'When you get sick, the focus should be on getting better'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
'The credit reporting system shouldn't punish Americans for getting sick'
Rohit Chopra at CNN
Medical billing errors are "filling Americans' credit reports with junk data that makes lenders' underwriting decisions less accurate," says Rohit Chopra. Medical debt is a "poor signal of whether someone will pay a debt," and banning it from credit reports "would alleviate a great deal of misery and unfair coercion that has tremendous financial implications for individuals and families." It is "time to put an end to medical debt coercion and protect Americans' financial health."
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'Democrats must change their whole approach toward white people'
Steve Phillips at The Nation
Democrats "need to realize that if Donald Trump's felony conviction won't weaken his support among most white voters, then nothing will," says Steve Phillips. The "dominant strategic focus of the Democratic Party has been and remains to woo white voters," but "I have seen precious few examples of empirical data and research guiding this quest." Democrats should "turn their attention and resources to doing what works to get the maximum number of realistically attainable white votes possible."
'Nikki Haley is still the strongest VP pick'
Rich Lowry at National Review
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Nikki Haley would "still probably be the choice who, more than any other possible pick, would help Trump win," says Rich Lowry. By conventional standards, Haley "getting the nod would be so obvious as to be completely unremarkable," and "paint-by-number politics would make her a top contender." Trump choosing Haley "would be an extraordinary grace note from someone the public doesn't expect that from" and would "be an olive branch" to "Republican-inclined voters who aren't ready to support Trump."
'Replacing taxes with tariffs would take us back to the 1800s'
Timothy Noah at The New Republic
Donald Trump's plan to replace the progressive income tax with tariffs would return the "United States economy to the nineteenth century," says Timothy Noah. Tariffs "may be necessary in limited instances to encourage the growth of certain industries," but to "embrace tariffs, in the modern age, as a source of revenue is simply insane." This is why "more respectable conservatives don't suggest, as Trump does, that the income tax ought to be replaced with tariffs."
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‘Stakeknife’: MI5’s man inside the IRAThe Explainer Freddie Scappaticci, implicated in 14 murders and 15 abductions during the Troubles, ‘probably cost more lives than he saved’, investigation claims
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The longevity economy is booming as people live longerThe Explainer The sector is projected to reach $27 trillion by 2030
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Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
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The Trump administration says it deports dangerous criminals. ICE data tells a different story.IN THE SPOTLIGHT Arrest data points to an inconvenient truth for the White House’s ongoing deportation agenda
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‘Toxic chemicals emitted by those facilities can ravage the human body’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Trump unveils $12B bailout for tariff-hit farmersSpeed Read The president continues to insist that his tariff policy is working
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Trump: Losing energy and supportFeature Polls show that only one of his major initiatives—securing the border—enjoys broad public support
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Is Trump in a bubble?Today’s Big Question GOP allies worry he is not hearing voters
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