In the latest bit of political theater, the President and the Secretary of War are suddenly all about transparency, promising to release a video showing military strikes on a boat allegedly involved in drug trafficking. One might give them a slow clap for supporting transparency, but it’s quite a change of pace considering how many times this administration seemed more interested in looking the other way while our borders turned into a revolving door for gangs and drugs.
It’s no surprise that Democrats are getting a bit hot under the collar about this issue. After all, record numbers of people and drugs flooding across our southern border didn’t exactly seem to keep them awake at night. Instead, it seems their outrage dial only really cranks up when it involves holding the current administration to account. Funny how nobody’s harping on the administration for the swift, unsatisfying withdrawal from Afghanistan which tragically cost 13 young service members their lives. It seems accountability is a scarce resource.
The administration deciding to play tough with narco-terrorists is quite the turnaround. Intelligence from multiple agencies deemed the boat a threat, as the story goes, leading to this military action. Yet, when a similar military mishap involved a U.N. convoy and ended tragically during the Afghan withdrawal, the volume was suspiciously low on media outrage. The media’s selective moral compass is as predictable as vanilla ice cream at a dairy farm.
Meanwhile, on the home front, inflation is doing its best impression of a never-ending stairway. Whereas inflation under Trump was relatively tame, under Biden it’s all about reaching for the sky. Prices on everything from cars to healthcare have appreciated, and not like a fine wine, but more like that bill you dread. Republicans are working on plans to deflate this inflation balloon faster than a kid poking a needle into a birthday balloon, yet there’s still a long way to go.
Healthcare costs are a particular sticking point. Many recall the grand promises of the Affordable Care Act—if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it, right? That promise sure hit the rocks quicker than a ship named Titanic. With costs rising and insurance companies laughing all the way to the bank, Republicans are pushing reforms to bring sanity back to healthcare. Ideas like pharmacy benefit manager reforms and direct primary care could be just the ticket to curbing these runaway costs. Even with a circus of distractions, it’s clear that Republicans are intent on making healthcare less of a financial lost cause.
