If Congress does not waive PAYGO, the following cuts are expected: Up to 4% reduction in Medicare provider payments: This affects payments to hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, and Medicare Advantage plans It does not reduce Medicare benefits, eligibility, or coverage for beneficiaries Estimated financial impact: $45 billion in cuts for fiscal year 2026 $490–$500 billion in total cuts…

Hands Off rally on April 5th in Syracuse. Photo by Mark Rupert. On Saturday, April 5, millions of people attended more than 1,400 protests around the country and around the world. My Bluesky feed was filled with gorgeous pictures of Americans standing up for democracy.  Here in Syracuse, it was…

On Friday afternoon, Chuck Schumer and nine other Democratic Senators joined with their Republican colleagues on the key vote to enable passage of a stop-gap funding bill to keep the federal government running through September. In congressional jargon, this bill is referred to as a continuing resolution (CR).  Lots of…

I’m just back from attending the 2025 Global Summit on Constitutionalism at the University of Texas at Austin. This is an academic conference that assembles 300 scholars from around the world for three days of research presentations, keynote addresses, and discussion.  As always, I learned a lot, some of it…