How To Save The World
Here’s how Congress can stop Trump from initiating nuclear armageddon.
Originally posted at LeverNews.com
🔥 New in The Lever: Palantir could be paid millions to help the government assign cubicles.
👇 Spend three minutes reading this 894-word newsletter to learn about:
How we can stop Trump from launching nuclear war.
Why hospital prices are so confusing.
A bill banning gamblers from betting on war.
The surveillance company that doesn’t want to be watched.
Amid intensifying fears that President Donald Trump may soon bring about nuclear armageddon, it’s worth pointing out that for almost a decade, lawmakers have sat on legislation to prohibit a president from starting a nuclear war without the explicit authorization of Congress. The most recent iterations of the bill prevent federal funds from being used to conduct a first-use nuclear strike unless Congress explicitly authorizes such action. In order for the president to launch nuclear weapons without Congressional approval, the Secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would first need to confirm nuclear attacks against the U.S., its territories, or its allies — empowering military leaders to potentially reject a Trump nuclear attack order.
🖊️ Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) first introduced the matching bills during the early days of the first Trump administration in 2017, noting the “frightening reality” of a U.S. president “who has demonstrated ignorance of the nuclear triad, stated his desire to be ‘unpredictable’ with nuclear weapons, and as President-elect was making sweeping statements about U.S. nuclear policy over Twitter.”
A new study comparing prescription drug prices at hospitals across the nation finds that patients face a “maze of rates that vary wildly by payer,” and that “price variation is extreme [and] sometimes absurd.” For drugs studied, the average maximum drug price negotiated by insurers exceeded the minimum by over 2,300 times — meaning the exact same drug at the exact same hospital could theoretically cost between $1 and $2,300, depending on patients’ coverage. Researchers argue that the wide spread in prices mean consumers have “little hope of effectively shopping [for] health care today” due to the complex map of billing practices and contract agreements between insurers, health systems, and drug manufacturers.
🏥 In one-quarter of instances, hospitals offered no prescription drug discounts to patients without insurance. More than half the time, that discount was less than 30 percent. Comparatively, patients with insurance saw roughly 40 percent savings on prescription drug list costs.
In the last day, a first-time Polymarket user has bet more than $20,000 that U.S. forces will enter Iran by March 14 — raising more red flags about potential insiders using their intel to profit off war and destruction. So far on Polymarket alone, more than $10 million has been wagered on when active U.S. military personnel will invade Iran by land. Another user with thousands invested in this market has reportedly already profited roughly $99,000 just from wagers made about U.S. military intervention in Iran.
🎲 In response to growing backlash over war markets, U.S. House lawmakers last week introduced bipartisan legislation banning Polymarket, Kalshi, and other prediction platforms from accepting bets covering terrorism, assassination, war, gaming, or illegal activity.
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DAY IN DATA
The amount of private equity deals in the defense industry rose 17 percent last year and are expected to grow more thanks to Trump’s attacks on Iran. (Source: Pitchbook)
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FINAL THOUGHT
Democrats are in a bind of their own manufacturing.