Author: Mark Schumacher

CBS News

It might be the biggest price-fixing scheme in U.S. history. On Friday, Connecticut and a coalition of more than 40 states filed a 500-page lawsuit accusing the biggest generic drug makers of a massive, systematic conspiracy to bilk consumers out of billions of dollars. It’s a more sweeping version of a similar lawsuit the states filed in 2016 that’s still being litigated. The generic industry vehemently denies the allegations.  Continue reading “Sweeping lawsuit accuses top generic drug companies, executives of fixing prices”

CBS News

Four in 10 Americans sometimes face what economists call “material hardship,” struggling to pay for basic needs such as food and housing, according to a new study from the Urban Institute. Even middle-class families routinely struggle financially and are occasionally unable to pay their bills.

The finding is striking given the U.S. has experienced a decade of economic growth in the decade since the recession ended. The unemployment rate is at its lowest in half a century, and the stock market has enjoyed a decade-long bull run. But for many Americans, incomes haven’t kept up with the rising cost of necessities such as housing and health care, resulting in financial anxiety.  Continue reading “A decade after the recession, 40% of U.S. families still struggling”

Yahoo News

New York state has steadily passed legislation in recent days that seeks to limit the president’s pardon powers and curtail his ability to withhold his tax returns from Congress.

The state’s senate voted on Wednesday in favour of a bill that requires local agencies to comply with requests for state tax returns from the heads of Congress’s House ways and means committee, the Senate finance committee or the joint committee on taxation. Continue reading “New York moves to release Trump’s tax returns and reduce his pardon powers”

Overdrive

Poll results above were collected in the wake of Overdrive Editorial Director Max Heine’s post to the Overdrive Extra blog detailing moves around the nation to explore the idea of a vehicle-miles-traveled tax as a replacement for the motor fuels tax that drives highway infrastructure financing today. Part of the picture complicating the very notion of replacing the fuel tax is the slow but steady overlay of toll roads on top of the current system, which so many view as tantamount to double taxation. As Heine wrote in that piece, “Tolling interstates is another seasoned punching bag” in the trucking/highways conversation, “but some of the old arguments against it are beginning to soften.”  Continue reading “Half of readers object to a miles-traveled tax as fuel-tax replacement”

Paul Ryan is front and center once again, calling for cuts in Medicare and food stamps.  Ryan said that spending on food stamps had increased by 40% in the last four years, trying to put forth the notion that those on food stamps are getting 40% more than they were four years ago.

The fact is the increase in spending is due to the increase in those who have been forced onto food stamps because the corporate elitists that own Paul Ryan exported their jobs through NAFTA, CAFTA, and GATT.  The truth is the amount the individual food stamp recipient receives has been decreased by 30% in the last four years due to a 30% decline in the value of the dollar.  Continue reading “Flashback: The Traitor Paul Ryan Speaks out for His Elitist Masters”

AP

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. (AP) — A former emergency medical services chief in New Jersey has admitted falsifying patient care records in order to bilk insurance companies to collect money for services that were not billable.

Donald Horner on Tuesday pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and tampering with public records. Under terms of a plea agreement, the 67-year-old must make restitution, forfeit his emergency medical technician certification, perform community service and pay a $1,300 fine.  Continue reading “EMS chief admits falsifying reports to dupe insurers”