Podcasts about Inflation Reduction Act

As the 2026 midterms approach, voters are contending with concerns around affordability, the AI boom, and climate disruption in their daily lives. AI data centers have become the wild card in energy politics, driving up energy demand and utility bills, and playing a large role in a battleground House primary. A year after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act rolled back key parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, many climate advocates assumed the energy transition was stalled out, but new research suggests otherwise.  How will climate and energy shape the ballot box this year? And what's it like to campaign on those issues in a swing state? William Lawrence, Candidate, US Congress MI-07; Co-founder, Sunrise Movement Leah Stokes, Associate Professor, UC Santa Barbara; Author, “The Carbon Wave” Lily Bermel, Visiting Fellow, Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy. For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit our ⁠episode page⁠ at ClimateOne.org Highlights: 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:25 William Lawrence on campaign messaging 00:05:48 William Lawrence on climate and data centers  00:08:05 William Lawrence on giving people more agency  00:13:21 William Lawrence on addressing decarbonization and affordability  00:16:41 Leah Stokes on rewriting narratives about having children in a climate crisis 00:18:55 Leah Stokes on what's driving climate hushing  00:26:36 Leah Stokes on working on climate policy and a high risk pregnancy  00:31:30 Leah Stokes on the trials and joys of working with others  00:36:17 Leah Stokes on what the future could hold after the midterms 00:39:42 Lily Bermel on the methodology of “Glass Half Full”  00:46:01 Lily Bermel on the other factors affecting solar and wind deployment  00:48:55 Lily Bermel on how energy could play into the midterm elections  *** Join Climate One for a town hall event on September 28 at 6 p.m. on navigating AI, climate, and the future of democracy. How do we ensure that AI and data centers serve the public good? How does a democracy function when AI is distorting our sense of shared truths? Tickets available at ⁠climateone.org/events⁠  *** Also: We'll be having an electric conversation on October 14 at 6 p.m. between PG&E CEO Patti Poppe and California State Senator Scott Wiener about energy affordability, outages, and whether cities like San Francisco are ready to break up with the investor-owned utility model. Tickets available at ⁠climateone.org/events⁠  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠Patreon⁠, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠Sign up today⁠. *** Ad sales by ⁠Multitude⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the 2026 midterms approach, voters are contending with concerns around affordability, the AI boom, and climate disruption in their daily lives. AI data centers have become the wild card in energy politics, driving up energy demand and utility bills, and playing a large role in a battleground House primary. A year after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act rolled back key parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, many climate advocates assumed the energy transition was stalled out, but new research suggests otherwise.  How will climate and energy shape the ballot box this year? And what's it like to campaign on those issues in a swing state? William Lawrence, Candidate, US Congress MI-07; Co-founder, Sunrise Movement Leah Stokes, Associate Professor, UC Santa Barbara; Author, “The Carbon Wave” Lily Bermel, Visiting Fellow, Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy. For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit our ⁠⁠episode page⁠⁠ at ClimateOne.org Highlights: 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:25 William Lawrence on campaign messaging 00:05:48 William Lawrence on climate and data centers  00:08:05 William Lawrence on giving people more agency  00:13:21 William Lawrence on addressing decarbonization and affordability  00:16:41 Leah Stokes on rewriting narratives about having children in a climate crisis 00:18:55 Leah Stokes on what's driving climate hushing  00:26:36 Leah Stokes on working on climate policy and a high risk pregnancy  00:31:30 Leah Stokes on the trials and joys of working with others  00:36:17 Leah Stokes on what the future could hold after the midterms 00:39:42 Lily Bermel on the methodology of “Glass Half Full”  00:46:01 Lily Bermel on the other factors affecting solar and wind deployment  00:48:55 Lily Bermel on how energy could play into the midterm elections  *** Join Climate One for a town hall event on September 28 at 6 p.m. on navigating AI, climate, and the future of democracy. How do we ensure that AI and data centers serve the public good? How does a democracy function when AI is distorting our sense of shared truths? Tickets available at ⁠⁠climateone.org/events⁠⁠  *** Also: We'll be having an electric conversation on October 14 at 6 p.m. between PG&E CEO Patti Poppe and California State Senator Scott Wiener about energy affordability, outages, and whether cities like San Francisco are ready to break up with the investor-owned utility model. Tickets available at ⁠⁠climateone.org/events⁠⁠  *** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. ⁠⁠Sign up today⁠⁠. *** Ad sales by ⁠⁠Multitude⁠⁠. Contact them for ad inquiries at ⁠⁠multitude.productions/ads⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Phil Kerpen, President of American Commitment, joined Ken Peel on Wake Up Tri-County to discuss Medicare drug pricing and recent declines in prescription costs. Kerpen argued the reported 3.1 percent drop in drug prices is tied to Trump-era competition policies, not the Inflation Reduction Act. He criticized federal price controls, saying they may discourage drug development, especially cancer research. Kerpen also urged patients to compare cash prices with insurance prices at the pharmacy, noting some prescriptions may cost less without insurance processing. He said broader direct-to-consumer sales and international trade pressure could further affect drug prices.

As federal support for climate action in the US is cut back, a difficult question is coming into focus: what happens to clean-energy projects that still make economic sense, but no longer have Washington behind them? For low-income communities in particular, this is not just a policy story. It is about electricity bills, resilience during storms and heatwaves, access to financing, and whether practical projects such as solar, storage, and efficiency upgrades can still get built.Host Ed Crooks is joined by Amir Kirkwood, Chief Executive of the Justice Climate Fund, and Melanie Allen, Chief Executive of the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice. Together, they explain how a network of community lenders, philanthropies, green banks and local partners is trying to keep momentum alive even as federal climate funding is frozen, litigated or wound back.A central theme of the conversation is that the real constraint is not just ideology or even demand for clean energy, but the structure of finance. Amir argues that many community projects do not need breakthrough technology so much as access to affordable capital and better risk sharing. His case is that catalytic tools such as credit enhancements, loan-loss reserves and blended capital can still unlock much larger pools of private investment, even if they cannot fully replace the scale of federal support that the Inflation Reduction Act was meant to provide.Melanie brings that argument down to ground level with examples of what those projects look like in practice. In Texas, local “hub homes” equipped with solar panels and batteries are giving neighbourhoods places to charge phones, run medical devices and stay cool during outages. In North Carolina, a stalled solar project for a wastewater facility was revived through a mix of local partnership and creative financing. In Georgia, a church cut its monthly energy bill sharply after installing solar, storage and EV charging. Across those examples, the point is the same: in many communities, clean energy is advancing less as an abstract climate commitment than as a practical answer to affordability, reliability and local resilience.That tension between climate ambition and kitchen-table economics runs through the entire discussion. Both guests argue that people move first for pocketbook reasons, and that the strongest case for these investments is often lower bills, stronger community institutions and better protection against system shocks. The politics may have changed in Washington, but the local need for cheaper, more reliable energy has not. In that sense, the conversation suggests that the next phase of US climate action may be driven less by federal grants and more by the ability to assemble credible local deals that solve several problems at once.But Melanie and Amir are also clear-eyed about the limits of that approach. Philanthropy can be catalytic, not substitutive. Tax-credit changes, direct-pay deadlines and higher supply-chain costs are all making projects harder to close. The question, then, is whether this emerging blend of community finance and private capital can keep enough projects moving to prove the model at scale. What is at stake is not only the pace of decarbonisation, but whether the benefits of the energy transition will still reach the communities that need them most.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

**The John Phillips Show**This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the latest developments in the world of politics. Our guest, Brillin Hollyhand, a Gen Z political commentator and author of "Make America Talk Again," joins us to discuss the current state of the Democratic Party and the potential candidates vying for the presidency.In this episode, Brillin shares his insights on the challenges facing the Democratic Party, including the rise of socialism and the increasing polarization of the party. He also discusses the potential candidates, including Gavin Newsom, who he believes is "dead on arrival" in the primary stage. Brillin also talks about the importance of understanding the concerns of the younger generation and how the Democratic Party can appeal to them.The conversation also touches on the recent developments in the House of Representatives, including the leadership struggles and the potential impact of the Inflation Reduction Act. Brillin shares his thoughts on the current state of the party and the challenges it faces in the upcoming elections.If you're interested in staying up-to-date on the latest news and analysis, tune in to this episode to hear Brillin's expert insights. Don't miss this thought-provoking conversation that will leave you wondering what the future holds for the Democratic Party. Listen to the full episode at johnnydontlike.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**The John Phillips Show**This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the latest developments in the world of politics. Our guest, Brillin Hollyhand, a Gen Z political commentator and author of "Make America Talk Again," joins us to discuss the current state of the Democratic Party and the potential candidates vying for the presidency.In this episode, Brillin shares his insights on the challenges facing the Democratic Party, including the rise of socialism and the increasing polarization of the party. He also discusses the potential candidates, including Gavin Newsom, who he believes is "dead on arrival" in the primary stage. Brillin also talks about the importance of understanding the concerns of the younger generation and how the Democratic Party can appeal to them.The conversation also touches on the recent developments in the House of Representatives, including the leadership struggles and the potential impact of the Inflation Reduction Act. Brillin shares his thoughts on the current state of the party and the challenges it faces in the upcoming elections.If you're interested in staying up-to-date on the latest news and analysis, tune in to this episode to hear Brillin's expert insights. Don't miss this thought-provoking conversation that will leave you wondering what the future holds for the Democratic Party. Listen to the full episode at johnnydontlike.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How the 340B Drug Discount Program Quietly Raises Costs for Self-Insured Employers. Episode 527. Why should a self-insured employer care about the 340B charity program? That's the single question Stacey Richter puts to Shawn Gremminger, president and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, in this episode—and his answer traces four ways the $68 billion program quietly drives up what employers and plan sponsors pay for drugs and medical care. From supercharged hospital consolidation to disappearing PBM rebates, Gremminger lays out why 340B, once treated as a niche topic, now sits squarely at the center of the drug pricing debate. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ✅ Why 340B—now the second-largest drug purchasing program in the country at roughly $68 billion a year—matters directly to self-insured employers, not just to pharma and hospitals ✅ How 340B-driven hospital consolidation pushes up prices for all services, not just drugs, since hospital spend typically makes up 55–58% of total employer health plan costs ✅ Why 340B hospitals tend to mark up drugs even more aggressively than non-340B hospitals, and why 340B clinics disproportionately prescribe higher-priced drugs over cheaper alternatives ✅ How the Inflation Reduction Act's drug price caps are reportedly pushing some 340B entities to nonmedically switch patients toward non-IRA, higher-margin drugs ✅ Why employers lose access to PBM-negotiated rebates entirely whenever a drug is purchased through the 340B channel instead of the traditional channel ✅ Why Shawn Gremminger argues employers, purchasers, and policymakers need to stop treating 340B as a separate, carved-out issue from the broader drug pricing debate WHY THIS MATTERS Hospital spend already makes up more than half of a typical self-insured employer's healthcare costs, and 340B's distortions—inflated markups, prescribing skewed toward higher-priced drugs, and vanishing rebates—flow straight into that spend. A recent study found that for every point increase in hospital prices, non-healthcare employers respond by cutting payroll and jobs for middle-class workers. As 340B has grown from a niche $5–10 billion program into a $68 billion one, treating it as someone else's problem is no longer an option for anyone trying to understand or control drug pricing. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Article: Brian Reid's Cost Curve Weekend newsletter, on pharma-hospital data-requirement lawsuits LinkedIn Post by Peter Hayes Article: "Reforming 340B to Serve the Interests of Patients, Not Institutions," by Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA Article: "How a Company Makes Millions Off a Hospital Program Meant to Help the Poor," New York Times EP448 (Part 1 and Part 2) with Shawn Gremminger: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Other Apps Study: Zack Cooper, PhD, on rising healthcare prices driving unemployment and job losses LinkedIn Post by Shawn Gremminger === LINKS ===

"It's really that investment to transition from a legacy industry into a future industry…that is aiming to drive more sustainability and manufacturing processes and products overall…One of the things that we fundamentally see as being important in this economic shift, and we say it in this Practical Guide to the Green Economy, is that this transition we believe will favor places that make things.… and we want to make them better and more sustainable." Bethia Burke on Electric Ladies Podcast As communities seek economic growth and manufacturing jobs, a recent study found that manufacturing jobs related to clean energy and using environmentally-friendly practices are helping drive economic growth. What exactly are so called "green jobs," where are they really making a difference? Listen to Bethia Burke, President, The Fund For Our Economic Future, share the findings of their study - and lessons for other communities - in this fascinating discussion with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson, which first aired last year. They also share insightful career advice. You'll hear about: What their study found about "green jobs" and local economies, including job (re)training. What lessons other communities can take from Ohio's experience – including in their Practical Guide to the Green Economy. Why manufacturing based on sustainable business attracts more workers, enhances communities and helps people stay where they are. How the Infrastructure Investment Act, Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act have been huge boosts to Ohio – and how other communities can tap them too. Plus, insightful career advice, such as… "Often we put women in these do-gooder roles, and, these socially beneficial roles, and they take significantly lower salaries because part of what they want to achieve is service and positive societal benefits forward.…(but) ask for a higher salary, even if it is in a social service oriented sector.… I think any woman in any job, whatever she is trying to achieve…take whatever you think your level is, and add at least 20% because you're definitely underselling yourself." Betha Burke on Electric Ladies Podcast Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers.. Read Joan's Forbes articles here. You'll also like: 6 Ways Sustainability Can Help Businesses Navigate Tough Times - with Workiva and KPMG experts. Women's Trillions Drive New Economic Values - with LGT Private Bank advisor Silvia Bastante de Unverhau How Michigan Leveraged the Inflation Reduction Act incentives for Record Economic Growth - with Michigan Chief Growth Officer, Hilary Doe How Energy Policy Can Drive Economic Growth - with Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus Nuclear Energy As A Growth Sector - with President of the Nuclear Energy Institute, Maria Korsnick, a nuclear engineer who also ran a reactor. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers.. Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review! Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson

For more than a decade, the federal government's biggest tool for accelerating clean energy hasn't been a grant or a loan. It's been the tax code. Tax credits have driven the buildout of wind, solar, and now a much wider range of technologies, like storage, nuclear, and advanced manufacturing. But there's a catch: most of the companies earning those credits don't have enough tax liability to actually use them themselves. A clean energy developer can be sitting on tens of millions of dollars in value that's slowly losing worth simply because they can't cash it in. In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act tried to fix that by making these credits transferable for the first time ever — sellable directly, for cash, to a company that can use them. It created a brand-new, multi-billion-dollar market overnight, with no playbook and no established way for buyers and sellers to even find each other. Our guest today set out to build the infrastructure this new market needed. Alfred Johnson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Crux, an AI-native capital platform for clean energy and manufacturing infrastructure. Crux got its start in transferable tax credits, and has since expanded into tax equity investment and debt origination, leveraging software, data, and AI to cover the full capital stack for energy and manufacturing infrastructure. Alfred grew up around politics in Washington, DC, and spent nearly two decades moving between government, finance, and technology before his wife, Emily, pushed him to build something in clean energy. In our conversation, Alfred walks me through his journey, and what it takes to build the capital markets infrastructure this country needs to power its clean energy future. Today, Crux has raised more than $77 million, grown to more than 120 employees, and facilitated nearly $10 billion in transactions across the clean energy economy. About Powerhouse Innovation and Powerhouse Ventures  Powerhouse Ventures backs seed stage founders building the future power system across energy, infrastructure, and AI. If you are thinking about building something in this space, get in touch with our team. Powerhouse Innovation is a best in class consulting firm, powered by the strongest energy innovation network, data and team in our industry. We partner with world's leading corporations, investors, and utilities to source and evaluate disruptive startups shaping the future of energy and industry. To hear more stories of founders building our energy abundant future, hit the “subscribe” button and leave us a review.

Brandon King discusses his path from a reluctant 1L to a nationally recognized renewable energy tax attorney, tracing his journey through a US Tax Court clerkship, cross-border controversy work, and a pivot to transactional practice during the Inflation Reduction Act. He reflects on the mission-driven nature of renewable energy tax work, the industry's resilience amid policy shifts, AI as a complement rather than a replacement for junior talent, and his decade of leadership within the ABA Tax Section, including founding the LGBTQ+ Lawyers in Tax Forum.

Axios reported that Walmart raised its outlook while saying drug price declines pressured pharmacy results. Pharmacy margins are being squeezed by reimbursement terms set by PBMs, generic drug deflation, and the 2024 shift of pharmacy DIR fees to the point of sale. CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance have cited similar headwinds, while Amazon Pharmacy, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, and GoodRx are reshaping price transparency and consumer behavior. The Inflation Reduction Act will add Medicare drug price negotiations in 2026 and a $2,000 Part D out-of-pocket cap in 2025, which could shift volumes and reimbursement flows. Rising demand for GLP-1 drugs adds inventory and authorization complexity without guaranteed margin lift. Walmart's 2024 exit from its health clinics highlights how reimbursement pressures influence strategy, pushing focus back to core pharmacy services and OTC products.Learn more on this news by visiting us at: https://greyjournal.net/news/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tiffany Smiley, former GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Washington State, joined us on the Guy Benson Show today with guest host Rich Zeoli to discuss the latest primary wins, and the Democratic Socialists of America. Zeoli and Smiley give their thoughts on DSA members winning in states such as New York, Colorado, and— the latest— Florida. Smiley also touches on the leftward shift in her home state of Washington, and cites President Biden's “Inflation Reduction Act” and the Green New Deal as reasons for the economy's worsened inflation. Plus, Smiley discusses the strategy Republicans must take in order to win the Midterms.   Listen to Zeoli and Smiley below! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

August 17, 2026Trump is flooding social media with his fantasies about his prowess, Trump claimed credit for falling pharmaceutical prices that are largely the result of the Inflation Reduction Act voted in under the Biden administration, He claims victory in Iran, He believes he is leading the country toward a second American Revolution, Today is the day that the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran expires. without a permanent agreement that opens the Strait of Hormuz and stops Iran's nuclear ambitions, He is cozying up to North Korea and reducing traditional military exercises with US ally South Korea, He is caught in a scandal over the condition of the US military, Trump is redesigning a new aircraft carrier, replacing modern launch system with an older version, Trump's Comptroller of the Currency has approved a preliminary chargter for Trump's World Liberty Financial to become a bank in an unprecedented show of self-dealing.Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

Abundance and affordability have become buzzwords among policymakers, who often have sharply different interpretations of how to attain them. To some, an energy abundance agenda means fewer regulatory barriers to produce more clean, cheap power. Others, however, question whether the narrative glosses over the hard trade-offs around land use, community concerns, or environmental impacts.    Yet even as data centers, surging power demand, and rising electricity costs dominate public discourse around energy, how we talk about decarbonization in mainstream politics has radically changed. So what have we learned from major climate policies like the Inflation Reduction Act? And what does the trajectory of these policies say about the durability of climate politics today?  Today on the show, Jason Bordoff speaks with Matthew Yglesias, who argues that energy policy cannot be siloed off as merely a climate issue—contending that clean energy progress is far more politically and economically durable when tied directly to economic growth, industrial capacity, and grid infrastructure rather than consumer sacrifice. Matthew is the author of "Slow Boring," a substack about US politics and policy. He also co-hosts The Argument, a podcast on which he and co-host Jerusalem Demsas debate politics and policy. His most recent book, The Rent Is Too Damn High, is about the policy origins of the middle class housing affordability crisis in America. Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Gregory Vilfranc.  

Broadcast from KSQD, Santa Cruz on 8-13-2026: Dr. Dawn opens by reading an anatomy student's elegy to a body donor, reflecting on how modern medical education has moved away from full cadaver dissection toward pre-dissected specimens and models—and what she believes has been lost in that transition. Dr. Dawn dissects how hospital consolidation has become the primary driver of runaway U.S. healthcare costs. She contrasts a $16,000 knee replacement at Catawba Valley Medical Center with a $40,000 procedure for the same Blue Cross Blue Shield plan an hour away at Asheville's Mission Hospital—a facility formed by the 1998 merger of the town's two acute-care hospitals and later acquired by HCA in 2018. Mission now charges 333% of Medicare rates (versus a 280% benchmark), and state inspectors have issued three "immediate jeopardy" findings since HCA's takeover, consistent with academic findings that hospital care quality drops when competition disappears. She notes that CMS-required price disclosures since 2021 finally make this transparent, and calls for regulatory prevention of hospital mergers—especially not-for-profit to for-profit conversions—in single or two-hospital markets. Dr. Dawn analyzes the 3.1% year-over-year drop in prescription drug prices reported through July—the sharpest decline since 1963. She attributes most of it to Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which partially rescinded George W. Bush-era Medicare Part D restrictions that had statutorily prohibited price negotiation, saving taxpayers roughly $6 billion in the first six months of implementation. Additional contributors include GLP-1 compounding competition, blockbuster drugs losing exclusivity, and Bureau of Labor Statistics methodology that swaps generics into the price index six months after brand patent expiration. She calls for consumer-facing apps that help patients shop hospital prices the same way they shop cars. Dr. Dawn covers the emerging science of dormant tumor cells—cancer cells that shed from primary tumors even before diagnosis, hide in bone marrow and lymph nodes, and enter a hibernation state (feeding off cellular residue via autophagy) that shields them from chemotherapy targeting rapidly dividing cells. New York researchers have identified proteins by which lung macrophages actively reinforce dormancy, but immune disruption from COVID-19, influenza, aging, and chronic stress can trigger reactivation. She emphasizes lifestyle protection for cancer survivors: minimal alcohol, Mediterranean diet, and five daily cups of green tea for the EGCG dormancy-maintaining effect seen in cell culture. A caller argues for single-payer healthcare and questions whether Medigap insurance is worth $287 monthly. Dr. Dawn explains the math: for a $100,000 hospital bill, 20% coinsurance is $20,000, making the $2,400 annual premium reasonable catastrophic-risk protection—though skipping it is a defensible bet for very low-utilization patients. She notes those whose income drops to Medi-Cal eligibility often end up with better coverage than middle-class seniors. The same caller then presents a differential diagnosis of himself as likely multiple sclerosis based on ChatGPT consultation, describing balance loss requiring hallway wall-guidance, dramatic vision changes, and fasciculations. Dr. Dawn walks through prompt engineering for medical AI: request differential lists ordered by probability of frequency in the population rather than symptom-fit alone. She notes symmetric symptoms argue against MS, suggests checking electrolytes (particularly calcium), and emphasizes that a physical examination should precede imaging to avoid incidentalomas that trigger cascading invasive workups—cautioning that without a primary care doctor, he lacks an advocate within the system.

Joe Biden was the best American president on climate change by maybe three orders of magnitude. Yet it didn't cement a Kamala Harris victory in 2024, and Trump has since rolled back most of Biden's signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. Today we've got UC Santa Barbara Professor Leah Stokes on to discuss her upcoming book The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet, to talk about her role in the passage of the IRA, what's left of it, what Trump's victory says about climate policy, and what we should do next time. Check out Leah's newsletter here, her podcast A Matter of Degrees here, and her Atlantic piece about the political success of Bidenomics here.

Turning down your water heater by a few degrees, switching one bulb at a time, and slicing up a $2 pool noodle can add up to real savings on your electric bill — and Karen Poff is back to show you how. Janet Michael welcomes local Extension agent Karen Poff, who manages the Northern Shenandoah Valley Financial Education Program, for a bonus conversation packed with practical, low-cost ways to trim your energy costs as the seasons turn. From cleaning dryer vents and refrigerator coils to hunting down phantom power drains with a switched power strip, Karen and Janet walk through room-by-room tips anyone can start using this weekend. They also cover thermostat habits, lighting upgrades, water heater settings, and where to find help if paying the energy bill is a struggle. Tune in for tips you can put to use before the next bill arrives. LINKS & RESOURCES Northern Shenandoah Valley Financial Education Program: https://warren.ext.vt.edu/programs/nsvfep.html Virginia Energy Sense: https://www.virginiaenergysense.org/ - Virginia Energy Sense is Virginia Energy's consumer education initiative that helps residents reduce energy use, lower utility costs, and make informed energy decisions. The website offers practical energy-saving tips, information on home energy efficiency improvements, guidance on available incentives and rebates, and tools to help households improve comfort and manage energy expenses year-round. Federal Energy Programs: https://www.energy.virginia.gov/ - The federal Home Energy Rebates programs created through the Inflation Reduction Act are being implemented and administered by individual states. Virginia is currently developing and finalizing its program requirements and enrollment processes. Residents can find the most up-to-date information about program availability, eligibility, and application procedures through the Virginia Department of Energy (Virginia Energy). U.S. Department of Energy Home Energy Rebates Program:  - https://www.energy.gov/cmei/scep/home-energy-rebates-program - Offers an overview of the federal Home Energy Rebates programs, including program goals, eligible upgrades, and state implementation guidance. Virginia Home Energy Rebates FAQ (Virginia Energy):  https://www.energy.virginia.gov/energy-efficiency/HomeEnergyRebatesFrequentlyAskedQuestions.shtml - Provides the latest information on Virginia's Home Energy Rebates programs, including eligibility requirements, qualified improvements, and implementation updates. Virginia Energy Connect:  https://energy.virginia.gov/connect/residential - A one-stop resource for Virginia residents to explore available energy efficiency incentives, connect with Energy Ambassadors, and learn about clean energy and cost-saving opportunities. The site reflects currently available programs and will be updated as new rebate programs become available. Virginia Energy Sense: Energy Providers Tab:  https://www.virginiaenergysense.org/incentives-and-rebates/ - The Energy Providers section of this web page allows Virginia residents to search for rebates, incentives, and energy-saving programs offered by their electric or natural gas utility. By selecting a utility provider, consumers can identify programs that may help reduce the cost of energy efficiency upgrades, home energy assessments, weatherization improvements, and other energy-saving measures available in their service area. Weatherization Assistance - Community Housing Partners Weatherization Program: https://www.communityhousingpartners.org/energy-solutions/weatherization/ - Provides weatherization services and energy-saving improvements for eligible households. Complete the online program survey to determine which energy assistance and weatherization programs you may qualify for. THE VALLEY TODAY with Janet Michael — A decade of conversations. New podcast episodes drop weekdays at 11 AM. Catch the show on The River 95.3 and Fox Sports 1450 AM weekdays just after noon. Subscribe and listen at thevalleytodaypodcast.com — available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. If you enjoy the show, please take a moment to leave a rating or review — it helps more listeners find us. Connect with us: Facebook — facebook.com/ValleyTodayFanPage Instagram — instagram.com/thevalleytoday

Yale researchers estimate that roughly 80 million Americans are alarmed about climate change. About 40 million of them say they want to be politically active on the issue. But only about 3 million actually are. When that 37 million-American group is asked why they aren't active, researchers most often hear that nobody has asked them. That's the focus of this week's conversation on Sustainability In Your Ear.Only 12% of Americans say they ever see anything about climate change on social media, and two-thirds say they rarely or never hear about it from friends or in the media. At the same time, the fossil fuel industry treats persuasion as core business. David Fenton calls the situation unilateral disarmament at a moment when an information war is needed. The crowning result of climate action to date is the Inflation Reduction Act that passed by one vote and was repealed by one vote. A bill you win by a single vote, he says, is a bill you never really won.David founded Fenton Communications in 1982, the first public relations firm in America built solely for progressive causes. His campaigns helped free Nelson Mandela and end apartheid, helped ban fracking in New York, where Yoko Ono's "Imagine There's No Fracking" billboard went up along Governor Andrew Cuomo's commute, and helped launch fossil fuel divestment with the heirs to the Standard Oil fortune as the messengers. His book, The Activist's Media Handbook: Lessons from Fifty Years as a Progressive Agitator, includes a foreword by cognitive linguist George Lakoff, who we discuss at length in this thought-provoking interview.He places the blame on climate advocacy spending and, more importantly, the words used to frame the issue. The climate NGO and philanthropic world spends billions a year on policy, law, and science, and spends on communication mainly to raise money from people already on its lists. David traces that to what Lakoff calls the Enlightenment fallacy, the belief that a strong idea reproduces itself because it is correct, and to its corollary, that selling ideas is dirty work beneath serious people. The second is vocabulary. “Net Zero means almost nothing to most people. “Carbon” sounds like an abstraction. And “justice,” in cognitive research, evokes images of the police and courts, not of fairness and a shared mission. We need to pivot to simpler language, like “pollution,” when describing the source of global warming. Pollution is a word nobody defends, and a blanket of pollution trapping heat that would otherwise escape into space is a picture people can easily grasp and act on.Asked how to solve climate change, the most common answer Americans give is “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” Earth911 has spent three decades on that vocabulary, and it holds up on its own terms as a materials strategy. Increased curbside recycling participation rates don't necessarily lead to decarbonizing the grid or the truck fleets. David Fenton's prescription for listeners is blunter than any campaign plan: talk about it, post about it, and press the funders you know to spend generating public demand for change rather than direct mail fundraising.Learn more about David's work at davidfentonactivist.com, and find his podcast at fentonforecast.com.Subscribe to Sustainability In Your Ear on iTunesFollow Sustainability In Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube 

FF: Inflation, Fiat, and the Fed The government thinks they can control prices. We talk about the effects they can have on prices through their regulation. How did the Inflation Reduction Act affect the citizens? Why was the Dodd Frank Act important? What are the reserve requirements for banks? How did the increase in property taxes affect property owners? We also talk about the Federal Reserve and how their decisions about interest rates can affect things. The government has destroyed demand by making things so unaffordable, the average person can not afford to do it. How can you protect yourself? We talk about all this and more! Abolish Property Taxes in Ohio: www.AxOHTax.com  Get more information about abolishing all property taxes in Ohio. https://citizensforpropertytaxreform.org/ Our Links: www.RealPowerFamily.com Info@RealPowerFamily.com 833-Be-Do-Have (833-233-6428

In this episode, Mercatus Research Fellow Satya Marar speaks with Tomas Philipson, former Acting Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and Professor at the University of Chicago, about the evidence behind drug price controls and their effects on healthcare affordability, pharmaceutical innovation, and research and development. They discuss the economics of patented and generic drugs, the Inflation Reduction Act, Most-Favored-Nation drug pricing proposals, and why policies intended to lower drug prices may ultimately reduce innovation and increase long-term healthcare costs. This episode features audio from a recent Mercatus webinar.If you would like to connect with a scholar featured in this episode, please email the Mercatus Outreach team at mercatusoutreach@mercatus.gmu.edu.Read a full transcript of the conversation: https://www.mercatus.org/economic-insights/event-videos/right-diagnosis-wrong-cure-examining-true-cost-drug-price-controls

This Day in Legal History: The First Federal Income TaxOn August 5, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1861, and with it created the first federal income tax in the history of the United States. The country was three months into the Civil War, the Union's costs were exploding, and the government needed money on a scale the old system of tariffs and land sales simply couldn't provide. So Congress reached for something new: a tax of three percent on annual incomes over $800.The 1861 income tax was, in practice, a bit of a false start. The $800 threshold meant only a small slice of the population owed anything, the administrative machinery to collect it barely existed, and in fact no income tax was ever actually collected under the 1861 Act—it was superseded the next year by the Revenue Act of 1862, which built the real apparatus, including the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the direct ancestor of the modern IRS. But the significance of August 5, 1861 is conceptual and enduring: it was the moment the federal government first asserted the power to tax the incomes of individual Americans directly.That assertion would be contested for decades—the Supreme Court struck down a later income tax in 1895, and it took the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913 to settle the question for good. But the line runs straight from Lincoln's wartime measure to the entire modern federal tax system. It's a fitting anniversary for a day when one of our stories is about the fees and sanctions flowing from a lawsuit against the IRS—the very institution whose origins trace back to this Civil War revenue scramble. The income tax was born of necessity, in the middle of the gravest crisis the country ever faced, and it's been at the center of American political and legal argument ever since.After Trump's roughly $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS was thrown out as brought in “bad faith,” a federal judge ordered him to pay the legal fees of those who fought it—and now the Justice Department is fighting the size of that bill. In this particular case, the challengers are seeking a fairly modest sum, around $43,500. But it's part of a much bigger pattern: according to a Bloomberg analysis, attorneys have sought fees topping $100,000 in at least ten cases over the past year, totaling more than $2.5 million, and the DOJ is pushing courts to throw out or shrink many of those requests. Here's the legal mechanism at work. Ordinarily in American litigation, each side pays its own lawyers—that's the “American rule.” But courts can shift fees onto a party as a sanction when a lawsuit is frivolous or brought in bad faith, which is exactly what happened with the IRS suit, a case that also named Trump's sons and alleged harm from the leak of the family's tax records. Fee-shifting like this is meant to deter abusive litigation and to make whole the people forced to defend against it. The significance—and the irony—is that after a court found the underlying suit was an abuse of the judicial process, the government is now spending its lawyers' time contesting comparatively small fee awards owed to the people who were dragged into it. And because the DOJ is doing the contesting, it's taxpayers funding both sides of that fight. It's a small-dollar story that illustrates a large-dollar problem: what happens, and who pays, when the government itself is found to have litigated in bad faith. Trump fights fees for challengers in lawsuit against IRS | ReutersYahoo Finance (Bloomberg) · AOLA federal appeals court has overturned a ban on Perplexity's AI-powered shopping agents accessing Amazon—and it's a genuinely landmark ruling for the future of “agentic” artificial intelligence. Back in March, a court had temporarily barred Perplexity's shopping tool, built into its Comet browser, from operating on Amazon's platform. Amazon's legal theory rested on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act—the federal anti-hacking statute that makes it illegal to access a computer “without authorization.” Amazon argued that when Perplexity's AI agent logs into Amazon and shops on a user's behalf, that's unauthorized access. The appeals court disagreed, and the reasoning is what makes this important: the court found Amazon unlikely to succeed, concluding that it was Perplexity's users—real people, with real Amazon accounts—who were accessing the platform, not Perplexity itself. The AI agent was simply acting as the user's tool. This is the first time a federal appeals court has addressed whether AI agents acting on behalf of users can lawfully access online platforms, and that question is about to be everywhere. We're heading into a world where your AI assistant books your travel, does your shopping, and manages your accounts—and the legal system has to decide whether that's you using a tool, or a company trespassing on someone else's system. The significance is that this ruling plants an early flag on the side of the user: if you're authorized to be somewhere online, your AI agent acting for you is authorized too. Expect this to be cited constantly as the agentic-AI economy collides with decades-old computer-access law. Amazon loses US court ban on Perplexity's AI shopping tools | ReutersBloomberg Law · EngadgetA federal judge has dismissed the last of the January 6 Oath Keepers prosecutions—but he did so under vocal protest, in a rebuke that is itself the story. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta granted the Justice Department's motion to drop the cases against nine remaining Oath Keepers members tied to the Capitol attack, closing out the final chapter of the January 6 prosecutions. The dismissal flows from the administration's decision, on the first day of Trump's second term, to drop all pending January 6 cases. Here's the legal framework and the tension inside it. Under the rules of criminal procedure, prosecutors have broad power to dismiss charges, and courts generally must defer to that call—the executive branch, not the judge, decides whom to prosecute. Mehta acknowledged the government had the authority. But he made unmistakably clear he thought it was wrong, writing that “today's epilog diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy—the peaceful transfer of presidential power—to buckle.” That's extraordinary language from a sitting federal judge. The significance is a stark illustration of the limits of judicial power against prosecutorial discretion. A judge who presided over these seditious-conspiracy trials, who saw the evidence and entered the convictions, had to sign the order erasing them because the decision to prosecute—or not—belongs to the executive. He could register his profound disagreement for the historical record, but he could not stop it. It's a study in where one branch's power ends and another's begins. US judge grants Justice Department bid to dismiss Oath Keepers prosecutions | ReutersWashington Post · CNNAnd finally, a divided federal appeals court has ruled that the EPA cannot claw back roughly $20 billion in clean-energy grants—another decision drawing a hard line around executive power over money that Congress has already committed. The D.C. Circuit restored an injunction against EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's move to terminate grants that had been awarded to nonprofit groups from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion program Congress created in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to finance renewable-energy projects, including in communities historically shut out of green financing. Zeldin had frozen the money in early 2025, saying it didn't align with the agency's priorities and might be tainted by fraud, waste, and abuse. The court wasn't persuaded: six judges concluded that terminating the grants and clawing back the funds “based solely on a policy disagreement” likely violated the Inflation Reduction Act, and pointedly noted the EPA gave no assurance it would leave the money alone if the injunction were lifted. This should sound familiar—it's the same principle we saw when a judge blocked the administration from canceling grants it deemed inconsistent with its priorities. The significance is the recurring constitutional boundary of this era: when Congress appropriates money for a purpose and an agency awards it, a new administration generally can't just unwind those commitments because it dislikes the policy. The EPA says it's reviewing the decision and may take it to the Supreme Court—which would tee up a definitive answer on just how much power a president has to stop spending money Congress told him to spend. EPA cannot block billions in climate grants, US appeals court rules | ReutersUS News This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Wade Sutton, PwC's International Tax Leader for the Washington National Tax Services Office, fills in as host while Doug is away on assignment. Wade welcomes Will Morris, PwC's global tax policy lead and former chair of the AmCham EU Tax Committee. In this episode, Wade and Will discuss the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). They cover its state-aid origins, reach into M&A and public procurement, and early enforcement record. The episode examines the European Commission's recent assessment, possible reductions in reporting burdens, and the three-step analysis from foreign financial contribution (FFC) to subsidy to market distortion. The conversation also covers tax incentives and credits, Inflation Reduction Act and Pillar Two interactions, data-collection challenges, geopolitical considerations, standstill risks, and practical steps before an EU transaction or procurement bid.

Chapters: :00     - 17:00    - 2027 AEP Overview 17:00 - 41:00    - HealthSpring 41:00- 1:05:00 - Aetna   The 2027 AEP season is here, and with it comes significant changes that every Medicare agent needs to understand. In the first episode of a special two-part Carrier Rollout Series, co-hosts Josh Slattery and David Ireland break down the latest carrier announcements, industry trends, and regulatory updates shaping the upcoming Annual Enrollment Period. The discussion begins with the continued impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on the Medicare Advantage market. As plan revenues struggle to keep pace with rising healthcare costs, carriers are making strategic adjustments to benefits, networks, and product offerings. Josh and David explain what these market pressures mean for agents and how they may influence client conversations during AEP. The episode also explores key carrier updates, including HealthSpring's transition to the HCSC brand and its continued focus on HMO products and Dual Special Needs Plan (DSNP) expansion. The hosts discuss Aetna's strategy centered on network efficiency and product enhancements, noting that approximately 60% of members are expected to experience stable or improved benefits despite ongoing market challenges. Beyond carrier-specific news, the conversation covers important regulatory updates, changes to the SSBCI qualification process, and why ancillary products will continue to play a vital role in helping clients address coverage gaps. Josh and David also preview additional carrier releases, market expansions, and emerging opportunities that agents should be watching as the rollout season continues. Whether you're preparing for your first client appointment or refining your AEP strategy, this episode provides the insights needed to stay informed and confident heading into the 2027 selling season. Be sure to tune in for Part 2, coming later this August, as Josh and David continue their analysis of the latest carrier rollouts and what they mean for your business. Learn more about partnering with The Brokerage Inc. by visiting our website, www.thebrokerageinc.com. Remember to like, share, and subscribe to our show!  New episodes are available every Tuesday. Join our Community! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-brokerage-inc-/   Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thebrokerageinc/  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/thebrokerageinc/  YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheBrokerageIncTexas  Website:  https://thebrokerageinc.com/       

The latest episode of the Energy Horizons series on Greenberg Traurig's E2 Energy Law podcast is now live. Host Bill Garner, Global Co-Chair of GT's Energy and Natural Resources Practice, sits down with Tom Brill, an Energy Practice shareholder in GT's San Diego office, to discuss the shifting federal and state policy landscape for the U.S. hydrogen industry. Their conversation opens with an examination of the Inflation Reduction Act's foundational hydrogen incentives, including the Section 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit, as well as the Section 45Q carbon sequestration credit and provisions for direct pay and transferability. Tom then walks through how the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act altered the playing field, most notably by compressing the construction start deadline for the 45V credit from 2033 to 2028, while leaving the credit itself intact and expanding support for certain carbon sequestration, biofuel, and nuclear projects. They address the Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) rules and their supply chain implications, the funding cuts to select regional hydrogen hubs, and the growing importance of state-level incentives and mandates - including California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, cap-and-trade programs, and renewable portfolio standards - as counterweights to federal uncertainty. The episode closes with practical guidance for project developers and investors: move quickly to meet tightened federal deadlines, analyze both federal and state incentive stacks, identify high-value destination markets and end uses, and build projects designed to remain viable even as the policy landscape continues to evolve.

The Democratic Party's climate and energy policy is at a difficult moment. Over the past year and a half, the Trump administration has attacked solar and wind energy, started an inflationary war, and repealed key parts of the Inflation Reduction Act. And about a year and a half from now, Democrats will pick a presidential candidate and pitch their energy and climate policies to voters again.How are key Democrats feeling at this moment? Rob recently had a chance to sit down with two of the party's most important energy policy makers — Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee, and former Energy Secretary and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm — for an in-person conversation in Washington, D.C.On this episode of Shift Key, Rob chats with Senator Heinrich and Secretary Granholm, about fuel prices, the state of permitting discussions, AI data centers, and what each learned from writing — and implementing — the Inflation Reduction Act.Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap News.Subscribe to “Shift Key” and find this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts.You can also add the show's RSS feed to your podcast app to follow us directly.You can find a full transcript of the episode here.Mentioned:Previously on Shift Key: What Senator Martin Heinrich Needs to See in a Permitting DealPreviously on Shift Key: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on What Comes After Biden's Climate AgendaPreviously on Heatmap: 3 Takeaways From Our SunZia InvestigationMusic for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The drug price negotiation provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act were designed to continue evolving with each passing year. As CMS prepares for 2028 and 2029, the agency has put out new draft guidance codifying and, in some cases, modifying the fine print of the controversial law. They've also recently issued additional draft guidance on how they'll handle the imminent introduction of Part B drugs into the programme. Hogan Lovells partner Alice Valder Curran returned to join pharmaphorum editor-in-chief Jonah Comstock to elucidate some of the finer points of this latest communication from CMS – and to urge the industry to take advantage of the public comment periods associated with it. Curran and Comstock discuss small, but impactful, changes in CMS's policies around deemed biologics, vaccines, and the special provisions that protect small biotechs. And Curran gives a rundown of what's in – as well as what's not in – the new MFP effectuation guidance, laying out how the differences in how Part D and Part B drugs are paid for leave some big question marks hanging over the programme. Tune in for an easy-to-understand deep dive into some complicated subject matter, and for a more comprehensive rundown don't forget to check out Hogan Lovells' policy briefs on the new draft rules and the MFP effectuation guidance.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026 Today, Senator Cornyn says he won't vote to advance Todd Blanche's nomination without a written rescission of the Slush Fund and tax immunity; Governor Beshear has written another letter to Mitch McConnell demanding he prove he's fit to serve or resign;  the Knight Institute and American Oversight have filed reply briefs with the 11th Circuit in the case of Volume II of Jack Smith's final report; Rep. Max Miller has been credibly accused of assaulting his ex-wife and holding a gun to her head; the Trump administration is trying to get a hold of our personal emergency room medical records while simultaneously ending Medicare drug plan subsidies; new polling shows people don't like Trump's tax bill; Senate Democrats are pressing Todd Blanche on the New York Times subpoenas; newly uncovered grand jury testimony in the Davey Hearn case has led to his legal team demanding the grand jury materials; plus Allison delivers your Good News. Thank You, Upwork.com Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free. The Trump Epstein Memorial Bookmobile The Daily Beans is proud to partner with Miles Taylor and our friends at DEFIANCE.org For a limited time, members of the Daily Beans community can receive a FREE 3-month full membership to DEFIANCE.org and gain access to one of the fastest-growing pro-democracy movements in America. Join here: https://www.defiance.org/beans Join The Daily Beans and give a gift today to ensure The Trevor Project can continue its crucial work in the face of continued challenges. Donate to The Trevor Project - Daily Beans Podcast The Latest Breakdown→ DOJ Must Hand Over Internal Emails About NYT Subpoenas StoriesTalarico leads Paxton by 5 points in new poll of Texas' U.S. Senate race | Texas Tribune Blanche vote could be postponed, Cornyn says - Live Updates | POLITICO Senate Democrats Press Blanche on Times Subpoenas | NYT Backlash surges over Trump judge's order to hide secret DOJ files | Alternet.org Kentucky governor tells Mitch McConnell: Prove you can serve or ‘resign' | NBC News MAGA Rep. Allegedly Assaulted Wife, Put Gun to Her Head. Republicans Don't Care | Rolling Stone Trump administration demands hospitals share emergency room records | CNN Trump Administration to End Medicare Drug Plan Subsidy | Wall Street Journal Poll: Even Trump voters aren't very impressed by the GOP's tax overhaul | POLITICO Witness in Reflecting Pool case conceded damage before canoeist touched water | NBC News Good TroubleImpeach Vought Good Trouble - Gov. 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Immigration and customs enforcement agents could begin deportations at any time as Temporary Protected Status ends for Haitians and Syrians. We get the latest from CBS News' Camilo Montoya-Galvez. Then, a new rule proposed by the White House would give political appointees veto power over scientific research. ProPublica's Lisa Song tells us more. And, despite President Trump's resolve to repeal the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, a new report finds that the clean energy transition is still largely following the trajectory laid out in the IRA. We speak with the author of the report, Lily Bermel.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Rafe Pomerance, who died on May 21, 2026 at age 79, spent nearly five decades trying to make the world take climate change seriously before it was too late. I last spoke with him at the Arctic Repair conference in Cambridge in summer 2025, where he told me his message was "absolutely the same" as it had been in 2018: the fate of Miami is tied to the fate of Greenland.A Career That Started With a Coal ReportPomerance's climate awakening began almost by accident. In the late 1970s, while lobbying for clean air at Friends of the Earth, he came across a government report on coal liquefaction warning that carbon dioxide emissions could cause a "significant and damaging" rise in Earth's temperature. From that point he devoted himself almost entirely to climate change, pushing Congress toward hearings and testifying himself in 1984 that the consequences, once clear, would be irreversible. He helped organize the landmark 1986 Senate hearings on the greenhouse effect, a genuine turning point in public awareness. From 1986 to 1993 he worked at the World Resources Institute, and under President Clinton he became Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Environment, leading the U.S. negotiating team that helped produce the Kyoto Protocol.In August 2018, the New York Times Magazine devoted an entire issue — "Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change" — to the story of how climate action nearly happened in the 1980s, with Pomerance at its center. The piece, later expanded into a book of the same name, cemented his reputation as one of the movement's earliest and most persistent voices, sometimes dubbed the "Paul Revere of climate change."In our Cambridge interview, Pomerance was focused on his final project: the Upper Limit Project, which sought to establish a global cap on sea-level rise as a companion metric to the 1.5°C temperature target. He argued that temperature alone had failed to sufficiently drive policy, but that sea-level rise — visceral, universal, and tied to the collapsing Greenland ice sheet's 24 feet of locked-up sea-level potential — could finally galvanize leaders from Miami to Tuvalu. He was candid about America's retreat from climate leadership under President Trump, calling the dismantling of the Inflation Reduction Act "a real tragedy," though he found some relief in China's growing role in clean energy technology.Despite the political headwinds, Pomerance remained resolutely hopeful. "It's just not acceptable to lose the homes of hundreds of millions of people over time," he told me, "and that's not an outcome that the world can accept." He leaves behind a policy legacy stretching from the Clean Air Coalition to Kyoto to the Arctic Repair movement, and generations of scientists and advocates he personally inspired.The Cover That Made Him FamousStill Pushing, Even at the EndAn Optimist to the Last

Can the energy choices we make today influence affordability for decades to come? --- Affordability has become one of the defining issues in American politics. Rising costs for housing, healthcare, groceries, and energy continue to strain household budgets. But economist Heather Boushey argues that affordability runs much deeper than prices alone. It reflects how the economy is structured, the kinds of jobs and opportunities the economy creates, and how the benefits of economic growth are shared. Boushey, a professor of practice with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and head of the EconClimate Lab, discusses the relationship between affordability, energy, and economic opportunity. Drawing on decades of work at the intersection of economics and public policy, as well as her experience as chief economist for the White House Investing in America Cabinet during the Biden administration, she explains why energy plays a central role in economic growth and competitiveness, why she believes that “what we make here matters,” and how investments in domestic industries can shape long-term economic opportunity. Boushey also reflects on what the Inflation Reduction Act set in motion, what may endure from the law, and what its implementation reveals about the challenge of sustaining long-term economic strategies in a short-term political environment. Related Content Coping Under Strain: How Climate, Utility Disconnections, and LIHEAP Shaped Household Energy Strategies During the Pandemic https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/coping-under-strain-how-climate-utility-disconnections-and-liheap-shaped-household-energy-strategies-during-the-pandemic/ Breaking the Lock on Urban Climate Finance: A Proposal for a Green Cities Guarantee Fund to Support Climate Resilient Infrastructure in Cities https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/breaking-the-lock-on-urban-climate-finance-a-proposal-for-a-green-cities-guarantee-fund-to-support-climate-resilient-infrastructure-in-cities/ Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, drug prices continue to rise. How are manufacturers using the patent, drug approval process, and courts to keep drug prices high, and what are the legislative solutions to these practices?    The information presented during the podcast reflects solely the opinions of the presenter. The information and materials are not, and are not intended as, a comprehensive source of drug information on this topic. The contents of the podcast have not been reviewed by ASHP, and should neither be interpreted as the official policies of ASHP, nor an endorsement of any product(s), nor should they be considered as a substitute for the professional judgment of the pharmacist or physician.

On our political radar this week… Demagogue Senator Joe McCarthy’s Red Scare tactics of the 1950s are back. The GOP game plan for the 2026 campaign is clear: branding Democrats as soft-on-crime and communists who want to destroy America. Using Hollywood terms, it's a sequel to what was, for a while, a highly successful 1950's crusade led by Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. The candidates in Michigan's two very high-profile primary battles had TV debates in the last few days. Did the debates change anything in the races for the GOP nomination for governor or the Dem nomination for U.S. Senate? Hint – I don't think so. Not even a little bit. Donald Trump got a diplomatic “red card” for his unhinged performance at the meeting of NATO leaders, threatening and insulting our allies while praising the Turkish dictator who has been sanctioned for his cozy military relationship with Russia. The Graham Platner story has reached the inevitable conclusion in the wake of allegations he raped a former girlfriend with Platner defiant but recognizing his support had evaporated. Subscribe to our YouTube channel It’s time for Trump to cough up the $5-million judgement for sexually assaulting and then defaming E. Jean Carroll. Earlier this week a fed-up federal judge ordered the release of the escrowed $5.8 million in one of the defamation cases brought by columnist E. Jean Carrol related to Trump's sexual assault against her, saying that Trump's stalling was over. Still pending: another $83-million plus interest in the 2nd defamation case related to Trump's sexual assault of Carroll. No word yet from the other 27 women who've credibly described Trump's sexual crimes against them. Trump's Justice Department is ramping up threats to disrupt and discredit the 2026 election, targeting three Democratic strongholds in Michigan. We're joined by former DOJ voting rights attorney Sam Bagenstos. Bagenstos was a senior staffer at what it now Robert Kennedy Jr.'s Department of Health and Human Services, the Project 2025-driven office of Management and Budget, and the nearly dormant Department of Justice Office of Civil Rights. From Inauguration Day 2021 to June 2022, he served as general counsel to the Office of Management and Budget where his responsibilities included working on President Biden's Day One executive orders; helped respond to COVID-19, including implementing several crucial aid programs; and helped craft and implement the American Rescue Plan as well as the Inflation Reduction Act;. From 2009 to 2011, Bagenstos was the principal deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights, the No. 2 official in the Civil Rights Division where he was lead attorney in multiple voting rights lawsuits. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Greed, Grift$ and Grab$: The Trump Crime Family Chronicles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored in part by

Tell us what you think of the show! This Week in Cleantech is a weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in clean energy and climate featuring Paul Gerke of Factor This and Tigercomm's Mike Casey.This week's episode features special guest Martha Muir from The Financial Times, who discusses how the cost of clean energy power purchase agreements is set to rise 40 to 120 percent as Inflation Reduction Act subsidies wind down.This week's “Cleantecher of the Week” is Dr. Bill Ho, CEO of GRST, whose company makes a PFAS-free, water-soluble battery binder. Conventional binder relies on "forever chemicals" and toxic solvents to process. GRST's version dissolves in water, making recycling to high-purity black mass simpler and cheaper. Congratulations, Bill!This Week in Cleantech — July 10, 2026 In the woods of Maine, searching for an answer to a ticking climate bomb – The Boston GlobeOne-third of India's new renewable energy capacity faces curtailment – PV MagazineWhy Europe Still Struggles to Scale Its Homegrown Climate Tech – Heatmap NewsEurope's next climate adaptation boom isn't solar panels — it's asphalt –  ReutersUS clean power prices set to soar as AI demand coincides with subsidy cuts – Financial TimesWant to make a suggestion for This Week in Cleantech? Nominate the stories that caught your eye each week by emailing  Paul.Gerke@clarionevents.comMore episodes of Factor This Policycast

Delhi is taking one of the world's biggest steps toward cleaner transportation by banning new gas-powered rickshaws and motorcycles, while Great Britain approves its first new pumped hydro projects in four decades—including one connected to the legendary Loch Ness. Plus, climate change is driving a dangerous invasive puffer fish into the Mediterranean, and the Lightning Round returns with the week's biggest clean energy and climate stories. Join us on Patreon for exciting perks! In this episode: Delhi bans new gas rickshaws starting in 2027 and fossil fuel scooters and motorcycles in 2028 as it ramps up EV charging infrastructure. Great Britain approves its first new pumped hydro projects in 40 years, bringing long-duration energy storage back into the spotlight. Greece offers a bounty on invasive toxic puffer fish as warming seas reshape marine ecosystems. Why pumped hydro acts like a giant battery—and why it's becoming important again. The Lightning Round Germany records thousands of excess deaths during the late-June heat wave. UK heatwave leaves millions struggling to sleep. U.S. car payments hit a record high. CATL rapidly expands battery swapping for heavy-duty trucks. More than 20 wind turbines damaged by extreme winds in South Dakota. What remains of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. China's electric cargo ship fleet continues rapid growth. Pakistan's rooftop solar boom forces the cancellation of LNG imports. Contact Us cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean Support The Clean Energy Show Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet! Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations. Store Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!. Copyright 2026 Sneeze Media

What is the status of the Green New Deal and the Inflation Reduction Act now that Trump is President? This week on the Heartland Labor Forum we'll talk jobs, unions and the green transition with the University of Massachusetts Robert Pollin. Then, Daniel Kotzin teaches history at William Jewell College. In April he gave a talk on the racist history of US immigration law as part of the first Constructing Resistance teach-in called First, They Came for the Immigrants. Our feature is Labor Song of the Month

Greg Doggett, Counsel, Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC, and Felicity Homsted, CEO, FQHC 340B Compliance, discuss the current legal and regulatory landscape of the 340B program. They cover the intersection of 340B with the Inflation Reduction Act, concerns about the Rebate Model, pharmaceutical manufacturer restrictions and data requirements for covered entities, AbbVie's patient definition lawsuit, state reporting requirements, and potential Congressional action.Watch this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsnP7hLbvekEssential Legal Updates, Now in AudioAHLA's popular Health Law Daily email newsletter is now a daily podcast, exclusively for AHLA Comprehensive members. Get all your health law news from the major media outlets on this podcast! To subscribe and add this private podcast feed to your podcast app, go to americanhealthlaw.org/dailypodcast.Stay At the Forefront of Health Legal EducationLearn more about AHLA and the educational resources available to the health law community at https://www.americanhealthlaw.org/. 

The 401-Level Financial Motive Behind Prior Auths and Pharma Rebate Contracting Imagine a cheaper, generic, or even clinically better drug that somehow ends up not on formulary at all, or stuck behind step edits and prior authorizations with a higher copay than the pricier brand sitting right next to it. In this solo episode, host Stacey Richter breaks down exactly how that happens, walking through a case study she calls Brand Number 2 versus the formulary's reigning Brand Darling to show how PBM and GPO rebate economics, not clinical need, often decide which drugs patients can access easily and which ones get thrown up against a wall of red tape. This is Episode 517 (EP517) of Relentless Health Value. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ✅ How a high-volume Brand Darling generating billions in sales and huge aggregate rebates can keep a cheaper, generic, or more effective Brand Number 2 stuck on a nonpreferred tier, behind step edits and prior authorizations, regardless of price or efficacy ✅ Why a structural rebate cliff makes it nearly impossible for a new entrant to unseat an established Brand Darling on formulary, even if that new entrant offers a 99 percent rebate ✅ How rebate dollars a PBM or GPO wants to keep can be relabeled as a data fee, a service fee, or an admin fee, a dynamic also flagged by benefits consultant Robyn Tikia, letting a PBM still claim it passes along 100 percent of rebates ✅ Why a prior authorization is often used as a financial negotiating lever against a manufacturer's rebate offer rather than a clinical determination of whether a patient needs the drug ✅ How regulation such as the Inflation Reduction Act is compressing list prices and collapsing the rebate spread that the traditional contracting math depends on ✅ How GoodRx runs a reverse auction among PBMs to surface its advertised cash price, making coupon sites effectively a sales channel for the same PBMs that lock manufacturers into exclusive formulary contracts WHY THIS MATTERS As Stacey Richter lays it out, a PBM with a fiduciary duty to its shareholders has every financial incentive to double down on a high-volume Brand Darling and freeze out a cheaper or better Brand Number 2 with step edits and prior auths, whether or not that serves the patient stuck in the middle. As regulation compresses list prices and rebate spreads get less stable, more pharma manufacturers are deciding it is worth giving up access to large blocks of insured lives in order to control their own price directly through cash pay, patient assistance programs, or their own copay cards. It is not a clean alternative, since cash pay still runs through PBM-linked coupon platforms like GoodRx, but for some brands it is starting to look like the more controllable bet. === LINKS ===

Only roughly 50% of new GLP-1 prescriptions were getting approved for coverage in 2023. From a plan sponsor's seat, that looks like pharmacy trend spiking 9%, 12%, even 20% year over year. From a pharma manufacturer's seat, it's half their prescriptions not getting filled. Same market, opposite problems — and that's exactly the lens this episode flips on. In this episode, Stacey Richter speaks with Ophelia Johnson, who built new business channels for a pharmaceutical manufacturer that created the GLP-1 boom and has since launched a consulting practice at e-fi.works, about how cash pay models work from the inside — coupon platforms, telehealth channels, white label pharmacy models, and employer carve-outs — and where the new fees are hiding. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ✅ How the Inflation Reduction Act, PBM legal scrutiny, drug shortages, and the compounding bypass converged with ~50% GLP-1 prior auth denial rates in 2023 to push pharma into building cash pay channels that cut the PBM out entirely ✅ How the savings coupon model works: manufacturer buys the patient down to a flat transparent cash price via platforms like GoodRx, pays a fixed per-script fee instead of a PBM rebate, and the coupon platform makes the pharmacy whole — transparent math, no black box ✅ How the telehealth channel and white label pharmacy models extend the distribution chain beyond retail — and why shipping costs, credit card fees, dispensing fees, and new supply chain partners create gross-to-net and revenue leakage risk for manufacturers not built for it ✅ Why "direct to employer" is a misnomer: PBM contracts prohibit pharma from selling directly to self-insured employers, so third-party transparent administrators have emerged — but plan sponsors need to run the math first, given ERISA complications and PBM contract leverage ✅ How PBMs are now charging fees for hub-like patient support services to manage the exact prior auth complexity they created — a Whack-a-Mole shift of profitability that everyone needs to map before signing anything ✅ Ophelia's three-part practical advice: map the full patient journey and all ecosystem player incentives before building any new model (pharma); treat affordability as a clinical risk factor (clinicians); demand auditable medication abandonment data rather than settling for rebate yield metrics (plan sponsors) WHY THIS MATTERS If collaboration is the next innovation, everyone has to understand the incentives of every player in the ecosystem — not just their own. The same 50% of unfilled GLP-1 prescriptions that looks like runaway pharmacy trend from a plan sponsor's seat looks, from a manufacturer's seat, like half their market going dark — and both sides are making moves that affect each other. Understanding those moves, where fees are being layered on, and when fair profit tips into what Stacey calls profiteering is what this episode maps. TUNE IN NEXT WEEK Next week is the 401-level companion to this one — Stacey goes solo on the PBM and GPO contracting mechanics behind why cash pay became a thing, and why cheaper or better drugs can inexplicably end up off formulary or buried under prior auth. === LINKS ===

DC EKG with Joe GroganThe Economics of Ozempic and Other Weight Loss DrugsEpisode 136.5 (“Prescription Refill” – A replay from the archives)Original Air Date: May 2024In this episode, Joe Grogan welcomes Ben Ippolito, Senior Fellow in Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss the rapidly evolving economics of GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.Ben explains the two main competitors in this market—Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy versus Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound. Revealing how insurance coverage decisions drive pharmaceutical marketing strategy.The conversation reveals a critical irrationality in Medicare policy: the statutory prohibition on covering weight loss drugs despite their profound clinical and quality-of-life benefits. Yet these same drugs are covered for diabetes and cardiovascular risk reduction.Ben explores the surprising economics of drug pricing through gross-to-net pricing—the massive gap between list prices and what insurers actually pay through rebates and discounts.The episode examines critical implications of the Inflation Reduction Act's price negotiation provisions. Once Medicare negotiates Ozempic's price, that same price applies to all products using the same active ingredient. This creates cascading market effects: competitors must match those prices to remain on formularies, new entrants face lower pricing power even if clinically superior, and pharmaceutical companies may abandon promising programs due to regulatory uncertainty.Ben argues Congress doesn't need to act immediately to expand Medicare coverage, but likely will within a few years.Joe and Ben discuss unintended consequences of government price regulation, including effects on innovation and drug development pipelines. They explore how price controls announced before elections affect pharmaceutical strategy and development timelines.Concluding with Ben's research on Medicare Advantage and why both Democrats and Republicans scrutinize this private alternative to traditional Medicare. With over 50 percent of seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, bipartisan interest in reform is reshaping healthcare policy conversations on Capitol Hill.Key TopicsGLP-1 drugs, Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, weight loss medications, obesity treatment, Medicare coverage, drug pricing, Inflation Reduction Act, pharmaceutical competition, rebates, gross-to-net pricing, health economics, cardiovascular benefits, diabetes treatment, Medicare Advantage, healthcare policy, innovation incentivesKey Timestamps00:00 Cold Open: "Turned Up to 11"00:24 Welcome to DC EKG00:46 Meet Ben Ippolito (AEI)03:48 The GLP-1 Landscape: Ozempic, Wegovy, and the Field05:04 One Drug, Two Names06:45 Medicare's Weight-Loss Coverage Ban07:21 Blockbusters and Big Effect Sizes09:32 Why Isn't Congress Acting?10:17 Why It Costs Less Than You Think12:34 The Coverage Irrationality14:05 Quality of Life as a Real Benefit15:17 Beyond Weight: Cravings and Addiction18:21 Devil's Advocate: Why Cover It At All?19:48 Gross-to-Net and the Rebate Problem22:41 Why Can't You Just Pay Cash?25:43 The IRA and the Ozempic Price Cut27:32 One Ingredient, One Price30:10 Unintended Consequences in Part D34:01 New Competitors and Killed Programs38:03 What's Next: Medicare Advantage42:04 Wrap-Up and CreditsAbout the Guest(As of May 2024) Ben Ippolito is a Senior Fellow in Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. He holds a PhD and Master's degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Economics from Emory University. Ben examines drug pricing policy, Medicare Advantage, and healthcare innovation economics with regular engagement with Congress.Podcast: DC EKG with Joe GroganGuest: Ben IppolitoSponsor: Survivors for SolutionsProducer: Stay on Course StudiosExecutive Producer: John CZ Czwartacki, DC EKG Podcast

The American ranch is under siege. Fifth-generation Arizona rancher Casey Murph joins me to expose how state-level mandates are seizing vital grazing lands to build foreign-owned solar farms — threatening our food security and property rights. At a time of record-high beef prices and shrinking cattle herds, rural America is facing a multifront assault. From the expansion of industrial solar installations to the massive energy and land demands of new tech data centers, government-manipulated monopolies are pushing out small landowners. Casey Murph breaks down the realities of the Inflation Reduction Act, the devastating environmental impact of clearing topsoil for renewable energy, and what this venture socialism means for the future of the American food supply.  He also warns that solar farms are bringing in illegal alien workers and riffraff to transform the serenity of rural America.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SHORT DESCRIPTION New claims of massive federal fraud are shaking Washington as officials and former EPA leadership allege billions in taxpayer dollars were improperly routed through green energy programs. Tara and Roger break down the allegations, the political fallout, and the growing push inside government to recover what was spent. FEATURED STORIES 1. Trump Officials Claim Massive Fraud Potential in Federal Budget Elon Musk, in comments attributed to a conversation with Joe Rogan, is referenced alongside Trump administration officials who argue that eliminating fraud and improper payments could dramatically reduce the federal deficit. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is cited estimating hundreds of billions in potential fraud annually, while Stephen Miller argues the federal budget could be balanced if only properly eligible recipients received payments. 2. EPA Leadership Launches Criminal Referrals Over Green Energy Spending Former EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced multiple criminal referrals following an internal review of Biden-era environmental grant programs. According to the claims discussed, the investigation centers on alleged misuse of funds routed through nonprofit intermediaries. Zeldin says roughly $29 billion in EPA grants have been paused or canceled amid the review. 3. The $2 Billion Stacy Abrams-Linked Grant Raises Questions One of the most controversial examples cited involves a $2 billion grant awarded to a nonprofit tied to former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams. Critics highlighted that the organization reportedly had minimal prior financial activity before receiving federal funding, raising questions about oversight and eligibility standards. 4. “Pass-Through” Nonprofits Under Scrutiny Investigators referenced in the segment describe a network of nonprofit “pass-through” entities allegedly used to distribute federal funds with limited government oversight after initial disbursement. Concerns raised include whether funds were properly tracked once distributed beyond the initial recipient organizations. 5. Allegations of Political Enrichment Through Climate Funding Programs The discussion also focuses on claims that green energy and climate-related funding programs were structured in ways that benefited politically connected organizations and former government officials. Programs under the Inflation Reduction Act are specifically mentioned as part of the funding pipeline under review. 6. Calls to Reclaim Federal Funds Intensify The Trump EPA team is described as attempting to claw back portions of previously distributed grants, referring some cases to the Inspector General and the Department of Justice for possible prosecution. Supporters argue that stronger oversight and rescission of unused funds could help reduce waste and fraud. KEY TAKEAWAYS Allegations of large-scale federal fraud are fueling renewed scrutiny of government spending. EPA grant programs are under investigation for potential misuse and weak oversight. Nonprofit intermediaries are a central focus of concern in how federal funds are distributed. Political debate is intensifying over climate-related spending and accountability. Officials are pushing for recovered funds and expanded investigations. QUOTE OF THE DAY “If only properly eligible recipients received federal dollars, we could balance the budget.” SOCIAL MEDIA TEASER

It's officially the start of the summer season — and in true solo pod fashion, we're kicking it off with a timely breakdown of the brand new NYC Pied-à-Terre Tax that just got enacted.   In this episode, I walk through exactly how the new surcharge works (Phase 1 vs. Phase 2), why the crazy-low DOF market value on high-end condos actually shields many owners from the tax in both phases, and what the switch to comparable sales in 2028 could mean in the long term.   Then we zoom out: the never-ending “tax the rich” playbook in NYC and beyond. I compare the actual tax landscape of 2021–2026 (post-COVID, Inflation Reduction Act, state cuts vs targeted hikes) against 2005–2010 (recession-era increases) at the federal, state, and major city levels. Property taxes, mansion taxes, transfer taxes, income surtaxes — who's really raising what, and how much?   Follow me for more:  LinkedIn X Instagram YouTube  

Corbin Cowan explains how he connected with Board of Advisors after leaving a disappointing Florida mastermind while trying to turn around a near-bankrupt company. This lead to deals, meeting Kevin Harrington, selling that company, and later helping a med tech referral raise about $18 million and go public on Nasdaq. Corbin describes his Founders First Advisory, which prioritizes increasing what founders personally take from their businesses, starting with a tax strategy using an Inflation Reduction Act investment tax credit program (about 35%–40%) and bonus depreciation, structured to eliminate current-year income tax and potentially recover about 75% of taxes paid over the prior three years. 01:06 Founders First Advisory02:03 Board of Advisors Origin03:23 Deals and Exits Through BA04:13 Who He Serves04:43 Tax Product Overview06:55 How the Credit Works08:07 Eligibility and Intake09:54 Found Money and Peace11:00 Reinvest or Pocket ItThanks for listening, and Please Share this Episode with someone. It would really help us to grow our show and share these valuable tips and strategies with others. Have a great day.George Wright III“It's Never Too Late to Start Living the Life You Were Meant to Live”FREE Daily Mastermind Resources:CONNECT with George & Access Tons of ResourcesGet access to Proven Strategies and Time-Test Principles for Success. Plus, download and access tons of FREE resources and online events by joining our Exclusive Community of Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, and High Achievers like YOU.Join FREE at DailyMastermind.comFollow me on social media Facebook | Instagram | Linkedin | TikTok | YoutubeGrow Your Authority and Personal Brand with a FREE Interview in a Top Global Magazine HERE.Corbin Cowan is the founder and CEO of Founders First Advisory (also known as Founder First Advisory), a financial advisory firm dedicated to helping founders, business owners, and high-income earners reduce tax friction, align their advisory teams, and optimize after-tax wealth.https://www.corbincowan.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/corbincowan/

This episode features an edited recording of our CMS Final Notice webinar, offering timely insights into 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D changes. Hear from Via Benefits experts as they break down MA payment updates, funding pressures, and evolving plan design strategies. Learn how CMS policies, Inflation Reduction Act provisions, and rising healthcare costs are shaping both group and individual Medicare markets. The discussion also explores what these changes mean for plan sponsors evaluating retiree benefits and long-term cost management.

Hospitals already have felt some of the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act on 340B savings, but with the IRA set to expand to more drugs in 2027, hospitals also are starting to project how it might affect their bottom lines next year. 340B Vice President of Pharmacy Services and Education Steven Miller joins us to explain how hospitals can be making those projections now.The IRA Will Expand to Another 15 DrugsNext year, an additional 15 drugs will be subject to Medicare price caps under Medicare Part D on top of the 10 drugs that saw caps this year. Steve says this will cut into 340B savings and overall margins even more — with some 340B discounts possibly dropping to their statutory minimums. These reductions also will translate to commercial and cash-pay dispenses, changing the overall financial outlook for hospitals.Hospitals Cannot Rely on Current 340B Savings Levels for 2027Steve says the 2027 changes are key for future budgeting. If hospitals do not adjust how they are budgeting for 340B drugs subject to Medicare price caps, they are likely to be short on their budget projections. He strongly recommends 340B teams have important conversations with finance teams now about how the IRA will affect their hospital or health system next year.Hospitals Can Be Planning NowFor the rest of 2026, Steve recommends hospitals monitor list pricing and 340B ceiling pricing regularly and to increase monitoring of purchases overall, given how drugmaker pricing behavior affects future 340B prices and savings. As the IRA continues to broaden over the next several years, including to Medicare Part B dispenses, he also recommends hospitals consider securing funding or support from other areas for any 340B-funded services that might see negative IRA impacts.Resources:Prepare Your Leadership for 340B Changes From 2027 Medicare Drug Price Caps

Clean energy has made tremendous progress on technology.Solar is cheaper. Batteries are scaling. Virtual power plants are becoming real grid assets. Electrification is accelerating.But many people still do not understand why these technologies matter to them personally — or whether they are actually worth the cost.So what's missing?In this conversation, Nico sits down with Jessica Fishman to explore why the next phase of the energy transition may depend less on technical innovation and more on public understanding, trust, and emotional connection.Jessica shares lessons from nearly two decades working across solar, storage, policy, and communications, including what the industry can learn from the Inflation Reduction Act, why facts alone rarely change minds, and how clean energy companies can better connect their work to the things people already care about: affordability, resilience, independence, and economic opportunity.Expect to learn:

Clean energy funding under the GGRF remains frozen, with projects on hold and questions over federal spending authority unresolved. --- The $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund has become a focal point of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back federal clean energy policy. The program was designed to finance clean energy and emissions-reducing projects by channeling public funds through nonprofit financial institutions to attract private investment, including investments that support community resilience. After taking office in 2025, the administration moved to freeze funding and sought to terminate grant agreements that had already been awarded, citing concerns about oversight, conflicts of interest, and program design. Supporters argue the funds were lawfully appropriated and that the administration is attempting to unwind commitments based on claims that have not been substantiated in court. Roughly $20 billion of that funding now remains in limbo, with projects on hold. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, discusses how the program was designed to work, the administration’s stated rationale for shutting it down, and what the dispute could mean for clean energy investment and congressional authority over federal spending. Related Content Breaking the Lock on Urban Climate Finance: A Proposal for a Green Cities Guarantee Fund to Support Climate Resilient Infrastructure in Cities https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/breaking-the-lock-on-urban-climate-finance-a-proposal-for-a-green-cities-guarantee-fund-to-support-climate-resilient-infrastructure-in-cities/ Governing the Greenhouse Gas Protocol https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/governing-the-greenhouse-gas-protocol/ Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.eduSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we zoomed out to take stock of the greatest financial heist in recorded history. Sixteen years of bailouts, money printing, and acronym soup that kept corporate America whole while the rest of us fell further behind. And then we took a quick detour into crypto, where Bitcoin is quietly creeping back up and the guy sitting on $62 billion worth of it really wants you to think that’s a sign you should buy in. Chapters Intro: 00:00:00 Quick Takes: 00:00:44 Max Notes: 00:06:01 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:20:45 Chart of the Week: 00:23:05 Headlines: 00:26:07 Pod Love + Book Love: 00:28:46 Outro: 00:30:01 Resources ProPublica: Bailout Tracker: Tracking Every Dollar and Every Recipient U.S. Department of the Treasury: Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) MIT Sloan: Here’s how much the 2008 bailouts really cost Levy Economics Institute: A Detailed Look at the Fed’s Bailout by Funding Facility and Recipient Parker Poe: Summary of the $2 Trillion Federal CARES Act U.S. Department of the Treasury: Airline and National Security Relief Programs Brookings Institution: What did the Fed do in response to the COVID-19 crisis? U.S. Small Business Administration: Paycheck Protection Program U.S. Congressional Budget Office: Estimated Budgetary Effects of H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Good Jobs First: Subsidy Tracker Top 100 Parent Companies The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder: Mamdani Is Rewriting The Democratic Playbook Bloomberg: Bitcoin’s Stealth Rally Has Traders Setting Sights on $80,000 Bloomberg: Climate Change Is Already Showing Up in the Cost of Living Mother Jones: Number Go Up. The Oligarchy in Overdrive WSWS: El Salvador’s Bukele regime stages mass show trial for nearly 500 alleged gang members Pod Love Straight White American Jesus: Project 2025 in Action Book Love Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff: Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed UNFTR Resources Essay: What Will the Next Bailout look like? Video: White House Assassination Plot, Bailout Coming, and Fed's Dangerous Gamble Video: MTN Macro Take: The Warsh Man for the Job -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify: unftr.com/rate and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftr.com. Become a member at unftr.com/memberships. Buy yourself some Unf*cking Coffee at shop.unftr.com. Visit our bookshop.org page at bookshop.org/shop/UNFTRpod to find the full UNFTR book list, and find book recommendations from our Unf*ckers at bookshop.org/lists/unf-cker-book-recommendations. Access the UNFTR Musicless feed by following the instructions at unftr.com/accessibility.Support the show: https://www.unftr.com/membershipsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newt talks with Wayne Crews, the Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. His work explores the impact of government regulation of free enterprise. They discuss CEI’s annual report “Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State.” Crews argues that rising federal spending and regulation move together, citing post-COVID laws such as the CARES Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act as examples of “hyper-regulatory” spending that expands the administrative state even before agencies write rules. Crews contends that government is ill-suited to pick market winners, set prices, or manage sectors like energy and finance, and that market forces—suppliers, customers, investors, media, and civil society—already discipline firms without heavy-handed regulation. He stresses that rejecting overregulation does not mean “no regulation,” but rather preferring competitive over political discipline. Crews warns that massive federal spending has weakened the coalition for regulatory reform by aligning businesses, governors, and mayors with Washington through funded mandates and programmatic strings tied to priorities like DEI, climate, and the “care economy.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.