Merrill Matthews
@MerrillMatthews
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Public policy analyst; Ph.D. Univ. of Texas, Dallas; columnist for The Hill; 8th black belt in Taekwondo.
Joined July 2009
My latest in The Hill: Are you ready for ‘Hawley Bucks’?
thehill.com
Sen. Josh Hawley has proposed the American Worker Rebate Act, which would hand out billions of taxpayer dollars to offset the tariffs imposed by President Trump, but critics argue that the plan is …
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I feel sorry for some of the honorable people in the White House, who have to search for justifications to defend Trump‘s retaliatory outbursts.
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RT @djheakin: Bill is the king of understatement. There have been countless BLS revisions, and many BLS Commissioners, but only ONE sitting….
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My latest in The Hill: Trump should keep the ‘zero-to-zero’ tariff policy on pharmaceuticals
thehill.com
President Trump has imposed a 15 percent tariff on most items in a trade agreement with the European Union, with pharmaceuticals excluded pending an ongoing U.S. investigation, but Trump is still p…
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If President Trump really wants to set the conspiracy tongues wagging, he should pardon Ghislaine Maxwell — which he suggested he could do but hasn't considered it. Everyone would think it was a quid pro quo for her to keep certain secrets.
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When a Russian plane crashes, the first question to ask is: was there someone on there Putin didn’t like?.
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Is Biden’s doctor covering up the president’s last physical?
thehill.com
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating President Biden’s health, and Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s personal doctor, refused to answer questions about B…
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My latest in The Hill: Is Biden’s doctor covering up the president’s last physical?
thehill.com
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating President Biden’s health, and Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s personal doctor, refused to answer questions about B…
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My latest in The Hill: What you missed at the Socialism 2025 annual conference
thehill.com
The Socialism 2025 conference in Chicago featured a variety of extreme views, including calls to dismantle the United States, and a biennial convention will be held in August.
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My latest in The Hill: Why Democrats don’t care about most health care fraud
thehill.com
Democrats oppose efforts to audit Medicaid and ObamaCare coverage to identify ineligible beneficiaries, despite evidence of widespread fraud and the economic benefits of Medicaid program integrity.
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My latest in The Hill: Trump’s economists say the darndest things
thehill.com
Trump’s economists, including Stephen Miran, have been trying to defend the president’s tariffs by arguing that foreign companies will lower their prices to make their products competit…
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My latest in The Hill: Social Security’s dirty little secret: A game of borrowing
thehill.com
The Social Security trust fund is not a real asset but a paper entry of IOUs that the government must borrow to cover, meaning that the fund’s current surplus is just a mirage and the future …
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My latest in the Hill: Trump has a point about presidents using an autopen
thehill.com
President Biden’s use of an autopen to sign official documents, including presidential pardons and executive orders, has been questioned by some, and Rep. James Comer is now opening an invest…
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My latest in The Hill: Trump shouldn’t import socialist price controls
thehill.com
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has proposed a “Most Favored Nation” pricing plan to lower the cost of prescription drugs, but it would likely lead to shortages and limit…
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My latest in The Hill: Congress should grow a backbone and reclaim tariff authority
thehill.com
Congress must reclaim its constitutional authority over tariffs, as President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) has been deemed unconstitutional, and a co…
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Maybe Trump (and Elon Musk) can make Mars the 51st state.
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A way the Senate can improve the House budget bill: A Medicaid fix without the tricks
thehill.com
Republicans can save $880 billion over 10 years in Medicaid by block-granting the federal portion, providing maximum state flexibility and expanding Medicare Part D to Medicaid.
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My latest in The Hill: No repeat of Biden: A medical panel must oversee president's annual physicals
thehill.com
In an era of growing public skepticism of a president’s health, it is time for the annual physical to be performed by a panel of independent physicians, who would then release their findings …
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Working for welfare benefits is not punishment
thehill.com
Republicans’ proposed work requirement for Medicaid recipients between the ages of 19 and 64 is expected to save the government $300 billion over seven years, while helping individuals regain…
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My latest in The Hill: Working for welfare benefits is not punishment
thehill.com
Republicans’ proposed work requirement for Medicaid recipients between the ages of 19 and 64 is expected to save the government $300 billion over seven years, while helping individuals regain…
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