I'm skipping the Thursday Outlook today. Anthony Weiner's resignation has pretty much rendered everything else underbuzzed. Here are some of the ones I think deserve a lot more attention:
- Will Democrats cave on Medicaid? There are worrying signs that Democrats bent on cutting-for-cutting's-sake may go soft on Medicaid--because it hasn't yet seen the overwhelming public pushback that came when Republicans targeted Medicare and Social Security. Not only is cutting Medicare a really bad idea, as Ezra Klein explains...but we're talking about cutting a service that already leaves some of America's poorest children getting turned away from treatment. Not acceptable. And Democrats are risking joining Republicans on the wrong side of the backlash when this one eventually comes to public attention.
- Elections have consequences. If you voted Democratic, you helped to save some funding for assisting breastfeeding for impoverished mothers. (Yes, some Republicans opposed some cuts, too--but they wouldn't have had to if the country hadn't given their colleagues a majority last year.)
- Check out item 9 on today's Need to Know memo from the National Journal. Anyone have any idea what their sourcing is for this? Did someone report on this and I just can't find the link? If you've got sourcing on this, please put a link in the comments!
- One overlooked point about speculators and gas prices. They drive prices up, yes, but they can also drive prices down. The big commodity traders like volatility, because they make money not just based on their own bets, but based on getting investors to bet, too. So whether investors are buying or selling, the people doing their trading for them make money either way. And we, of course, all lose in the process.
- Causality or correlation? You be the judge. The LA Times has a great map showing that life expectancy is actually falling in some areas of the United States. That's not a big surprise, given how many politicians are dedicated to auctioning off our health and the things that contribute to healthier living. And, in fact, it looks like the folks who vote those politicians into office are the ones who are dying earlier. Coincidence?
What else is underbuzzed today? Share your own stories in the comments.
Follow Senior Producer Jonathan Larsen (@jtlarsen) on Twitter