Saturday, February 8, 2025

Secession from Illinois? It’s a Long Shot, but 6 Six Counties Voted Yes

Long shot is a huge understatement, but the sentiment alone says what you need to know.

Please consider Secession From Illinois Is in the Air

As states grow more politically polarized, the difference between good and bad governance is coming into sharper relief for voters. Enough people are noticing in Illinois that some counties want to secede from the Land of Lincoln and join a state that isn’t ruled by public unions and their political yes-men.
In November, to little national notice, seven Illinois counties voted to consider seceding, and now Indiana is rolling out the welcome mat. Voters in Iroquois, Calhoun, Clinton, Greene, Jersey, Madison and Perry counties approved a nonbinding ballot question on cutting ties with Illinois. The votes weren’t close. Six of the seven counties approved the advisory question by more than 70%. Iroquois County’s vote was some 72%, and Calhoun County’s near 76%.
The Illinois fiscal mess is so great that pressure will keep building to raise taxes again and again. Pension debt was $144 billion in 2024, up from $16 billion in 2000, according to Wirepoints and the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker called the secession idea a “stunt” and derided Indiana as a “low-wage state that doesn’t protect workers, a state that does not provide healthcare for people when they’re in need.” Illinois has a higher average income, but that’s a legacy of the state and city of Chicago’s economic glory days, which are long past.
Mr. Pritzker is essentially claiming the superiority of his welfare-state, public-union governance model. But fewer people are buying it. Since 2020, 33 Illinois counties have voted to consider breaking away from the state.
Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution says “no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.”
This makes secession a high bar, since it would require Springfield’s agreement and approval from Congress. But maybe progressive lawmakers would be happy to be rid of those red counties so they aren’t regularly embarrassed by their votes to secede. Illinois Republican Rep. Brad Halbrook has introduced legislation for Illinois’s participation in the boundary commission.
When he runs for President in 2028, perhaps Gov. Pritzker can explain to voters why so many of his citizens want to flee his brand of tax-and-spend governance.

On a percentage basis, New York, Illinois, Louisiana, and California lost the most population between 2020 and 2023.

March 13, 2024: Chicago Teachers’ Union Seeks $50 Billion Despite $700 Million City Deficit

If you live in Illinois, get the hell out before unions take every penny you have.

August 11, 2024: Net Zero Climate Policies Could Leave the Midwest in the Dark

A cascade of net zero policies put Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois on a collision course with disaster when solar and wind fail.

November 25, 2025: When Do Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago Finally Implode?

Chicago slashed 2,103 public safety job but added 184 administrators. The budget deficit is nearly $1 billion.

On October 5, 2019 I wrote Escape Illinois: Get The Hell Out Now, We Are

And we did in July or 2020. Hello Utah, we love it here.

Meanwhile, Illinois has only gotten worse. It’s truly incredible how the state keeps electing worse and worse governors.

And the City of Chicago had a seemingly impossible task of finding a worse mayor than Lori Lightfoot, but Brandon Johnson is not only worse, but amazingly worse.

Since succession is nearly impossible, I suggest voting with your feet.

https://mishtalk.com/economics/secession-from-illinois-its-a-long-shot-but-6-six-counties-voted-yes/

'US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’'

Members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team have had access to the US Treasury Department’s payment systems for over a week. On Thursday, the threat intelligence team at one of the department's agencies recommended that DOGE members be monitored as an “insider threat.”

Sources say members of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s IT division and others received an email detailing these concerns.

“There is ongoing litigation, congressional legislation, and widespread protests relating to DOGE’s access to Treasury and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service,” reads a section of the email titled “Recommendations,” reviewed by WIRED. “If DOGE members have any access to payment systems, we recommend suspending that access immediately and conducting a comprehensive review of all actions they may have taken on these systems.”

Although Treasury and White House officials have repeatedly denied it, WIRED has reported that DOGE technologists had the ability to not only read the code of sensitive payment systems but also rewrite it. Marko Elez, one of a number of young men identified by WIRED who have little to no government experience but are associated with DOGE, was granted read and write privileges on two of the most sensitive systems in the US government: the Payment Automation Manager and Secure Payment System at the BFS, an agency that according to Treasury records paid out $5.45 trillion in fiscal year 2024.

“There is reporting at other federal agencies indicating that DOGE members have performed unauthorized changes and locked civil servants out of the sensitive systems they gained access to,” the “Recommendations” portion of the email continues. “We further recommend that DOGE members be placed under insider threat monitoring and alerting after their access to payment systems is revoked. Continued access to any payment systems by DOGE members, even ‘read only,’ likely poses the single greatest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”

The recommendations were part of a weekly report sent out by the BFS threat intelligence team to hundreds of staffers. “Insider threat risks are something [the threat intelligence team] usually covers,” a source told WIRED. “But they have never identified something inside the bureau as an insider threat risk that I know of.”

The Treasury Department and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The email also details this week’s Treasury lawsuit, which resulted in a federal judge granting an order on February 6 to temporarily restrict DOGE staffers from accessing and altering payment system information.

In a section of the email titled “Analyst Notes,” the email delves into the fallout from the suit.

“A court order formalizing an agreement reportedly restricting DOGE’s access to Treasury was issued, but specifically provides ‘read only’ exemptions for Marko Elez (DOGE member at Fiscal Service and Treasury) and Thomas (aka Tom) Krause (DOGE member at Treasury),” it states. “This access still poses an unprecedented insider threat risk.”

Elez previously worked for SpaceX, Musk’s space company, and X, Musk’s social media company. Elez resigned Thursday after The Wall Street Journal inquired with the White House about his connections to “a deleted social-media account that advocated for racism and eugenics.” Elez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a letter to Treasury secretary Scott Bessent on February 7, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said that “Treasury’s refusal to provide straight answers about DOGE’s actions, as well as its refusal to provide a briefing requested by several Senate committees only heightens my suspicions” and requested that Bessent provide the logs of Elez and any other DOGE-affiliated personnel regarding their access to the Treasury’s systems.

https://www.wired.com/story/treasury-bfs-doge-insider-threat/

NIH cuts billions from indirect research 'overhead' funding

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Friday made a significant reduction in grants reserved for research institutions, a decision that may significantly impact American higher education.

The NIH said it provided over $35 billion in grants to more than 2,500 institutions in 2023, announcing that it will now limit the amount granted for “indirect funding” to 15 percent. This funding helps cover universities’ overhead and administrative expenses and previously averaged nearly 30 percent, with some universities charging over 60 percent.

The change will take effect on Monday, and will save roughly $4 billion annually, per the NIH.

A directive issued from the department argued that its funds should go toward direct scientific research rather than administrative overhead.

“The United States should have the best medical research in the world. It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead,” it stated.

Reacting to the development, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities said this decision would limit medical breakthroughs that cure cancer.

The organization’s president, Mark Becker, said in a statement, “NIH slashing the reimbursement of research costs will slow and limit medical breakthroughs that cure cancer and address chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.”

“Let there be no mistake: this is a direct and massive cut to lifesaving medical research,” the statement added.

Becker called on the Trump administration to reconsider the action, calling it “self-defeating.”

During its first week in January, the administration abruptly decided to freeze the grant review process at the NIH.

The decision led to cancellation of meetings including study sections, which review the applications for NIH fellowships and grants. Advisory council meetings, which determine if an application should receive a recommendation for funding from an NIH institute or center, were also cancelled.

“I don’t know that there’s a precedent to this, certainly not on the scale,” Esther Choo, a professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health and Science University, whose NIH study section was canceled, said at the time.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5134501-nih-cuts-billions-from-research-overhead-funding/

Trump ordered Secret Service to provide ‘every bit of information’ on would-be assassins

President Trump ordered the Secret Service on Friday to provide him “every bit of information” about his two would-be assassins.

“I’m entitled to know,” he told The Post.

“I want to find out about the two assassins. . . . Why did the one guy have six cell phones and why did the other guy have [foreign] apps?

“No more holding back because of Biden. . . . I’m entitled to know. And they held it back long enough.

“No excuses.”

Six cellphones were allegedly found in the car of Ryan Routh, the 59-year-old suspect in the second assassination attempt on Trump last September at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, FL.

Thomas Crooks, 19, shot Trump in the ear at a rally in Butler, PA, last July,.

Trump’s national security advisor, former Rep. Michael Waltz, has questioned why a teenager would need to use multiple encrypted foreign apps.

Waltz, a former member of the congressional task force probing the assassination attempt, has been advising the president on the investigation.

https://nypost.com/2025/02/08/us-news/trump-ordered-secret-service-to-provide-every-bit-of-information-on-would-be-assassins/

Regeneron 3-Year Results for EYLEA HD in Patients with Wet Age-related Macular Degeneration

Continued Durable Vision Gains and Anatomic Improvements with Extended Dosing Intervals

At three years, the vast majority of patients who switched to EYLEA HD from a fixed 2-month dosing regimen with EYLEA® (aflibercept) Injection 2 mg maintained visual and anatomic improvements while rapidly extending their dosing intervals: 79%, 43% and 16% achieved last assigned dosing intervals of ≥3, ≥4 and ≥5 months, respectively

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/02/08/3023108/0/en/Three-Year-Results-for-EYLEA-HD-aflibercept-Injection-8-mg-in-Patients-with-Wet-Age-related-Macular-Degeneration-Demonstrate-Continued-Durable-Vision-Gains-and-Anatomic-Improvement.html

'Canada seeks stronger EU trade ties as both regions threatened by Trump tariffs'

Canada wants to deepen its economic ties with the EU and uphold global trading rules in the face of threatened U.S. tariffs, its trade minister Mary Ng told Reuters on Saturday.

The EU and Canada have benefited from a free trade agreement since 2017, which has boosted bilateral trade by 65%, and set up a raw materials partnership in 2021.

Ng met EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic for a lunch on Saturday following a meeting with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director general of the World Trade Organization in Geneva on Friday.

"Trade agreements are one thing, and we have seen really great numbers, but what more can we be doing to help Canadian businesses enter into any of the 27 member states...and what more can we do to the same in Canada" Ng said.

She said critical minerals and smaller businesses would be among the focus areas with the EU. The EU, in particular, is keen to forge partnerships to secure metals that are key for the energy transition - cobalt, lithium and nickel - to reduce its dependence on China.

Canada is also pushing to diversify its exports and set itself a target in 2018 of increasing non-U.S. exports by 50% by 2025. Ng said the country was on track to meet or exceed the target.

Canada struck trade deals with Indonesia in December and Ecuador last week and is pushing hard in the Indo-Pacific region. The minister is leading a delegation including more than 200 businesses to Australia, Singapore and Brunei next week.

"We are at the table with the countries in Southeast Asia, so the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. I took a very large delegation of Canadian businesses to the Philippines in December, to Indonesia, to markets like Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Korea," Ng added.

Ottawa threatened retaliatory duties and legal action against the United States after President Donald Trump announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico a week ago and before he paused their imposition for 30 days. Ng said Canada could challenge Washington at the WTO if tariffs were imposed.

"We would consider all of the options are available to Canada because Canada is country that believes in a rules-based trading system," Ng said.

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/world/canada-seeks-stronger-eu-trade-ties-as-both-regions-threatened-by-trump-tariffs/ar-AA1yF0Me

Direct Primary Care Cuts Out Insurers. Could It Gain Traction Under Trump?

Andrea Meneses stumbled on a direct primary care

opens in a new tab or window clinic because of a crisis.

Her grandmother, visiting Wisconsin from Bolivia, did not have insurance but needed to see a doctor fast. One of the grandchildren accidentally put her insulin in the freezer instead of the refrigerator.

Meneses reached out to friends in a panic, and one recommended Wendy Molaska, MD, who runs a direct primary careopens in a new tab or window clinic in nearby Madison. Patients at these clinics pay a fee of roughly $50 to $100 a month and get easier, direct access to their doctor -- as often as they want for no extra cost.

Direct primary care is an increasingly popular healthcare option, and experts say it may become more common under health policy changes that President Donald Trump's administration is expected to pursue. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, mentioned direct primary care during his recent confirmation hearings.

"This is the most optimistic I've ever been about it," said Gayle Brekke, PhD, a health services researcher based in Kansas City, Missouri, who has been studying direct primary care for more than a decade. "We're at a threshold where it really could take off."

Some doctors and patients say they love how much simpler it is to get routine medical care and how some services can be cheaper. But public health experts caution not to think of direct primary care as a replacement for insurance, because the monthly fee covers nothing beyond visits.

Affordable and Quick Care

Direct primary patients say it's helped them save a significant amount of money on healthcare, particularly those who don't have health insurance and would otherwise pay out of pocket.

Molaska didn't have insulin in her office, so she referred the prescription to a community pharmacy she works with, and the pharmacist helped Meneses secure it at a discount.

Brekke said direct primary care doctors also work with labs and imaging centers to order tests and x-rays for patients at discounted prices. In most states, these doctors can dispense medications in their practices with little to no markup; if not, the doctors, like Molaska, often have relationships with local pharmacists and can help patients get medications at more affordable rates.

Molaska charges between $70 and $85 for individuals and caps her monthly fee at $200 for families. In central Wisconsin, she sees patients who speak Spanish and English and has a bilingual staff. Molaska has a 125-person waiting list.

After seeing how well the model worked for her grandmother's needs, everyone in Meneses' family are now patients of Molaska. Her kids' medications are cheaper, Meneses said, and they don't have to wait 3 months for an appointment.

In turn, direct primary care physicians say they can spend more time with patients, and it reduces burnout because they don't have to deal with insurance companies.

"I wish more people knew about it," Meneses said. "I'm an accountant, and my clients are mostly Hispanic. Most of them don't qualify for any kind of help and cannot afford healthcare, so I send them to Dr. Molaska. Sometimes they ask me, 'Are you sure this isn't a scam?'"

It's Not for Everyone

Critics believe direct primary care is a solution for a limited group of people: the relatively healthy ones, those who can't afford insurance and don't qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, and folks who live in areas where community health centers are too busy for new patients.

Health researchers also warn of overstating direct primary care's affordability.

"Having worked in safety-net health systems for most of my career, I have found that many patients struggle to pay for bus fare or $5 copayments," said Stephanie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, a primary care doctor and researcher at Hunter College in New York City.

While direct primary care is "better than nothing," said Kevin Schulman, MD, MBA, at Stanford's Clinical Excellence Research Center in California, it's hugely limited. Direct primary care is not health insurance, so nothing -- aside from what the doctor can do in office -- is covered.

John Vanderloo, MD, says for that reason, direct primary care is best suited for catching people who fall "through the cracks."

Vanderloo practices a few miles north of Jackson, Mississippi -- one of the poorest states in the U.S. and a place where lawmakers haven't expanded Medicaid. So, no matter the income, an able-bodied Mississippi resident who doesn't have kids doesn't qualify for the federal insurance program for low-income people, and high-deductible insurance plans on the federal marketplace for one person can run hundreds of dollars.

Mississippi also ranks at or near the top for high rates of diabetes and high blood pressure, the types of chronic conditions that Vanderloo helps manage with frequent testing and medications.

"I can't help if you need your appendix taken out, but if you have diabetes, I can get you a $10 or less A1C test," he said of the test that measures blood sugar and is used to manage and diagnose diabetes. "You do need some sort of help for heavy lifting, but it's better than nothing."

But if hypertension results in stroke symptoms, one of Vanderloo's patients would have to go to an emergency room.

Insurance's Bad Rep

Florida-based provider Lee Gross, MD, started his direct primary care practice in 2010, putting it among the first wave of direct primary care clinics across the country. He was exasperated with back-and-forth calls with insurance companies and wanted a way to help his patients without a middleman.

Annie Geisel has been going to Gross' practice in North Port on Florida's Gulf Coast since 1998 -- before Gross transitioned it to a direct primary care clinic. After the switch, Geisel marveled at how fast she was able to see Gross, as well as the lack of co-pay, while her friends complained that insurance companies were delaying their care.

"I think it's time that doctors start calling the shots about patient care rather than insurance conglomerates," said Geisel, referring to insurance companies' process to authorize care for patients.

Mounting disillusionment with traditional health insurance -- as evidenced by the wave of public criticism lobbied at the industry after the assassination of UnitedHealthcare's CEOopens in a new tab or window -- could make direct primary care an increasingly appealing model.

Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's conservative policy blueprint put forth ahead of the second Trump administration calls direct primary care out as a solution. Roger Severino, an attorney and former director of the Office of Civil Rights in the first Trump administration, wrote the model is "improving patient access, driving higher quality and lower cost, and strengthening the doctor-patient relationship."

Schulman said that mention could impact Trump's efforts to change access, something his administration attempted in 2019 but was never finalized under former President Joe Biden.

Direct primary care also may become more relevant if Trump and the Republican-controlled House and Senate follow through on potential cuts to Medicaid that could make it harder for people to qualify for the program.

"I see direct primary care as a sort of lifeboat for the system ... for the cracks in the system," Gross said. "And we're continuing to grow and fill these gaps all across the country."

https://www.medpagetoday.com/primarycare/generalprimarycare/114111

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