare Part D prescription plans...
How are all these cost-savings being paid for?
The government is able to pay for these benefits by making sure the biggest corporations in America are paying their fair share of federal taxes.
In 2020, for instance, dozens of American companies on the Fortune 500 list who made $40 billion in profit paid zero in federal taxes.
Starting in 2023, U.S. corporations are required to pay a minimum corporate tax of 15 percent. The Inflation Reduction Act created the CAMT, which imposed the 15% minimum tax on the adjusted financial statement income of any corporation with average income that exceeds $1 billion.
For years, Americans have decried the rising costs of health care—but in the last three years, there are plenty of positive developments.
-via Good News Network, February 25, 2024
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18kgold · 3 months
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Manufacturer GSK has said it’s discontinuing the branded asthma inhaler Flovent, and instead is making an “authorized generic” version, which is identical but without the same branding.
Physicians who treat patients with asthma say the authorized generic will work just as well as the branded drug, but it doesn’t appear to be covered as widely by insurers. That may mean patients will have to obtain new prescriptions and sort out coverage hurdles at the height of respiratory virus season.
[...] GSK is making the switch at precisely the time a change in Medicaid rebates could cause the company to have to pay large penalties because of price increases on Flovent over a number of years. 
“Obviously pharma doesn’t want to be selling at a loss on anything in its portfolio,” said Andrew Baum, an analyst who covers the stock of GSK and other pharmaceutical companies for the financial firm Citi. “So it seeks to evade impact by, one: discontinuation; two: authorized generic.”
An authorized generic, Baum told CNN, is viewed as a separate product, “but still enables pharma to collect some of the economics.”
[... T]here are currently no other generic versions of Flovent approved by the FDA.
GSK did price the authorized generic lower than branded Flovent [...]. But CVS Caremark, a major pharmacy benefit manager that determines which medicines are covered by insurance for its members, is giving preferential placement to another branded inhaler, Pulmicort, on its formulary, instead of the authorized generic versions of Flovent.
[...] The fact that insurance plans aren’t broadly covering the authorized generic of Flovent, said BMC’s Cohen, “means that patients are going to need to get a brand new prescription for a completely different medication in the middle of the worst possible time of year, which is the winter respiratory virus season.”
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kp777 · 8 days
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By Jessica Corbett
Common Dreams
March 20, 2024
"Trump has tried to walk back his support for Social Security and Medicare cuts," said the head of Social Security Works. "This budget is one of many reasons why no one should believe him."
Defenders of Social Security and Medicare on Wednesday swiftly criticized the biggest caucus of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives for putting out a budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 that takes aim at the crucial programs.
The 180-page "Fiscal Sanity to Save America" plan from the Republican Study Committee (RSC) follows the release of proposals from Democratic President Joe Biden and U.S. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)—who is leading the fight to create a fiscal commission for the programs that critics call a "death panel" designed to force through cuts.
The RSC document features full sections on "Saving Medicare" and "Preventing Biden's Cuts to Social Security," which both push back on the president's recent comments calling out Republican attacks on the programs that serve seniors.
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The caucus plan promotes premium support for Medicare Advantage plans administered by private health insurance providers as well as changes to payments made to teaching hospitals. For Social Security, the proposal calls for tying retirement age to rising life expectancy and cutting benefits for younger workers over certain income levels, including phasing out auxiliary benefits.
The document also claims that the caucus budget "would promote trust fund solvency by increasing payroll tax revenues through pro-growth tax reform, pro-growth energy policy that lifts wages, work requirements that move Americans from welfare to work, and regulatory reforms that increase economic growth."
In a lengthy Wednesday statement blasting the RSC budget, Social Security Works president Nancy Altman pointed out that last week, former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to face Biden in the November election, "toldCNBC that 'there's a lot you can do' to cut Social Security."
"Everyone who cares about the future of these vital earned benefits should vote accordingly in November."
"Now, congressional Republicans are confirming the party's support for cuts—to the tune of $1.5 trillion. They are also laying out some of those cuts," Altman said. "This budget would raise the retirement age, in line with prominent Republican influencer Ben Shapiro's recent comments that 'retirement itself is a stupid idea.' It would make annual cost-of-living increases stingier, so that benefits erode over time. It would slash middle-class benefits."
"Perhaps most insultingly, given the Republicans' claim to be the party of 'family values,' this budget would eliminate Social Security spousal benefits, as well as children's benefits, for middle-class families. That would punish women who take time out of the workforce to care for children and other loved ones," she continued. "This coming from a party that wants to take away women's reproductive rights!"
The caucus, chaired by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), included 285 bills and initiatives from 192 members in its budget plan—among them are various proposals threatening abortion care, birth control, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) nationwide.
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"The RSC budget would also take away Medicare's new power to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs, putting more money into the pockets of the GOP's Big Pharma donors," Altman warned. "And it accelerates the privatization of Medicare, handing it over to private insurance companies who have a long history of ripping off the government and delaying and denying care to those who need it."
"In recent days, Trump has tried to walk back his support for Social Security and Medicare cuts," she noted. "This budget is one of many reasons why no one should believe him. The Republican Party is the party of cutting Social Security and Medicare, while giving tax handouts to billionaires."
"The Democratic Party is the party of expanding Social Security and Medicare, paid for by requiring the ultrawealthy to contribute their fair share," Altman added. "Everyone who cares about the future of these vital earned benefits should vote accordingly in November."
Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler also targeted the Republican presidential candidate while slamming the RSC plan, saying that "Donald Trump's MAGA allies in Congress made it clear today: A vote for Trump is a vote to make the MAGA 2025 agenda of cutting Social Security, ripping away access to IVF, and banning abortion nationwide a hellish reality."
"While Trump and his allies push forward their extreme agenda, the American people are watching," Tyler added, suggesting that the RSC proposal will help motivate voters to give Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris four more years in the White House.
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saywhat-politics · 3 months
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For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the OK for a state to import prescription drugs from Canada, where the prices for many life-sustaining medications are far lower than in the United States. This approval allows Florida’s health agency to begin putting in place a drug importation process for some state health programs.
States began passing importation laws in 2019 to bring down the runaway prices of prescription drugs. The first law was passed in Colorado, and since then, similar measures have been enacted in Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin. Even though Congress passed a law in 2003 allowing foreign-drug importation, federal health officials never moved ahead on such plans, citing safety concerns. Florida sued the FDA over the delay in approving the Sunshine State’s importation plan, and a federal judge gave the agency until Jan. 5 to act on the state’s application.
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cogitoergofun · 3 months
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January is usually a big month for hiking the list prices of drugs in the US—and it looks like 2024 will be no different. Pharmaceutical companies plan to raise the US list prices of more than 500 prescription medications this month, and more are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. That's according to a report from Reuters, which is based on data from the health care research firm 3 Axis Advisors.
The high-profile drug makers with plans to increase prices include giants such as Pfizer, Sanofi, and Takeda.
This year's tally of 500 is in line with the past few years, with 452 list price increases as of January 1, 2023, and a high of 602 on January 1, 2021, according to data from 46brooklyn, a drug pricing nonprofit related to 3 Axis Advisors. Overall, drug makers raised the list prices of 1,425 drugs in 2023, down slightly from 1,460 in 2022.
So far, Pfizer—which has lowered 2024 profit projections and is now implementing cost-cutting and layoffs after its meteoric pandemic rise—has plans to raise prices on the largest number of drugs this month: 124. Takeda-owned Baxalta has the second-largest number, with 53 hikes planned.
It's unclear what all of the price hikes are or will be, but the industry standard is to keep these annual increases at or below 10 percent. According to 46brooklyn's data, median price increases have been around 5 percent since 2019, Reuters notes.
The annual hikes come amid fresh federal efforts to drag down America's uniquely expensive drug prices. While drug makers are continuing with January hikes, they're also lowering some prices to avoid paying costly penalties under a provision of 2021's American Rescue Plan Act, which took effect January 1. The provision would force drug makers to pay hefty rebates to Medicaid if drug price increases outpace inflation—which they often do handily. In some cases, such as for insulin, drug makers would have to pay Medicaid programs more in rebates than the actual net cost of the drug unless they adjusted their prices.
Additionally, under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare is now able to negotiate the prices of drugs, with the first 10 drugs selected for negotiation announced in August.
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politijohn · 2 years
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Other noteworthy findings:
80% believe the federal government and private insurance should be able to negotiate lower priced prescription drugs
58% believe a public health insurance option should be available instead of purchasing a private health insurance plan
62% believe the government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care
Only 29% of Americans oppose a single payer health care system (lowest opposition since 2017). 43% support. 27% indifferent
Source
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neuropsyche · 3 months
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BREAKING: Republicans will make defeating Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay Senator in US history, a top priority in 2024.
Needing just two seats to win control of the Senate, Baldwin’s seat ranks as one of the most likely to flip.
Wisconsin is one of the most fiercely contested partisan battleground in the nation.
In 2016, Trump won the state by only 0.77%. In 2020, Joe Biden won Wisconsin by 0.63%.
MAGA mega-donors are poised to spend tens of millions of dollars to defeat Baldwin and hand the Senate back to Mitch McConnell.
Tammy Baldwin is the lead sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would guarantee access to safe abortion care nationwide. She’s a fierce fighter on some of the most important issues of our time — from lowering prescription drug prices to protecting LGBTQ+ rights.
We got her back. 👇
Will you INFURIATE MAGA and donate $5, $10, or even $25 help keep Tammy Baldwin in the fight?
Abortion rights, affordable healthcare, and so much more are on the line! Let’s do this!
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/stb-ads-231030-atadvocacy-support-dd-us
https://mpost.tribel.com/public/posts/0207ffe0-99f5-11ee-8d5b-93733d1e8d12
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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
December 30, 2023
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
DEC 31, 2023
One day short of his first 100 days in the White House, on April 28, 2021, President Joe Biden spoke to a joint session of Congress, where he outlined an ambitious vision for the nation. In a time of rising autocrats who believed democracy was failing, he asked, could the United States demonstrate that democracy is still vital?
“Can our democracy deliver on its promise that all of us, created equal in the image of God, have a chance to lead lives of dignity, respect, and possibility? Can our democracy deliver…to the most pressing needs of our people? Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate, and fears that have pulled us apart?”
America’s adversaries were betting that the U.S. was so full of anger and division that it could not. “But they are wrong,” Biden said. “You know it; I know it. But we have to prove them wrong.”
“We have to prove democracy still works—that our government still works and we can deliver for our people.”
In that speech, Biden outlined a plan to begin investing in the nation again as well as to rebuild the country’s neglected infrastructure. “Throughout our history,” he noted, “public investment and infrastructure has literally transformed America—our attitudes, as well as our opportunities.” 
In the first two years of his administration, when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress, lawmakers set out to do what Biden asked. They passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to help restart the nation’s economy after the pandemic-induced crash; the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (better known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) to repair roads, bridges, and waterlines, extend broadband, and build infrastructure for electric vehicles; the roughly $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act to promote scientific research and manufacturing of semiconductors; and the Inflation Reduction Act, which sought to curb inflation by lowering prescription drug prices, promoting domestic renewable energy production, and investing in measures to combat climate change.
This was a dramatic shift from the previous 40 years of U.S. policy, when lawmakers maintained that slashing the government would stimulate economic growth, and pundits widely predicted that the Democrats’ policies would create a recession. 
But in 2023, with the results of the investment in the United States falling into place, it is clear that those policies justified Biden’s faith in them. The U.S. economy is stronger than that of any other country in the Group of Seven (G7)—a political and economic forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, along with the European Union—with higher growth and faster drops in inflation than any other G7 country over the past three years. 
Heather Long of the Washington Post said yesterday there was only one word for the U.S. economy in 2023, and that word is “miracle.” 
Rather than cooling over the course of the year, growth accelerated to an astonishing 4.9% annualized rate in the third quarter of the year while inflation cooled from 6.4% to 3.1% and the economy added more than 2.5 million jobs. The S&P 500, which is a stock market index of 500 of the largest companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges, ended this year up 24%. The Nasdaq composite index, which focuses on technology stocks, gained more than 40%. Noah Berlatsky, writing for Public Notice yesterday, pointed out that new businesses are starting up at a near-record pace, and that holiday sales this year were up 3.1%. 
Unemployment has remained below 4% for 22 months in a row for the first time since the late 1960s. That low unemployment has enabled labor to make significant gains, with unionized workers in the automobile industry, UPS, Hollywood, railroads, and service industries winning higher wages and other benefits. Real wages have risen faster than inflation, especially for those at the bottom of the economy, whose wages have risen by 4.5% after inflation between 2020 and 2023. 
Meanwhile, perhaps as a reflection of better economic conditions in the wake of the pandemic, the nation has had a record drop in homicides and other categories of violent crime. The only crime that has risen in 2023 is vehicle theft.  
While Biden has focused on making the economy deliver for ordinary Americans, Vice President Kamala Harris has emphasized protecting the right of all Americans to be treated equally before the law. 
In April 2023, when the Republican-dominated Tennessee legislature expelled two young Black legislators, Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson, for participating in a call for gun safety legislation after a mass shooting at a school in Nashville, Harris traveled to Nashville’s historically Black Fisk University to support them and their cause. 
In the wake of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Supreme Court decision overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized the constitutional right to abortion, Harris became the administration’s most vocal advocate for abortion rights. “How dare they?” she demanded. “How dare they tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body?... How dare they try to stop her from determining her own future? How dare they try to deny women their rights and their freedoms?” She brought together civil rights leaders and reproductive rights advocates to work together to defend Americans’ civil and human rights. 
In fall 2023, Harris traveled around the nation’s colleges to urge students to unite behind issues that disproportionately affect younger Americans: “reproductive freedom, common sense gun safety laws, climate action, voting rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and teaching America’s full history.” 
“Opening doors of opportunity, guaranteeing some more fairness and justice—that’s the essence of America,” Biden said when he spoke to Congress in April 2021. “That’s democracy in action.”
LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
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A recent measure from the Biden Administration touted as a solution to lower prescription drug costs has a more sinister motive. The Bayh–Dole Act or Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act of 1980 permitted researchers to own the patents of their products developed through government funds. The legislation permitted “march-in” rights that enabled these agencies to grant a license on their patents to third parties. For the first time in four decades, the federal government wants to invoke this measure as they are losing both money and power amid this private wave.
Codified by 35 U.S.C. S 203, the march-in rights permit the federal government to require contractors to hand over “nonexclusive, partially exclusive, or exclusive license” to a “responsible applicant or applicants.” Around 5% of patents were licensed out before the Bayh-Dole Act compared to around 69% today. On the surface, one may view this as an effective way to push back against prescription price gouging but this is an outright attack on private enterprise.
This measure is not limited to prescription medications as it expands to ever patent created through government funds, meaning every single industry could be usurped by Washington. Had the government actually wanted to lower prescription prices, there are countless measures and legislations that they could pass to do so. Instead, they are directly targeting private enterprises, no different from any communist nation.
Seizing private property has never benefitted the people of any nation. It has been attempted and tried countless times and always results in disaster. The Founding Fathers deliberately forbid this from happening in the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution.
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This November, remember how they voted for you so you can return the favor...
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Vote Blue
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Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Wednesday defended his proposal to sunset all federal legislation after five years and slammed President Biden as “confused” in response to Biden’s claim at the State of the Union address that some Republicans want to sunset Social Security and Medicare.
“In my plan, I suggested the following: All federal legislation sunsets in five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again,” Scott said in a statement following Biden’s address to a joint session of Congress.
Scott last year rankled Republicans when he rolled out a 12-point policy agenda that included the sunset proposal, which Democrats promptly began using as ammunition in the midterms. “This is clearly and obviously an idea aimed at dealing with all the crazy new laws our Congress has been passing of late,” Scott added, denying Biden’s claim Tuesday evening that Republicans want to end Social Security and Medicare. Biden said that “instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” eliciting loud boos from GOP lawmakers in the chamber. Some House Republicans have floated the idea of reforms to "entitlement programs" as part of debt ceiling negotiations, though Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and others insist cuts aren’t on the table. Speaking over the raucous response, the President insisted, “Anybody who doubts it, contact my office, I’ll give you a copy — I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.” “It is being proposed by individuals. I’m politely not naming them, but it’s being proposed by some of you,” Biden said.
That barb infuriated Scott, the former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who called the claim “a lie” and “a dishonest move … from a very confused President.” “I will not be intimidated by Joe Biden twisting my words,” he declared and pushed back by arguing that Democrats effectively cut Medicare when they gave the federal government power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices in the Inflation Reduction Act.
He says that will lead to less money going to pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs and therapies.
Scott argues that his plan anticipates that Congress would quickly renew popular programs such as Medicare and Social Security — as well as defense programs — before they have a chance to sunset. “Does he think I also intend to get rid of the U.S. Navy? Or the Border Patrol? Or air traffic control, maybe? This is the fake, gotcha BS that people hate about Washington. I’ve never advocated cutting Social Security or Medicare and never would,” Scott said.
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stevel202 · 2 months
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Biden's accomplishments include:
Economy/Employment
Over the past two years, inflation reduced by two-thirds while unemployment kept low and economy grew by 3%
Avoided recession
Two of the strongest years of job growth in history
Nearly 11 million jobs created since 2021
Created more manufacturing jobs in 2022 than in any single year in nearly 30 years
3.5% unemployment rate — the lowest in 50 years
750,000 new manufacturing jobs
Near record low unemployment rate for Hispanics
Near record low unemployment rate for African-Americans
Record low unemployment rate for people with disabilities
Awarded the most ever federal contracting dollars to small businesses and disadvantaged small businesses
Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act have spurred companies to spend nearly $300 billion on investments in manufacturing
As a result of the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides incentives for domestic manufacture of technology, in just one year, U.S. companies have announced $166 billion in investments in semiconductors and electronics. This will provide American jobs, decrease reliance on foreign manufacturing of critical technologies, and position the US to lead future scientific innovations.
Creating “workplace hubs” to provide training, re-training, technical education, and apprenticeships in emerging technology and manufacturing
Increased funding to the IRS to enable audits of high-income taxpayers, resulting in the recovery of over $160 million in back taxes owed by millionaires and billionaires
Cost Of Living
Executive Orders and releases of strategic oil reserves resulted in gas prices more than $1.60 lower than their summer 2022 peak
$15 minimum wage for Federal workers and contractors
Over 100 actions to lower household energy costs by $100 per year
Over 16 million households receiving lower cost or free high-speed internet through the Affordable Connectivity Program
Commitments from 20 leading internet providers to increase speeds and cut prices
Inflation reduced by two thirds from its 2022 high
HealthCare & Costs
Millions of Americans are saving $800 per year on health insurance coverage
Four out of five people can buy health insurance on healthcare.gov for $10/month or less
Health insurance coverage rates increased by 50% since January 2021
More people with health insurance – 92% insured is the highest in history
Lowered Medicare recipients’ health care expenses, including by capping out of pocket expenses on prescription drugs at $2,000 per year, capping insulin costs at $35/month, and providing free vaccines
Lowered the cost of hearing aids by making them available over the counter
$37 billion in funding for senior and disability services, including community based services
Improvements to veterans' health care, particularly for veterans exposed to harmful chemicals
Advanced research on cancer and other diseases through the ARPA-H initiative
“Cancer Moonshot” with the goal of cutting the cancer death rate by at least half over the next 25 years
Hosted White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health; with a goal to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases
Students& Student Loan Debt
More than 40 million borrowers able to benefit from student debt relief
Canceled over $22 billion in student loan debt so far
Increased the maximum value of Pell Grants by $900
Climate/Environmental Protections
Rejoined the Paris Agreement to combat climate change
Over 100 Executive Orders and legislation to develop clean energy, protect America's lands and waterways, reduce pollution, and stimulate the development of clean energy businesses
Reducing costs of electric vehicles (EVs) for families, initiating first national EV charging network, and historic investments into EV batteries and materials
Assistance to American offshore wind industry, and convened the nation’s first federal-state offshore wind partnership
New policies and regulations to reduce super pollutants like HFCs and methane gas, and to reduce other emissions fueling climate change
$350 million to 14 states for the reduction of methane gas
More than $1 billion for cleanup of Superfund sites, over $250 million to clean up brownfield sites, and $725 million for abandoned mine lands
Restored protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments; and designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument for conservation of lands and waters and to protect tribal cultural resources and support outdoor recreation
$1 billion to clean up and restore the Great Lakes
$729 million to Virginia for railway projects
Reproductive Freedom
Executive Orders to protect reproductive rights, including access to emergency care, protecting the right to travel, and strengthening patient privacy
COVID Relief
79% of American adults vaccinated against COVID-19, at no cost
Mailed over 740 million free COVID-19 tests
Funding to schools for safe re-openings
Infrastructure
Infrastructure investments in all 50 states, D.C., territories, and tribal nations
Through the Infrastructure and Stimulus bill, over $1.9 trillion to improve, repair, and build water delivery systems, public transportation, high-speed internet, bridges, roads, railways; and to promote American industries, create jobs, and lower inflation
Crime
Reduced crime rates: violent crimes down 8% in 2023; in over 175 cities, murder rates down nearly 13%
Signed legislation to hire more police and invest in community policing
Signed legislation to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act
Signed an Executive Order to improve public safety and criminal justice for Native Americans, and to address the problem of missing and murdered indigenous people
Executive Orders making sexual harassment in the military a crime and implementing procedures to strengthen the military's response to reports of sexual assault
Gun Violence
Signed the most significant gun violence prevention legislation in nearly 30 years, including enhanced background checks and other measures to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous persons
Marijuana Reform
Thousands of pardons for people convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law and on federal lands and D.C.
Initiated review of the drug scheduling of marijuana, with a view to reducing the classification of marijuana from Schedule 1 to a more appropriate Schedule
Voting Rights
Signed the Electoral Count Act, to protect election integrity
Diversity/Equality
Appointed a record number of women and people of color to serve in the Biden Administration
Appointed the first African-American woman to the Supreme Court – Ketanji Jackson
Most diverse judicial appointments in history, including 66% women and 65% people of color
Record number of federal contracts to small, disadvantaged businesses + measures to increase access to credit for small businesses fuel dramatic increases in small, black-owned business and in black family wealth
Proposed new regulations to prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities by the medical profession and in the providing of medical treatments
Proposed new regulations to prevent discrimination against persons with disabilities by child welfare agencies and in child welfare decisions (e.g., foster care services, child placements, etc.)
Signed bipartisan legislation protecting same-sex and interracial marriage
Executive Order to protect LGBTQ+ Americans in the military from discrimination in housing, health care, education, and employment
Invested historic funding for Tribal governments and Native communities
Criminal Justice & Civil Rights
Executive Orders for reforms to criminal justice system, to improve prison conditions, provide assistance to parolees and recently-released, and to improve police practices, including banning chokeholds, reducing no-knock entries, creating a national police accountability database, and reducing the transfer of military equipment to police departments
Foreign Policy
Support to Ukraine against Russian aggression, including weapons and humanitarian aid
Strengthened NATO, G7, and other alliances
Completed the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The withdrawal process was not without mistakes, but a perfect withdrawal would have extended U.S. involvement in a mission that no longer had purpose. “I was not going to extend this forever war, and I was not going to extend a forever exit,” said President Biden.
Significant action to curb Chinese threats to U.S. national security and economic interests, including increased restrictions on China’s access to U.S. advanced technology and hosting the first trilateral summit with South Korea, Japan and the United States, while also working to improve communications between the U.S. and China.
December 2023, announced sale of over $300 million of military equipment to Taiwan in support of Taiwan’s national defense needs, the 12th military sale to Taiwan since Pres. Biden took office.
Successful counter-terrorism missions against ISIS and Al Qaeda
Sources: Whitehouse.gov; DailyKos.com (Good News Roundup “Boosting Biden” series)
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mariacallous · 7 months
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The Biden administration on Tuesday took a big step toward reducing the cost of prescription drugs in Medicare when it named 10 medications that will be subject to the first-ever price negotiations between the federal government and drug manufacturers.
At a White House ceremony to mark the occasion, President Joe Biden talked about the significance of the negotiations and what had made them possible. “Boy,” he said with a soft shake of his head, “we've been fighting Big Pharma for a long time — a long, long time.”
He wasn’t kidding. Democrats first seriously proposed using government leverage to drive down drug prices in the early 1990s, as part of the universal coverage proposal that former President Bill Clinton tried to pass. That effort failed, but the goal of government negotiation of drug prices lived on, with literally every Democratic presidential nominee after Clinton endorsing it. Plenty of Democrats running for Congress — and, in many cases, serving there — were on board too.
Biden and the Democratic leaders in Congress last year finally got it done, with the caveat that the federal government’s new negotiating authority is much weaker than what Biden and those Democrats originally sought.
Even so, the negotiations will likely mean savings both for Medicare as a whole and for millions of individual Medicare beneficiaries, some of whom face thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses today. And now that the authority exists, there’s always the possibility of making it stronger in the future, as both Biden and his allies have already proposed.
That’s not some pipe dream. It’s how these sorts of changes have historically happened in the U.S.: not in one big burst, but as a series of incremental advances. And while in the past, Democrats have struggled to pass legislation without overwhelming numbers in the House and Senate, passage of the Inflation Reduction Act — the legislation that made this pipe dream a reality in the first place — suggests Democrats can now get things done even with the barest of majorities.
What explains the change? Much of the credit, surely, goes to individual leaders like Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). And plenty of credit belongs with the activists and advocates who kept pushing the cause of negotiated drug prices for so many years.
But another, underappreciated factor may be the way the party’s caucuses in Congress have changed. Twenty or even 10 years ago, Democrats had a much larger contingent of truly conservative lawmakers. Many (arguably most) were longtime incumbents desperately holding on to seats in districts and states in the South and Mountain West that were turning deeply red.
Most of these lawmakers settled on a survival strategy that involved publicly fighting with party leaders, voting against Democratic legislation and leaning heavily on the advantages of incumbency — which, inevitably, included relying on conservative-leaning, industry campaign contributions to outspend challengers in elections. Not surprisingly, they accounted for most of the Democratic votes when government negotiation of drug prices was first prohibited in 2003. 
Now, red-state and red-district Democrats are mostly an anachronism. In the Senate, the only exceptions are Ohio’s Sherrod Brown and Montana’s Jon Tester, a pair of populists much more likely to support progressive legislation, and West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, who was singularly responsible for many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s biggest compromises (and who very well may not survive the 2024 elections).
Not only has the disappearance of these red-state holdovers lowered the obstacles to progressive legislation, it’s also empowered the Democrats’ progressive wing — although, in an equally important development, the most prominent progressives have used that leverage carefully. 
Yes, progressives have made ambitious proposals and at times issued demands, like when Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and self-identified Democratic socialist, proposed a version of what became the Inflation Reduction Act that would have been several times larger — and way more than even many liberal Democrats felt they could support.
But progressives like Sanders still vote yes, even when leadership has to make big compromises, as long as they are convinced the legislation will benefit their constituents and move policy in a generally leftward direction. At heart, they are pragmatists.
This willingness to compromise occasionally brings progressives lawmakers grief, like accusations they’ve become just “regular old Democrats.” But being a “regular old Democrat” nowadays means passing popular legislation that helps millions of people, while giving the federal government some real leverage over a market widely seen as in need of regulation. 
That’s good enough for most of today’s Democratic Party progressives, and most of its moderates too — and it’s why, when leaders promise they will keep pushing for more, there’s reason to think they might just succeed.
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nodynasty4us · 7 months
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Steve Israel represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives over eight terms and was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015.
From his September 1, 2023 opinion piece:
Republicans need a narrative going into a competitive presidential and congressional cycle. They can’t attack Biden for lowering prescription drug costs, an economy that’s growing stronger, or a foreign policy that’s united NATO and weakened Vladimir Putin. So they have to attack him on Hunter Biden ands flimsy allegation of inappropriate materials on a laptop with a chain of custody that remains a total mystery.
...
Fundamentally, political messaging rests on contrast. The White House and the Biden campaign have been able to set that contrast for now. And they’re doing it by letting Marjorie Taylor Greene and company do all the talking about issues that don’t matter to the voters they need to win.
Like Hunter Biden, for instance.
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