Politics

Trump’s MAGA Rallies Costing Cities A Lot of Money

Written by adminJuly 2, 2019

As we gear up for the 2020 presidential election, we know one thing for sure: billions will be spent in the pursuit of the White House. One wildcard in particular, the president himself, is most likely going to lead the Democrats into spending more than they probably ever have in party history. They’re angry and desperate to get Trump out of office.

On the other side of the equation, Trump won the presidency off of his ability to go where the people are at. He’s held a lot of large rallies during his campaign and even now that he holds office. Most presidents have smaller gatherings, but Trump doesn’t do small. He likes the big rallies and brags about them on social media, even purposely inflating the numbers on several occasions.

It appears as if President Trump’s massive MAGA rallies will be going nowhere anytime soon. He is set to kick off his 2020 bid in Orlando, Florida. Many thousands of Americans have already begun waiting in line – 48 hours before the rally is even set to begin! Love him or hate him, President Trump certainly knows how to throw one heck of a rally and his supporters love it.

Not Footing the Bill

While Trump supporters have no problem waiting in long lines that stretch around the block to see their president, the cities themselves haven’t been too thrilled. Having the U.S. president visit is always an honor, even if they’re a polarizing figure. But cities are now frustrated with the president due to his inability to pay the bill his visits cost them.

As you can imagine, it costs a lot of money for a city to host any world leader. There’s traffic, police, security, fire fighters, and so much more that goes into a visit like that. According to several cities, Trump isn’t paying his MAGA rally bills. He owes over $800,000 to city governments all over the country.

El Paso alone, the place where Trump had a dueling rally against Beto O’Rourke while stumping for Ted Cruz, says Trump owes them $470,417. This is data from the Center for Public Integrity and first reported by NBC News. This is a substantial amount that the Trump administration says they’re not going to pay – and for good reason. He says El Paso’s bill is ten times higher than any other city he’s visited and he’s being unfairly targeted.

Other Cities with Unpaid Bills

While El Paso claims the largest unpaid bill, there are several others that stretch back to his campaign. Green Bay, Wisconsin, Burlington, Vermont, Tucson, Arizona, Billings, Montana, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Spokane, Washington all say Trump owes them money for their security detail and other similar matters that his visit cost the city.

Whether these cities ever see the money again is up for debate. The Democrats don’t feel as if the president is being responsible, even dinging him by making the claim that Trump is not known for paying his bills. “Let’s be honest, when does Trump ever pay his bills?” Spokane City Councilmember Kate Burke told NBC News.

California Rep. Zoe Lofgren, chairwoman of the Committee on House Administration called Trump’s actions “outrageous,” and added that “taxpayers deserve to know to what extent they are subsidizing the president’s political activities.”

The Federal Election Commission might soon have to get involved, as there are potential legal issues waiting for the president if he doesn’t comply and pay the debts that are owed. The rules state: “A political committee shall report a disputed debt … if the creditor has provided something of value to the political committee.”

Written by adminJune 25, 2019

Politics

In a move that might help push down some of the costs of healthcare, President Trump signed a new executive order yesterday afternoon. In it, he called for hospitals and doctor offices to be more transparent about their prices. The goal is to give patients the opportunity to shop around. If they can compare prices, it might impact where they go to receive care.

Allowing for consumers to shop around, in turn, drives down the market cost. Currently, if you needed an emergency room visit, the costs are hidden from view. You don’t know what you’re getting into until later when you receive the crazy bill. This gives hospitals a marketing advantage as they don’t feel the need to compete with other hospitals. Now they do, which will ultimately help to drive down costs.

“Hospitals will be required to publish prices that reflect what people pay for services,” said President Trump at a White House event. “You will get great pricing. Prices will come down by numbers that you wouldn’t believe. The cost of healthcare will go way, way down.”

Giving Patients Control

Businessman-turned-president understands a thing or two about competition and how to drive down costs. Yet, this executive order doesn’t tell the hospitals how it should be done. In fact, it simply directs the Department of Health and Human Services to start putting together a new policy that hospitals will later be forced to follow.

“The president knows the best way to lower costs in health care is to put patients in control by increasing choice and competition,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said at a phone briefing for reporters Monday morning. The new rule should also “require health care providers and insurers to provide patients with information about the out-of-pocket costs they’ll face before they receive health care services,” he added.

“Today patients don’t have access to prices or choices or even ability to see quality,” said Cynthia Fisher, founder of a group called Patient Rights Advocate. “I think the exciting part of this executive order is the President and administration are really moving to put the patient in the driver’s seat and be empowered for the first time with knowledge and information.”

New Rules to Be Determined

Again, it’s unknown what rules will be written in this regard, but it’s expected to help drive down costs in five unique ways. Those ways haven’t been revealed yet, but it’s the most comprehensive package designed to lower healthcare costs, much to the frustration of the healthcare industry as a whole.

In fact, the healthcare industry is saying these changes will have the opposite effect and push prices higher.

“Publicly disclosing competitively negotiated, proprietary rates will reduce competition and push prices higher — not lower — for consumers, patients, and taxpayers,” said Matt Eyles, CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans in a statement. He says it will perpetuate “the old days of the American health care system paying for volume over value. We know that is a formula for higher costs and worse care for everyone.”

“I’m skeptical that disclosure of health care prices will drive prices down, and could even increase prices once hospitals and doctors know what their competitors down the street are getting paid,” said Larry Levitt, senior vice president for health reform the Kaiser Family Foundation, in a tweet.

Written by adminJune 17, 2019

Politics , Student Loan Consolidation

You may be wondering where does former Vice President Joe Biden stand on student loan debt? Most polls show that he’s a clear front-runner – but he has not said much about the student loan debt crisis. Here’s what we know:

Free College?

Biden indicated that he supported the concept of free college, saying, “We need to commit to 16 years of free public education for all our children… We all know that 12 years of public education is not enough. As a nation, let’s make the same commitment to a college education today that we made to a high school education 100 years ago.” However, he did not offer a plan or any specifics to implement it.

Biden’s History on the Topic

We have to look to Biden’s’ past to get a sense of where he has stood historically on the issue.

In 1998, Joe Biden supported a change that created an “undue hardship” standard for federal student loans, making it significantly more difficult for borrowers to discharge their federal student loans in bankruptcy. Biden continued to oppose efforts to loosen bankruptcy restrictions on student loans through 2001.
MOST RECENTLY: In 2005, Biden supported a change in the “bankruptcy code” by applying the “undue hardship” standard. Before this, student loan debt was not treated much differently than other forms of consumer debt in bankruptcy. After this change, private student loans started rapidly expanding across college campuses

As Vice President, Biden was part of an administration that created new programs and protections for student loan borrowers including Borrower Defense to Repayment and Pay As You Earn, as well as greater oversight of the for-profit college industry.

Until he releases more detailed policy proposals to tackle student loan debt, all we have to go on are his prior positions as a lawmaker. We’ll just have to wait and see what else he comes up with.

Written by adminJune 8, 2019

Politics

As we finish the tax cycle for 2018 and the final numbers are coming out, we get a clear picture of how the economy is improving. According to the IRS, they pulled in an additional $93 billion in tax revenue compared to 2017. You might be asking yourself how this is possible if the tax cuts really helped Americans.

In fact, most Americans did receive some type of tax cut. It largely went unnoticed. After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, the IRS asked Americans to update withholdings to accommodate the law. Very few actually did, so they were shocked when tax time came. In a lot of cases, they ended up owing where a year before they received a refund.

That doesn’t mean the tax cuts didn’t work. It means people received more money in their pay and less was taken out for taxes than the previous year. That changes things. Refunds are simply the government paying you back for taking more of your money throughout the year than they should’ve. Yet, many were angry that their refunds were smaller.

Considering also that refunds also increased this year, there’s another reason for this growth. Most of it has to do with the stellar job market that sees a record number of Americans employed. The IRS processed 1.5% more returns than it did the previous year. That’s a lot of extra dough coming into the treasury.

Adding Up the Numbers

The total amount of gross collections towards the treasury for 2018 is $1.97 trillion. That’s up from the $1.87 trillion the year before. That’s a difference of $386 billion in additional revenue thanks to the tax cuts. Something special has to be going on for the U.S. government to cut taxes and make more money.

Large businesses paid a lot less money as well. They paid $91 billion less than in 2017, which is a significant cut. It’s obvious most of that money went right back into hiring new employees and improving the business. So far, the Democrats have largely blasted the tax cuts, saying the opposite would happen, that the deficit would only grow. Apparently, they were wrong.

Democrats Angry

Still, the Dems continued to criticize the tax cuts to try and make it seem as if they weren’t helping Americans. 40 Democrats in the Senate even tried to make it seem as if people who were surprised at their tax refund situation were getting screwed by the president’s plan.

“It looks like the Trump Treasury Department spent 2018, an election year, goosing people’s paychecks by under-withholding, and it should have been obvious that the bill would come due eventually,” Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also hit the Trump administration over its tax policy: “Many Americans depend on their tax refund to pay bills and make ends meet – but this tax season, working families will see smaller than expected returns and surprise tax bills because the Trump administration used smoke and mirrors in a shallow attempt to exaggerate the impact of their tax law on middle class families for political reasons.

At first, refunds on average were down a staggering 17%, before slowly creeping upward and remaining relatively flat. According to the most recent statistics from the IRS, by the beginning of May, individual income tax returns on average were down 1.6% when compared to the year prior. (And as always, some states are better than others for taxpayers.)”

At least no one can now say that tax cuts don’t trickle down and help out the rest of the economy. It appears as if, at least this time, it has.

Written by adminJune 3, 2019

Politics

Free College?

Biden’s History on the Topic

We have to look to Biden’s’ past to get a sense of where he has stood historically on the issue.

In 1998, Joe Biden supported a change that created an “undue hardship” standard for federal student loans, making it significantly more difficult for borrowers to discharge their federal student loans in bankruptcy. Biden continued to oppose efforts to loosen bankruptcy restrictions on student loans through 2001.
MOST RECENTLY: In 2005, Biden supported a change in the “bankruptcy code” by applying the “undue hardship” standard. Before this, student loan debt was not treated much differently than other forms of consumer debt in bankruptcy. After this change, private student loans started rapidly expanding across college campuses

Until he releases more detailed policy proposals to tackle student loan debt, all we have to go on are his prior positions as a lawmaker. We’ll just have to wait and see what else he comes up with.

Written by adminMay 30, 2019

Politics

Scientists are quite busy as of late, creating new medications that help advance the human race. The problem is, pesky big pharma keeps getting in the way by putting profits over life. We saw it over the past few years when the life-saving epipen drug that stops anaphylaxis in its tracks for a few dollars suddenly starts selling for as much as $700.

While that is incredibly expensive for something that saves lives, it doesn’t hold a candle to a new drug called Zolgensma. Developed by a Swiss drug company called Novartis, Zolgensma helps saves the lives of children who are born with spinal muscular atrophy. This disease kills hundreds of babies every year and finally a new medication has scored FDA approval.

It’s unlikely to be affordable for the vast majority of patients. The asking price for a drug they simply call “Z”? The answer is $2.125 million. Yes, that’s over 2 MILLION dollars. For a drug that stops spinal muscular atrophy. It’s a horrible disease that forces a child to lose complete control over their limbs and weaken their bodies to the point where they can’t even breathe.

“Z” and it’s Effectiveness

Z has been showing a lot of great promise in reversing the effects of spinal muscular atrophy. It works by using genetically modified viruses to shoot healthy copies of the damaged genetic code into the body of the child. Those viruses then make repairs that eventually relieve and even cure the symptoms. It’s an incredible feat of genetic engineering.

The company says the price tag is essentially a lifetime worth of treatment crammed into a single dose of Z that will ultimately save lives. They also expect that insurance companies are willing to cover at least most of the cost of the drug while offering payments plans to parents who cannot afford it otherwise.

“We’re talking about a lifetime of benefit being condensed down into a one-time treatment,” David Lennon, president of AveXis, Inc, which developed the drug, told NPR. “We’re not used to thinking about this that way. We’re used to a system of a chronic medication where we spread things out over years if not decades.”

Opponents of the Price

Because the price of Z is sky-high, there are many opponents to these types of sales tactics. With a price tag of $2 million and up, many parents will spend a lifetime paying for a single dose. Still, there’s more to the story. Novartis has claimed that the current price tag is a bargain at ‘half-price’ the $5 million estimate it’s worth.

Parent’s know that such a hefty price tag is insignificant when it comes to the life of their child and they’ll do whatever they can to pay it. Others say that sort of thinking is why companies continue upping the price for life-saving drugs. They say it’s irresponsible and may end in the death of a child whose parents ultimately couldn’t afford the drug.

At this point, it’s unknown if any insurance companies will actually take the brunt of the cost of Z. It’s probably just a stall tactic to prevent too many people from protesting against the company for making the drug so expensive.

Written by adminMay 24, 2019

Politics

As President Trump and House Democrats continue to fight over Trump’s tax returns, the New York Times released an article revealing some interesting information. According to the report, Trump lost $1 billion worth of income between 1985 and 1994. During those ten years, it allowed him to not pay any taxes.

This information came to light thanks to anonymous sources and IRS anonymized returns. During that decade, the IRS created a public study of sorts that allowed interested parties to see what the highest earners make and what they pay in taxes. Of course, that data was anonymous in nature, but the Times has a source who was able to confirm the information.

To many, this is a controversial technique to might prevent the IRS from releasing such studies in the future. The Times wasn’t supposed to be able to deduce the individuals reported in the study. That leads to President Trump fully denying that he is the person the story mentions. This story might not have been interesting in the past, but it seems as if we live in a new world.

Democrats Trying to Find Anything They Can

This information comes as House Democrats appear to be turning up the heat. They are doing what they can to investigate every single aspect of Trump’s business. They appear to be under the impression that he undoubtedly skirted by the rules somehow and didn’t pay his fair share of taxes.

It also happens to be taking place when there’s more of a spotlight on wealth inequality. Many progressives and socialists blame the rich for not paying enough. They want to increase taxes on the wealthy to pay for several programs, like free healthcare, free college education, and so much more.

Playing the System?

One statistic from the Times story that sheds light on Trump’s business tactics was his many rounds of bankruptcy. It would appear as if he was a fairly bad businessman, constantly losing out business. He claimed a billion-dollar loss during that time, but he apparently wasn’t even a billionaire to start with.

His real money didn’t start coming in until the late 1990’s and 2000’s when he was branding himself as a reality star. According to New York reporter Josh Barro, Trump is just playing the game. He reports losses to stop himself from having to pay any taxes at all.

“The primary lesson of Trump’s massive reported losses from 1985 to 1994 is not that he was a comically bad businessman,” writes Barro, “but that he was comically undertaxed.” In fact, Trump claimed more losses than anyone else in the country at that time. In 1990 and 1991 specifically, his losses were double than every other loss claim in the United States.

Trump himself would like you to believe that this was all just standard rich-guy tax sheltering, and said as much on Twitter in mid-May. Trump himself, in a very Trump fashion, called the piece a ‘hit job’ in several tweets as the story was released.

“Real estate developers in the 1980’s & 1990’s, more than 30 years ago, were entitled to massive write offs and depreciation which would, if one was actively building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases,” he wrote.

“Much was non-monetary. Sometimes considered “tax shelter…you would get it by building, or even buying. You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes….almost all real estate developers did – and often re-negotiate with banks, it was sport. Additionally, the very old information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!”

Written by adminMay 24, 2019

Politics

Back in 2016, President Obama’s Treasury Department decided it was time to replace Andrew Jackson. Secretary Jack Lew made the decision to replace Jackson and said it was time for a woman’s face to grace some of our currency. At the time, the internet was elated with the change.

At first, Secretary Lew was considering replacing Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill with Susan B. Anthony. Being undecided, he let the people decide. As a result, civil rights activist and former slave Harriet Tubman quickly became the choice everyone wanted. No one knows exactly why Lew gave up on the $10 and decided on changing the $20, but the musical “Hamilton” which was debuting at the time.

Is the Trump Administration Changing Plans?

Of course, all of that was decided back in 2016, before the entrance of a new president and a new treasury secretary. While plans were looking good for Tubman to be the new face of the $20, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is saying that might be delayed until later in the next decade. 2020 is an unrealistic timeline for the new bills to be released.

“The primary reason we’ve looked at redesigning the currency is for counterfeiting issues,” Mnuchin said when asked by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., whether the new currency would be ready on time. “Based upon this, the $20 bill will now not come out until 2028. The $10 bill and the $50 bill will come out with new features beforehand.

“The ultimate decision on the redesign will most likely be another secretary’s down the road.”

It’s not the security feature they’re worried about. That feature has already been created. Instead, they’re not ready to release the Tubman design. It likely won’t be made standard until 2026 and printed until 2028. It’s leaving others asking a lot of questions about why this is being pushed off when it’s been in the works several years.

More Women on Currency

At the time, President Obama thought the change was perfect. The country has been looking at women’s status in the country as of late. Civil rights are also something still being fought for. Putting a former slave on the $20 bill appears to be a good move for everyone all around, unless you’re an Andrew Jackson fan.

In that case, you still have no reason to be concerned. They still expect to keep Jackson on the $20 in some fashion.

“We actually listened to people. And there was a legitimate concern about what bill a woman goes on the front of, and what story we had to tell,” Lew said. In April 2016, he announced that Tubman would be replacing Jackson on the $20 and that Jackson would be moved into a scene of the White House on the reverse side.

When asked whether the next Treasury secretary would avoid making the change, he replied, “I don’t think someone is going to want to do that,” he said, citing a backlash that might occur. The change was such a popular move, but it appears as if the redesign is indeed getting pushed.

Written by adminMay 21, 2019

Politics

Like most state governors and commissioners across the country, they want a clean economic record. The desire to draw jobs and industry to their state is an understatement. Those industries bring money to the people, who ultimately pay taxes that improve the state as a whole. One of those states looking to improve its economic standing is Alabama.

Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens is no different. He wants to improve the working and living conditions of his county. He has had a goal of driving more businesses to the state as a whole. For example, lower taxes have allowed for Hollywood to film some major movies throughout the state.

Now, that might be changing. Last week, Alabama is one of several states who decided to update their abortion laws. More specifically, Alabama signed into law the most restrictive abortion bans in the entire country. As you can imagine, this has left many pro-choice groups very angry.

Will the Abortion Ban Hurt Alabama?

The big question for us is the economical impact of this abortion ban. Commissioner Stephens doesn’t think there will be much of an impact. It’s not as if anyone didn’t realize Alabama was a southern red state through-and-through. For the most part, Alabama holds religious values seriously and is pro-life.

“If they have been conceived, they have rights,” Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens said. He’s among the right-wing officials of the state. It’s clear where his values stand, but he also doesn’t think his stance will impact any growth in the state’s economy. “The incentives we have been able to offer the film industry I think would more than offset their personal feelings according to abortion,” Stephens said.

The problem is, there is backlash. This news has created a major stir and has made the national news spotlight. In particular, many stars in Hollywood are calling for a boycott. They did the same to Georgia when they signed a restrictive abortion ban themselves. It’s all about the culture in which companies want to hire in.

Bob Robicheaux, a retired UAB business expert, said the abortion law could be a concern for some companies. “I do think they do have a concern and should have a concern,” said Robicheaux.

Economic Impact

While Commissioner Stephens is eager to draw industries to set up shop in Alabama, this new abortion law might stop anyone from coming. Maybe CEOs who lean towards the right and agree with the law won’t have any problem doing so, but it could come at a cost to overall business. Many of these businesses look at the culture of the places they locate as it reflects their place as a whole.

“It will harden opinions. People who have favorable opinions about Alabama who agree with this decision will think more favorably and those who have negative opinions will think more negatively,” Robicheaux said.

At the end of the day, it’s the dollar and financial bottom-line that matters the most. If a company can move to Alabama for its low taxes and make money, they won’t care about the abortion law. Since it’s still new, the economic impact can’t be fully predicted as of yet.

Written by adminMay 15, 2019

Politics

President Donald Trump is looking to give NASA’s budget a boost, including a new plan to send Americans back to the moon by 2024. In order to afford this boost without putting it in a new budget, is to take money from other programs. More notably, Trump wants to take money from the Pell Grant funds, about $1.6 billion, to give it to the space program.

This new budget amendment also looks slash money from the Special Olympics and other beloved programs to make this happen. He tweeted on Monday that NASA needs more cash so the U.S. can “return to space in a BIG WAY!” Of course, he has a long way to go before getting this money approved. It has to be approved by Congress.

Congress might use the opportunity to attack Trump for his lack of concern over education. Of course, he only wants to use the $1.6 billion that goes unused every year. He calls it a ‘waste’ and ‘unnecessary spending.’ White House officials said this would not impact the students currently receiving Pell Grant money.

“This does not cut any spending for Pell Grant programs as the budget continues to ensure all students will get their full Pell Grant and keeps the program on sound fiscal footing,” Office of Management and Budget spokesman Wesley Denton said in a statement.

Pell Grant Enrollment Down

Over the past decade, the number of people who enroll in the Pell Grant scholarship has had a steep decline. Potential applicants feel the process takes too much time to get approved. Instead, they rely on fully guaranteed federal student loans to pay for college. This is a move that has skyrocketed the student loan debt problem in this country.

Still, President Trump seems fully committed to getting the space program back into action. He’s looking for any and every way to give NASA a funding boost. He has promised that the U.S. will once again be at the forefront of a new era of space exploration. “Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars,” he wrote.

Vice President Mike Pence is also on board, saying he wants to see astronauts on the moon within the next five years. To make that happen, they will employ ‘any means necessary’, including pulling money from other budgets. It’s a great time to get public interest back on board, as this summer is the 50^th anniversary of the first moon landing.

Changing His Mind

The president has made promises to cut spending, but after proposing his own budget cuts, seems to change his mind. He’s now reversed several budget cuts, including the 90% cut he was going to make to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. He also called for a $17.6 million cut in funding for the Special Olympics, but thankfully changed his mind after massive criticism.

Trump tweeted Monday that he had “officially updated my budget to include $18 million for our GREAT @SpecialOlympics, whose athletes inspire us and make our Nation so PROUD!” Either way, it looks like America is headed back into space, regardless of how Trump plans to pay for it.

Free College?

Biden’s History on the Topic

Free College?

Biden’s History on the Topic

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Become a member

Popular Posts