Initially lawmakers were going to get 10 minutes at a time to question Bezos, Zuckerberg and the other CEOs. Now they'll just get 5 minutes. The CEOs will get saved by the bell repeatedly. prospect.org/power/big-tech…
Now there will be unlimited rounds of questioning, and @RepCicilline will get as many questions as he wants at the end. So tech reporters - THAT'S THE PART TO WATCH. Don't write your stories early. prospect.org/power/big-tech…
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The $138 billion in student debt that's been relieved by Biden has nothing to do with his "Plan B" for debt relief after the Plan A was shot down by the courts. It's just about Biden's Education Department running existing forgiveness programs with a modicum of competence.
Today's announcement, for example, involves the speedy implementation of the updated income-driven repayment (SAVE) program, which promised that people paying 10 years with less than $12,000 in debt would get it forgiven. npr.org/2024/02/21/123…
$56.7bn in debt relief came from actually fulfilling Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which almost nobody successfully navigated before Biden.
Another $45.7bn came from fixing servicer errors on income-driven repayment to give debtors what they deserved ed.gov/news/press-rel…
The UAW's selective strike strategy is new for UAW, but it's been very successful for one other union. So much so that they trademarked the practice.
That would be @afa_cwa's CHAOS strategy. 🧵
CHAOS stands for Creating Havoc Around Our System. It began at Alaska Airlines in 1993. There was a protracted strike with the flight attendants, despite the airline earning record profits. Negotiations had dragged on for 3 years.
Under the Railway Labor Act, the flight attendants' union had the authority to devise intermittent surprise strikes, walking off flights at the last minute.
I read @FranklinFoer's Biden bio The Last Politician, and found this disconnect between a peripatetic presidency of action and the public perception that nothing's happening. What accounts for it? Maybe it's the White House's theory of politics. prospect.org/culture/books/…
Reading the accounts of Biden directing meetings and horse-trading with Congress—the work of politics—is so disconnected from this White House's extreme cloistering of the president that it called to mind the old SNL Reagan mastermind sketch:
No review has yet highlighted the bits about how much Biden dislikes Zelensky. At one point, CIA director Bill Burns had to give Zelensky “relationship-management tips.” prospect.org/culture/books/…
Aug 7: Josh Wright suddenly announces he's leaving GMU
Aug 7: Prof Laser releases Wright's attempt to turn a job interview into a date ()
Aug 8: GMU bids Wright a fond farewell ()
Aug 14: Law360 publishes account of two GMU students who say they were coerced into sexual relations with Wright, then were denied job opportunities when they broke it off law360.com/legalindustry/…
Our business of health care series continues with a history of UnitedHealth, the largest insurer & the largest employer of physicians in the country, with so many subsidiaries that 25% of its revenues come from *itself*.
From @SaraLSirota & @KristaKBrown. prospect.org/health/2023-08…
We go through UnitedHealth's entire history, from its founding as a way around state laws that required HMOs to be nonprofits run by physicians to its serial acquisitions of just about everything in healthcare.
https://t.co/DYbarYOQxJprospect.org/health/2023-08…
PBMs? UnitedHealth invented them.
Medicare Advantage? United's the biggest private company.
Health savings accounts? United has a *bank* with $20 billion under management.
IT? United's claims data subsidiary has information on 285 million patients. prospect.org/health/2023-08…
OK I've got a #longread today for our health care series about the godfather of modern health policy, responsible for Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, risk adjustment, physician payment schedules & more.
His name is Tom Scully. prospect.org/health/2023-08…
Once out of government, Scully became a partner at the leading health-focused private equity firm (Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe), using his unparalleled knowledge of a system he helped create to exploit pockets of government support. prospect.org/health/2023-08…
Scully reflects the trajectory of the modern healthcare system. He set in motion privatization, the revolving door, the role of private equity in the industry.
I watched every scrap of tape over 40 years and did a long interview with him. Here's my story. prospect.org/health/2023-08…