prices

Texas GOP Success, Pipeline Shutdown, Cuomo’s Latest Scandal, Remembering du Pont

May 10, 2021 by GregC

Listen to “Texas GOP Success, Pipeline Shutdown, Cuomo’s Latest Scandal, Remembering du Pont” on Spreaker.

Join Jim and Greg as they cheer Texas lawmakers or advancing legislation on several key conservative priorities. They also discuss the cyber attack that shut down a key fuel pipeline to the eastern U.S. They break down the latest scandal engulfing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And they remember the wit and conservative wisdom of the late Pete du Pont.

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How The Tariffs Impact Your Wallet

May 13, 2019 by GregC

Listen to “How The Tariffs Impact Your Wallet” on Spreaker.

On Friday, President Trump announced tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, a move he says will help push China to a freer, fairer trade relationship but which a leading taxpayer advocate says will make life more expensive for all Americans.

The trade partnership estimates that tariffs implemented in 2018 costs families an average of $767 per year. Another estimate suggests an additional $500 per year in costs from the new tariffs.

“I think it’s pretty safe to say that a household could face several hundred dollars if not a thousand dollars worth of increased prices for goods or services over a year, depending on what they buy,” said National Taxpayers Union President Pete Sepp.

Sepp also points to research from the Tax Foundation suggesting that if the U.S. implemented all of the tariffs Trump has threatened to impose, the U.S. economy would lose a quarter of one percent in gross domestic product and lose half of the long-term impact of the 2017 tax cuts.

“Unfortunately, U.S. taxpayers are the ones who are immediately feeling the pain here. If the president successfully negotiates a better deal with China, in the long run we may all be better off, but right now it’s almost unquestionable that citizens here in the United States are the ones feeling the most economic pain,” said Sepp.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Sepp explain what other approaches could protect taxpayers while forging a more balanced trade deal with China.

Prescription Drug Prices: How Can Trump Drive Them Lower?

May 17, 2018 by GregC

President Trump is vowing to bring down prescription drug prices by targeting the “middle man,” and a leading health care policy expert is explaining who that is and what should and should not be done about it.

The cost of prescription drugs continues to be a major frustration for patients and physicians, to the point that cash-strapped patients sometimes choose not to get their medication.

“Physicians tell me that they prescribe medication for their patients and they can’t afford to fill the prescription because of the cost of their co-payments,” said Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner.

So who are these “middle men” and how are they driving up the cost of prescription drugs?

At issue are distributors who sell to major clients like hospitals and big pharmacy chains like Walmart and CVS.

“Distributors, called pharmacy benefit managers, have set up their businesses to help provide not only distribution supply chains so these institutions have their medicines but also to try to negotiate big discounts for them.

“There are questions about how much of that money – the discounts – is actually going back to the people making the purchases. You’re always going to have middle men in the economy that work between the manufacturer and the consumer, but I think the lack of transparency in this industry has become something of a problem,” said Turner.

Many liberal critics cried foul when Trump did not order the government to negotiate price reductions with drugmakers, calling it a sellout to the industry. Turner says Trump made exactly the right call.

The left’s approach always is, ‘Let’s put price controls on drugs and we can get the costs down,’ what every government-run health care program in the world does. It doesn’t work. You end up artificially suppressing prices temporarily, but you wind up with fewer new drugs.

“We’re the medicine chest for the world because we don’t have price controls,” said Turner.

In fact, Turner says competition and consumer choice is leading to lower prices through the Medicare Part D program.

“It’s costs are 45 percent below what the government said the costs were going to be at this point when the program was created more than 10 years ago. Seniors’ premiums are less now than they were ten years ago,” said Turner.

Turner says another way to bring down costs is to boost drug price transparency. Right now, she says a pharmacist can only tell you what your insurance company is telling him to charge you. He cannot tell you it might be vastly cheaper to get your prescription filled somewhere else.

Yet another advantage for patients would be to speed up the introduction of generic meds. Turner says there is a difficult tension at work in the current timing.

“The balance of protecting intellectual property rights of that developer that spent maybe $2.5 billion bringing that drug to market is important. But it’s also important, to them as well, that people have access to those drugs,” said Turner.

She says the Trump administration has about 100 different ideas to bring down the cost of prescription drugs and is urging the public to weigh to help prioritize its efforts. More information can be found at hhs.gov.

‘The Vitriol We’re Seeing Clearly Crosses the Line’

December 15, 2017 by GregC

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr is vigorously defending the panel’s decision to revert to the regulatory framework that applied to the internet until 2015 and he is blasting critics for hurling racist insults at the FCC chairman and even disrupting Thursday’s meeting with a bomb scare.

Advocates of the move argue a heavier government hand stifles innovation and upgrades by the major internet service providers. The critics suggest the deregulation leaves consumers at the mercy of telecom giants like Comact, AT&T, and Verizon.

“This is something people are pretty fired up about and I get it. Americans cherish the free and open internet. They don’t want to see the FCC doing anything to undermine that. The vote we took doesn’t do that. We returned back to the 2015 regulatory framework and we make sure there’s consumer protections in place,” said Carr.

Led by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, the commission voted Thursday to classify the internet under Title I of the 1934 Communications Act as opposed to Title II, which is where the Obama-era FCC classified the web in 2015.

“Title II is what applies to your traditional landline telephone service. Title I, up until 2015, is a lighter regulatory framework designed for what we call information services. That’s what the internet was and that’s what the internet is again after our decision,” said Carr.

Critics see things far differently. Late night talk host Jimmy Kimmel took aim at the FCC Thursday night, offering a number of ominous scenarios that he says are now possible because of Thursday’s vote.

“The FCC did something absolutely despicable today. They voted to put an end to net neutrality. This is the rule that says everyone gets equal access to the internet: a big company or somebody selling crocheted owls from their house in the Midwest,” said Kimmel.

“As long as they tell us they’re doing it now, internet service providers will now be able to slow down or block web traffic to any website or streaming service they like, which benefits the big telecom companies and does the opposite for all of us,” he added.

“There’s a lot of myths in there to bust,” said Carr, contending Kimmel and other net neutrality advocates have it backwards.

“That’s what the law was under Title II. Title II said that a broadband provider could block websites, could throttle traffic, due paid prioritization as long as they disclosed it to their customers. What we’re doing is going back to the 2015 framework.

“The key is it’s not going to be a free-for-all. Federal antitrust law is going to apply and it’s going to regulate the type of hypothetical harms that we heard him talking about,” said Carr.

Carr says that incorrect understanding is leading to a lot of the tensions in this debate.

“I’d be very concerned if we were turning over the reins of the internet completely to ISP’s and letting them dictate your online experience. That’s simply not what we’re doing, but I understand why people that perceive that we’re doing that are pretty fired up about it,” said Carr.

“I think why people are getting so much wrong information about this is because it’s a very technical issue at the FCC at the end of the day. Is this a Title II service? Is this a Title I service?

“It really doesn’t get any more wonky than that and I think people are trying to characterize this and pitch it in a way that the mass audiences will understand it and that is resulting in some hyperbole that is really apocalyptic and is not reflective of the reality of what we’re doing,” said Carr.

But when the vigorous debate spills into activists posting Chairman Pai’s home address on social media and even disrupting FCC proceedings or people like Kimmel referring to Pai on national television as a “jackhole”, the passion has gone too far.

“There’s a lot of passion. I get that. but the vitriol that we’re seeing certainly crosses the line. Our meeting was interrupted with a bomb threat. There’s been racist and other attacks. There’s been death threats against commissioners.

“People can strongly disagree about the merits of this issue and they should. We should have a vigorous debate. But when you dehumanize people and call them jackholes and shills, that doesn’t advance the debate in a substantive way. I think it gives cover for people who then go further with these racist attacks and death threat attacks,” said Carr.

Carr is not worried about the courts striking down the FCC decision although several states appear poised to try. He says the Supreme Court gave the green light to classifying the internet under Title I 15 years ago.

The net neutrality reversal will also take a few months to take effect, while various government agencies take part in the process.

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