John Kasich’s Latest Endorsement Could Be a Game-Changer
Ohio’s Republican Gov. John Kasich on Monday sought to enshrine his status as a top-tier presidential candidate when he rolled out the endorsement of Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley.
“John Kasich is a leader whose readiness to lead our nation on his first day in the Oval Office is unmatched,” Bentley said during a joint appearance at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. “America needs John Kasich, and I am going to do everything I can to help make sure he is our next president.”
Related: 10 Things You Need to Know About John Kasich
On paper, the Republican governor of a deep-red Southern state endorsing a GOP presidential candidate months before the first primary votes are cast may not come as much of a surprise, but it could ultimately mean a great deal for Kasich’s White House bid.
The Ohio Republican, with his compassionate conservative message, has touted himself as a moderate in the crowded GOP field; winning the support of the executive of one of the most conservative states in the nation could help him broaden his appeal in the party.
Alabama is set to play a major role in the GOP’s 2016 nomination process. The state is one of eight in the South that will hold a vote on March 1 in the so-called “SEC primary.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), another White House hopeful, has called the cluster of states the “firewall” for his candidacy and wrapped up a southern bus tour last week, drawing large crowds in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.
Related: Did Kasich Just Do an About-Face on Climate Change?
By making hay of Bentley’s endorsement, Kasich also aims to stay in the spotlight and secure his place on the main stage when Republicans meet again next month for their second debate.
Kasich announced his candidacy just a few weeks before the first debate in Cleveland earlier this month in the hope that his initial splash in the polls would be enough for him to make the cut-off for the prime time event. The strategy paid off; Kasich received standing ovations and thunderous applause whenever he answered a question before the home state crowd.
But surveys taken since the debate show former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina surging in the polls, meaning another contender is likely to get bumped off stage.
After Bentley’s announcement, Kasich, who has bet his candidacy on winning the New Hampshire primary and watched his numbers steadily rise there, will make a campaign swing through the Granite State, Iowa and South Carolina.
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Tax Refunds Rebound
Smaller refunds in the first few weeks of the current tax season were shaping up to be a political problem for Republicans, but new data from the IRS shows that the value of refund checks has snapped back and is now running 1.3 percent higher than last year. The average refund through February 23 last year was $3,103, while the average refund through February 22 of 2019 was $3,143 – a difference of $40. The chart below from J.P. Morgan shows how refunds performed over the last 3 years.
Number of the Day: $22 Trillion
The total national debt surpassed $22 trillion on Monday. Total public debt outstanding reached $22,012,840,891,685.32, to be exact. That figure is up by more than $1.3 trillion over the past 12 months and by more than $2 trillion since President Trump took office.
Chart of the Week: The Soaring Cost of Insulin
The cost of insulin used to treat Type 1 diabetes nearly doubled between 2012 and 2016, according to an analysis released this week by the Health Care Cost Institute. Researchers found that the average point-of-sale price increased “from $7.80 a day in 2012 to $15 a day in 2016 for someone using an average amount of insulin (60 units per day).” Annual spending per person on insulin rose from $2,864 to $5,705 over the five-year period. And by 2016, insulin costs accounted for nearly a third of all heath care spending for those with Type 1 diabetes (see the chart below), which rose from $12,467 in 2012 to $18,494.
Chart of the Day: Shutdown Hits Like a Hurricane
The partial government shutdown has hit the economy like a hurricane – and not just metaphorically. Analysts at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said Tuesday that the shutdown has now cost the economy about $26 billion, close to the average cost of $27 billion per hurricane calculated by the Congressional Budget Office for storms striking the U.S. between 2000 and 2015. From an economic point of view, it’s basically “a self-imposed natural disaster,” CRFB said.
Chart of the Week: Lowering Medicare Drug Prices
The U.S. could save billions of dollars a year if Medicare were empowered to negotiate drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies, according to a paper published by JAMA Internal Medicine earlier this week. Researchers compared the prices of the top 50 oral drugs in Medicare Part D to the prices for the same drugs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which negotiates its own prices and uses a national formulary. They found that Medicare’s total spending was much higher than it would have been with VA pricing.
In 2016, for example, Medicare Part D spent $32.5 billion on the top 50 drugs but would have spent $18 billion if VA prices were in effect – or roughly 45 percent less. And the savings would likely be larger still, Axios’s Bob Herman said, since the study did not consider high-cost injectable drugs such as insulin.
