Don's health care transparency fix, Hochul punts on spending cuts and other commentary
President Trump's 'executive order requiring 'radical' healthcare price transparency,' cheer Arthur B. Laffer & Cynthia A. Fisher at Fox News, 'will revolutionize healthcare.' It 'doubles down on his first-term hospital and health insurance price transparency rules requiring the publication of actual prices of care and coverage.' And it's needed: 'Only 21.1% of hospitals nationwide are fully complying with' Trump's first-term rules as the Biden team didn't 'meaningfully enforce' them. Health care 'is the only economic sector where consumers cannot see real prices before they buy,' and thus 'prices for the same care can range by 10 times, even at the same hospital.' 'Trump's new order increases enforcement to boost compliance' and 'requires actual prices — not estimates — so patients can shop with financial certainty.' It 'will finally make healthcare price transparency a reality.'
Eye on NY: Hochul Punts on Spending Cuts
New York's ''all-funds' budget, including federal aid, totals $254.4 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent or roughly double the inflation rate,' reports the Empire Center's Bill Hammond. Medicaid 'accounts for most of this year's new spending,' as the Legislature's addition 'hikes the state share to almost $45 billion, an increase of 18.6 percent.' Ignoring the risks, 'lawmakers approved an unusually large increase in spending.' Despite congressional plans to 'constrain federal Medicaid funding,' economic uncertainty and Trump actions that have cost the state an estimated $1.3 billion, the budget 'does not attempt to hedge against these threats.' Instead, Hochul and the Legislature say they will 'cut spending later in the year as necessary.'
Foreign desk: Now's the Time To Strike Iran
President Trump insists he'll 'accept nothing less than 'total dismantlement' of Iran's nuclear program,' notes Karen Elliott House at The Wall Street Journal. Yet 'the mullahs in Tehran will never agree to that,' and Trump may be tempted to accept 'something akin to the 'worst deal in history,' signed by President Obama in 2015.' Yet Iran has 'never been weaker,' so 'now is the time for a U.S.-Israeli strike to destroy Iran's nuclear capability.' Yes, that involves risks. But if Trump 'believes Iran can be trusted to execute a new pact, he hasn't done his homework. If he settles for anything short of total dismantlement, it will be the moral equivalent of Joe Biden's ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trust in his leadership will be gone.'
Advertisement
Libertarian: Souter's Odd Claim to History
The 'unusual reason' Justice David Souter, who died last week at 85, will be remembered, per Reason's Damon Root: 'the severe and enduring backlash that he inspired.' Named to the Supreme Court 'by Republican President George H.W. Bush, Souter quickly emerged as a consistent 'liberal' vote in high-profile cases about hot-button issues such as abortion and affirmative action.' Hence 'the battle cry of 'No More Souters' . . . whenever a Republican president had the chance to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. In practical terms, what that meant was 'no more judicial nominees without verifiable conservative credentials.'' Don't expect to soon see another justice who infuriates 'the political party that first championed him while greatly benefiting the political party that first opposed him.'
From the right: The 'Disparate Impact' Obscenity
'You may not know the ins and outs of disparate impact' — the federal doctrine on racism Trump has moved to uproot via executive order, but Christopher Caldwell explains at The Free Press that 'you've surely seen its effects': the end of on-the-job meritocracy, as that 'produces a lower-than-random number of protected minorities.' Good for the prez on taking 'another step toward uprooting the second constitution that has been in place since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.' The Civil Rights Act of 1991 'introduced disparate impact into black-letter U.S. law. It would have to be repealed to bring about the meritocracy Trump seeks.' But perhaps congressional 'minds are changing' since both parties see 'what a devastating weapon civil-rights law can be — and, indeed, always has been.'
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
Bessent calls for steep interest rate cuts
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that short term interest rates should be 1.5 to 1.75 percentage points lower than their current level, keeping up the administration's pressure campaign on the Federal Reserve. Bessent called for a half-point reduction in September at the next meeting of the Fed's interest rate-setting committee, starting a series of cuts that would lower rates substantially below their current level of 4.25 to 4.5 percent. 'We could go into a series of rate cuts here, starting with a 50 basis point rate cut in September,' he said on the Bloomberg News television network. 'We should probably be 150, 175 lower. I think the committee needs to step back.' Bessent's remarks were his clearest yet on what should happen with short-term interest rates. Treasury secretaries, which handles debt issuance and tax collection, don't traditionally weigh in on monetary policy, which is left to the Fed. While Bessent has called the Fed's independence on monetary policy a 'jewel box' not to be tampered with, he has also joined President Trump and other administration officials in criticizing the bank's handling of interest rates. Trump has been calling for interest rate cuts since the beginning of the year and has nicknamed Fed Chair Jerome Powell 'Too Late' due to his reluctance to begin cuts this year and the bank's sluggish response to post-pandemic inflation. The Fed has kept interbank lending rates at an effective level of 4.33 percent since January after making three cuts in the back half of last year. The Fed has been waiting to see the effects of tariffs on the economy. Inflation held steady from June to July at a 2.7-percent annual increase in consumer price index (CPI) after ticking up from 2.4 percent in May. The job market slowed down significantly over the past three months, adding just 106,000 jobs from May through July. Asked Wednesday if a half-percent rate cut in September would signal that the fundamentals of the economy are not in good shape, Bessent said the signal would be one of transition. 'That signals that there's an adjustment, and that rates are too constrictive,' he said. FPowell has said recently that he believes interest rates are now 'modestly restrictive,' meaning that inflation-adjusted interest rates are lowering potential profitability and restraining the level of investment. Bessent criticized Powell's reliance and reactivity to incoming data, which the Fed chair has often stressed during his tenure as chair. 'He's not Alan Greenspan, who was very forward-thinking. They try to be more data-driven, which I think is a mistake,' Bessent said. 'It's just very old-fashioned thinking.'
The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
Zelensky warns Trump ‘Putin is bluffing' ahead of Alaska summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday sent a warning to President Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin is 'bluffing' about being open to peace, ahead of a high-stakes summit between the U.S. and Russian leaders in Alaska set for Friday. Zelensky made his remarks alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in remarks following a video conference call with Trump and other European leaders. They said the call was aimed at setting 'the course for this meeting in the right way.' Trump has floated 'land swaps' between Russia and Ukraine as a path to peace, a possibility that Zelensky has resisted, drawing the U.S. president's ire. 'I stress that any questions concerning our country's territorial integrity cannot be discussed without regard for our people, for the will of our people and the Ukrainian constitution,' Zelensky said Wednesday. Merz said Ukraine is willing to discuss territorial questions, but only if a ceasefire is implemented on the current frontline, throwing cold water on reported Russian demands for Ukrainian withdrawals as a condition to halt the fighting. The two leaders spoke to reporters in Berlin. A translation of their remarks was provided by Sky News. Zelensky said he told Trump to expect Putin to downplay the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy and its military as a way to deter additional penalties. Trump has held off imposing additional sanctions on Russia and blew past a deadline last week to impose sanctions, instead announcing the face-to-face with Putin. 'In reality, the sanctions are very effective, and they're hurting the Russian military economy,' Zelensky said. Merz said that Zelensky and European leaders made 'clear' to Trump that a ceasefire along the current frontlines 'needs to be the starting point' for broader peace talks. Merz said there will be no discussion of legal recognition of Russian-occupied territory, rejecting another major pillar of Moscow's demands. Russia occupies an estimated 20 percent of Ukrainian territory but lays claim to four areas it only partially controls. Putin is reportedly calling for Ukraine to retreat from territory in the Donbas region that is not occupied by Russia. Zelensky said the leaders 'briefly talked about' security guarantees for Ukraine and emphasized that Russia should not be given a veto to block Ukraine from joining NATO, another red line for Moscow. Merz added that Trump 'largely' shares these positions. 'So if in Alaska there's no movement on the Russian side, then the US and the Europeans need to increase the pressure. President Trump knows this position. He shares them largely so I can say we've had a very good, constructive talk,' he said.
Axios
26 minutes ago
- Axios
Trump to host Kennedy Center Honors, contemplates celebrating himself
President Trump announced he will host this year's Kennedy Center Honors awards ceremony when he visited the site Wednesday. Why it matters: Trump has asserted control over one of the country's preeminent performing arts institutions after shunning it during his first term. During the press conference, Trump announced George Strait, Michael Crawford, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor and rock band Kiss will be this year's honorees. Context: Trump in February installed himself as head of the Kennedy Center and removed adversarial members of the traditionally bipartisan board. His takeover prompted boycotts from major artists. Meanwhile, subscription sales for the Kennedy Center's upcoming season decreased about $1.6 million compared to last year — a 36% drop. "They'll say 'Trump made it political,'" the president said. "But I think if we made it our kind of political, we'll go up. Let's see if I'm right about that." What he's saying: Trump said he always wanted to win a Kennedy Center award. "I waited and waited and waited, and I said ,'To hell with it, I'll become chairman and I'll give myself an honor,'" he said Wednesday. "Next year we'll honor Trump, OK? This year the board has selected a truly exceptional class of honorees." What we're watching: House Republicans last month passed a spending bill amendment through committee that would rename The Kennedy Center after Trump and the opera house after first lady Melania Trump. Flashback: During his prior term, Trump was the first president to skip all four years of the Kennedy Center Honors after some recipients declined to meet him at a White House reception.
