“Federal health officials on Monday laid out a proposal to spur development of customized treatments for patients with hard-to-treat diseases, including for rare genetic conditions that the pharmaceutical industry has long considered unprofitable. The preliminary Food and Drug Administration guidelines, if implemented, would create a new pathway for bespoke therapies that have only been tested in a handful of patients due to the challenges of conducting larger studies. The FDA announcement specifically mentions gene editing, although agency officials said the new approach could also be used by other drugs and therapies. It’s a shift long sought by patients, advocates and researchers focused on rare diseases, which often do not fit within the pharmaceutical industry’s business model or the FDA’s traditional drug-approval system.” (02/23/26)
“Robby Soave gives his radar on recent comments from Sen. Bernie Sanders about the potential dangers of A.I., and what role governments should play in regulating it.” (02/23/26)
“For the past six months or so, Obamacare subsidies for people who buy their own health insurance have been an issue that has loomed over a sharply divided Congress. One reason why the two parties can’t reach some sort of compromise is that neither party has been willing to tackle the three biggest problems that afflict the market the Affordable Care Act created. On the buyer side, we have been trying to force people to buy insurance they would never buy with their own money. On the seller side, we have been trying to force insurers to enroll people they do not want to enroll. And on both sides of the market, we have created perverse incentives that cause costs to be higher and quality lower than would otherwise have been the case.” (02/23/26)
“The Supreme Court has done the country a service by invalidating Trump’s use of IEEPA tariffs. The Section 122 authority he subsequently turned to mandates a uniform tariff, and not one that can be targeted against disfavored countries. Moreover, that authority expires after 150 days, undercutting its utility as a political weapon. Future tariffs under other authorities may be possible, but almost all of them reduce the president’s discretion in imposing them, requiring formal procedures to justify the imposition of the levy. So, Trump has not just lost the foundation of his economic policy; he has also been stripped of a political weapon that he was particularly fond of deploying against friendly countries.” (02/23/26)
Source: Mother Jones
by Hannah Levintova & Dan Friedman
“In the wake of the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol, Donald Trump and his close associates found themselves mired in lawsuits that, among other things, sought to hold them accountable for inciting the violence that resulted in injuries to more than 140 police officers and likely contributed to the deaths of five. By 2023, the legal fees had ballooned into the millions, all while Trump also was mounting an expensive presidential campaign. At the same time, a charity run by construction heir, private equity mogul, and Trump donor Bill Pulte — who now runs the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) — made a mysterious, previously unreported donation that raises serious questions about whether it was an effort to quietly funnel money to the legal defense of Trump, other January 6 defendants, or another purpose entirely.” (02/23/26)
“Glenn Hughes’s posthumous book is a reminder of the philosophical sources for the conception of human dignity that ought to define our political tradition.” (02/23/26)
“President Trump on Sunday threatened Netflix, suggesting it would ‘pay the consequences’ if it didn’t ‘immediately’ fire Susan Rice, who served as ambassador to the United Nations under the Obama administration. The comments come weeks after the president said he decided he shouldn’t be involved in the deal to sell Warner Bros. Discovery and that ‘The Justice Department will handle it.’ The president’s words shouldn’t have bearing over the approval of Netflix’s merger agreement with WBD, but they can still influence WBD’s sale process. … On Monday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told the BBC, ‘This is a business deal. It’s not a political deal.'” (02/23/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Harry Phibbs
“Poland was pivotal to the fall of Communism in Europe. The Solidarity protests in the 1980s gave hope that political change was possible, even among those who feared that totalitarian states might prove permanent with their grim monolithic structures. Poland’s subsequent success as a free nation serves as an exemplar to others. What a contrast with Russia, which has also overthrown Communism and remains beset by poverty, tyranny, and an aggressive foreign policy.” (02/23/26)
