I'm interested to see how this thing with the pharma companies goes, re: forcing them to negotiate for prices. My understanding is Trump tried this in his first term, got sued by the pharma bros and the courts sided with them, indicating his action was the purview of Congress, and not vested in the Executive. (Big Pharma is notoriously interested in the separation of powers. "We would sell our drugs for cheaper, you see, but unfortunately the Constitution just doesn't allow it!") There's zero chance the administration doesn't get sued again, and they have to know that, which makes me wonder if they've gone about it a different way this time, or if his play is just what he said yesterday, that he really wants this folded into the reconciliation bill.
If so, it's something Democrats have been on board with longer than Republicans, but I'm not counting any chickens here. At this point, if Trump said to breathe, I think the Democrats would all hold their breath until they passed out. As usual, he's his own worst enemy, and instead of just saying something like this has had increasing bipartisan support for a while, he basically dared the Democrats to vote against it. Dumb move. Never dare the current Democrats to do something just because it's not in their interest.
A victory here would not be trivial. Medicare is a massive part of federal spending, and a major part of that relates to drug costs. If Medicare could negotiate prices, that actually matters, to the point where not even a wet blanket like CD could dismiss it. I've been listening to Democratic/left-leaning pundits talk about this for some years, and when I got a peak at how it works from within the setting of a clinic, I agreed with them, and disagreed with the Republicans who had various BS reasons, I thought, for opposing it. Granted, I don't underestimate the government's ability to finally achieve meaningful savings in an area and then find another pit to throw money we don't have into.
