In the vast majority of cases, when a person goes to a doctor or hospital or walks up to a pharmacy counter, someone else — an employer, health insurer or government — is paying most or all the cost. That system once spurred former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) to claim that if he paid for groceries the same way we pay for health care, he would eat better and so would his dog.
Author: Merrill Matthews
Are you a ‘principled’ conservative?
Conservative columnist William F. Buckley, Jr., smiles after a luncheon for Vice President Spiro Agnew held at Buckley’s residence in New Yor, Dec. 14, 1970. (AP Photo/Harry Harris) The number of people claiming to be conservatives has increased over the past few years, though only a portion of them are “principled conservatives.” That distinction is important, because a person who isn’t a principled conservative likely isn’t a conservative at…
Why would an A+++++ economy have so many bankruptcies?
President Donald Trump speaks during a gathering at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President Trump gives the U.S. economy — his economy — an “A+++++,” and he considers any claims to the contrary a Democratic “hoax.” And to be sure, many people and companies are doing well. But rising bankruptcy rates among large and small businesses, health care companies, farmers and many others indicate the economy is facing some economic challenges that policymakers, and especially Trump, dare not ignore.
Are Republicans turning Uncle Sam into Uncle Sugar?
Republicans strongly opposed the Democrats’ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which doled out hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to individuals, while increasing certain federal subsidies. Republicans claimed the American Rescue Plan was unnecessary, inflationary and fiscally irresponsible. But that was soooo four years ago.
Now some Republicans want to hand out even more taxpayer dollars, turning Uncle Sam into Uncle Sugar. Let’s compare some of the Democrats’ handouts to what Republicans have already passed and are proposing.